Splendour in the Grass, DayTwo @ Belongil Fields, ByronBay (23/07/06)

Mon 24th Jul, 2006 in Gig Reviews

The sun makes an early and welcome appearance for Splendour Sunday.

So, too, does Butterfingers, who help warm up some hung-over punters and prove a more than adequate last-minute replacement for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

‘Yo Mama’ makes an early appearance, with ‘Evil’ Eddie Jacobsen’s smooth vocals enticing large sections of the crowd to indulge in some heavy moshing. And when Eddie abandons the guitar to roam the stage with his microphone for ‘Mandarin’, everyone happily echoes the lyrics back at him.

There’s also room for several songs from their newest album. ‘Like Em When They’re Trouble’ has a bassy rhythm reminiscent of ‘Mandarin’ while the distinctly ska-ish ‘Ska Chase’ is all high-velocity guitar and motor-mouth lyrics.

‘FIGJAM’ proves popular, while Eddie orders everyone to sing along for the chorus of current single ‘Get up Outta the Dirt’. Hands wave in the air and almost everyone obliges while Eddie smirks devilishly. They close out with a top version of ‘Hookup’, proving that their current tour has honed them into fine form.

The Zutons show why they’re being raved about with a stunning set. Armed with endearing Welsh-English accents and a soulified, 70s-tinged, summery sound, the Liverpudlian five piece delight all and sundry with snazzy sax-laced tracks such as ‘Zuton Fever’.

‘Valerie’s’ bright guitars and “wooo oooh” backing vocals bop along merrily, while ‘Railroad’ features gorgeous vocal harmonies from all five members. ‘You Will, You Won’t’ is primal soul-funk, with Abi Harding’s sax purring sleazily behind lead vocalist David McCabe. A quick sax solo delights the crowd before they ramble the song to a jammy conclusion that gains a rousing reception.

McCabe grabs a vibraphone for the final song. The gypsylike tune builds and transforms into a mad drum jam between McCabe and drummer Sean Payne while Harding pumps-up the crowd at the front of the stage. As if it was needed! Only the dead would have been unmoved by The Zutons today.

Wild, wild rumours of a Kylie Minogue appearance prove to be unfounded. They mystery band is The Vines. A visceral thrum of excitement flashes through the crowded area directly in front of the stage as people realise who’s about to come on. They emerge looking pretty as a Vogue covershoot, but, to this punter, it all felt a bit anticlimactic.

Although big numbers such as ‘Get Free’ and ‘Ride’ make obligatory appearances, the wall of noise and Chris Nicholls’ screaming vocals feels all a bit lifeless. Most of the crowd laps it up however, and when Nicholls trashes his guitar through the drumkit at the conclusion of ‘Fuck the World’ the applause is near universal.

It feels like no-one is more delighted to be at Splendour than Snow Patrol. Scottish frontman and vocalist Gary Lightbody grins from ear to ear as the crowd sings along with him during a version of ‘Run’ that has the crowd banging along enthusiastically during the chorus. The Scottish indie-popsters perform a gorgeously melodic set of achingly melancholic songs underpinned by anthemic keys, soft guitar and lusciously layered vocals.

‘It’s Beginning to Get to Me’ and ‘Chasing Cars’ prove among the most well received while ‘How to be Dead’ is incredibly catchy and features some deliciously pretty piano. Lightbody spreads his arms and sings his heart out for ‘Make this Go on Forever’ as he implores us to save him from the darkness. Then they round out a perfect 45 minutes of indie-pop with the sappy romanticism of hit single ‘You Are All that I Have’.

Tim Rogers leads out You Am I sporting a bottle of Stolichnaya in one hand and a guitar in the other. He also has an orchid tucked into his buttonhole. The orchid gets lost early on, and the vodka is swigged from only sparingly, but it’s clear that Tim is in quite the mood today. He struts, shimmies, spits, froths and windmills his way through a set featuring both the new and the old.

The in-your-face rock of ‘By My Own Hand’ could easily be autobiographical. ‘Who Put the Devil in You’ is equally high velocity, while ‘Baby Clothes’ features more than it’s fair share of guitar windmilling and handfuls of free fortune cookies for those at the front. Then Tex Perkins emerges to steal the limelight for an amazingly intense version of ‘Coprolalia’ that is undoubtedly the climax of the set.

“Thank you Tex, that was delightful,” Tim observes with sardonic understatement at the finish.

You Am I close out with a bunch of early material, including ‘Berlin Chair’, ‘Cathy’s Clown’ and ‘Mr Milk’. It all seems a little rough ‘n ready at times, but somehow Tim’s energy holds it together. And honestly, the crowd doesn’t seem to give a damn.

Karen O and the rest of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs put the Supertop into overdrive with a set drawing pretty much equally from Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones. Those arriving late are unable to get anywhere close to the front as songs such as ‘Black Tongue’, ‘Honeybear’ and ‘Pins’ set the sardine-jammed crowd on fire.

As much as Karen O’s amazing vocal agility, outrageous outfit and sinuous stage antics are the centre of attention, Nick Zinner’s incredibly skilful guitar – full of steam-shovel sounds and garage punk brashness – feels the ultimate driving force under the songs.

‘Y Control’ gets a massive scream and an extended opening while ‘Maps’ is the highlight of a mid-set break for a bunch of slow love songs.

From start to finish, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are as crisp as a cold lager and just as potent. If only we could down them all day long.

Massive cheers welcome Wolfmother. With big antics to match the big hair and big, big riffs, Andrew Stockdale surges through ‘Dimension’. Unfortunately, the bright opening is a bit wasted as the boys indulge in some directionless guitar noodling after ‘Woman’ that leaves half the audience wondering exactly what happened. However, the final few songs pull it all back together as Wolfmother charge through mighty versions of the opus-like ‘Mind’s Eye’, and the headbangingly perfect ‘Colossal’. Chris Ross goes absolutely bonkers on the keyboards, angling it down and leaping into the air as he strikes the notes.

The set climaxes with ‘Joker and the Thief’ and, not to be outdone, Stockdale plays from atop the rear stacks, sending the punters into delirium all the way to the back of the Supertop – and probably beyond.

It’s not even possible to get into the Mix-Up Tent for the impossibly glam and raunchy Scissor Sisters. With so many people crowded around, this punter settles for dancing in the rain and mud with hundreds of others as the Sisters wow with a high-energy set fully deserving of its late-night slot.

They mix in plenty of new numbers, but the highlights are ‘Take your Mama’, the wonderfully sleazy ‘Tits on the Radio’ as well as a remarkable cover of ‘Comfortably Numb’ featuring some screamingly over-the-top falsetto from Jake Shears.

They encore with ‘Filthy Gorgeous’. Ana Matronic encourages everyone to harness their inner whore “whether it’s an ugly sixty-year-old grandmother or a gorgeous chick with a dick”. If there was anyone in the audience who didn’t feel deflowered by the end, they were either dead or too stoned to notice. A fitting end to another mighty fine Splendour.