The second-ever Byron Bay leg of the Falls Music & Arts Festival was a certified scorcher - both on and off the stage, with a swathe of musical brilliance on-show in the piercing sun.
Brisbane-via-Bundaberg thrashers DZ Deathrays were my pick of the first night, causing the rapturous revellers at the Forest Stage to challenge the festival's "no moshing" rule as the duo blasted a wall of fuzzy, dance-y noise onto the crowd, including a cheeky, grungy cover of Darude's 1999 trance hit Sandstorm.
Jagwa Ma© Lachlan Johnston
New Year's Eve unsurprisingly had the punters at their most rabid, with the downright hilarious '80s-'90s synth-pop stylings of Client Liaison on the Valley Stage, complete with screen imagery of neon grids and Diners Club cards adding to their nostalgia. They easily had the most novelty crowd props, too - inflatable orcas, beach balls and dolls on sticks flew high above our heads throughout.
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Seeing hip-hop royalty Salt N Pepa follow the Sydney duo was definitely a bucket list ticker-offer. Cheryl Jones and Sandra Denton took the stage with the energy of their heyday. Let's Talk About Sex, Whatta Man and finally Push It – and even a mid-set sample of Iggy Azalea's Fancy from DJ Spinderella as a shoutout to us antipodeans – were the obvious crowd-pleasers.
Kim Churchill © Lachlan Johnston
While not really a DJ set connoisseur, I had to hand it to the mercurial Alison Wonderland who turned in a powerhouse, beats-heavy show to see in the new year as the heavens finally opened to drench the riotous, sweaty masses.
You could see the hangovers and comedowns in droves on Wednesday but it didn't stop stellar performances from Sydney-bred psych-groovers Jagwar Ma as they unleashed the dreamy, infectious sounds of Somersault, Come Save Me and more. It was mesmerising stuff – even if I wished I'd brought some acid.
Run The Jewels © Lachlan Johnston
Luke Steele entered the stage in customary futuristic, pan-tribal garb with a host of Daft Punk-ish-looking dancers and the best light show of the event as Empire Of The Sun closed the Thursday bill. Thousands of ravers danced and sang along to early-noughties hits We Are The People and Walking On A Dream before a spectacular closer of recent smash Alive.
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Affable London alt-rock-poppers Wolf Alice braved the Byron noon heat as they kicked off the final day's roster at the Forest Stage with plenty of '90s-esque palm muting, chorus pedal and distortion. Bros, Blush and a soaring cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game were among the best, and highlighted diminutive frontwoman Ellie Rowsell's powerful voice.
Temper Trap © Lachlan Johnston
A change of scenery saw comedians Harley Breen (MC), Damien Power and Luke McGregor take the stage to have the initially weary, seated crowd in stitches. Power's excellent dissection of human evolution and racism, and McGregor's awkward accounts of horror dates brought a welcome injection of first-class LOLs to the tent.
Cold War Kids © Lachlan Johnston
Later, '90s veterans Spiderbait brought the house down with possibly the most eventful set of the festival. I initially wondered if they still had 'it' but Kram drummed and roared with the vigour of the trio's halcyon days and even began running laps of the stage before bassist/co-vocalist Janet English played drums as the band belted out Buy Me A Pony. Black Betty and Calypso also had the fans jumping and singing along. Surfer Stephanie Gilmore briefly joined the band on guitar and at one point Kram even told a dude-heavy pocket at the front of the crowd to move and let a number of girls through because "it's not 1992 anymore, guys". A truly fun set all round.
Tkay Maidza © Lachlan Johnston
Blue Mountains favourite sons-and-daughter, Cloud Control delivered an energetic and emotional set – the second-last ever for bassist Jeremy Kelshaw - as they entertained a vocal crowd and a supersized bouncing beach ball with Gold Canary, Promises and Scar, among other sweet, sweet sounds.
Admittedly, I was a little underwhelmed by eclectic-but-stationary festival closers Alt-J, but that is often the case with highly anticipated final acts on a tired evening. They were nonetheless flawless, and repeatedly, poshly thanked the hordes of listeners that completely covered the mountainous amphitheatre. Naturally, closing track and 2012 mega-hit Breezeblocks had everyone singing along and ended a fantastic four days.
Vance Joy © Lachlan Johnston
