5 Things We Learnt At Splendour In The Grass 2017
#1: It's not really about the headliners anymore.
There wasn’t any mud this year, but there was a hell of a lot of music to get stuck into. With Splendour in the Grass done and dusted for another year, ADAM LEWIS takes a look back at the 2017 highlights from Australia’s favourite festival.
#1 It’s Not Really About The Headliners Anymore
It’s a truth that, in some ways, we don’t really want to face. For any big event, it’s the headliners that get the lion’s share of the attention, from media headlines, to programming budgets, to the key time slots. And it’s still the main drawcard for the majority of punters.
But there’s something afoot at the moment, and it was more obvious at this year’s Splendour than ever before. We’re not creating as many megastars these days, especially outside of the pop music industry — which tends to lean towards headline tours rather than festivals. And at the same time, the accessibility of music through streaming platforms is building up a broad, diverse generation of new artists that, while not quite reaching the universal heights of a headliner, can pull massive crowds in their own right.
“This year, none of the biggest crowds of the festival seemed to belong to The XX, Queens of the Stone Age or LCD Soundsystem… and that’s totally okay”
So while headliners are still an essential part of the festival, audiences are spreading across all stages, all the time, making for a unique programming challenge for the festival and a much more diverse experience for the rest of us.
This year, none of the biggest crowds of the festival seemed to belong to The XX, Queens of the Stone Age or LCD Soundsystem… and that’s totally okay. They were still incredible and played to huge crowds — but there was a lot more going on, too.
#2 Splendour Is A Proving Ground
Perhaps part of that mid-tier insurgency is the sheer amount of energy those acts, especially the Australians, put into their Splendour sets.
While the bigger international acts all put on amazing shows, the Splendour set is one of many across the international festival circuit. And while that used to mean they had the best production and the biggest moments, our local acts are punching further and further above their weight and, and these days are creating the most talked-about moments of the festival.
Take, for example, Peking Duk — who played a massive, unprecedented set just after sundown, full of guests and surprises. Before the first day had even finished it, it was being tipped as the set of the festival.
That’s up for debate now that we’ve had a whole bunch of incredible sets and surprises, but it’s indicative of the way that, perhaps influenced by the headline-grabbing one-off sets that international acts are pulling out at festivals like Coachella, our rising Australian acts are using Splendour as a way to prove themselves, both within and beyond the Splendour gates.
#3 Glitter Is Everywhere
We’ve seen hints of it at festivals just passed, but if there was one trend that dominated Splendour’s audience this year, it was glitter. From the Glitoris booth at the festival’s entrance, to the entire site, it covered faces, bodies, and outfits.
“Short of a halfhearted chant during Schoolboy Q’s packed set, there wasn’t a shooey in sight”
It was the most noticeable part of a shift towards louder, fancier, more theatrical outfits across the festival, along with plenty of vintage and bare skin. And despite what leering tabloid writers might say, it all felt pretty relaxed and communal.
Oh, and there were a lot of dudes who looked like Mac DeMarco.
It also seemed like some of our more regrettable trends are over — compared to previous years, cultural appropriation was all but gone, and short of a halfhearted chant during Schoolboy Q’s packed set, there wasn’t a shooey in sight. In fact, it was Dune Rats of all bands who may have put it to bed for good, guiding the crowd through a “beery” — which basically meant pouring a beer directly into your mouth. Excellent.
#4 We Love Our Australian Upstarts
For some time Splendour has been the festival where emerging Australian acts play breakthrough sets to their biggest crowds yet, and it was even stronger this year. With two thirds of the punters camping, the stages fill early, and it’s the new Australian talent that reaps the rewards.
The GW McLennan tent may have never been more packed than it was for Amy Shark’s early set, with the crowd spilling out of the tent in all directions, and it was the local faves who got similar crowds festival-wide — from Hockey Dad, who pulled a huge 1pm amphitheatre crowd, to Gretta Ray, Confidence Man, Middle Kids, Winston Surfshirt, and many more — all of whom debuted at Splendour to huge crowds, and played incredible sets.
#5 We Love Our Australian Legends
But while emerging Australian talent has always been strong at Splendour, the festival was also noticeable for just how big a reception our legends got.
Paul Kelly’s headline set on the GW McLennan stage was stunning, not just for the performance — he’s an incredible performer with one of Australia’s most revered songbooks — but for the atmosphere as well. The tent was absolutely packed well before he took the stage, and songs like ‘How To Make Gravy’ and ‘To Her Door’ conjured the biggest, booziest sing-a-longs of the festival.
Another highlight of the festival was the guest appearances. Tina Arena was greeted like an icon when she joined Client Liaison, and their rendition of ‘Sorrento Moon (I Remember)’ went down an absolute treat — something that wouldn’t have been a given a few years ago, when punters weren’t quite as willing to embrace pure pop.
And of course, 90s festival-rock is evergreen, and surprise appearances from Powderfinger and Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson, for some of their biggest hits, were always going to feel huge. Splendour may be dominated by rising Australian talent, but this year was full of awesome cross-generational moments.
—
Adam Lewis is a music booker and enthusiast from Sydney. Follow him on Twitter.
All photos provided by Splendour in the Grass