- 'Twas the festival of the girls: From the fun of New Young Pony Club, the energy of Patience from The Grates, or even the amazing ability of the chick drummer from Lightspeed Champion. The sun was shining the entire time—and so were the princesses of Splendour: full make up, hair, and $1000 outfits.
SATURDAY
It began, however, on Saturday, which saw The Galvatrons blister through their set with a big band sound that eventually got the crowd going. For a band that snowballed from MySpace rather than playing live, these guys give great stage presence. A melancholy but tight Tokyo Police Club followed to an audience that appreciated their power. Meanwhile back at Mix Up, Bluejuice got the party started with their two front men revving the crowd. Bluejuice really love a festival (they were the highlight at Festival of the Sun 2007) and it showed. Backed by bass, drum, and keyboard, this band has another hit to follow "Vitriol" with the anthemic "I'll Burn My Bridges Thank You Very Much."
There were also splendid covers aplenty: Gyroscope did Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning," Hadouken owned Prodigy's "Breathe," The Polyphonic Spree's took on Nirvana's "Lithium," and Operator Please did a technically excellent version of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It." But the sun went down in Mix Up with MSTRKRFT giving good electro—although a more intimate venue would probably let the dancers loose. It was impossible not to bounce to the remix of "D.A.N.C.E." and their "My People" made up for not actually seeing The Presets due to the crowd scrum.
The small crowds said it all for me for most of the hip-hop acts, who were trying too hard. The evacuation during Scribe's performance was embarrassing—as was his anything but fresh performance. Californian soul rockers Cold War Kids won the crowd over immediately with "We Used to Vacation." "Hospital Beds" was similarly mind-blowing, before a grand finish with loads of extra instruments and people on stage.
The Living End loudly rocked out, initially frightening some people away during their sound check. "Waltzing Matilda" was a crowd favourite, of course, with a 95% Aussie crowd (unlike other festivals). And whilst double bass use is sooo five minutes ago, it definitely worked a treat in this set. Mix Up finished Sunday with a sometimes mellow (and shirtless) Tricky, which seemed to suit the non-Devo punters. His cover of "Blue Steel and the Arab Chaos" was the surprise highlight, capturing perfectly the mood at the end of the day.
SUNDAY
Vampire Weekend on got the crowd going early, starting with "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" and cementing themselves as a great live act. They were a lot of fun onstage and, surprisingly, everyone knew the words despite the obscure lyrics. Brit Laura Marling—backed up by bongos and piano accordion—was sublime as well and suited to the GW McLennan tent's more serious ambience. Songs such as "She's Not That Beautiful" and "Alas I Cannot Swim" showed folksy depth beyond her teenage years.
The Grates performed old songs ("Inside Outside") and new ("Earthquake") confidently and to an ever-increasing Supertop crowd (although there was not much competition elsewhere). Who woulda thought Batwoman-clad Patience would dedicate "Two Kinds of Love" to a backstage Ben Lee? She might be the only lead singer who can do an anaerobic workout whilst hitting every note perfectly (and never be out of breath). The crowd loved 'em and it seemed mutual. Skipping the much-hyped Vines to see Robert Forster play at the tent named after his former Go-Betweens bandmate, GW McLennan, was possibly a mistake. A tiny crowd heard explanations between tracks on where and when Robert wrote each song. Mildly annoying (although understandable under the circumstances), but last track "People Say," was redeeming.
You could feel the love within the Sigur Rós performance—standouts for their musicianship and unique style. There was magic in the air by the final track, with the crowd then blissfully dispersing. It was an out-of-body experience, but we soon crashed gleefully back to Earth at Supertop where The Wombats attracted the noisiest crowd of the day, kicking off with fave "Kill the Director." "Christmas Came Early" an energetic "Let's Dance to Joy Division," and a thumping "Backfire at the Disco" all had the Splendour kids in raptures.
Sunday's headline act Wolfmother was not as packed as expected, given the rumor that this might be their last gig. Andrew Stockdale's sentimental farewell of "loving you all" was foretelling. Even though some tracks were extended to sound like a jam session, "Woman" still excited fans and the finale, "Joker and the Thief," left us baying for more.
Much like Splendour itself, in fact. Can we make it three days next year please?