Splendour in The Grass 2010: Review

triplew.me's Calvin Houlison went along to Australia's Splendour In The Grass festival recently to check it out, and, erm, work. Read our Festival Facts, see the Photo Gallery and read the highlight reviews.

10 years ago in Byron Bay, Australia, a popular surf town on the country’s east coast, a small music festival was launched to occupy a slot in midwinter which had previously been vacant. Its steady growth in popularity saw Splendour In The Grass raise its profile over the past decade and well and truly establish the festival as a mainstay on the Australian music calendar.

Roll on 2010 and the ‘Splendour bender’ has reached legendary status, fast becoming the country’s most prestigious music and counter-culture celebration. Alongside nearby Asia-Pacific festivals such as Fuji Rock in Japan, Splendour has evolved into a popular drawcard for touring acts around the globe, a feat all the more impressive considering the direct competition with a European festival season in full swing over the northern summer.

Here are some facts you may not have known about Splendour in the Grass 2010:

It’s during winter- isn’t it?

Yes, July and August means winter in the southern hemisphere, however those used to an Arctic winter chill are likely to be in for a shock. In Queensland, the average winter day hovers around twenty degrees, more akin to a British summer's day and perfect festival-going weather. The temperature in the evenings does drop rapidly into single digits, making the winter woollies useful after all. This year’s festival was blessed with warm sunny days and reasonably mild nights- a welcome alternative to the mud-soaked character of other festivals.

It’s not in Byron Bay

Those punters who had attended a decade’s worth of Splendour at its spiritual home of Byron Bay did a double take at the location selected for 2010. This year saw the festival relocate to a purpose built festival site at Woodford in Queensland, some four hours north of its birthplace on the New South Wales coast.  The festival organisers plan on returning to a brand new site in Byron once government approval has been obtained for its redevelopment.

Splendour is not Richard Ashcroft’s favourite festival

One of the drawcards of this year’s festival was Richard Ashcroft & The United Nations of Sound, with the former Verve frontman and his new band scheduled to be the closing act in the GW Maclennan Tent.  A relatively small crowd witnessed Richard belt out one song before throwing his mic away and jumping off stage, never to return. The official explanation was that his voice had given out due to a crowded schedule of gigs leading up to the festival. Alternative theories include Richard’s apparent disgust at having to play at the same time as the Pixies on the main stage, resulting in a comparatively small crowd. Whatever the reason, it was one of the more bizarre moments of the festival and one not likely to be remembered with great fondness by Richard Ashcroft fans or the man himself.

Watch out for the monks

This being a true festival of counter-culture, amongst other interesting diversions a group of Gyuto monks were on hand to guide weary festival-goers through sunrise and sunset meditation sessions. That is assuming they could make it out of their tents by then.

And of course... the lineup

This year’s festival saw a lineup that was almost unparalleled for an Australian festival. The eclectic program and sheer variety of artists from both Australia and across the globe included The Strokes, Mumford & Sons, Florence & The Machine, The Pixies, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Empire of the Sun, Scissor Sisters, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Goldfrapp, Grizzly Bear and Yeasayer, to name but a few. Below is a rundown of some of the acts that caught the attention of this reviewer...

PHOTO GALLERY + REVIEWS

Check out the snaps from the festival, artists in order are: Delphic's James Cook, Foals' Yannis Philippakis, LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, Miike Snow's Christian Karlsson, Pixies' Black Francis and Festival Shots. All images: Marc Grimwade/Splendour In The Grass.

FOALS (Mix-Up Tent, 3.45pm, Friday 30^th July):

English indie group Foals took to the stage in a packed Mix-Up tent at the same time as Yeasayer took over the open air Amphitheatre, in what was undoubtedly one of the biggest clashes of the day if not the entire festival. An anticipating crowd had gathered nonetheless and as the band kicked out their opener, the title track from new album ‘Total Life Forever’, it was clear they were not about to disappoint. Crowd favourite ‘Cassius’ followed and by the time ‘Miami’ had the crowd dancing and singing, the tone for the afternoon was set.

Although providing nothing extraordinary in the way of stage presence, the band’s high energy sound of driving drumming, angular guitars and distinctive vocals more than compensated and seemed to lift in intensity midway through. The latter half of the set was a tour de force bookended around the spine-tingling slow burn of ‘Spanish Sahara’. Signing off with ‘Two Steps, Twice’, Foals exited to the deafening roar of applause having laid down a marker for following acts that would seldom be bettered throughout the remainder of the day.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM (Mix-Up Tent, 9pm, Friday 30^th July):

It is nigh-on impossible that by the time 9pm rolls around, on the first day of a packed program of acts at a major festival, the second stage of said festival would be running to time. Right? Apparently this was not the case at Splendour 2010, and so it was that LCD Soundsystem started inexplicably early, meaning that this reviewer missed the opening stanza of their set. Notwithstanding, with the crowd in high spirits towards the end of a first day of revelry, LCD’s potent dance-punk mixture went down a treat.

With a sound larger than the stage-high video screen displays of James Murphy which played throughout, the frontman revelled in the spotlight whipping the crowd into a frenzy at will. ‘Drunk Girls’ seemed to resonate with the crowd, as did perennial favourite ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ which followed soon after. However the biggest response was saved for new track ‘I Can Change’ and the trance-like ‘Tribulations’ which was delivered with sublime veracity, bringing the house down. ‘Losing My Edge’ drew the curtain on a blistering set and one of the true highlights of the weekend.

DELPHIC (Mix-Up Tent, 3.45pm, Saturday 31^st July):

A healthy crowd had gathered at the Mix-Up tent for the performance of British electro-pop trio Delphic. Channelling more than a hint of fellow Manchester natives New Order throughout their electro indie set, Delphic opened with the haunting ‘Clarion Call’ and the digitalised groove of ‘Doubt’, slowly winning the afternoon masses over.  By the time ‘Red Lights’ rang out from the stage, the crowd was in full swing.

The afternoon’s highlight was the recognisable ‘Halcyon’, energising proceedings and engaging the crown at a point where it had threatened to fall into a lull. The sprawling ‘Acolyte’ was an effective closer to the set which suitably impressed without scaling any remarkable heights. With Delphic having preached to the converted and winning over some new fans, it was a case of rushing onto the next of the afternoon’s entertainment.

MIIKE SNOW (Mix-Up Tent, 2pm, Sunday 1^st August)

Two thirds of Swedish-American trio Miike Snow reached prominence throughout the noughties as a production duo for pop singers such as Britney Spears, but having eschewed this for their more indie-friendly incarnation a sizeable last-day crowd had assembled to see how this potent mix would translate into the live arena. From the brooding intro to their set Miike Snow drew the crowd in; the smoke-filled stage and minimalist light show adding to the mystique.

The shimmering arctic pop of ‘Cult Logic’ and ‘Burial’ laid down a steady groove amidst the ambience, with the piano-driven ‘Silvia’ building into a powerful crescendo without quite setting off the attentive crowd. The oddly titled ‘A Horse is Not Home’ provided a mid-set peak and was an instant crowd favourite.  By the time the stomping ‘Plastic Jungle’ lead into the recognisably catchy ‘Animal’, which easily drew the biggest reception of the day, the atmosphere in the tent was at boiling point. With that, the set came to a close and as the punters drifted away Miike Snow returned the icy nordic caves from whence they came. Presumably.

PIXIES (10.45pm, Sunday 1^st August)

As the closing act of the festival, the anticipation for the Pixies was considerable. Following Mumford & Sons at the Amphitheatre (at a relatively late time) meant that a reduced crowd was on hand to witness one of the most influential rock bands of the past 25 years.  The punters that remained, however, were served up a smorgasbord of the band’s hits from across their career. The familiar elements were all there - screaming vocals from Frank Black, the trademark bass grooves and sweet harmonies of Kim Deal, piercing guitar lines from Joey Santiago and fluid drumming from David Lovering.

With minimal crowd interaction the Pixies blistered their way through familiar territory at pace; ‘Gouge Away’, ‘ Debaser’ and ‘Caribou’ offering a glimpse of the fury and urgency of the band at their heyday. Herein lies the problem, as the band’s undeniable legacy and influence sits at odds with the greatest hits approach to their post-reunion career. Their apparent lack of interest in the festival did not help either, with Kim Deal at one point questioning whether people were camping out during one of the rare instances of crowd interaction. With a predictable encore of ‘Where is my mind’ and ‘Here comes your man’ Pixies brought the curtain down on the main stage with a solid yet slightly disappointing set, leaving festival-goers to drift back to their tents for the final time.

And so ended another weekend enjoying the Splendour in the Grass and anticipating the return (and definitely enjoying a southern winter more than a northern summer!).