:: Splendour In The Grass - Belongil Fields, Byron Bay on July 24/25, 2004

By: Evan Alexander

I hadn’t been to a “Splendour” since the very first one four or five years ago now, and this annual festival has now deservedly assumed its position alongside Livid, Big Day Out, Woodford etc… as one of the premier events on the Aus-music calendar. This year a stellar line up, a wicked location and somewhere in the realm of 20,000 punters all determined to have a damn fine time ensured it.

The first band I caught was The Fiery Furnaces. They served up some jumpy punk-skewed pop quirk for an already packed Supertop, and despite a few go-getters who peaked a little early (an hour and a half into a forty hour festival) and had already crashed and burned on the side of the walkways, the majority of us settled in for a good weekend. Xavier Rudd was up next and proved just the thing to ease on into a Saturday afternoon. A one man band (equipped with two didges, a xylophone, a stomp box, egg-shaker, harmonica and guitar) barefoot, unassuming and almost shyly, he scattered his set with rhythmic instrumental montages that slid easily down the throat of a Byron crowd, many of whom, if only for the weekend, were enthusiastically embracing their ‘hippie-dom’ in the North Coast epicentre of all things alternate.

Franz Ferdinand supplied some up-tempo Scottish pop for sunset and the festival frame of mind began to seriously set in, after all, as Franz Ferdinand told us, “it’s so much better on holiday”. The ‘Circle of Consciousness” started to pump and grind a little harder and a subby doof began to emanate from around the tipi cluster as over in the main area a bonfire was lit (with a safety barrier of course - there’s no accounting for some folks actions whilst ‘intensely enjoying themselves’ – best not to take chances).

In the wake of their new album, Spiderbait pelted out a bottom heavy mix of old and new. There wasn’t too many three pieces on the bill this year and whether to compensate for this or just because that’s the way they like it, Kram thumped the one’s and three’s out on his kick as Jan turned her bass up to ten right from the word go. They played the crowd like pro’s and by the time Electric Six hit the Supertop in suits and sunglasses at twenty to seven with a riff heavy dose of rock ‘n’ roll, all was progressing accordingly. Electric Six is a six piece, believe it or not, and benefited from a mix that up until then had been a little swampy. The vocals cut through well and keyboard stabs interposed effectively.

The Dissociatives began with a long, slow build up as the crowd clapped along in anticipation. Picking up where Electric Six left off the good mix continued, from guttural growl to high pitched wail this served to highlight the grit and strength of Daniel John’s undeniable vocal ability. Dizzee Rascal must have had something pretty serious going on over in the Mix Up Tent cause the crowd wasn’t quite as large as I had expected it to be, but behind his keyboard’s, Paul Mac bopped up & down like a rag-doll regardless.

A necessary problem associated with festivals is, of course, that it is an impossibility to be in four places at one time. I headed over to the Mix Up Tent to catch the end of Katalyst DJ and secure a healthy position for 1200 Techniques. I wasn’t the only one, there seemed to be as many people milling around the outskirts of the tent and chilling on tarps as there were inside grooving.

One of the obvious favourites, the Mix Up Tent, was shoulder to shoulder a quarter of an hour before 1200 hit the stage and they didn’t disappoint. They came out pumping and didn’t let up once, sparking it straight off with ‘Old Skool’ DJ Peril worked the decks in tandem with a live drummer whilst, topknot twirling, N'Famas paced the stage like a caged animal. In true hip hop fashion, and without coming across as trite or try-hard, he worked the crowd like a well-oiled machine. It was nearly nine thirty; eight and a half hours into the festivities and pupils were well and truly dilated. ‘Karma’ almost incited frenzy, and with a freestyle jam thrown in for good measure, 1200 Techniques got my vote for the best thing I saw all day.

Back over in the Supertop, PJ Harvey closed off the Saturday line up. A little figure with a big attitude, flanked by drum kits on either side of the stage, she performed well and worked her way through both old and new tracks via some rumbling bass lines and tat tat drums, but the crowd had definitively thinned out halfway through her set. To be fair, this was due in part to the fact that Ozomatli had started over in the Mix Up Tent, and most people wanted to close out the night with a blast of their jazz-slanted hip hop as opposed to the minimalist sass of PJ. Eleven people on stage are difficult to compete against and Ozomatli pulled out all the stops. Horn section blaring, the majority ‘waved their hands in the air like they just didn’t care until it was time to go home, or back to their tents as the trend seemed to be.

Rocket Science hit the Supertop at three o’clock on Sunday afternoon with a volley of unabashed rock ‘n’ roll consisting of strong vocal harmonies and possibly the best guitar sound I heard all weekend. Clear, jangly and loaded with twang the guitar served primarily to punctuate and augment the keyboard, which took care of most of the chordal work. The Melbourne four piece punished their instruments despite half the band (guitarist and drummer) being seated.

For such small, diminutive figures, Ash bore a big sound. They looked pint sized on the Supertop stage but managed to let loose with a convincing swag of brawny, well sectioned pop rock sing alongs before the ensuing mass exodus towards the Mix Up Tent for the new darling’s of Australian Hip Hop, the Hilltop Hoods. It was just as well the Splendour organisers had lined up video screens this year because the crowd spilled out in a thirty-metre circumference around the Mix Up Tent in order to bop along to the Adelaide trio as the sun went down. Not really my jive, but hey, different strokes for different folks, DJ Debris bore a set of decks half the size of my house and there was certainly no lack of enthusiasm to join in on the “When I say Hilltop, you say Hoods” refrain.

Despite an ominous looking sky earlier in the day, the rain continued to hold off as I made my way back to the Supertop for Pete Murray. Doing the casual thing in jeans and a red T, he had his own fair share of supporters despite the enormity of the Hoods crowd. Backed by a tasty four-piece band that prop his songs up well enough to deserve their own title, Murray offered a much more chilled accompaniment to sunset. It’s the unpretentious air and down to earth delivery of his music that appeals to many people and it’s a quality that is palpable through his on stage persona as well. He wove his way through a convincing set that included a credible version of Neil Young’s ‘Heart of Gold’, the plausibility of which rested upon getting the harmonica part right, and he nailed it.

Dashboard Confessional brought something a little different to the Splendour stew. A pop, rocket styled four piece featuring bass, drums, two acoustic guitars and some well-built harmonies, they sounded a little like Janes Addiction minus the amphetamines, but once again I had to scoot half way through, this time in order to catch Money Mark. Supported by a bass player, a set of decks and a drummer, the Beastie Boys keyboard player engaged the crowd well as he spun through an absolute gem of a set. Old schooled, jazz bitten funk swinging just the way you want it to, his tunes scampered around Motown grooves and crisp, cruisy extended drum ‘n’ bass lines. Frequently alternating between chiming keyboards and snappy guitar lines, he maintained the clearest and most concise sound that I heard all weekend before wrapping it all up with a Ray Charles tune/tribute.

Back over in the Supertop, waiting for Grinspoon to hit the canvas was like waiting for a ride to begin at an amusement park, and what a ride they took us on. Big crowd, big kick, and a massive snare combined with a beefy fuzz free guitar sound and genuinely muscular vocals made for a cranking performance that included everything from ‘Chemical Heart’ and ‘Lost Control to some new stuff.

Unfortunately I had to leave for my graveyard shift on 4ZZZ back up in Brissie before Jurassic 5 closed out the Splendour proceedings for this year, but from all accounts, it was something they did with aplomb.

All in all, an extremely tasty weekend indeed, no bad vibe merchants (alcohol induced or otherwise), lots of smiles and a plethora of good music. Looking forward to next year!