Our writer Nick Cheek managed to make it through to the end of another Splendour unscathed to bring us his take on the final day highlights of what was, for the most part, a pretty amazing festival.
We also have a full wrap on the way, covering all of the highs and lows across Splendour in the Grass 2016.
Once Again, No Rain
Day three, and the campers showed signs of being a little weary, gone were the elaborate outfits of the first day. Those holding day tickets, however, had gone all out. As the sun shone brightly again, everyone had clearly chosen their Coachella outfit, it was flowers in hair, lace, and glitter, soooo much glitter.
Despite being dressed in all black, City Calm Down still managed to shine.
The Melbourne band have been on a pretty steady rise since the release of their debut LP In A Restless House last year. They took to the Amphitheatre mid afternoon in front of a substantial, and ever increasing, crowd. The five piece were joined by a horn section and backing singer, clearly putting in the extra effort for the festival, and the Triple J live stream.
The melodic and darker sound seemed to suit the mid afternoon crowd, singer Jack Bourke’s baritone voice almost biblically resounding around the amphitheatre. Playing songs mostly from their debut, the songs with high radio rotation such as ‘Rabbit Run’, ‘Border On Control’ and ‘Son’ were all well received. The fast paced ‘Falling’ was fantastic, ‘Wandering’ showing the influence The National has had on the band. A cover of Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’ got the crowd dancing, which continued as they played their last song ‘Your Fix.’
City Calm Down are a great band, Bourke is becoming an accomplished frontman, in an endearingly awkward way. The space between debut album and Splendour main stage has been relatively short, and perhaps they are still adjusting. The band looks the part, but perhaps need a little more time before they own the stage.
Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders are seemingly from another time
Sporting what looked like a freshly shaved head, the lanky New Zealander had a slightly mean look, but not attitude. Calling Melbourne home now, the singer has had great success after the release of his self titled debut last year, his popularity helped considerably by his appearance in the ABC mini series A Beautiful Lie. Whilst the GW McLennan tent was just over half full for his set, those that were there were clearly big fans. Playing a mix of old country, blues, and soul, the singer and band were a seriously tight unit, the Yarra Bender swapping playing a mixture of guitar, bass, violin, ukelele and double bass.
‘Dark Cheer’ received a big cheer, the band breaking down the song to include a fantastic guitar solo, ‘Blood Letter’ was great in a swampy blues way, ‘Trouble I’m In’ clearly a crowd favourite. The bands set included four covers, a great rendition of the 60’s Billy Fury track ‘I’m Lost Without You,’ a couple of bluegrass covers by the Stanley Brothers, before finishing the set with a energetic and brilliant rendition of Screamin Jay Hawkins’s ‘Portrait of a Man.’ The choice of covers clearly an indication of his taste, and influence it has on his own style.
Courtney Barnett will probably sleep a lot after Splendour
To say it has been a big couple of years for Courtney Barnett an almost comical understatement. The three piece band took to the Amphitheatre stage with their trademark low key air as the day turned dark. Clearly they were a band that had been playing a lot together, they made it seem effortless, the band were super tight, yet allowed the songs to sound loose and messy when it was needed.
Dead Fox opened their hour long set, the screen behind playing ever changing, and song specific animations. The hits were all there, ‘Elevator Operator,’ ‘Pedestrian at Best’ and ‘Avant Gardner’. ‘Depreston’ was one of many crowd wide sing-a-longs, Barnett’s phrasing reminiscent of Paul Kelly, albeit telling a very different story of Australian life.
Prior to the bands’ last song, the singer announced “This is the last gig, ever, in the world”, and then paused far too long before continuing, “this year, in Australia”. As the crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief, they started ‘Nobody Really Cares if You Don’t Go To The Party’ and appropriately way to end what has been a pretty epic couple of years on the road.
The Preatures had a party to farewell their guitarist, by playing with him at Splendour
Earlier in the year, Gideon Benson, guitarist and one of the founding members of The Preatures, announced his departure to work on his own project. Since that time, the band has been quiet, working on a follow up to their enormously successful 2014 Blue Planet Eyes. Late on the last day, the band came out of their mini hiatus to pay the GW McLennan stage, the tent bursting at the seams with people, those out the back using whatever they could to try and gain a vantage point.
After opening with ‘Ordinary’, the band used the early part of the set to try out new material, including a song tackling the problems with noise restrictions and lockout laws, having been vocal critics of the recent controversial changes in Sydney. The new songs were well received, and the the delight of the crowd, sounded very much like The Preatures.
Isabella Manfredi is fantastic out front, engaging and entertaining to watch, and has a great dynamic on stage with the other members, especially guitarist and singer Jack Moffitt. Launching into a blistering rendition of The Divinyls ‘Boys in Town’ the band treated the crowd to their big hits, including ‘Better Than It Ever Could Be’, ‘Somebody’s Talking,’ and closing with ‘This Is How You Feel.’
Before the last song Manfredi recognised and thanked guitarist Gideon Benson, joining them on stage for the last time ever. It was a great farewell that many departing members don’t get. Whilst it may been a quirk of the acoustics in the tent, it did seem that the cheer that followed the band off stage was one of the biggest of the day.
Holy Shit Sigur Ros were good
Whilst the Amphitheatre was totally packed in preparation for Flume’s festival closing set, those in the Mix Up Tent were witness something truly special. Sigur Ros are a bit of an enigma, the Icelandic trio’s music at times resembles orchestral and operatic music rather than anything that could be called ‘post-rock’. Frontman Jonsi Birgisson’s falsetto vocals and use of a bow on electric guitar is a large part of their truly unique sound.
On a stage full of lights and narrow pillars, the epic light show was accompanied by animations on the screen behind the band. The trio began at the back of the stage, on keyboards and drum pads, the blinding lights flickering in the eyes of the crowd matching the abrasive nature of the early songs. By the third song, the band were at the front of the stage, Jonsi front and centre with his guitar and bow, joined by bass player Georg Holm and drummer Orri Páll Dýrason on kit and piano.
What followed was a sensory overload of sound, image and lighting that left crowd mesmerised, even those less familiar with the trio’s music. For just over an hour the band took everyone on a journey that was epic, anthemic, blissful and beautiful, and times brutal a jarring, full of massive and abrupt dynamic shifts.
The visuals added to the overall experience, the flickering and blinding lights bordering on sensory overload. It was unlikely many in the crowd understood the Icelandic language, however it didn’t matter. Jonsi’s falsetto is truly remarkable, a huge cheer erupting after he held a note for longer than it seemed humanly possible, someone even shouting out “breath man.”
The noise from the crowd was deafening as the band walked off stage, before walking back on to take a bow and acknowledge the audience. As they left, the seemed to be a collective outtake of breath, perhaps a little stunned by what they had witnessed. Whatever it was, it was a remarkable set to finish Splendour 2016.
Another year, another mostly excellent Splendour.
