There was no sign of the festival’s infamous mudfest this year, and after ten minutes, festival-goers had already ditched the gumboots, opting for a weather-appropriate option. You could pick out a Melburnian from a mile away, the idiots dressed in black skinny jeans, buttoned up long sleeves and a denim jacket to match.
Day one kicked off with Methyl Ethel playing to an overflowing crowd at the GW McLennan stage. Rising up the ranks with airtime on triple j, the band went through plenty of crowd favourites from their debut album Oh Inhuman Spectacle, with Twilight Baby receiving the biggest pop.
Australia’s favourite sons DMA’s played to one of the biggest crowds of the festival, with the amphitheatre full from side to side. Debuting on Australian soil, the one-man-band that is Jack Garratt made a good first impression at the Mix Up Stage. The UK newcomer covered all aspects of his music live – playing guitar, synth and drums topped off with his stunning falsetto vocals.
Leon Bridges brought the soul to Splendour (and the best set of the day). The man from Fort Worth, Texas had it all: the voice, the moves and an incredible backing band, led by the brilliant sax work of Jeff Dazey.
Arguably the most anticipated act of the festival, The Avalanches returned to the stage after 16 long years to a packed out amphitheatre. The performance was a little underwhelming, with the band showing noticeable creases in their live set. Frankie Sinatra highlighted this, with guest rapper Spank Rock taking on the task of nailing Danny Brown’s verses. No easy feat, yet when he pulled out his iPhone to read the lyrics, it made for an awkward atmosphere. Given the degree of difficulty to recreate their songs in a live performance, Robbie Chater did well to coordinate the whole group to produce some memorable moments, including tracks Since I Left You and recent single Subways.
The Strokes ticked plenty of boxes, yet their 20-minute late arrival made for a shortened set and a lot of disappointed fans. Julian Casablancas led the charge, perfectly belting out hits Reptilia, New Your City Cop and Is This It, much to the delight of their fans.
Day two welcomed plenty of seedy looking characters stumbling around the festival grounds much like a scene out of The Walking Dead.
The crowd may have gone a bit too hard on opening night, however Beach Slang didn’t get the memo, bringing the party in the early afternoon by participating in an old fashioned onstage skolling (or chugging as our friends in the north say).
Shout out to Spring King, who not only were the surprise package of the day, they also managed to draw a decent-sized crowd during their clashed set with King Gizz.
Mikey Perry, AKA Paces, made plenty of memorable Splendour moments, with his set including cameos from Tkay Maidza and Australia’s greatest export (and the one true Idol) Guy Sebastian.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala made himself at home, throwing lights off the amphitheatre stage and defying gravity during At The Drive-In’s blistering set. The crowd was small, but the band didn’t seem to care, dishing up hits One Armed Scissor, Invalid Litter Dept. and Quarantined to their devoted fans.
At times, The Cure’s three-hour set ebbed and flowed, however much like the band’s 13 LP discography, it was flawless. The enigmatic Robert Smith still has it after 40 years, showing plenty of passion and emotion on stage. He topped off the unpredictable by continually referring to the set as being “stuck on a spaceship together for 55 years”. Interpret it however you want, but hypothetical passengers on this spaceship were surely screaming for an explanation as to why Lovecats and 10:15 Saturday Night didn’t feature on the setlist.
True to the Australian standard of Sundays, day three didn’t start until the late afternoon after a much needed sleep-in. The baritone vocals of City Calm Down’s Jack Bourke projected throughout the sunny amphitheatre, captivating the fans that had battled through the hangover. There were many.
The night was really owned by the Aussies. Melbourne legend Courtney Barnett brought the heat to the cooling amphitheatre with Dead Fox and Elevator Operator, while The Preatures had the GW stage moving to hits Somebody’s Talking and Is This How You Feel?.
James Blake and Sigur Ros were the perfect back-to-back combination to end the Splendour weekend. The sweet, smooth vocals of Blake silenced the amphitheatre, while the ethereal post-rock tunes from the Icelandic natives had the Mix Up tent in awe.
SITG was nowhere near as frightening as previous punters had described. The ground held out, the food was incredible, the people weren’t all drug smuggling delinquents (to the surprise of NSW police) and the music… Oh the music. There’s a reason Splendour’s the best festival in Australia.
BY MICHAEL EDNEY
IMAGES: IAN LAIDLAW
LOVED: B-grade celebrity spotting
HATED: Being stuck in the day parking carpark for three hours after day two
DRANK: Urban Pasta’s napolitana sauce
