I just got home from Splendour in the Grass!
… Like 9 days ago (Yes, I know I fail at blogging). But, to be fair, as soon as I returned I contracted a horrible flu.
For those who don’t know, Splendour in the Grass is a Music and Arts festival that goes for a duration of 3 days in Byron Bay, NSW. This was this years lineup. Amazing, huh!?
I went with two of my biffs: G and S. We stayed in an apartment because we missed out on camping tickets. The weather was almost unbearably freezing at times so we were quietly thankful for that. Each day we caught the shuttle bus from town to the fields where the festival was held, making some short-term friends on the way.
My favorite acts of Day 1 were Kate Miller-Heidke, The Shins and Jack White. The quality of the music was superb but I longed to be tossed around in a mosh-pit and day 1 definitely did not deliver on that front. We had a pretty good spot for The Shins, smack-bam in the middle of the crowd but nobody was moving. And I have the lack of bruises to prove it. I looked around at the crowd and everyone was so mellow. Just casually swaying back and forth to this amazing band. The random wofts of marijuana probably explains that.
For a duration of about 15 minutes on day one, it was absolutely pissing down with rain. It was literally coming down in sheets. All traces of grass turned to mud and from then on in, the festival was referred to as: “Splendour in the Mud”.
My mates and I decided to get our pre-drinks on for day 2. This meant that we arrived at the festival late afternoon rather than midday. There were a few clouds in the sky, but overall the weather was fairly nice. Mud and puddles were still very evident. S nearly pulled a sickie due to over-inebriation. G and I found this quite hilarious.
We got mad spots for Jinja Safari and The Beautiful Girls. At the end of Jinja Safari’s set, the keyboardist jumped into the crowd. I got a nice grope of his hair.
S, G and I then decided to chill out and have lunch. Lunch and ciders. Festival food really is delicious.
After lunch we went our separate ways because I wanted to see 360 and nobody else did. So worth it though! He absolutely killed it. On the mosh front, 360 definitely delivered. At the beginning of his set I was about 7 meters away from the stage and by the end of it I was nearly at the front of the mosh pit. So good.
Day 2 came to a close with Bloc Party and late-night-kebabs (that’s not the name of a band, we actually got kebabs on our way back to the apartment).
Day 3 was my favorite day. We arrived fairly inebriated (and managed to sneak in a goon sack in S’s hood). A stand-out band of the day for me were Ball Park Music. I had never heard their stuff before but as soon as the frontman emerged into the mosh-pit mid-song, I fell in love. S and G then went to see another act but I stayed put because one of my favorite band’s were about to play. Fun. were too amazing for words! they definitely live up to their name. Other highlights of the day include Missy Higgins, The Kooks and Electric Guest.
Overall, despite the mud, rain and cold, Spendour in the Grass was a fantastic experience. I definitely got my moneys worth and would consider returning next year. I slept on the flight back and as soon as I got home I bought a bunch of albums and then went straight to bed. It feels as though I’m only kind of waking up now, 9 days later.
Unfortunately my shoes did not survive the weekend.
Moral of the weekend is: If you jump in the mosh, I’m probably going to buy your album.
Ellyse 