Live Review: Splendour in the Grass

03 August 2010

by Jason Treuen

Splendour in the Grass clocked up ten years this year and what a celebration it was. 32,000 revellers joined the party, soaking up over 100 bands over three days of great weather at the festival’s new home of Woodford in Queensland.

Marcus Mumford, frontman for UK folk stars Mumford & Sons, declared Splendour 2010 "the best festival line-up anywhere in the world this year”, and while it’s a controversial call (especially given the calibre of Glastonbury and Coachella), it was hard to fault the vibrance, energy and sheer good taste of this year’s roster. Expanding to a new three-night format for the first time, the winter festival now boasts a line up as big as the Big Day Out but gives you enough time to enjoy it.

First up though, it must be said that one of the most striking points of difference about ths year's event was the sound quality. After years of festivals, you expect but never accept washed-out, muddy mixes but Splendour’s sound mix across most stages was a revelation.

Maybe it was the crisp country air or new engineers or the organisers found a way to teleport technology back from the future, but Florence and The Machine on Saturday and Mumford on Sunday in the Ampitheatre main stage sounded both immense and intimate, like a bar set for 20,000 people. For the sound alone, the higher ticket price was worth it. Splendour, please share your secrets with other festivals.

As for the musical highlights, where do you start? There were plenty. Interesting, some of the festival’s biggest drawcards were also the newest – a year ago, the thought of acts like Florence and the Machine, The Temper Trap and Mumford & Sons commanding primetime slots and 20,000 people would have been unfathomable.

After fighting for recognition on home soil for so long, The Temper Trap proved they’re both a world-class act and new crowd favourites on Friday night and that was before Marcus Mumford joined them onstage for Down River.

On Saturday night, Florence and her Machine blew the whole hillside away with her voice alone with crowds crushing walkways into the amphitheatre to see her, while Mumford & Sons led a colossal crowd into a spirited barn-dancing hoedown that one colleague dubbed “convict rave”.

Rewind to Friday and many people couldn't go past about Foals blistering set while Scissor Sisters entertained with their camp cavalcade of disco tunes. Despite rampant (and hopeful) rumours, Kylie didn't show as she did in Melbourne. Other highlights included Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, LCD Sound System, Ben Harper (especially his cover of Never Tear Us Apart alongside INXS drummer John Farriss) and Grizzly Bear’s set at the GW McLennan stage.

Day two proved the apex for many punters party planning (judging by the sore heads on Sunday morning) and Delphic got it started early with their space-age rave-rock which had people spilling out the tent.

Bluejuice got a similarly  riotous reaction later in the day, dressed up as yetis (or half-shaved chickens depending on who you talked to), while the much-hyped Drums disappointed with an underwhelming effort. Earlier on in the day, the impressive Gypsy and the Cat and Jonathan Boulet provided soothing cures for the hungover.

Later that night, Paul Kelly amazed as he always does, aided and abetted by Linda and Vika Bull on backing vocals, Even's Ash Naylor and some new rockstar poses.

Elsewhere, Florence’s pulling power severely drained the other stages, with Art vs Science surprisingly playing to a mix up tent two-thirds full. Even an electro-fied cover of Gay Bar couldn't help. Elsewhere Band of Horses delighted fans with a great set while main stage closers The Strokes ripped through the hits with effortless NYC cool.

Sunday highlights included the joyous sounds of Miike Snow early on, a gorgeous set from UK upcomers Fanfarlo, Passion Pit on the main stage and Goldfrapp’s spectacular show in the Mix Up Tent.

And then there was Jonsi… the Sigur Ros frontman now soaring solo. Dressed like an elfin king, the Icelandic artist and his band transported us to another world altogether with an ethereal mix of piano, guitar, strings and voice that climaxed with pulsating bass and sonic squalls by the close.

Following Mumford & Sons in the Ampitheatre, Pixes faithfully replicated the classics in a disappointingly workman-like fashion, while Empire of the Sun dazzled early with their future disco and stageshow before plateau-ing out mid-way (perhaps it had more to do with people’s energy levels, or lack thereof).

And then suddenly, Splendour 2010 was over and 32,000 weary, wonky and dust-coated people slowly made their way to our camps or cars.

Of course, the festival had some teething troubles including severe traffic jams in and out of the site, scary crowd bottlenecks on Saturday night due to lopsided timetabling and food stalls running out of food a day early. Those will have to be sorted for next year. But at the end of the day, those inconveniences will fade far quicker than the music memories Splendour 2010 bestowed.

Stay tuned for photos from the festival coming soon.

What was your Splendour highlight this year? And which bands disappointed? Let us know below!