Mark Ronson fans braved a soaking to see him rock the Splendour stage.
Thirty thousand punters saw a stunning line-up of music, arts and crafts at Splendour in the Grass 2015 writes Verandah Magazine’s Georgina Bible.
The heavens opened but the crowds kept pouring into North Byron Parklands to watch over 100 acts play over four stages at Splendour in the Grass. There was sunny weather across the weekend, though it was punctuated by violent downpours that turned rolling green fields into murky black sludge, calf deep in places. But no one seemed to mind wading through the mire – with most dressed to do battle with their gumboots in readiness.
Friday kicked off with promising conditions along with outstanding performances by Death Cab for Cutie and Ryan Adams. Death Cab opened their slot in the amphitheatre with a rip-the-roof-off performance of The New Year, before launching into a set list of fan favourites. The natural law that presides over Byron Shire that rain shall fall on music festivals kicked in during Adams’ set in the GW McLennan tent but punters ignored the downpour outside as they were treated to extended versions of classics like Peaceful Valley and Magnolia Mountain. Mark Ronson fans had to endure complete saturation in order to watch his star-studded performance in the amphitheatre. Ronson invited friends on stage including Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt and closed the night with the monster smash-hit Uptown Funk.
Death Cab – rip-off-the-roof performance of The New Year. Photo: Stephen Booth
The sun came out enough on Saturday to see the Splendour urchins emerge from the expanding sea of mud to enjoy the powered lo-fi, psych-rock of Pond. With a look that passes them off as refugees from Nimbin (rather than Perth) the group had the amphitheatre engulfed in an auditory freak-out as they swayed and lunged to tracks like Giant Tortoise. Over in the GW McLennan Tent, The Church drew a crowd peppered with rock n roll silverbacks who enjoyed a mix of new and old classics. You Took was the track everyone was waiting for – and it didn’t disappoint. Later, the goddess from England, Florence Welch, had dressed head to toe in white to meet her people. Florence and the Machine capped off the day with an incredible soaring set, played to a captivated amphitheatre.
Florence Welch from Florence and The Machine. Photo: Savannah Vander Niet
By the third day, chartering the mud was like walking a tightrope above quicksand – one wrong move and it was off to a netherworld of sludge. Unperturbed, the punters rose again to enjoy a trifecta of some of the world’s best bands in the amphitheatre on Sunday night.
English drum and bass guitar duo Royal Blood hit the stage and immediately whipped the crowd into a literal whirpool. The sweat covered crowd slammed into each other through a thumping set, opening with Come on Over and closing with a monster 10-minute performance of Out of the Black, which diverted briefly into Black Sabbath’s Iron Man. Tame Impala relaxed the mood with a set-list largely from their last two albums, played through a landscape of psychedelic lights and flash-back projections. Two songs from the new album Currents had their live debut at Splendour – The Moment and The Less I know the Better.
Royal Blood whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. Photo: Justin Ma
After an 18-year absence from Australia, Blur was an anticipated headliner for Splendour after having withdrawn from the Big Day Out last year. Damon Albarn bounced onto the stage and blamed his exuberance on having just consumed a batch of Byron Bay doughnuts. He then launched into a cracking version of Go Out from the band’s latest album The Magic Whip. Albarn treated fans to almost a best-of Blur set-list, racing through hits like Parklife and Beetlebum. Song 2 saw the entire amphitheatre blast-off but sadly, a decent chunk of punters exited after the 2.05 minutes of pure pop-rock was over. They missed a three song encore that ended with a gorgeous version of the soaring song – The Universal – an appropriate end to a mind-blowing three days.
Blur in a Blur of motion. Photo: Stephen Booth.
