Splendour Diary: Day 1 – Friday 30 July

By Muna Noor  •  05 Aug 2010 in Splendour In The Grass

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While the Splendiforous crew – a mix of Air Asia X rock fans and friends - DJ Ribut and JUICE venture into the festival grounds that night, it’s only in the morning that I get to take in the surroundings. It’s breathtaking! Held in a rolling rural valley of green, we’re surrounded by natural bushland and even have a view of the Glass House Mountains, a severe rocky outcrop that attracts climbers. And as far as the eye can see there are cars, caravans and tentage.

Over at Splendiforous crew base camp foldable chairs are pitched up and brekkie is being served – fruit, cereal and Bloody Marys! I peruse Splendour’s monster line-up. With over 200 bands and just as many food and beverage options and shopping, Splendour 2010 has made one gargantuan leap into the large, full scale rock monstrosity. There are 3 main stages: the Amphitheatre, the Mix Up tent and the GW McLennan tent. Then there is the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project, the Jager Cube, Ibeefa and Guzman Y Gomez. These are predominantly DJ joints and I’m here for the bands.

 

 

 

 

 

To break it down for you, the Amphitheatre is the big stage for the big bands and f**k off stadium sound – Florence Ad The Machine, The Strokes, The Pixies…. The Mix Up tent is a dancier proposition, filled with small indie bands and electronic artists – Two Door Cinema Club, Delphic, Goldfrapp, Empire Of the Sun, LCD Soundsystem…. And the GW McLennan tent is a folky, singer- songwriter kinda deal, named after the Australian singer-songwriter of the same name; bands performing there include Kate Nash, The Magic Numbers, Grizzly, Bear Midlake, Band Of Horses, Broken Social Scene ….

For a foodie exploring her ethical options, the sheer prospect of organic food and vegetarian choices is staggering and I tuck into a soyburger and coffee with soy for lunch to get it started. The music has already kicked off as early as 11am but the waves of people streaming into the site, the bands competing for attention and the necessity to get some research done in preparation for the interviews to come is overwhelming. I take refuge in the Gold Bar (aka Old Bar, for its preponderance of slightly older industry types, hacks, celebs and so on) and start strategising.

 

 

 

So far today looks to be a dancey affair. I just miss out on the grunge-fest that is Violent Soho and the School Of Seven Bells, but Yeasayer is playing at the Amphitheatre. They clash with The Foals, who I’m interviewing, but as Odd Blood is one of my favourite albums of 2010, I make the arduous trek up towards Splendour’s main stage. The natural amphitheatre formed by the curvature of the hill and valley fringed by an ever ascending order of gum trees on the opposite side provides brilliant views and the sound is superb. In the woozy haze of the afternoon sun, tracks like ‘Madder Red’ have a distinctively different feel as its gossamer chorus lend itself well to the warm breeze, but it’s the bounce of ‘Rome’ that gets the growing hordes in the mood for more. And when ‘The One’ rings out I can barely keep my feet on the ground. It’s too bad I miss the Foals as I get word that the band played a mean set but what a perfect way to start the day!

 

 

There are more difficult decisions to be made. As Hot Chip open at the Mix Up, the mournful Midlake and raging rock chops of Black Rebel Motorcycle are playing mid set elsewhere, but I’m cashing in for Chip. And it seems I’m not the only one. The tent is rammed and even though I turn up early, I’m cast out on the periphery of the action as clubbers pile in. Opening with ‘Boy from School’, the tent doesn’t need much persuasion to get whipped into a frenzy of upraised arms. ‘One Life Stand’ and ‘Over and Over’ unleashes much singing along and the tent has the celebratory air of a house party – warm and messy! Hot Chip is one man down as Joe Goddard’s wife is about to pop a sprog but are pumped on the crowd’s energy. I’m not altogether convinced though. Live, the band lack the polish of the album, but no one else seems bothered. The party has begun!

 

There are some problems worth having and Australia’s Temper Trap and LCD Soundsystem coming up against one another is one of them. Seeing the Melbourne band strike out in front of a home crowd is a promising prospect particularly after sell out shows in UK, Europe and even US on the back of album Conditions, but rumours abound LCD Soundsystem won’t be touring for much longer and I can’t let the opportunity pass; their breakout single ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ was a game changer, damned if I’m not gonna be down the front when they drop it tonight. Canned heat on CD, live LCD is pure dynamite, packing impossibly funky beats that fail to let up as James Murphy and crew work maniacally through their repertoire – ‘Drunk Girls’, ‘All My Friends’, ‘Pow Pow Pow’…. The momentum is mindboggling and James Murphy a poet laureate, his off-kilter oratory striking and powerful. I’m busting moves I never knew I had. When it ends it feels abrubt and unanticipated, the crowd stands there dumbfounded – they just want it to go on. Please let it go on….

I interview Operator Please, the Foals and Grizzly Bear earlier; the latter turns out to be one of the toughest interviews of my life – there’s just no chemistry – but after a vege burrito and a margarita to wash it down I head for the McLennan tent for the Brooklyn band anyway and end up wishing I had discovered this place earlier. There’s a looser atmosphere here – a pall of smoke hangs amongst the shadows, a familiar smell lingers in the air, feet shuffle and shift rather than pad and pounce, and heads are down as if in hushed meditation. There also seems to be a lot more guys. Lit with lights in jars like fireflies, on stage the four-piece present a formidable wall of reverberating guitars, hypnotic drums and pitch perfect harmonies from mostly third album Vekatimest. I’m won over despite myself.

With Kylie rumoured to appear, Scissor Sisters’ disco cabaret is in full swing at the Mix Up, but it’s been a bloody long day, and my feet I killing me from all that dancing, so before Jake Shears gets a chance to rip off his clothing, strip down and show us his instrument of choice, I’m rolling back down the hill. I’m in bed before midnight, just as the last bands exit stage left.

Want to be there? Go to www.airasia.com and book tickets to Gold Coast Australia now.