Art Vs Science delivered a high-mass of crowd-friendly, electro favourites to kick-off the New Year’s Eve festivities. Stand-out tracks included Magic Fountain and the perennial classic Parlez Vous Francais. The trio even paid homage to the world of metal, dabbling in the nether realms of Metallica for some high-voltage fun. Fast forward to Peking Duk who are well known for their super-charged live performances. The Canberra DJ’s Falls Festival slot was one of the stand-outs of the entire three day program, dishing-up a mix that saw the Valley Stage blast off in dance oblivion. The duo delivered a brilliant version of Adele’s Hello as well as some Fat Boy Slim, throwing in classics like High and Take Me Over.

The Wombats were billed to see in the New Year and delivered a track-list of radio-friendly favourites, which included 1996, The English Summer and (of course) Let’s Dance to Joy Division. The Brit-pop trio raced through a solid thirteen song set to bring in 2016 but no fireworks were to be had on the stroke of midnight due to total fire ban – a small price to pay to the music festival gods for a mud-free North Byron Parklands (those who were at Splendour 2015 will understand).

Courtney Barnett delivered a ‘cracking set’.

Day two gave us Courtney Barnett – probably one of the most anticipated acts on the bill – and she didn’t disappoint. The Melbourne singer/songwriter/guitarist has stolen headlines around the world, with Rolling Stone and The New York Times just two of the heavyweights lauding her talent. It was a shame she was slotted to play in the afternoon, but it didn’t stop her delivering a cracking set, which included the soon-to-be anthems, Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party and the Pedestrian At Best.

Other day two highlights included a stunning performance by Australia’s unofficial poet laureate, Paul Kelly. His ensemble, The Merri Soul Sessions, featured an all-star cast of Australian talent – Dan Sultan, Clairey Brownie, Vika, Linda Bull, and Kira Puru. The supergroup sampled everything from soul masterpieces right through to the Kelly classics, all of which left the Valley Stage crowd spellbound.

Punters had flooded front of stage to catch festival legends Bloc Party, who were billed to close day two. It was a performance worth waiting for. They played an eleven song set, opening with The Good News from their latest album, which was followed by the festival anthem Hunting for Witches. A change in line-up has only amped the band’s edge – Kele Okereke held the Valley Stage in his hands as he delivered the likes of Banquet, Helicopter, closing the night with This Modern Love.

Young Fathers – the Scottish group was one of the best finds of the festival.

Day three delivered one of the best finds of the festival – Young Fathers. The opening beats of the Mercury Prize winning group from Edinburgh, Scotland acted like a siren, drawing crowds of punters to the Forest Stage to discover the source. What they found was a four piece delivering an original blend of electronica, soul and hip hop through a combination of backing tape and turbo-charged drumming. It was one of those festival performances that would be literally a hard act to follow.

Nonetheless, festival headliners Disclosure delivered on their reputation. With rumours the Valley Stage amphitheatre had been sprinkled with celebrity glitter to the likes of Myley Cyrus and friends, the sibling duo from England put on an incredible performance that went to the tune of eighty minutes. The set-list included a selection of dance-inducing numbers along the likes of White Noise, You and Me, Omen and Magnets, with Latch closing the festival.

That was the year that was…and we enjoyed the music.

Falls Music and Arts Festival Director, Brandon Saul, declared this years’ event was the best they’ve had at the venue. “It was a thrill to see the natural amphitheatre full of people having a great time”, Mr Saul said. “The festival patrons themselves should also be congratulated – everyone commented on how friendly, polite and cooperative the patrons were and that it made this year’s Falls Music and Arts Festival Byron a great experience.”

It was a somewhat smaller crowd than previous years. But no one seemed to mind the lack of human traffic on the North Byron Parklands fields, which meant easy access to bars, food tents and even to the front of stage areas.

Additional material by Sam Drewe

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Some big names have been mentioned for this year’s festival including Bloc Party, Foals, The Wombats, Disclosure, Courtney Barnett and Gary Clark Jr. On the Australian music front, acts including Birds of Tokyo, Gang of Youths, Alpine, Hilltop Hoods, King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, Little May, Seth Sentry and Paul Kelly & Merri Soul Sessions round off a stellar cast.

Falls Music & Arts Festival Byron Director, Brandon Saul, says the 2015 roll-call featuring more than 60 acts is one of the most diverse to date.

“There’s a great cross section of artists and musical styles in this year’s line-up. I’m really looking forward to seeing Courtney Barnett – she cleaned up at the Aria Awards this year and has just been nominated for a Grammy,” says Saul. “Kurt Vile, Gary Clark Junior and Hiatus Kaiyote are also really interesting acts. As are Merryn Jeann and Kyle Lionheart who are from the local area. Then of course there’s the pure class of Paul Kelly. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t have a soft spot for Paul Kelly.”

SOAK – appearing at this year’s Falls Festival.

But Falls Festival is not just about music – each year an extensive arts program is hosted via the Falls Village program. The Village is created as a cultural and artistic sanctuary with the festival, and will feature circus acrobatics, art workshops and interactive installations. Punters can also help create the giant puppets that parade through the festival on the last day, as well as their own costume. For those who prefer to catch a film, there’s an air conditioned cinema space. The Falls Festival Byron Bay ‘Foxtel Movie Marquee’ features the latest movie offerings in air conditioned comfort.

In the spirit of keeping cool, festival organisers have also introduced a custom built water park. Christened ‘Palm Springs’, the park will feature a 20-metre long water slide, four infinity pools, mushroom fountains, and all with life guards on the lookout – so don’t forget your togs.

Festival goers can also get involved with ongoing green initiatives that work to improve the grounds of North Byron Parklands. Staff and patrons planted 1,000 native seedlings at the 2014 Falls Festival. Brandon Saul says encouraging people to get involved with the site helps the festival to grow.

“All the Falls festivals are held on beautiful natural parklands. Some of the initiatives are about minimising our impact and encouraging patrons to look after the site in the short term via recycling [etc] but we’re also committed to a vision of what the parklands will be like in many years to come and the part we play in creating sustainable events globally,” says Saul. “It’s a long term process and we want to get it right.”

Falls Festival Byron Bay tickets are ON SALE NOW at www.fallsfestival.com

Thursday Dec 31, 2015 until Jan 03, 2016 at North Byron Parklands 18+ event

THE FALLS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL BYRON 2015 LINE-UP

FOALS · BLOC PARTY · DISCLOSURE · THE WOMBATS · HILLTOP HOODS · RÜFÜS · COURTNEY BARNETT · BIRDS OF TOKYO · HALSEY · KURT VILE AND THE VIOLATORS · JARRYD JAMES · WAVVES · MAC DEMARCO · MEG MAC · THE AVENER · PAUL KELLY & THE MERRI SOUL SESSIONS · ART VS SCIENCE · DJANGO DJANGO · GARY CLARK JR. · SETH SENTRY · LITTLE MAY · THE MACCABEES · LEON BRIDGES · ‘WEIRD AL’ YANKOVIC · ALPINE · TORO Y MOI · YOUNG FATHERS · ELLIPHANT · GANG OF YOUTHS · BØRNS · HIATUS KAIYOTE · KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD · SOAK · OH WONDER · EL VEZ · FLEETMAC WOOD · JESSE DAVIDSON · PEKING DUK · MIAMI HORROR · TIJUANA CARTEL · BOOTLEG RASCAL · GOONS OF DOOM · SPIRIT OF AKASHA · BANFF

FALLS COMEDY

NAZEEM HUSSAIN · RANDY · ADAM ROZENBACHS · BECKY LUCAS · NICK CODY · TIEN TRAN

THE VILLAGE LINE-UP

DUKE DREAMER * JARRYN PHEGAN * KAYA BOOM * KIKI AND PASCAL * KIKI BITTOVABITSCH * KYLE LIONHEART * LEO * LIAM POWERS * LOONATIC SPECTACULAR WITH DAN NIMMO * MAE WILDE * MERRYN JEANN * MOME * NICK COYLE * THE SCRIMSHAW FOUR * SHAI SHRIKI * SHAK SHUKA * SHEP HUNTLEY * SIR ANTHONY LIVINGSPACE * SKETCH THE RHYME * THE BUTTON COLLECTIVE * THE CASSETTES * THE GREAT DAVE * THE IMPRINTS * TRANSYLVANIAN GYPSY KINGS * TWO AGE * VARDOS * ZEBI STRIPES      

THE VILLAGE VENUES

LOLA’S BAR · LA PETITE GRANDE · THE ALKAZAR · ART PARADE WORKSHOP · CAFÉ DE RUDE · DJ BIGTOP · MAVERICK SALON

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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.

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