Live Review: Falls Festival Byron Bay - Day Two

It’s January 1 and we are hoping to start our year right with the best decisions possible. Not too hard to do, considering today Falls is bringing its A game.

Rolling out of bed to a surprisingly early set from Tia Gostelow, we walk into a huge tent of no dancing. Gostelow presents herself with increased confidence live and is starting to really get the hang of festival crowds.

Hatchie is a different story though, packing out one of the larger stages for an early day barn burner. Tracks such as Sugar & Spice get some epic singalongs.

A run for a bite of Hommus gives us just enough energy for West Thebarton. The Adelaide punks pack out the smaller tent stage with the pit starting to show some promise. By the end of the set with, the entire audience is being controlled by lead singer Ray Dalfsen. An entire tent of people sitting on the ground before they erupt in jumping mayhem is truly a sight to behold. 

From pub punk to rap, aren't festivals beautiful. We are sitting side of tent for Briggs because we need to see the scale of this man's stage presence. Briggs immediately starts rapping over the theme song of WWE superstar John Cena because why the hell not. Knowing his audience quite well, he doesn't take long to drop some material from AB Original, which really gets the crowd going.

Tkay Maidza has been touring a heck of a lot the past few months and has a HUGE stage presence at Falls.

Rap makes somewhat of an appearance throughout the fest, but on the main stage indie hearththrobs run the game. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard destroy our minds and our bodies with heavy picks from Polygondwanaland. But the boys aren't the highlight of the stage at 5pm - it's the crowd. With 100s united in circles crusading for the crown of King/Queen of the dust. A wild thing happens when Gamma Knife hits as seas of circle pits create a tornado of dirt in the air, masking the boys on stage. 

DMA’S make a rocky start with some technical difficulties but as an insane stripped back version of In The Air sweeps us away, we don't care. Today's sunset is soundtracked by smooth pop and, wow, what an absolutely perfect combo.

Cub Sport had a huge 2018 with their 4ZZZ Hot 100 charting single Sometimes. As the track says, “Every day's a revelation,” and this is very true when you see the Cub Sport crew. With singer Tim Nelson dressed like an angel and singing like an ACTUAL angel, their set is religious and funky.

The entire population of Australia is still in love with Hilltop Hoods. The amphitheater is packed with insane waves of grooving all the way to the top as Nosebleed Section erupts. 

With the amphitheater well and truly packed, Golden Features makes his grand entrance and lets us know that there is a hell of a lot of untapped energy in the crowd.

First Aid Kit have made their way from Sweden to our shores for Falls Festival and whether it was worth it for them remains to be seen. With Golden Features eating up the crowd, it's a half filled lukewarm crowd for the folk outfit. Despite that, we get an intimate folk show full of energy and special guests. Bringing out Aussie fave Julia Jacklin for a beautiful cover of Neil Young's After The Gold Rush, the band then close their set with Silver Lining.

Finally, it's time for the big rock show, as 11pm comes round. Coming on stage a few minutes late, the British rock explosion of Catfish & The Bottlemen is facing the same issue as First Aid Kit. While they may be a huge band, the crowd is small for the main stage, Hermitude are also playing and the hype for their set is fever pitch. Regardless, the Bottle boys waste no time shredding through a near perfect mix of huge singles such as 7 and plenty of deep cuts. 

It's a big second day but there seems to be some imbalance in the love for the big acts. Will day three see the Aussie love peak for Flight Facilities? Stay tuned.