Mitch Knox, Steve Bell, Hannah Story, Bryget Chrisfield and Roshan Clerke bring you all the action from day one at Splendour In The Grass. 
Pics by Peter Sharp

Eves The Behavior

This is something of a special performance for up-and-coming chanteuse Eves The Behavior, who informs us that in just a couple of days’ time, on Monday, she'll be celebrating her 21st birthday. In that respect, her inaugural appearance at Splendour In The Grass, opening up the Mix Up Tent for the second day of festivities, is a remarkable thing to behold – Eves, real name Hannah Karydas, cuts loose with a polished run of sultry, soulful pop tunes, capably backed by her accompanying instrumentalists. Yet, at the same time, as she gyrates and sways and swans about the stage – casually cool though it is to behold – it’s hard to shake the nagging feeling that what we’re seeing is, essentially, Diet Lorde. And, in a market already filled with variants on the theme, it’s hard to tell what this really adds to it; perhaps time will tell. She’s only 21, almost, after all.

Circa Waves

Liverpool four-piece Circa Waves weren't doing anything new with the songs on their debut album earlier this year, Young Chasers. While the record may have been underwhelming and seemingly brash, the band are charismatic enough to get the punters enthusiastically dancing in the drying mud. It finally is T-shirt weather here at the festival, as lead singer Kieran Shudall wears a Pains of Being Pure at Heart shirt. It's too soon to tell whether this band will evolve into a comparably more mature band, but for now their light and easy brand of guitar-pop isn't going anywhere anytime soon.



Elliphant

Elliphant brings the bangers. Everyone throws their hands up and the set is a great success. We all enjoy ourselves irrespective of prior knowledge of this artist. One of the better songs peters out, which is a shame despite the fact that it had already soared to great heights. A self-promoting punter scales a pole inside the tent then falls backwards onto a group of mates (hopefully) during the Swedish artist's biggest song. Fierce in every way that needs celebrating. 

Dune Rats

Dune Rats are irreverent beyond the point of excess. The Brisbane band shred guitars like they were parking tickets, giving little apparent care as to whether anyone's listening. As it is, the crowd are moshing wildly as nudity, giant inflatables and more curse words than your mother knows fly across the stage in lightning fashion. There's a shoey salute from a member of the crowd as the band launch into closer, Funny Guy, before heading off to make more mischief elsewhere.

Art Of Sleeping

Brisbane indie-rockers Art Of Sleeping are commanding a considerable crowd at the GW McLennan stage, despite the earlyish hour, using their Splendour opportunity to deliver a solid serve of sweetness from their new full-length, Shake & Shiver. There’s time for a bit of extra fun, too, when the band bring out recent touring mate Jesse Davidson to deliver some on-point guest vocals on a Frank Ocean cover. As far as their originals are concerned, though, despite the record’s relative infancy, the band’s aural offerings are lapped up with the kind of vigour usually reserved exclusively for old favourites (which aren’t totally absent either, mind you), evidencing the strength of obvious standouts such as the wistful Jefferson and sparkling closer Crazy.

SAFIA

There’s obviously something in the water down old Canberra way – following Peking Duk’s glorious display in the dying hours of last night, city-mates and ascendant electro-whizzes SAFIA do much for the ACT’s cred as a hotbed of creative activity. Word is evidently spreading, too – by the time we arrive at the Mix Up stage to take in their set, the crowd is already too big for the confines of the shaded space, but even those outside remain in thrall to the three-piece, who hit real heights with recent faves such as the ominous Counting Sheep and excellent newest cut Embracing Me. Not content to leave it there, the band bring out Tkay Maidza to lend vocals to Take Me Over, to rapturous response. Perhaps a year ago it would have been easy to write the act off as endearing enough, if unremarkable – but, today, you’d be hard-pressed to say there’s anything unremarkable about SAFIA at all.

I'lls

Over on Tony Danza stage (d'Oh! We mean, of course, Tiny Dancer), I'lls entertain a crowd of a coupla hundred peeps with live bleeps and the resultant sonic art. Everyone's pretty engaged, but not enough to dance just yet, which should be their aim in this time slot. They play something "super-super new" and claim to not really know how to play it live yet. Actually, they're not wrong: that one could definitely use more rehearsal. The beats don't quite gel as yet. Old mate's obviously got a few Radiohead CDs in his collection. "I love you all and I'll see you in the mud!" frontman Simon Lamb promises after introducing their final track. Another member of the trio can barely contain his enthusiasm when da beat drops, which is adorable. And we turn to see a lone hula hooper sharing her hoop among the crowd. 

The Smith Street Band

“I’m gonna remember this for the rest of my life,” The Smith Street Band’s Wil Wagner says partway through the southern punks’ breathless, relentless Amphitheatre set. It’s easy to understand why – it feels like half the festival – encompassing diehards and the merely curious alike – has packed in front of the main stage to witness the band in action. The performance is, in some ways, a perfect symbiosis of energy – The Smith Street Band are in absolutely blistering form, and the crowd responds with deafening roars and singalongs that would be enough to inspire ravenous jealousy in most of their peers. Sunshine & Technology marks an early highlight, ahead of fellow notable corkers such as Get High, See No One and Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams, but let’s be real: the entire set is a standout performance, arguably one of the band’s best to date, and the sun hasn’t even gone down yet. The ball is in your court, everyone else.

Total Giovanni

Stakes are low for Total Giovanni this evening, as they share a collaborative DJ set in the small Tiny Dancer tent. Free from any performance pressure, the Melbourne guys seem confident and relaxed and they drop the roller-skating classic, A Lover's Holiday, by Change early in the set. Things get further underway to some Gino Soccio and Cerrone, with the funky synthesised sounds squelching like gumboots in the mud. There are dorky dance moves galore as people feel free to enjoy themselves to the egalitarian disco sounds.  



Years & Years

This is simply not Years & Years’ day. The Brit electro luminaries suffer a near half-hour delay on beginning their set, brought about by a logistical mishap that's resulted in their arriving on Splendour’s stage without their gear, thus pulling together whatever they can from backstage to deliver a comparatively pared-down experience that nonetheless enthralls and proves the band to be well worthy of the buzz that's been growing around them of late. Infectious, irreverent, energetic and utterly charming to boot, the band see the roof veritably blown off the Mix Up tent for the high-octane King, as nearly everyone in the vicinity forms a heaving chorus to back up the soaring upper register vocal work of bleach-blond frontman Olly Alexander. By the end of it all, you’d never even have known they weren’t using their own stuff. An absolutely commendable performance.

Meg Mac

The GW McLennan tent ain't big enough to house all who wish to watch Meg Mac. Many sing along with Known Better ("I should've known better") lyrical content as if they can relate. Very mellow, but what a voice! And they all look so elegant up there clad in black. Grandma Says, huh? Doubtful she would approve of her grandkids' behaviour across this weekend. Very accomplished. What a talent Mac is!

The Grates

Brisbane indie scions The Grates are no strangers to the Splendour stage (although perhaps this most recent festival locale may be new to them) and they return to the fray like it’s their birthright. They’ve mutated into a five-piece in the live realm after their recent family-induced absence but the early focus is all on Patience Hodgson’s incredible technicolour dreamcoat, which she flaunts around the stage like a whirling dervish, cajoling more from her band and the crowd in equal measure. She soon enough drops the cape/coat and suddenly the band is all clad in black like rock’n’roll ninjas, but whether old tracks like Trampoline, Science Is Golden and Feels Like Pain, middle-era numbers such as Like You Could Have It All and Aw Yeah or cuts from their most recent album, Dream Team, like It Won’t Hurt Anymore, the net return is smiles aplenty and plenty of dancing towards the back end of the set as folks start to loosen up and ease back properly into Saturday’s festivities.

Jarryd James

Jarryd James seems a little overwhelmed right now. By his own admission, he’s “never done anything like this before in [his] whole life”; “this” being performing in front of a crammed-full tent of people on one of the main stages at one of the country’s premier festivals. The Brisbane-bred singer-songwriter and electronic muso puts in a valiant effort in the face of such intimidating circumstances nonetheless, delivering a ream of sedate, soulful, super-smooth jams that we’ll all be spinning frantically when he releases just-announced debut full-length Thirty One come September. Sure Love catapults the set to significant heights early on, while a Julia Stone-less Regardless is still a magical thing to behold as James handles vocal duties in her stead. To be totally fair, any downsides can be chalked up to inexperience – this is a fledgling artist, after all, in the throes of a sharp rise to prominence, so a slightly unsure stage manner is nothing to get worked up about – and we expect that he’ll only get even more assured with every such appearance he makes in future.

The King Kahn & BBQ Show

Over in the GW McLennan Tent Montreal’s two-man garage rock party machine The King Kahn & BBQ Show ease into their set with an extended instrumental barrage – the pairing of Arish Ahmed Kahn and Mark Sultan making all the racket with two guitars and the seated Sultan’s insistent kick drums – but soon enough they move into songs proper and churn out a seemingly endless stream of short and sharp garage/punk/soul/doo-wop nuggets that drip with hooks and melody. Have we mentioned that the pair are dressed like outlandish freaks with strange masks, matching blond moptops and various other strange affectations, which only adds to the charm of songs like I’ll Be Loving You, Treat Me Like A Dog, Alone Again, Zombies, Invisible Girl, Waddlin Around and Too Much In Love. It’s the most authentic rock’n’roll on the bill this year and the small but devoted crowd lap it up with relish, the brilliantly-stupid Tastebuds proving a highlight before they close with twisted torch song Why Don’t You Lie?.

POND

POND are the Perth psych band we need, but not the one we deserve: their glam-garage-rock-cum-something-else has all the right grooves for a sundown set in the Amphitheatre, although some sound quality is lost in the vastness, and it’s definitely weird to head to one of their sets and not end up trapped in a mosh. Little to no crowdsurfing isn’t a bad thing though: it’s too muddy. They seem thankful just to be here today, playing mostly tracks from new record Man It Feels Like Space Again and 2013’s Hobo Rocket. They’ve committed to keeping frontman Nick Allbrook away from the front of stage (mostly – he comes out to the edge of stage towards the end of set, and hey, flips his guitar up in the air once or twice), allowing the audience to shift their gaze to drummer Jay Watson and the bassist Joe Ryan.

Purity Ring

Jee-zus Christ. Purity Ring. If you're looking for a set that transcends the usual festival fare to truly experiential heights, you need look no further than the one delivered here tonight by Canadian two-piece electronic duo of Megan James and Corin Roddick. The pair treat their maiden Splendour appearance – and their seemingly boundless audience – with considerable reverence, draping the stage in a jungle of vine-like fairy lights and delivering a breathtaking set of ethereal, lofty tunes to melt even the hardest of hearts. James is a revelatory performer, alternately demure and devastatingly powerful as she and Roddick unveil their undeniable grooves for their captivated crowd. It’s a set heavy with picks from recent album, Another Eternity – Push Pull marks an utterly hypnotic high point – but the songs are delivered with such natural ease and tenderness that they come off as the aural equivalent of a warm hug from an old friend. God, this was uplifting.

The Church

We flee to catch the rest of The Church over at the GW McLennan Stage. Frontman Steve Kilbey still has it going on and possesses the most stage-swagger of the day. The Church know how to play guitar-rock and they still let rip, the squealing solos getting a noticeably older crowd into a frisky mood: spotted a woman in a sexy kitten costume trying to do the twist in some particularly deep mud. Set highlight is unarguably 1988’s Under The Milky Way, which gets the crowd crooning along, practically swaying in the mud. The Australian rock veterans deserve a bigger crowd than they’ve got tonight. It doesn’t help that The Dandy Warhols are about to start their set over yonder.

The Dandy Warhols

Dusk is falling at the amphitheatre as Portland party-starters The Dandy Warhols aim to bring a bit of druggy sophistication to proceedings, but the mix seems slightly lacklustre as they push through Get Off, charismatic frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor doing his best to bring a bit of spark to proceedings. It gradually builds momentum to the delight of the filling void before them, and they begin to reel off their stream of sleazily catchy tunes, among them We Used To Be Friends and hedonism anthem Horse Size Pills. The instantly recognisable intro to their bona fide festival banger Bohemian Like You proves too much for someone up front who sets off a flare in the moshpit, but fortunately no one seems to be injured and the show continues apace with the psychy Godless proving a latter-set highlight.

Best Coast

With three albums behind her, Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast has built an excellent catalogue of songs to chose from live. She kicks things off on a high with two of her best, The Only Place and Heaven Sent. The set is tight as three electric guitars and a hollow-body bass fills out the sound, giving it the full-bodied feeling that her early recordings lacked and lending some extra power and breadth to her middle-ground recent work. Do You Want Me Like You Used To settles into more of an even-tempered groove at just the right time, as more tracks from her new album, So Annoyed and the warm California Nights, follow suit. It's a plain, no-frills set up on the stage, but simple is what Cosentino does best, as When I'm With You and the earnestly plaintive Boyfriend attest.  



Azealia Banks

Azealia Banks loves it up there in her black bodycon outfit. And the Mix-Up tent contains the loosest of punters. Banks leaves her hit 'til last and there's a One Direction concert-style squeal as all recognise its intro. Arms rise into the air to utilises camera phones since this is a festival 'moment' many have been waiting for. Ms Banks has come a long way since the temper tantrum-shortened festival sets of old. 

The Wombats

The Wombats are the ultimate festival band and crowd pleasers. The Amphitheatre is full to the brim with people lapping up their friendly pop-rock. They’re a band of infectious melodies and catchy lyrics, of sweet sweet pop, crafted for a good crowd singalong. It helps that Matthew Murphy is your regular charming Brit. His accent could melt even the most frozen heart and he means to make Splendour a gig to remember on his deathbed. Tord Øverland Knudsen is easily the most energetic bassist of the day, dashing across the stage throughout each song and bringing a real sense of fun to proceedings. The set hits its peak with tracks from 2011’s This Modern Glitch, but new singles like Greek Tragedy and This Is Not A Party, and old favourites like closer Let’s Dance To Joy Division have people kicking up the mud. Set highlight: 1996.

Boy & Bear

This will sound harsh, but before Boy & Bear take to the stage as the GW McLennan tent’s headliners, the primary question is are Boy & Bear still a band? The answer, as it turns out, is yes, very much so, and one that has grown into a mature, at-ease, yet indelibly “adult contemporary” sort at that. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with their music – early high point Feeding Line gets an enthusiastic singalong response from all in starry-eyed attendance – but there’s an inescapable “been-here-before” feeling that permeates the whole shindig, from Dave Hosking’s polished-to-a-tee Breathy Man Vocals™ to the wider group’s effortless, time-worn – and, sadly, almost tired, though maybe that’s just us – chemistry. On the plus side, everyone here should have no trouble falling asleep tonight.

Nancy Whang

Daft Punk may not be playing, and neither is LCD Soundsystem, but Nancy Whang is well and truly bringing us to her house with a selection of her favourite dance records. That's records of the vinyl kind, rather than the theoretical type that your DJ friend claims to spin. Showing up many of the others from across the day, she plays mostly house music and disco, dipping from the Dimitri From Paris remix of Chic's timeless I Want Your Love into Ned Dohney's Get It Up For Love. It's equally an exercise in curation as it is exploration, as recent tracks by artists like Escort sit beside established and underground classics.



Flight Facilities

Most of the crowd has moved to Flight Facilities at the Mix Up tent as the Sydney duo prepare to lift off on another aerodynamic journey. Frequent touring vocalist and collaborator Owl Eyes is the first guest on stage, with a simple live synth piano accompaniment for Heart Attack. Elizabeth Rose is on hand to perform I Didn't Believe, as the pair stick to playing the original backing tracks to most of their songs, moving away from the remixes they've been playing out live recently. They throw a few nu-disco staples in the mix and bring up Client Liaison, complete with a keytar, for Sunshine. Things close out to Clair De Lune as the two producers leave us craving more.

Florence + The Machine

No one is a performer like Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine is. No one. You have never seen someone so fully inhabit the role of stage-goddess. She’s an ephemeral nymph queen, here for a moment and gone the next, and you’re lucky just to have even basked in her radiance. Tonight she’s dressed in a flowing white shirt and white flared slacks, barefoot of course. It’s difficult to catch the early part of the set except through the raised smartphones of other audience members, although it’s unlikely you’d forget this one, even if you hadn’t managed to record your favourite song. The set draws heavily on first record, Lungs, and new record, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, although Ceremonials’ Shake It Out gets a look in.
The set is peppered with moments of spiritual catharsis, Welch joining her doting fans in the crowd, or inviting a man in a wedding dress onto the stage. She runs and twirls and spins across stage, raising her arms to the audience and crying out. She’s got a powerful voice, a sort of siren call, and that’s no more obvious than on the first singles from her new record, Ship To Wreck and What Kind Of Man.
The closer is of course Dog Days Are Over. Welch requests that we all embrace, kiss, touch each other and then that we take off an item of clothing and hold it in the air, and in doing so let the negativity go. She revels in it, and during the last bar takes off her shirt too, flinging it into the audience. 

[The Music Team = Bryget Chrisfield, Hannah Story, Mitch Knox, Roshan Clerke and Steve Bell]

want even more splendour in the grass review goodness? we got you, fam:

day one

day three