Splendour In The GrassThe skys above Byron Bay welcomed the annual Splendour In The Grass festival back to Belongil Fields with a big wet kiss to the ground.
But it's difficult to dampen the spirits of festival-goers on day one of any musical event and Splendour attendees were no different. Early Friday afternoon Twitter was ablaze with hash-tagged 'SITG' jokes about mud and gumboot fashions (though later in the day comments with that hash-tag turned up a few complaints of ruined shoes...).
But Splendour is all about the music (and the colour and the movement - Teletubbies were sighted in audiences throughout the day) and so musical highlights prevailed over the muddy environs.
Unearthed winners Kingswood started the day with an onstage cameo from triple j/Frenzal Rhomber Lindsay McDougall while country singer Lanie Lane was visited by Kram for a rendtion of Henry Lee.
Kram's own set with his band Spiderbait divided opinions, though our reviewer came down on the favourable side, describing the set as "Seriously good fun".
And while rave reviews also poured in for international bands The Afghan Whigs ("scintillating") and Explosions In The Sky ("inspiring"), the much-anticipated return of At The Drive In was greeted with tepid reviews. Mitch Knox reported that band members looked bored throughout their set.
However it was the mighty Jack White who truly sent the Day One crowd into a frenzy. Ironically, the artist notorious for being against audience members tweeting throughout his sets also sent the Twitterverse ablaze when he switched bands mid-set (White is touring with two backing bands - one all-male, one all-female).
Read continued live coverage here.
