Live Review: Falls Festival NYE, Lil Nas X Brings In 2023 In Perfect Fashion

As the year wraps, Christmas passes and the sun begins to warm, up all eyes turn to Australia's music festival summer. So with hot anticipation and with eagerness to send 2022 off properly we headed to the first day of the Byron Bay leg of Falls Festival for an afternoon and evening of genre bending, diverse musical artists showcasing some of Australia’s most iconic acts, an international pop star and some of our freshest most exciting faces. 

One of the first solo acts to pull a huge crowd was alt-pop sensation MAY-A. Appropriately performing on New Years Eve, MAY-A’s 2022 saw her transform from exciting emerging artist to undisputed future superstar. From beginning the year celebrating her spot at #101 on the Hottest 200, to performing alongside The Veronicas, DMA’s, Budjerah and of course Flume, a jam packed GALAXY tent proved the perfect way to send her year off. She performed with a 4 piece band and a ferocious, clearly pop punk inspired energy, posing as an emphatic frontwoman, rather than an alternative pop-rock singer-songwriter. Tracks Swing of Things, Apricots and Central Station off her 2021 EP, Don’t Kiss Ur Friends all provided for major singalongs with a clear dynamic of adoration between fan and artist. 

Meanwhile, the club and dance music had well and truly kicked off at the SUGARLOAF stage, as dameeeela pumped out monster bass and soul heavy dance tracks. After releasing her debut single this year, The Shake Up featuring Tjaka, dameeeela has become the most in demand underground dance names in the country, headlining sets across Australia. Her set was proof of that, blending heavy uptempo club cuts with soulful breaks and traditional UKG. Despite it being early in the evening, she delivered on all fronts, making the eager Falls crowd move.

While dameeeela turned one side of the festival into an unadulterated rave, Peach PRC pulled a huge crowd of wide eyed fans ready to sing every song. Draped in iridescent pink, she performed all of her already cult-adored singles including Symptomatic, God Is A Freak and clear fan favourite, Josh. It was amazing to see unadulterated pop music platformed on one of Australia’s biggest festivals as glitzy chords, instrumental chorus breakdowns and love-laden depression bops washed over the full GALAXY tent.

As the dust settled on Peach PRC’s set, fans swiftly flooded the Amphitheatre’s El Capitan stage in anticipation for the original cast of The Wiggles. Fans adored the Wiggles as they performed through all of their classic fan favourite tunes that most of the crowd probably last saw in an RSL club in the early 2000s. Alongside Captain Feathersword, Dorothy The Dinosaur, Henry The Octopus and Wags The Dog, fans sang and danced in perfectly synced choreography for tracks like Fruit Salad, Wake Up Jeff, Sweet Potato/Hot Potato, Big Red Car. 

Every single time Genesis Owusu performs he proves that he is the undisputed future of Australian music, on a global and culturally revolutionary scale. Performing with the goons, Owusu is well and truly in his self-titled roach era, with his two new singles GTFO and Get Inspired proving as major energy moments. His ensemble of goons trapezed Owusu around the stage in critical moments as well as hyping the crowd up at every available moment. His 2021 record Smiling With No Teeth still obviously holds up live, as punk inspired moments combine perfectly with rap cuts and ballads, A Song About Fishing and No Looking Back proving as some of the most emotional and beautiful moments of the evening.

Speaking of iconic Australian live acts, DMA’S once again showcased their anthemic discography to a massive crowd at the El Capitan mainstage, traversing their three studio albums and recent singles in clinical fashion. While classic tracks Delete and Lay Down offered for some of the loudest crowd interactions of the day, their cover of Cher’s Believe has become an expectation of fans at every one of their sets. They once again delivered the cover which is proving to be one of the strongest people pleasers in Australian festival history. Recent singles Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s The Weekend and Olympia held up beautifully alongside their fan-favourite classics, with the DMA’S building beautifully to what feels like another great album.

As the new year approached, the amphitheatre flooded with eagerness for one of the biggest pop stars in the world, Lil Nas X to bring in 2023. The artist is one of the most commercially successful of the past few years, breaking out virally with hit Old Town Road and keeping the momentum up with subsequent hits INDUSTRY BABY alongside Jack Harlow, PANINI, THATS WHAT I WANT and MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name). Lil Nas X presented his music more as a theatre performance than a traditional concert, moving between three acts to depict his storyline so far, from battling the downfalls of being a viral sensation, overcoming adversity and making monster pop hits.

His show was a showcase of black queer excellence, joined on stage by a line of amazing dancers who lifted the crowd’s energy to extreme heights. Its choreography was reminiscent of some of the great pop shows of all time, as Lil Nas X sang and rapped perfectly over booming beats, orchestral breakdowns and major brass sections. The pop sensation is a beacon of hope and representation of the power of openness and authenticity as he steps on the backs of his haters, homophobes and any doubters. There was a power in his confidence, showcasing his culture powerfully on his sleeve uplifting many of the LGBTIQ+ community in the crowd and proving that in the face of trauma, they can and will be excellent.