BEST IN SHOW : SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS
We’ll leave the reviews of the big acts up to the people who get paid to promote ‘em. Here is our top picks for acts we drunkenly stumbled across and were oh so happy that we did.
Playlist below, which includes other acts that we caught and loved.
BALMING TIGER
The third day of the festival is traditionally the hardest, especially when youth is leaving your side quicker than you can keep track of. When the hangover cures dont work, and youve got heavy eyes despite being on your third vodka redbull - the only thing that can save you is a good musical slap in the face by ‘k-pop from the darkside’ band, Balming Tiger. Refusing to be limited by one genre, we were treated to a delightful mix of rap, electronic, punk and k-pop, accompanied by choreographed dance routines and a speech about not being human, but instead a frog. The crowd doubled with each song that they played, as if we were all being hypnotized, energized and guided through an experience even more invigorating than the drugs you did the night before. This band was probably the musical highlight of the whole festival for me. 10/10.
GIMMY
Local Band ‘GIMMY’ heated up the amphitheater stage on Sunday morning after winning Triple J’s competition. And oh boy what a warm up that was! Leader Gemma Owens undertook a non stop stare-down with the audience, wielding a cosmic amount of energy and commandment in her furrowed brows. Bandmates Samson Radici, Kyle Aubrey and Barclay Israel back her up with music so funky you'll give yourself whiplash just from bopping along.
PUSSY RIOT
Starting out as a feminist protest-performance art in Russia, they are best known for their guerilla style gigs and relentless critique of Vladimir Putin’s politics and dictatorship. Some might remember their staged performance inside an orthodox church, which got members arrested and charged with hooliganism along with a string of other offenses. The hooliganism didn’t stop in Moscow - leader Nadya Tolokonnikova brought threats to cut the balls off of any man who wasnt pro-choice. A welcome change of pace from the indie-surf rock that usually graces the area of Byron Bay.
TEENAGE DADS
Cute cute cute. I don't know if it's offensive to a band to call them cute cute cute, but that's all I thought when I caught them on Saturday. Exactly the type of band you would’ve had a crush on in your teenage years, with their 80s hair cuts, baby faces and indie-poppy songs about late night driving and girls. But as is the curse with every band who oozes so much public appeal amongst the younger alternative crowd, they don’t get enough recognition for their musical abilities too. This band is TIGHT; you can just see the countless amount of hours spent rehearsing until their fingers bled in the way they play and interact with each other without missing a single beat.Their recent placement on the Hottest 100 and tours around Australia just proves that all hard work will eventually pay off.
