After months of hype, did day one of the massive lineup deliver the goods? Our writer Nick Cheek runs you through all of the highlights from the first day of Splendour In The Grass 2016.
It Didn’t Rain
It had been raining recently, quite a lot, so there was still a bit of mud in the high traffic areas, but nothing compared to the mudfest that was Splendour in the Grass 2015. Day one was sunshine and clear skies, which was of course a nice surprise, but a bit of a shock to those visiting from the southern states.
Alex Lahey is going to be big
Triple J Unearthed winner Alex Lahey opened the festival on the Amphitheatre stage, with a very honest “My name is Alex Lahey, and I can’t fucking believe this is happening.” The young four-piece may have looked a little ‘rabbit in the headlights’, but certainly didn’t sound like it, powering through a half hour set of up beat indie pop tunes.
‘Everyday’s a Weekend’ was an early standout, but the radio rotation of ‘Let’s Go Out’ and new single ‘You Don’t Think You Like People Like Me’ meant these two were met with huge cheers. With an EP due for release next week, we will be hearing a lot more of Alex Lahey very, very soon.
Nothing But Thieves are amazing live
Having missed out on their last visit to Australia due to the cancellation of Soundwave, the five piece were clearly happy to be finally visiting our shores. The rapidly filling Amphitheatre were witness to an energetic and entertaining set, even if the Essex lads were looking very warm in the bright mid afternoon sun.
The band had clearly learned a thing or two from their recent tour buddies Muse, and vocalist Conor Mason certainly has the ability to hit some Matt Bellamy like notes. With some healthy radio rotation, their well know tracks such as ‘Itch’ and ‘Wake Up Call’ were met with a big response, with the loudest cheer and singalong saved for second to last song ‘Trip Switch’.
The Mix Up Stage was too small for Jack Garratt
Whilst the late finishing DMA’s meant many missed the early parts of Jack Garratt’s set, he still had a full tent by the time he started. Half an hour in, the crowd were spilling out around all sides, with those arriving late struggling to even catch a distant glimpse of the one man band that everyone wanted to see.
Clearly his popularity peaked at the right time for Splendour, the highly energetic, and exceptionally talented musician played through the songs from his debut album Phase. Some serious guitar shredding on ‘Worry’, closed out one of the best sets of the day.
It’s impossible not to dance to Leon Bridges
Playing the GW McLennan tent as Violent Soho were on the Amphitheatre stage, and finishing as The Avalanches were starting, the US soul singer didn’t really have the best spot in terms of time, but it didn’t seem to bother him, nor the big crowd that greeted him as he came on stage.
His fantastic modern interpretation of the old soul sound, along with his signature rubber like dance moves, got the whole tent moving, even those up the back whole usually stand with arms crossed.
Well know tracks such as ‘Coming Home’, ‘Smooth Sailing’ and ‘Better Man’, received rapturous applause, but the biggest cheer came in response to his cover of Ginuwine’s ‘Pony’. It was a very happy crowd that sped off to catch the start of The Avalanches.
The Avalanches happened… finally
Apart from a warm up show in Byron on Thursday night, the Avalanches have not played a live show since 2001. To say expectations were high for their set is the same sort of understatement as “gee they took a while to release a second album”. The band delivered a set that will no doubt have divided opinion. Robbie Chater mostly played guitar, with Tony Di Blasi spent his time behind the decks, handling the samples. The remaining members were joined on stage by a drummer, as well as singer Eliza Wolfgramm, and Baltimore rapper Spank Rock.
With expectations running so high, The Avalanches would have had to deliver the set of the decade in order to go close to delivering what was expected. No one in the crowd had any idea what an Avalanches gig would be, and what they delivered wasn’t perfect, but it was still pretty solid overall.
The band reinterpreted songs from both Wildflower and Since I Left You with help of the two vocalists, adding colour where they could to make it a live experience, rather than going on stage and pressing play. Their new hits ‘Frankie Sinatra’ and ‘Subways’ generated an almighty cheer, thanks to many in crowd barely being born when Since I Left You was released. ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ began, but then quickly turned into a somewhat confusing mash up between it and Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy’.
Closing the set with ‘Since I left You’, the band left the stage to the sounds of Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, taking a bow at the front of the stage, leaving many wondering when, if ever, we would see the band again.
The Strokes seemed bored, but no more than usual
The Strokes took to the stage 20 minutes late, but it didn’t really seem to bother the crowd. After spending the day running from stage to stage, it was probably nice for everyone to stop for a bit. On a stage that was mostly backlit, the seminal New York band were visible mostly as silhouettes, and barely moved, or spoke, for the first few songs.
It didn’t seem to bother the capacity crowd however, as they were treated to set full of the bands’ greatest hits, playing a lot of material from their first three albums, along with a couple of tracks from their new EP Future Present Past. It seemed the band could keep delivering hit after hit for the full set, ‘Heart In A Cage’ and ‘Last Night’ were huge, along with probably the biggest crowd favourite ‘Reptilia.’
And some others definitely worth a mention
Seattle’s Band of Horses drew the short straw in terms of clashes, but still managed an amazing set to close out the GW McLelland Stage. Emma Louise was exceptional, playing a lot of material off her new album Supercry. Methyl Ethel managed to completely pack the GW McLennan stage early in the day, themselves seemingly surprised by the sudden burst in popularity.
All told, a pretty great start.
