The Most Unforgettable Splendour Sets Of The Last Decade
We can still feel the sweat from Flume's 2013 Mix-Up appearance.
This weekend, tens of thousands of keen punters would have descended on North Byron Parklands for Splendour in the Grass. But alas, it was not to be.
First, in the wake of the disaster and upheaval wreaked by COVID, organisers pushed it to a new date in October — but last month, they pulled the plug altogether. They’ve already revealed the headliners for next year — Tyler, The Creator, The Strokes, Gorillaz — with the full line-up to drop soon.
So, in order to satiate our desire to once again sit on the Amphitheatre hill and take in the joyful chaos that is Splendour in the Grass, we’ve taken a look back over the last decade of the festival to pull out the sets that have stuck with us. Dive in.
OutKast — 2014
There are few sights more beautiful in music than a fully packed Ampitheatre at Splendour, the crowd shifting and swaying right from the top of the steep hill down to the pulsing crush at the front of the stage. OutKast’s 2014 set — Splendour nabbed them as an Australian exclusive, for what must have been an eye-watering sum — was one of the biggest in memory; cresting the central hill to witness tens of thousands of people crammed in below is something punters won’t forget quickly.
As for the set itself, it was razor-sharp, and relentlessly entertaining — favourites like ‘Ms. Jackson’, ‘B.O.B.’, ‘Rosa Parks’, ‘So Fresh So Clean’ boomed out over the grounds, while ‘Hey Ya’ provided a festival moment for the ages. Catch some footage of the moment below.
Florence & The Machine — 2015
Coming off arguably the finest album of their career, Florence & The Machine were in fine form when they arrived at North Byron Parklands in 2015. Florence Welch’s charisma was arresting — she spun and twirled across the stage, her red shock of hair bright against her white jacket. Her vocals (as usual) dominated proceedings, best represented on older cuts like ‘Cosmic Love’, ‘Drumming Song’, and ‘Sweet Nothing’.
Aside from a brief awkward moment when she had to run offstage after an audience member refused to give back her shirt which she had nonchalantly thrown into the crowd, it was a flawless set.
Santigold — 2016
A woefully underrated Splendour set, Santigold’s 2016 performance in the Mix-Up tent was relentlessly, delightfully bonkers.
With the words ‘Big Boss’ emblazoned behind her, she powered through a set of tracks from her excellent new album 90c, as well as trusty favourites like ‘Disparate Youth’ from Master of My Make-Believe — which, for the record, still slaps as hard as it did the day it was released.
Tame Impala — 2015
It’s always a special occasion when Tame Impala descend on Splendour. The local heroes have popped up a bunch of times over the years, but their 2015 set, in which they debuted a number of tracks off their brand new album Currents, stands out as their best.
‘Let It Happen’ is still their finest set (and album) opener, and was followed quickly by ‘Mind Mischief’ and ‘The Moment’. Old favourites like ‘Elephant’ were faithfully delivered to a grateful crowd, but the premiere of ‘The Less I Know The Better’ — which would go on to be crowned song of the decade in the recent Hottest 100 poll — remains the highlight. Check out some snippets of the set (along with Florence’s) below.
Flume — 2013
Sure, the Splendour Amphitheatre gets all the attention, with its sloping green hill and grand atmosphere. But the sweaty and energetic Mix-Up is equally as beloved — and never was it more sweaty and energetic than during Flume’s 2013 set.
Having broken through months before with his debut self-titled album, and just run around the country with the Infinity Prism Tour, Harley Streten’s stock was at a high when he jumped on the Splendour stage. What followed was one of the most hectic sets in Splendour history, and I can still feel the bruises on my shoulders and feet where I was pummelled in the mosh. The highlight? His thundering remix of Hermitude’s ‘Hyperparadise’, of course.
HAIM — 2013 (Or 2017, For That Matter)
It’s impossible to not fall in love with HAIM when they’re onstage, such is their warm and bounding enthusiasm. Their first appearance at the festival in 2013 happened right as they began to truly take off, and they bashed their way through tracks like ‘The Wire’ and ‘Falling’ before finishing with their standard sister drum battle.
When they returned in 2017 they had a stack of new material under their belts, but the energy remained the same. And yes, there was another drum outro.
Childish Gambino — 2019
“I got two rules,” Donald Glover told the crowd at the start of his blistering set. “First, love me and love yourself. Rule two is put your phones down. You don’t need to share this with anybody out there. This is for us, treat it like church.”
After cancelling his Spilt Milk appearance and tour the year earlier, and having just announced to the world that he’d be hanging up his microphone as Childish Gambino forever, Gambino’s 2019 performance in the Amphitheatre was one of the most hotly anticipated of recent years. It was more than worth the price of admission: he swayed and slinked through R&B jams like ‘Summertime Magic’ and ‘Feels Like Summer’, before diving into a recreation of his incendiary ‘This Is America‘ video and sliding through a trio of big hits in ‘3005’, ‘Sober’, and ‘Redbone’ hit one after the other. A masterclass.
Gang Of Youths — 2018
You’d be hard pressed to find a local band more desperately loved than Gang of Youths. Dave Le’aupepe and co. inspire a devotion in their fans that’s rarely witnessed — a devotion returned equally by the band themselves.
With their acclaimed and award-winning album Go Farther In Lightness in their pocket, the band’s 2018 set in the Amphitheatre was a gem: emotional, inspiring, and so, so much fun. When Le’aupepe urged the crowd to ‘Say Yes To Life’, no one in attendance said no.
PNAU — 2018
No one throws a party quite like PNAU. The dance veterans, having surged back into the charts and the airwaves thanks to tracks like ‘Chameleon’ and ‘Go Bang’, delivered an exhilarating performance in Byron in 2018 (those tracks being a particular highlight).
Nick Littlemore is one of the most arresting frontman to ever grace the stage, and he was at full-throttle for the entire set — while frequent collaborator Kira Devine spun and twirled in a glittering, psychedelic face mask.
Photo Credit: Mikki Gomez/Music Junkee
You can get your hands on some Splendour 2020 (alas) merch over here — all proceeds will go to supporting the festival crew, who are doing it pretty tough right now due to COVID.