Thursday (23 July) and rainy Byron Bay was a bustle with the electricity fashioned by an impending festival.
Not wanting to wait until Friday for their festival experience to start, Splendour In The Grass attendees, and the smattering of locals, poured into The Northern Hotel for the official pre-party.
To my pleasant surprise the night predominately belonged to the girls. There are some seriously talented ladies out there right now owning microphones and stages with strength and grace. It is great to see; further, how enthusiastically they are received. The crowd was, at a guess, 60:40 on the male side and surprisingly diverse in age, rather than the expected young Splendour crowd.
Valis Alps opened the night with a gentle crescendo of velvet vocals and luxurious beats delivered via a restrained performance. The young electronic duo from Canberra held the attention of the small crowd, as the majority gradually trickled in throughout their set.Flume meets London Grammar, with even a vague hint of the haunting tones of nineties electronica heroes Zero 7; they managed to paint an aural picture of the ocean with instinctive accuracy; music that would be right at home on a 'Ministry Of Sound', chillout album. There was minimal movement on stage, but that was fine; the crowd had it covered, swaying and imbibing the warm glow emanating from the stage.
Swedish reggae-rap chanteuse Eliiphant dived into her premier Australian performance with guts and swagger. The svelte blonde looked at home in Byron, donning a white singlet with her own branding and black shorts. She commanded the stage, backed by one male DJ and a backdrop of distorted video imagery. An immensely skilled rhymer Eliiphant has as powerful pop vocalist as any current stadium star. Growling and on-pitch as good as Kelly Clarkson or Katy Perry – she might not like hearing that, but it’s a compliment – she drew obviously influence from pop/ reggae royalty Gwen Stefani, and fellow singer/rapper Robyn. Eliiphant has attitude, serious, raw sex-appeal and a hot collection of new-rave beats that had the crowd in the palm of her hands.
The lighting was terrible and the bass overdone, which took away from what could have been some tasty softer moments melodically, but she pushed through, introducing Byron to her no-bullshit rap, intertwined with the occasional commercial chorus.
The crowd continued to grow as Eliiphant worked up into impressive, inexorable raps. The beats got darker, the bass got bigger, the screams got angrier, the twerks got raunchier, her hair got sweatier, the crowd got bouncier. She owned the stage and the room, but lost grip ever so slightly when her single ‘Love Me Badder’ was let down with an intrusive bass and sub-standard mic that was probably not designed for vocal nuances; the audio glitches visibly aggravating her more as the set went on. An otherwise exciting, energetic set abruptly ended with Eliiphant complaining about the mix and walking off. The music faded out slowly and the DJ slinked off rather awkwardly, neither leaving the crowd the opportunity to give them the cheer they deserved.
Then, there was Tkay Maidza, quite possibly the sweetest and most exciting thing to emerge from Adelaide in who knows how long. This 19-year-old, pocket rocket danced onto stage, beaming, all red dress and long, dark hair, just ready to party with the crowd. She owned the room from go. Swinging hips and arms that nodded to her Zimbabwean heritage, there was innocence about her joyful delivery of even sassy lyrics, flawlessly, tenaciously rapping like a boss. This is a woman who is doing what she’s meant to do.
By the third song the similarity of the tracks seemed to run on into each other. But then ‘Brontosaurus’ dropped on our heads and the room stomped it’s collective feet, as we were told. The audience lost its mind and were sucked into the infectious beats, everyone having fun with it.
Last Dinosaurs (above)Her DJ, looking like a dishevelled Paulo Nutini from a dark distance, added to the energetic performance, jumping and grooving with the rest of us – the set was a sweeping joy for everyone involved.
In between songs Tkay wore her amazement on her sleeve, stating how pleased she was to see people dancing and later gushing ‘I don’t know what to say’. Her grace and class only adding to her endearment. If that night's performance is anything to go by, she is set to become one of the leaders in Australian hip hop; probably already is.
By now the room was all but at capacity, a buzz while DJ L.K. McKay did his thing between sets.
The room went dark and sonic thespians Flight Facilities entered into a slow upsurge of thick club beats. The flight takes off and vocalist Owl Eyes joined the stage for a disco-funk track that brings Byron some much-needed sunshine.
Most of the set felt like a naughties remake of late '90s club anthems: their cover of Modjo’s ‘Lady’ was a crowd favourite and won the evening’s highlights. Remaining in that era, a lot of tracks were reminiscent of Groovejet. The unique theme the duo set for their live performance wass welcomed – they made the most of the live performance restrictions on DJs by dressing the stage, featuring guest vocalists, and using interesting visual imagery to create as much activity and interest as possible.
The crowd, loving them, were a carpet of bouncing heads, immersed in the smooth grooves. But for a late-night headliner, it felt subdued, and with eyes closed, there was no way to feel as though a live show was taking place: the performance could easily to be mistaken for listening to a CD at home.
As the Sydney producers’ big hit ‘Crave You’ started, the punters catapulted themselves into an instant mini-festival of their own: arms in the air, fingers upstretched and bodies on shoulders (security in a panic).
Sans the intermittent addition of talented and rich vocals, you hear one track you’ve heard them all. But the crowd either didn’t agree or didn’t care: heads down, bodies moving; they love them.
And this was just the warm-up: Splendour crowds are in for some exciting moments from some of Australia and the world’s most interesting artists.
