Live Review: Falls Festival Byron Bay: Day 2

WAAX bounded onstage with more energy than anyone should ever have at midday on New Year's Day, kicking off what promised to be an electric day two.

Vocalist Marie DeVita had endless power for her set despite relaying the fact that she and the rest of the band slept on the floor of Tullamarine airport. Not that you could tell, as the group sailed through tracks from their new EP as well as classic tunes from their early days. The highlight came in the form of their cover of Courtney Barnett's Pedestrian At Best which saw the track transformed into fiery, emotional anthem.

2017 buzz act Alex Lahey followed soon after, trundling onto the stage with an air of ease like everyone wasn't sweating their skin off. Lahey has an effortless likeability that leaks into every crevice of her set - she loves the crowd and the crowd loves her. Cruising through tracks off her debut album, I Love You Like A Brother, and her previous EP, she rolled out her well-loved like a version cover of Torn which was promised to be retired at the end of the festival, much to the crowd's dismay.

In an ironic twist, powerhouse female trio Camp Cope where moved to the smallest stage at the festival. The Galaxy stage was overflowing as the Melbourne act emerged, looking absolutely stoked at the size of their crowd. Vocalist Georgia Maq came out strong with the social issues, urging people to keep the grounds clean and reminding the audience that everyone is beautiful and unique in their own way. Maq was visibly delighted at the crowd's enthusiasm, beaming every time they yelled lyrics back at her.

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• FALLS FESTIVAL BYRON BAY — DAY 1

• FALLS FESTIVAL BYRON BAY — DAY 2

• FALLS FESTIVAL BYRON BAY — DAY 3

Manchester outfit Everything Everything embraced their twilight crowd in matching salmon t-shirts and then proceeded to nail every facet of their too-short set. Lead vocalist Jonathan Higgs' voice permeated every corner of the tent, perfect in pitch and power. Surprisingly, the set was heavy on tunes not from their most recent album but from 2015's Get To Heaven. Not that there were any complaints as they closed up with Distant Past, sending the crowd wild.

It was at this point the 100% humidity finally broke, sending buckets of rain down on anyone that didn't have the foresight to bring a poncho. The amphitheatre quickly became a mudslide for the bravest of punters before it was quickly closed off by police.

Honorary Aussies, Glass Animals took off with the first headlining spot of the evening and blew the humongous crowd away. Definitely the most engaging visuals of the weekend, the bright blocks of colour and spacious stage set up made it looks almost as if the band had created their very own video game. Like A Version cover Crazy sent the crowd into fits of excitement and inflatable pineapples flew through the air during Pork Soda. As vocalist Dave Baley touched on, it's been very encouraging seeing the band grow and evolve at Australian festivals over the last couple years.

As roughly 80% of the crowd bailed the amphitheatre, Fleet Foxes emerged with an involved stage set up to an audience that was smaller than most of the daytime acts. After a couple of songs, it was easy to see why - Fleet Foxes are not a festival band. As lovely as their folk music is (and it is, Winter White Hymnal sounded beautiful), very few glitter-faced youths stuck around to sway in the breeze.

That all changed for final headliner Run The Jewels, though. Crowds came streaming back in, filling the field to bursting point. As the group's giant, inflatable hand sign hang menacingly about them it was easy to see that the duo had the crowd in the palm of their hands.

Powerful and engaging, the most inspiring moment was born from the speech welcoming the audience as a community. EI-P laid down only two rules to get the most from their set. If someone falls or is in trouble, help them and then addressing the men in the audience Killer Mike boomed, "If she ain't with you, don't you motherfucking touch her". The deafening roar at the statement cemented the changing attitudes felt throughout the day and made way for one of the most electric sets of the festival so far.