In my final day of Splendour in the Grass for 2011, it was the main stage calling: with one of my favourite bands playing (Pulp), I was determined to get a spot early in the day. And so I did! But unfortunately this meant I was going to miss bands like Young The Giant, The Herd and Noah and the Whale – but that’s in the name of it isn’t it? Thankfully the main stage featured incredible musicians from start to finish.
I kicked things off with Grouplove, who I was lucky enough to catch in a dingy pub in Austin, Texas earlier this year. Their song “Colours” was quite the hit on Triple J for a while there, and naturally closed out their set. But the energy of both the band and the crowd went beyond this: tracks “Gold Coast” and “Naked Kids” going down pretty damn well, alongside their latest single “Tongue Tied”. Much of this energy comes thanks to Hannah Hooper, who beams enthusiasm on stage. She seems to be the glue that sticks this band together and makes it all work – not that the rest of the band aren’t amazing musicians, nor enthusiastic, it’s just that she’s definitely the one who keeps the balls rolling.
In my brief foray away from the main stage for some grub, I managed to catch The Holidays killing it, packing out the Mix Up tent with dedicated fans. Sydney really was well represented and supported at this festival! “Golden Sky” off of Post Paradise ended up their energetic set.
Another Australian band going from strength to strength are the heroes of the Brisbane scene, Hungry Kids of Hungary. “Let You Down” got a great reception and saw the band cover the crowd with massive balls – see photo above! They played a new track with “What in the World” which shows the band moving towards some impressive material – we should be hearing more from the band in that department very soon. “Coming Around” closed the set, which attracted probably twice the crowd that Jane’s Addiction for the night before! Not bad for locals… but very well deserved.
Having been blown away by The Vaccines at SXSW earlier this year, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by their performance at Splendour today. Unfortunately such is a common factor for bands who make a whirlwind trip down to our part of the world: exhaustion and jetlag that few new bands could withstand. But they still gave a great performance – I just know they’re capable of more!
“Blow It Up” opened things up, and this was followed by a set that included: “Post Break-Up Sex”, “Wrecking Bar”, “A Lack of Understanding”, “Wetsuit”, “Under Your Thumb”, “All In White” and wrapped things up with “Nordgaard”. Though it didn’t live up to my high standards, this was a wholly crowd pleasing performance!
Ah, how I love Cloud Control. Back from a massive jaunt overseas (which included a gig supporting Arcade Fire in a stadium in Milan and skydiving for their new music video… are they killing it or what!?). In their time away, a few of their songs seem to have stepped up a notch: in particular “Death Cloud”. Was that keyboard always so prominent? “Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why)” went down a treat, as it always does, and “There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight” was the big hit it usually is. “Buffalo Country” closed up the set which saw them debut on the main Splendour stage for the first time!
Other highlights of the set included balloons sent into the crowd for “Gold Canary”, as “Circle of Life” beamed over the audience. They were celebrating the fact that their bassist, Jeremy (who had been replaced by Conrad Greenleaf during this period), had just had a baby! Also of note was the flash mob taking place on the hill… a group had assembled to mosh, run up and down, and create a bit of a dust cloud. The band commented on this towards the end of the set, and it was easy to notice all the heads turned in the crowd!
The Vines gave us their standard rock and roll fare with tracks like ‘Ms. Jackson” and “Get Free”. There remains nothing groundbreaking about this band, on record nor live – but to a point that always been the case. What this band know how to do, however, is make and play rock and roll: and this is something they’ve always been damn good at doing. As the sun set, the crowd was seen embracing circle pits and getting a bit rougher than we’d seen prior at the festival. Had they hung around for the next band on the agenda, however, they may have been confused as to where to place their testosterone.
Indeed, Elbow aren’t the most energetic band in the world. But this five piece (which tonight added two violins to their ensemble) make up for it with one of the most impressive displays of musicianship you’re ever likely to see at a music festival. And with some massive singalongs (in particular for “Grounds for Divorce”) they blend in well to the festival environment. They remain one of my favourite bands, and tonight’s performance at Splendour in the Grass went ahead and solidified that. I was glued to them from start to finish – occasionally singing along, but primarily listening to the reserved splendour that can be found in the voice of Guy Garvey.
ELBOW’S SETLIST:
The Birds
The Bones of You
Mirrorball
Neat Little Rows
Grounds for Divorce
The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver
Lippy Kids
Open Arms
One Day Like This
Kaiser Chiefs are back! And after a lackluster album in Off With Their Heads they have returned with some brilliant material in The Future Is Medieval and seem to have returned to the top of their game. It helped that they played a ridiculously crowd pleasing set, too, opening with “Everyday I Love You Less and Less” before launching into: “Trust You”, “Ruby”, “Angry Mob”, “Last Train Home”, “I Predict a Riot” and closing things up with the effortlessly catchy “Oh My God”. It was a set of high energy that got the crowd well and truly pumped for the continuing night of British music that was to come.
Finally, the moment I had been waiting for. Having spent the day witnessing bands with which I was very familiar with in the live setting, I was able to enjoy my first ever performance from iconic UK group Pulp – led by the one and only Jarvis Cocker.
There are those sets that a band plays none of your favourite songs, and then there are those rare times when they play all of your favourites. In this instance, I fell into the latter category, and enjoyed one of the most euphoric festival experiences I’ve ever had. I’m pretty sure I’m still wearing the grin!
With the stage covered in percussion instruments, this was definitely an aurally pleasing event – but at the end of the day, it was about the songs. “Mis-Shapes” was amazing. “Disco 2000” was epic. “Sorted for E’s & Wizz” featured, appropriately, air horns and lasers. Awesome. “I Spy” was the highlight of the set for me, though the mass sing along of “Common People” (featuring Daisy Tulley of Bridezilla on violin) came pretty damn close.
As they closed with “Common People”, they admitted to the crowd that this may be the last every song they play in Australia. While I hope that’s not the case, I have to say that if I was to never see the band again, I was pretty damn satisfied by this unique and wonderful experience in the glorious ampitheatre of Woodfordia.
PULP SETLIST
Do You Remember the First Time?
Mis-Shapes
Something Changed
Disco 2000
Sorted For E’s & Wizz
I Spy
Babies
Underwear
This Is Hardcore
Sunrise
Common People (feat. Daisy Tulley of Bridezilla on Violin)
As the lights dimmed and “99 Problems” blared over the speakers (reminding us all of the Jay-Z rumour on the Friday night that never eventuated), we could see the Ampitheatre exploding at its seams. Some Back to the Future music came on, fireworks leaped over the stage, and Coldplay ran onto the stage to a loud road from the crowd.
The stage was draped in neon coloured dreamcatchers which shot out lasers into the crowd, while a cone of light and lasers sat behind them and did much the same. They were surrounded by glowing cords, drums, pianos and bells. They may have come to Australia for one night only, but they definitely brought with them the whole arsenal.
As the temperature dropped, Chris’ breath could be seen over the microphone, and we were definitely feeling winter nin all its force! But having been blessed with a spotless weekend, no one was complaining and we found ourselves hopelessly singing along to just about every song they churned out.
The set, which included five tracks from their upcoming album, was much of what we’ve come to expect from the band: great interaction with the crowd, and epic singalongs… a couple of differences from the usual fodder, however, was the inclusion of a birthday celebration for Will Champion, a brief cover of “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse in advance of “Fix You”, and a dedication of “The Scientist” to Pulp: “This song is dedicated to Pulp in the hope that that wasn’t the last song they would ever play in Australia. Because bands like that should never break up.”
Amen to that.
COLDPLAY SETLIST:
MX
Hurts Like Heaven
Yellow
In My Place
Major Minus
The Scientist
Shiver
Violet Hill
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
Everything’s Not Lost
Us Against the World
Politik
Viva La Vida
Charlie Brown
Life Is For Living (with “Happy Birthday” sung to Will Champion as intro)
Encore:
Clocks
Fix You (with “Rehab” snippet intro)
Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
—
And with that, the 2nd Splendour in the Grass at Woodford had come to and end. It was a fitting end, a massive set from one of the world’s biggest bands, with the crowd having sung along to every word. Now, with sore throats thanks to both the dust in the air and the excessive drinking, poor hygiene and loud, out of tune singing, we looked forward to resting up and returning to the real world. Well, “looking forward” mightn’t be the right wording. However, I was pretty excited to see a shower again.
It’s what it’s all about. See you there (or in Byron?) next year!
Photos provided by Splendour in the Grass and used with permission. To view the full galleries, and for full credits: Visit PART ONE and PART TWO of the day! Thanks to Johnny Au for all his assistance.
