Live Review: Falls Downtown

Day one

Nobody knew what to expect from day one, it was the first venture away from the east coast setting for Falls Festival, using a new site for music festivals in Fremantle and with a swarm of media surrounding recent events it felt as though questions were still lingering.

The punchy four-piece lit up on the large stage and revelled in the crisp mix."

The movement of Falls Festival into downtown Fremantle couldn’t have been better, however. Plonked directly into the middle of town at Kings Square, the site is jammed with bars and amenities resulting in little to no wait times, utilising the St. John's Church as a comedy club and Town Hall for an old time music venue, even acquiring the participation of surrounding stores to have their fronts open and operating within the festival perimeter.

Unsurprisingly in the current climate, there are security and first aid patrolling constantly and making sure their presence is known, perhaps moreso than would typically be required for a festival of this size (kudos to the organisers).

Unearthed winners Rag N Bone had the honour of opening up the Downtown Stage and the punchy four-piece lit up on the large stage and revelled in the crisp mix. Falling victim to the timetable logistics, it was never going to work in their favour kicking off at the exact moment as the gates started scanning tickets, but hearing I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore echoing across the festival was at least putting the best foot forward.

Norwegian indie electro seemed to have quite the following in Fremantle with Lemaitre amassing several devotees at the barrier of the Alley Stage. Their high-energy set rose to another level with additional members on stage as it thumped through Continuum, Stepping Stone and Splitting Colors.

Back at the Downtown Stage it looks like post-punk isn’t dead, well it is, but occasionally it comes back in vogue. Irrespective, City Calm Down waved dense synth melody and brooding vocals across the crowd with Border On Control. The slightly underwhelmed crowd gave little response initially, though when the brass-backed hook sunk in for Son, it was like a switch had flicked. Jack Bourke's baritone nursed the rest of their set and entranced all in witness, with what ended up being an early highlight of the day.

"We're Parquet Courts from New York" was all it took to set the Alley Stage on fire. The last show of their Australian tour and in all-out party mode, Parquet Courts brought about Dust, Berlin Got Blurry and Master Of My Craft in concise fashion but with direct intent to leave nothing behind.

Previous sets each had their merit, however it isn’t until Modern Baseball goes on in the afternoon that an act truly grabs Falls by the ears. Beaming with smiles and soaking up the atmosphere in between throwing shout outs to other bands on the bill, the Philadelphia four-piece thrashed Fine, Great to a wild response from punters. Their 2016 radio play explosion hit an obvious chord with attendees and the band reflect the appreciation back in Broken Cash Machine and Apple Cider, I Don't Mind.

The Old Time Music Hall became a popular retreat for the day, taking a double billing on the timetable, Luke Dux & Atomic Lunchbox swarmed with garage blues. While it was hard to peel eyes away from the finger plucking style of Dux, the upright bass and dual guitars burst through the old wooden hall with splendour providing the perfect relax setting. Behind the hall in the repurposed Myer building, the many makers’ markets displayed wares from an incredible batch of local designers and stalls with Owned, Anya Brock and Knucklehead Shipping Company. Journey even further down into the building basement and in the Danceteria, Pilerats were throwing together a DJ set that was worthy of main stage setting.

Back at the Alley Stage, every break in the set for AlunaGeorge was met with piercing screams. The duo's female fans were in force in the crowd and for good reason — between the non-stop power and charisma from the pair alongside a setlist that snapped to attention with I’m In Control, You Know You Like It and Disclosure collab White Noise, it was hard not to be swept up in the 45 minutes.

Illy was clearly a significant draw for the day and the overflowing Downtown Stage was being hammered by On & On, Cigarettes and even the man's Like A Version medley. Midway through the slot though, the crowd began to trickle back to the Alley Stage, justifiably so, as the stage projected a brief history of the uprising of DJs from The Bronx, ready for Grandmaster Flash to enter the stage. Anyone who knew the significance of or had seen Flash before knew what to expect, and it wasn’t what was delivered, at least initially. Entering with Atlanta club beats, the hype of the video package dissipated quickly and left the crowd waiting for the hip hop that was expected. As the samples slowly weaved through the decades from '70s pop and rock hits into the '80s and beyond, the swell of the crowd built along with it. By the time the turntables were swapping in The Fugees, Naughty By Nature, James Brown and dropping classic samples from the Incredible Bongo Band and The Shadows, it was a knockout punch and the godfather's place had once again been proven.

Perfect time and perfect setting is all that need be said for Ta-ku sweeping the Downtown Stage. Under the looping album graphics at the back of the stage and supported with rhythm and keys behind him, the hometown hero blissfully delivered tracks from Songs To Break Up To and 50 Days For Dilla Vol.1. The mellowed vibe felt unique and almost required for a day that was pounded with high tempo acts — and the return of Wafia in support for American Girl only made the evening all the better.

Allday was somewhat of a flurried act — not in a musical sense as he was one of the sharpest sounding acts of the day, thanks to Got It and You Always Know The DJ, but visually. The Alley Stage was being pummelled by winds, with extra smoke and deep lighting and the silhouette bouncing from one side of the stage to another could have been anyone: close your eyes and dance appeared to be the solution for many.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard could easily be lost on the end-of-day festival crowd, and being so entrenched in psychedelia it could have easily been missed under the frantic vigour of their style and acid trip projections. It couldn’t have been further from the truth though, as the crowd danced carelessly to People-Vultures and Lord Of Lightning under the wild convulsing gaze of vocalist Stu Mackenzie. Masterful musicians wielding sprawling solos yet completely unhinged in front of the crowd, the mixture was entirely intoxicating.

As the black and red banner sat waiting above the stage, it’s easy to forget that Violent Soho were a last-minute headliner for day one, and at the first strike of How To Taste, it wasn’t even a thought for anyone in the crowd. After a year of heavy touring in 2016, the Soho setlist has drifted from an onslaught of favourites to forgotten gems like No Shade and Blanket. So when the toilet rolls fly for Viceroy or the classic Jesus Stole My Girlfriend hits, the crowd goes from energised to ballistic. Speaking briefly to the crowd, guitarist James Tidswell urges the crowd to look after each other at events like this and not to let dickheads ruin it for everyone, which brings about the realisation that we did not witness any bad behaviour in the crowd the entire day. Echoing the chorus to Covered In Chrome, Luke Henery diving into the crowd to do a shoey, James windmilling on his Explorer with Luke and Mike feeding off each other in front of the swirling mass of bodies, Mansfield once again tore the festival open. Childish Gambino was not required today and I’m sure all Queenslanders will raise a mango to his replacement.

Falls Downtown's day one went off surprisingly without a hitch and we must wait and see if day two is as smooth. However, Fremantle may now have one of its strongest music festival set-ups right at its doorstep.

Day Two

As expected, day two was slow to wake - the gate lines of yesterday were non-existent and people seemed much happier to shake the cobwebs at their own pace.

The Alley Stage swirled with atmospheric R&B under the beret of RY X as Deliverance flashed the soulful minimalist structure that made him a go to for the start of the day. It was a scarce crowd who struggled against the midday sun, but those who pressed on were served a true treat from an act that will likely be climbing festival bills rapidly.

A brief audio glitch halting the start did little to dampen the spirits of Client Liaison. Always the partystarters and featuring the Falls Festivals premiere didgeridoo solo, the group tore through tracks from Diplomatic Immunity sprayed with '80s pastiche. Bass hits strong enough to shatter bone, hair that requires product carried in an industrial drum and Off White Limousine, Client Liaison were once again weird and wonderful.

Audio issues also followed over at the Alley Stage as Vallis Alps are forced to pause their set. The effervescent Parissa Tosif soon brought out the dreamy Young and scattered beat breakdown of Thru much to the crowd delight. With more new music on the way it was inevitable to hear some fresh cuts but the slow burn chorus and rising vocals from one such debut was a showstopper for all watching.

With The Jezabels taking up the Downtown Stage and the line-up for the afternoon becoming very dense, the rush from one side of the festival to another began. Even throughout this, it was remarkably easy to find a good vantage point to the stage thanks to the open layout of the site. Thankfully so since frontwoman Hayley Mary was in true form, wrapping the crowd with Mace Spray, Easy To Love, My Love Is My Disease along with a brief crowd surf to ignite their close.

Jamie T has four diverse records under his belt without taking in his short players, so wanting to vary his set up with new material is understandable, it simply didn’t work for the crowd. Tescoland and Dragon Bones seemed perfect for the afternoon but it wasn’t until some more familiar sounds such as If You Got The Money hit that the atmosphere strikes.

It’s well known but has to be said that Ball Park Music are one of the ideal festival bands. Bursting with fun energy and featuring a setlist that is made for even the worst singalongs, they became the one act of the weekend capable of turning their audience into an instrument throughout. Whether it be Literally Baby, Surrender, or Sam Cromack's acoustic solo of It’s Nice To Be Alive, Ball Park took the day over.

Still riding high on their super successful 2016, DMA’s turned the Alley Stage into a heaving, screaming mess of bodies. Playing the majority of their debut release Hills End, the Sydney lads gave a solid set and lapped the enthusiasm up, though with no new music to speak of and twelve months since the records release they suffered slightly from groundhog day syndrome.

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny the talent of Matt Corby. Within an instant he captivated all at the Downtown Stage with Belly Side Up, Brother and Trick Of The Light. Silky smooth vocals that stream effortlessly from bellowing depths to flawless highs, in the Fremantle twilight set amongst the historic buildings, it’s no wonder the screams of obscene requests from the crowd were constant.

The hometown welcome for Pond was one an obvious one, ecstatic applause filled every gap of Elvis' Flaming Star. Nick Allbrook and Shiny Joe Ryan are captivating in their ability and mind-bending in their wild nature on stage to the point where it’s hard to decide where to watch. Infectiously genre-smashing their way through Waiting Around For Grace and Giant Tortoise, Pond became the unhinged glory that Day two needed.

From the moment the sounds of Because I’m Me rumbled across the Fremantle Downtown, streams of people could be seen sprinting for The Avalanches. Few acts reached the hype level for the weekend as the Melbourne group, partly because so few people have still been able to see them live. Bringing a full band setup and a drove of energy, they delivered a non-stop mixture of new and old with Frankie Sinatra, Subways, Since I Left You, along with covers of Guns Of Brixton and Bump. This was far from the mediocre performance of mid last year, The Avalanches have found their groove and made hearing Frontier Psychiatrist an unmissable event.

The disappointment for many punters was obvious as Broods worked through their set. Crippling sound problems meant anyone close to the stage was able to dance away to Are You Home?, L.A.F and Heartlines blissfully unawares, but further back the audio was a muddy mess that removed every vocal of Georgia Nott.

The odd choice of having London Grammar close the weekend became entirely justified when every person in attendance crammed into the Downtown Stage. The serene downtempo and dazzling stage lighting felt expertly crafted for a large stage moment such as this. Hannah Reid's vocals shone with Nightcall and brought the crowd to standstill for the pulsing chorus of Flickers. It may have been a slightly more dreamy cap to an evening than what some people had intended but the British indie darlings rich melodies, atmospheric builds and emotive performance connected faultlessly.

With the crowds dispersing and the Alley and Danceteria seeing the out the DJ sets, Falls have given us nothing to complain about in their trip to the West. Not only did they set up a new major festival that has its roots firmly placed in a boutique style, but filled it with international acts and a hassle free, relaxed vibe all over. Congratulations Fremantle, you have now one of the best festivals in the country right at your doorstep.