Dude, I’m so over this
DOMi & JD BECK
The ups and downs, strikes and gutters
Let’s just go bowling
I’m out of my element
If you’d asked me in January 2020 whether I wanted to go to a music festival, I’d have probably said no. But in the midst of my first lockdown Splendour in the Grass 2020 was cancelled – and suddenly it seemed a great idea to snap up a ticket to the postponed event in July 2021. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that right?
July 2021 was cancelled, and became November 2021, which in turn was cancelled and became July 2022.
So after two years of pandemic cancellations it finally arrived, but with a day to go, 2022’s other villain (rain) tapped into the ring ready to put plans in a headlock. We rolled into Byron on Thursday thinking gumboots and a raincoat would suffice. It did not. Friday was cancelled and we descended into town to sink some consolation beers at the pub. Try as we might, we couldn’t lift the mood. As the sun set, news came through that Sofi Tukker were going to make an appearance at the establishment in which we were planted. They managed to lift the mood, but we still started day two struggling to feel any buzz of excitement.
Saturday was a mess. The festival went ahead, so that was a win – but it took so long to get in there that we were only getting our bearings at 4:30 in the afternoon (whilst still dealing with dark clouds and light rain). We lined up for a long time to be met with mid-strength Captain Morgan with watermelon and coconut. Watermelon and coconut? Oh, sorry, did you want flavour? At Drink Mixer High School these two flavours played chess with each other at lunch time. These drinks were clearly made to discourage drinking. It was impossible to get a buzz, and the lines for food were even worse. Then, Violent Soho took to the stage and it seemed the day could turn around. But by the time The Strokes came on, you could feel the crowd were tired – and sober. And the three hour ordeal getting back to Byron from midnight capped it off.
Sunday lived up to its name and brought the sunshine. With the sun out, trudging around in mud was a novelty rather than a pain. Sunday made the whole experience worth it. We found a place serving normal drinks, mingled with crowds who were equally buzzed and excited, saw some great music and experienced the feeling we’d been craving for over two years. The only catch – thanks to the bus ordeal on Saturday we left early and missed Tyler. It was a shame, but preferable to spending another three hours trying to get out of there.
And I managed to catch Gorillaz at their Sydney gig to make up for Friday – who were fantastic as always. They were so good that I was left with a sense of melancholy that they hadn’t been able to take to the stage at Splendour. They would have commanded that enormous space.
And I still haven’t had covid.
Random other thoughts:
- The Strokes were solid as ever. I felt bad for them that the crowd were tired and grouchy (understandably). I suspect they cut their set short as a result. They brought their A-game regardless.
- Glass Animals (aka Milhouse and friends) have such a great body of songs. Every song is catchy as hell. But they really didn’t fit on that stage. When Dave Bayley said that it was the biggest crowd they’d ever played to, I was not surprised. The stage presence and sound was small. Seriously, Tokyo Drifting is a thumping track which should have ripped a layer of skin from everyone on the hill – and it had all the presence of a dude on the train playing music from his phone.
- Pond are really underrated and really helped in turning the mood around on Sunday.
- Grinspoon were a real surprise. I’d long dismissed them as daggy Gen-X dudes that my brother was into. They were tight as hell, and with some distance it was possible to assess their body of songs with perspective. Fantastic stuff.
- Duke Dumont was a real surprise too. I had little idea what to expect. To be honest I was only really familiar with Red Light Green Light but I loved every moment. Very much in the vein of The Chemical Brothers. Lasers, lights, thumping beats and repeated phrases – very easy to fall into a trance.
- We probably saw about 10% of what we’d planned.
- Tim Minchin was seen …in Woolies. That is all.
