Another Splendour has come and gone for another year. It’s kind of like the week after Christmas – you look forward to it for such a long time and then it’s over in the blink of an eye and all you’ve got to show for it is a decent hangover, an empty wallet, bruised feet and – for Album of The Week - a bad case of Swine Flu. The weekend was a mixture of highs and lows:Some highs:
• Dananananakyroyd lived up to the hype with a fantastically hyperactive and engaging live show
• The Specials lived up to their legend status and their name with a very special Saturday night performance
• The latest initiative of people being able to recycle their drinking vessels for drink tickets was a raging success – the amazingly clean grounds was testament to this
A few lows:
• Jane’s Addiction cancelled at the last minute - a genuine disappointment considering they were one of the most exciting headlining acts on the bill
• An abundance of younger festival attendees who didn’t seem to be down with festival etiquette or “festiquette” (a term coined by a friend of Album of The Week). It’s okay to shove people aside – IF, and only if, you do it with an “excuse me” and an apologetic smile
• We missed out on an amazing set from The Middle East
We awoke on Saturday 25 July to cloudless blue skies and blinking sunlight. ‘Nice try, weather! But you can’t trick us!’ we said as we pulled on gumboots, wrapped our layers of socked-feet in plastic bags and crammed ponchos into our pockets. The Byron Bay weather is a fickle bitch at the best of times, but on crucial weekends – like Splendour in the Grass, its unpredictability knows no bounds...
Now to the music:
Manchester Orchestra – Potential tantrums from the tragic news about Jane’s Addiction were held at bay from the huge, psychedelic, Sixties hard-rock sound from Manchester Orchestra, who played before a surprisingly large, mellow crowd for 1 o’clock. Massive riffs, crashing drums and the great vocals of Andy Hull, whom one crowd member referred to as the “sexy fat mess”, made for an untamed and dynamic performance. They did a very intense cover of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s ‘Satan Said Dance’ invoking The Doors at their darkest, and finished with popular single ‘I’ve Got Friends’.
Yves Klein Blue – The ever-growing popularity of Yves Klein Blue was on display at their stellar set of hook-laden tunes, spirited sing-along moments, and pure showmanship in front of an adoring crowd. Highlights of their performance included the “special treat” that front man Michael Tomlinson introduced to rapturous applause - an awesome cover of ‘Born to Run’ Bruce Springsteen’s beloved classic, inspiring fist pumping and group hugging from the over 25s in the crowd. YKB brought out special guests The John Steel Singers to play the horn section of breezy ska track ‘Summer Sheets’ and finished with a mass sing-along to latest single ‘Getting Wise’.
Children Collide – Australian indie rock n roll band Children Collide had masses of enthusiastic people cramming into the Main Stage tent to hear a super-tight and incredibly loud performance from the three-piece. Front man Johnny Mackay juggles lead guitar responsibilities and howling vocals with impressive finesse. The increasingly massive crowd go ballistic as Children Collide kick into what are clearly the big singles and I come to the realisation that this band is actually very popular with the local crowd and I am totally off the loop.
Little Red – The six dapper gents hit the stage appropriately attired like 50s throwbacks to complement their swinging rock n roll tunes. Unfortunately the main stage is just a bit too big for Little Red and the good time vibes and party feel that they bring to a live show are lost under the vast tent. However, they seemed to have several girls swooning at the flirtatious eye contact that the boys have clearly been practicing in front of the mirror and so even if this isn’t their best show ever at least they are guaranteed to get laid.
Dappled Cities – Playing a mixture of tunes from new record ‘Zounds’ and their previous ‘Granddance’, Dappled Cities bring their orchestral indie pop songs into flight with the very charismatic Tim Derricourt at the helm - fabulously flamboyant as he brandished his rotating ‘guitar arm’ with Prince-like panache during ‘Holy Chord’... Okay – maybe not Prince-like, but panache all the same.
At this point we desperately need to rest our weary bones, soothe our parched throats and smash ourselves with some of Splendour’s notoriously high-calibre food choices. Sneaking into the side entrance of the jam-packed Mexican cantina proved to be a revelation. The burritos were delicious, the bar-line was short, and several people on drugs provided excellent entertainment as they salsa danced to Tropicante Sound Sistema – truly amusing purveyors of the loudest latin/dancehall/gypsy sounds to ever abuse my ears, including the Spanish language version of Cyprus Hill’s ‘Insane in the Brain’. Insane indeed!
The Specials – Having devoted our day to rock music, we were well ready to ease into the smooth vibes of legendary ska and reggae revivalists The Specials. The dudes may look a little long in the tooth but they hit the stage in full trombone-toting, politically-impassioned glory, and sound amazing. Starting with ‘Too Much, Too Young’, they had the crowd chanting along to ‘A Message to you, Rudy’ before finishing the set with ‘Ghost Town’. Cue applause.
Bloc Party – While funnelling through the increasingly dense crowds to get to the Mix Up Tent for the Happy Mondays, we landed the perfect spot to watch Bloc Party. Once the shy, soft-spoken indie darling, Kele Okereke has transformed into a bonafide rock deity, complete with rippling muscles, amusing banter and a voice that won’t quit. We were reminded of why we first got into Bloc Party hearing ‘Banquet’ and ‘Like Eating Glass’ from ‘Silent Alarm’, interspersed with their latest material including the awesome New Order-ish ‘One More Chance’.
The Happy Mondays – While Shaun Ryder is clearly a wigged out casualty of the Age of Ecstacy, he sounds exactly as he did in the halcyon days of Factory Records at the height of the band’s popularity and relevance. The fact that he was slumped over the mic and facing back of stage doesn’t really matter that much – Happy Monday’s hype man and the Age of Ecstacy’s poster-boy-at-large, Bez, provided enough visual entertainment for all, and large-lunged vocalist Julie E Gordon sounds incredible. As one young lad told me “that chick is SEXY”. ‘Step On’, ‘Loose Fit’ and ’24 Hour Party People’ are highlights, as is the moment when I saw a dude wearing a ‘Madchester’ t-shirt who was old enough to be my dad and he gave me the peace sign. Rave on.
Day 1 comes to a close and we head home, have a beer, and pray for the strength to do it again tomorrow…
*The wrap up of Day 2 coming soon.
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