What We've Learnt About Splendour From This Week's Sideshows

Splendour In The Grass weekend is finally upon us — not that you needed us to tell you, but it is the place to be this weekend if you're musically inclined, like having a brewski with your mates around a campsite or both.

A number of bands on this year's very healthy Splendour line-up have been warming up for their 2015 festival stage debut, and looking back at this week's Splendour sideshows, we're getting a pretty decent idea of what to expect from their sets this weekend. Johnny Marr might be be kicking off his set with a cover of The Smiths' Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before, while Nosaj Thing could be dropping you into eerie silence for six to eight seconds at a time, or maybe Ryan Adams will bring out the affable Jenny Lewis for a duet on Oh My Sweet Carolina.

#1 dads — oxford art factory, 14 july

Joking that Tom Iansek and the crew would have their set polished in a few days as they'll be playing five sold-out shows, #1 Dads will definitely be on form this Friday when they hit the GW McLennan Tent at 5:30pm. At this show, Iansek brought on Tom Snowdon for Return To, and Ainslie Wills for two songs too. Absolutely ripping up FKA Twigs' Two Weeks as a finale, our reviewer reckons "the audience's minds were totally blown".

Photo by Pete Dovgan

johnny marr — metropolis, 18 july

You'd expect The Smiths' 51-year-old Johnny Marr to be a little slower on stage, but that wasn't the case at all — at this show last week, Marr "rolls out a stiff upper lip swagger of '90s Manchester style", tearing into songs like Generate! Generate!, Easy Money and How Soon Is Now?. He plays a "relentless cavalcade" of Brit-pop hits, and it's pretty safe to say he'll do the same on Friday at the GW McLennan Tent at 7pm.

Photo by Tashi Hall

san cisco — bunbury regional entertainment centre, 18 july

It's a given that Splendour punters will be screaming the lyrics back at San Cisco just as they did in Bunbury last week — songs like Golden Revolver, Beach, Awkward and newer jams like Too Much Time Together had the crowd crazed. You might also hear an acoustic rendition of Skool like these lucky WA fans did, and an encore of a song named after a certain Golden Era Hollywood actor. San Cisco take to the Amphitheatre on Friday at 4.45pm.

Photo by Kim Kaveh

nosaj thing — howler, 18 july

The American beatmaker throws a bunch of ambient, hip hop and rap beats at his crowd at this show, moving into R&B and trap and back again, so the biggest thing you can take away is that his set on Friday at 11.15pm on the Red Bull Music Academy stage will be fluid but super diverse. He's gonna take a few risks and you'll want to light up a few doobies, but don't, because cops and sniffer dogs.

Photo by Clinton Hatfield

the church — rosemount hotel, 18 july

Iconic Aussie rockers The Church bring some suave dance moves to their shows, so you can look forward to Steve Kilbey getting his groove on in A Fire Burns, and you and your neighbour getting your groove on during To Be In Your Eyes. The band's fanbase are largely pre-smartphone era so you should be able to enjoy their set without an iPhone in your way — but then again, here's hoping some younger fans check out a veteran band doing what they do best, too. The alt rockers take to the GW McLennan Tent on Saturday at 7pm.

Photo by Linda Dunjey

ryan adams — forum theatre, 19 july

You can expect a sick stage set of arcade games and video game paraphernalia (judging by photos of the show), and Ryan Adams kicking himself into "guitar-hero histrionics" quite frequently as the band plough through songs like Gimme Something Good, I See Monsters and songs from Gold. Adams is not below shouting at punters who disrupt his set with drunken shouting, so best be on your best behaviour. Ryan Adams hits the GW McLennan Tent at 10pm on Friday.

Photo by Kane Hibberd