“When you go play a festival and people sing the songs back to you, that’s when it hits home.”
Burgeoning Australian singer-songwriter Tones & I is currently Splendour In The Grass’ most-talked-about 2019 act – no small feat for an artist who was an opening act on day one – and it seems the hype may have earned her a record crowd.
While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, the Bryon Bay local had a HUGE audience for her 12pm set yesterday on the main stage, with triple j reporting the Unearthed winner “pulled the biggest crowd for an opening Splendour set we've ever seen”, while noting “punters were queueing at the gate” prior to opening so as not miss her in action.
A video shared to Tones & I’s Instagram shows a crowd you might expect a festival headliner to pull:
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Speaking with The Green Room’s Neil Griffiths shortly after her set, Tones & I said: “When you go play a festival and people sing the songs back to you, that’s when it hits home.”
Meanwhile, The Music’s Splendour In The Grass reviewing team noted: “Tones & I had the crowd singing, clapping and generally feeling good about their decision to get down early on a Friday.”
The hype and accompanying praise isn’t surprising, given the massive year Tones & I has had so far, signing a number of big international deals and selling out multiple dates on her upcoming debut Australian headline tour shortly after tickets went on sale.
Last weekend, Tones & I also cracked the ARIA Singles chart top 10 with single Dance Monkey, while her other hit, Johnny Run Away, held onto #16.
On top of that, Johnny Run Away has gone Platinum and Dance Monkey has gone Gold, and Tones & I is currently receiving more than 1 million streams a day.
Her latest single, Never Seen The Rain, was recently released ahead of August 30 EP The Kids Are Coming.
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