Live Review

Falls Festival @ North Byron Parklands

The scenic drive down to the North Byron Parklands was enough to get you in the mood for Falls Festival 2015/16. This year’s festival featured an all ages line up, ranging from veteran performers to young up and comers. I was looking forward to seeing some of my favourite artists, as well as being surprised by some names I didn’t recognise.

As much as I love live music, I find it difficult to make peace with Queensland’s searing summer heat and to resign myself to a sweaty and sunburnt fate at music festivals. But I did appreciate the various measures Falls went to in order to keep the crowds cool. There was a misting tunnel and dozens of small backyard pools. Although I wouldn’t trust that pool water past day one, it was the thought that counted.

The festival kicked off with rising Brisbane band Bullhorn, who I have been lucky enough to catch a few times this past year. Their high-energy performance set the scene for the night ahead.

There were a few rowdy punters, with some obviously highly intelligent human lighting a flare in the middle of the moshpit during Peking Duck’s set (whilst simultaneously reaffirming some of the traits often associated with EDM fans, unfortunately).

Hilltop Hoods came up next, continuing the New Years party vibes, before The Wombats played out the final hour of 2015 and brought in 2016 with the well known Let’s Dance to Joy Division, an obvious choice to get the crowd hyped up and singing along. Although the party did not stop there, with many campers deciding that being a considerate and/or decent human person didn’t somehow make it onto their New Years resolutions. Either that or they honestly believed that everyone loves to drift off to sleep to the soothing sounds of nu-metal.

Day two hopefully brought some introspection for said campers, with a few people sporting a noticeable hangover. The day’s line up admittedly excited me far more than last night’s attempt to appease the New Years crowds and I was far more interested in what day one of 2016 had to offer.

Meg Mac had little trouble filling the Forest Stage with her soulful voice and had gathered a decent crowd for such an early afternoon set. However, it might have been a lack of sleep or the aforementioned summer heat but something about her performance did seem a little lacklustre to me.

King Gizzard and The Lizzard Wizard (one of my all time favourite band names by the way) brought some serious music mettle with their rambunctious psychedelic garage rock, breaking out left right and centre into mind melting jams and taking their time to show off their technical abilities.

There has been a LOT of talk of Courtney Barnett in 2015. All of this hype and fanfare left some pretty big shoes to fill for this Melbourne artist. Luckily the singer-songwriter came prepared, absolutely nailing the set in her festival-ready combat boots. Her witty sarcasm and unique style gave way to an impressive ability to come out swinging with some serious guitar solos.

Retreating to the Forest Stage in the afternoon to catch the last of Melbourne neo-soul-clusterfunk group Hiatus Kiayote and Brisbane singer-songwriter Jarryd James was a well rewarded decision. Jarryd has been having some serious wins this past year with his beautifully crafted alternative pop music and it was good to see some of those great tracks from his acclaimed album Thirty One live. My love of Hiatus Kiayote and the powerhouse vocals of lead singer Nai Palm is well documented and another ode to their live performance is probably overkill, but just take it from me that it comes highly recommended.

A quick dash back to the Valley Stage saw me arrive just in time to see that Paul Kelly still knows How To Make Gravy (sorry but I saw an opportunity for a pun there, I had to take it). The veteran musician effortlessly meandered through old classics, throwing in some new tracks for good measure.

A part of me is still kicking myself for missing RUFUS, after hearing rave review of the three-piece’s set, but hey a gal has got to eat. Just on a quick side note though, the Falls Festival cuisine should get a well deserved mention. The food tent rivalled that of a shopping mall and there was something for all culinary persuasions.

A brief tactical retreat and a warm shower on day three led me back to the Valley Stage just in time to see Mac DeMarco crowd surfing on an eager 4pm crowd, something he seems to do quite a bit after looking at the festival’s Instagram.

It was all about the early afternoon acts for this Falls Festival, with my favourite sets each day being claimed well and truly before sundown. Today it was an absolute privilege to catch soul star Leon Bridges, coming all the way from Fort Worth Texas to share his authentic Louisiana blues.

Foals once again cemented their place in the hearts of festival goers, absolutely packing out the huge natural amphitheatre of the Valley Stage. It was obvious the group are seasoned performers, nearly a decade on since their massive debut album Antidotes, keeping an impressive amount of cohesion whilst moving between their various polyrhythmic hits.

In my heart I wanted to catch Django Django and Disclosure, but after three days of festival frolicking my body had jumped ship on me. Not only did I miss that but I also apparently missed seeing Miley in the flesh, something I’m sure will haunt me till my dying days as it is apparently the only thing that happened at Falls on the weekend if you read the news.

Overall I think Falls 2015/16 was an impressive amalgamation of a very decent line up, a nice balance of arts and cultural activities and lots ways to stay cool, full and hydrated. There was also a human sized foosball table thrown in for good measure. Although I was feeling hesitant about braving yet another summer festival, the Falls team really put on a good show and should be congratulated.

- Chelsea Heaney

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