Live Review: Falls Festival

Without a onesie The Music arrived in Marion Bay, driving in the slow moving line of traffic. Passing through the drug and alcohol search points festival goers are greeted with one of the most spectacular sights – Marion Bay's natural beauty with its clean blue seas and rolling hillsides of English grass, surely one of the nicest festival spaces in Australia.

Unfortunately, this year's arrival was met with more than expected. The winds the night before had hit at a speed, a volunteer reported to be over 100 knots, and the resulting devastation was evident. The Village stage had lost its carnival pavilion and broken tents had their contents spilled up and down the camping sites.

DAY 1

Mouth maestro and world class beatboxer Tom Thum opened day one with an impressive array of sounds and loops using just one mic and two Kaoss pads. His set includes a beatbox battle between himself and one of his alter egos, some smooth New Orleans jazz creations, and startling accurate vocal recreations of strings and brass instruments.

Everybody's favourite crowd warmers Legs Akimbo ran a series of audience challenges throughout the day. There was a tug of war between Tasmanians and the rest of the world which resulted in an upset for the home crowd. A glitter and body lotion wrestling match between two brothers was an audience favourite, though, with the younger brother taking off his opponent's underwear to secure victory in the third round.

Energetic performances from The Correspondents, Hot Dub Time Machine, Japanese funk band Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro and Late Nite Tuff Guy ushered in the night welcomed punters to one of the most out of control dance parties of the festival. As Late Nite Tuff Guy finished up the Village pirates helped people to stave off sleep as we passed out somewhere between the stage and our tents.

DAY 2

The first day on the main stages introduced us bleary eyed recover-ers to the realisation that there was a long way to go. Opening the main stage were triple j Unearthed winners Chase City. Backstage, the young band had no nerves about being the first act for the day – only uncontained excitement. They relaxed into a comfortable stage show – an infectious and well-practiced performance shook the first dancers of the day out of their hill-side recovery and down to the front.

On the Field Stage fellow Tasmanian darlings The Habits and Lulu & The Paige Turners (also featuring one of the members of Chase City) were the first two acts. The Habits' gentle and catchy pop tunes eased sore heads and by the time Lulu had taken the stage The Music had joined the dancers.

The crowd seemed to struggle at 3pm, when former Smiths guitarist and rock icon Johnny Marr took to the main Valley stage. He opened with a few songs from his solo career to mute appreciation.

He called out a few joking jabs at his audience between songs, but even his humour and incredible guitar playing could not rally the scattered audience down from the hills. The second half was received more with There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, a cover of The Clash's I Fought The Law and that one they used as the theme song to Charmed on TV, known before the '90s as How Soon Is Now. Marr has an impressive substitute for Morrissey's voice and nothing in his performance left anything to be desired, so it was unfortunate to see such a poor response from the audience.

In contrast to Marr's ten people deep crowd, by 6pm the audience for Hermitude had completely filled the Field Stage and Bonobo was well on the way to packing out the main stage. The latter were the only band to have more instruments and musicians than The Roots – that is a lot. People in the front were holding their ears in a futile effort to stop eardrums rupturing from the mighty bass. Speaking to their front of house engineer later that day The Music was calmly assured, “That will happen.”

Hermitude's audience was a Marxist utopia. No class. Arms and legs were thrown around like bouncing farmer's tan confetti – it was the most manic and out of control dance party of the festival.

The crowd streamed to London Grammar afterwards and the British trip hop trio played exceptionally, delighting the large crowd. Singer Hannah Reid was brought out a birthday cake mid-set and the audience enthusiastically launched into a boozy, slightly out of key rendition of Happy Birthday for the surprised singer. The trio shared half of the cake (and a bottle of vodka) with the sound and stage crew after the set.

The Violent Femmes were a highlight. Opening with crowd pleaser Blister In The Sun the Femmes fans enjoyed a long set peppered with classic self-titled and Add It Up tracks, all delivered with an  unexpected raw and unrestrained energy. Gordon Gano's voice has not aged a day and the slow meandering Good Feeling, accompanied by Gano on violin, transfixed and enchanted the (mostly older) audience. Grade A nostalgia.

The Cat Empire, Flight Facilities and Vampire Weekend played fun bouncy sets to hordes of fans who knew all the words and could dance. Yet the biggest, rockiest and funkiest hip hop(iest) set came from “the world's greatest backing band”, The Roots.

Buried in the jazz/hip hop band's original songs were riffs from bands that have shared the stage with Jimmy Fallon's backing band (ranging from Prince and Jay Z to Stephen Colbert and Barack Obama) over the 26 years The Roots have been performing. Their finale teased like John Farnham's retirement for close to three full songs as Black Thought (frontman Tariq Trotter) repeatedly stopped to thank the audience, say goodbye and wish them a good night before launching into another verse. It would be enough to be annoyed if the band weren't playing so incredibly well. Highlights included watching four members dance in sync at the front of the stage, including a member who had a, small car sized, sousaphone over his shoulder – Damon 'Tuba Gooding Jr.' Bryson.

As DJ Cyril Hahn played to the few who stayed to dance until their feet bled, the second day ended and the others were graced with a few short hours sleep before New Year's Eve.

DAY 3

New Year's Eve in Tasmania is best when celebrated at Falls. There's something special about bringing in the New Year with 12 000 campers, even if The Wombats and MGMT both manage to miss the count down in Marion Bay.

Early in the day we crawl out of our tents in the comfortable haze of the chronically fatigued and amble in the scorching early morning sun in search of Taco Taco's festival breakfast taco (egg and black beans on a soft taco shell). Two tacos and a coffee later, it is time for the music to kick off.

Both acts on the Main Stage are surprise favourites for much of the audience – Sydney-based loop trooper Oliver Tank and LA's own Hanni El Khatib.

Oliver Tank has a beautiful lilting Bon Iver-style voice, combined with incredibly complex instrument loops. The solo performer fills a stage with invisible musicians to deliver full-sounding and punchy melodies and rhythms.

In contrast Hanni El Khatib delivers big blues/rock riffs that could rival early Black Keys compositions. Relatively unknown in Australia, Khatib's audience was small but enthusiastic. The screeching distortion and snappy drumming of Ron Marinelli brought the audience up and threw down the gauntlet for the next band to try and match the energy.

As Pond, a band that people were buzzing about but clearly had never heard before, drew the majority of the audience The Music joined in a game of cricket on the hillside of the main stage. A group of 20-or-so men and women had formed a corridor in the crowd, turning it into an improvised cricket pitch. The batsman – a boy of perhaps no more than 12 years old – was swinging at tennis balls with a broken lawn chair. Making new friends in the midst of surreal shenanigans is routine.

Pond's live show is an experience that can alienate an early morning crowd. Loud psychedelic solos and fuzzy synths blare from the stage and out into a sea of blank faces. However their fans and those already warmed up (either from Hanni El Khatib or the hair of the dog) compensate for the general disinterest in the hillside audience. A running theme for Falls' mornings is waiting for the illness to subside as you debrief with other hillside punters about last night's shenanigans and plan where to meet for the coming night.

Crystal Fighters played the most difficult timeslot. Half way through their set a giant crowd of bizarre costumed punters rock up at the back of the crowd in preparation for the annual Falls Fiesta and half your audience turns around. The British dance band rolled with impressive grace, dedicating their hit single Love Is All I Got to the motley crew of teddy bears, cupids and dancing angels. The vibe from the stage combining with the Fiesta was magnetic and endearing.

Grizzly Bear played a later set than their fizzled out, morning nap inducing, set from a few years ago, yet their crowd was part of a trend that afflicted the main stage less danceable acts. Obviously a more confident band than seen during the Veckatimest album tour, it is clear the American boys have grown into experienced, relaxed performers and their set was impeccably timed and rehearsed.

Meanwhile on the Field Stage RÜFÜS performed high pitch pop synths to a loose and energetic crowd of impressive size. The dancing was intense and liberating, and we left with an unknown person's blood on my foot.

Neil Finn, Kiwi composer of music for The Hobbit and two of Australia's most iconic bands, took the stage for his eighth year at Falls. Playing with his son Liam and wife Sharon the experienced performer played the audience effortlessly, delivering sing a long favourites from the Crowded House and Split Enz discography – Fall At Your Feet, Better Be Home Soon, I Got You to name a few – delivered with grace not crowd pandering.

Moving on, MGMT played their hits and people danced and sung along to the Oracular Spectacular songs. Overall, apart from a stand out performance of Electric Feel the band, heavily and often criticised for disappointing live shows, were adequate. Highlights included the MGMT costume winners (being joined by members of Pond) dancing on stage, eliciting shouts of approval for the Gumby-suited punter.

Their song Kids accidentally brought in the New Year. Marion Bay has a history of coordination difficulties with the New Year's countdown. Last year the emergency stop on a generator was hit during the Flaming Lips countdown, and this year the MGMT played overtime. The Wombats didn't appear on stage in time for the countdown, despite scheduling. Instead Marion Bay was treated to a woman, who did not wish to be identified, delivering the countdown from seven.

Fifteen minutes later The Wombats appeared, opening with Moving To New York. The Liverpool band launched into a seamless performance of pop, hyping the crowd like an indie Flava Flav tribute band.

Backstage The Music embarrasses itself during a drunken conversation with a very polite and friendly Solange. We shared a hug and I made my way to The Village to pledge allegiances to the lesser-known genre-defyers Tiger Choir and later, the Lawless (currently seven-piece) Quartet.

Tiger Choir were hilarious, they knew they had a comparatively small audience and catered their set to them. Their fun pop/R&B/acid folk/unknown beats were coupled with great crowd banter, creating a playful intimate vibe.

Then from the hilarious to the insane. Lawless Quartet are band of incredibly talented musicians who refuse to take themselves seriously. Having just released an album a week before Falls it was impossible to guess how they would be received, but unexpectedly the crowd sung along to songs like Hey, That's My Pint! and Filth Punk with reckless abandon. An inflatable whale circulated the 400 strong crowd as cheers and peals of laughter drowned out the mainstage's !!!. The Eastern-inspired riffs, with fast-tempo saxophone and guitar scratching was a fantastic end to the year. People fell over their feet desperately trying to keep up with the band's pace and energy as the fatigue of the three day festival began to catch up with us.