Falls Festival - Marion Bay

Falls Festival has been running in Marion Bay for the past 6 years and not only has it become a great way to avoid New Year calamities, its also a wonderful festival in a spectacular location.

Rumors were circulating earlier in the year that the owners of the land were not going to permit the festival this year due to the site being destroyed every year. However the organisers have outdone themselves when it comes to satisfying Green groups, with drink incentives for collecting recyclables and compost toilets etc etc.

Walking into the Marion Bay site you can see why they would want to preserve this land. Falls Festival consists of dense forrest cover and sweeping green fields and by the end of it, I couldn't help but feel like a cunt remembering when I dropped the odd can on the ground.

- (Saw A.I.H at the airport. Very nice people who say hello and have a chat)

The Tasmanian (and AFP) police were very thorough this year in stamping out drugs at the festival. We had to line up our bags twice to have the sniffer dogs run through them. To their credit it was refreshing to see happy faces at a festival that weren't eating their lips or punching on.

Approximately 9, 000 people arrived on the first day to enjoy some local dj's followed by the other 7, 000 the next day, hence our delayed arrival. Luckily we were able to catch The Dodo's at the start of their set.

The Dodo's - Field Stage

This was their first Australian gig and they fucking nailed it. The (normally) two piece from San Francisco were joined by another gentlemen on a few songs to provide keys and percussion. The crowd were less than enthused but Meric Long (lead) sung with a lot of passion and ran through most of Visitor plus a few e.p tracks. Ending with Red & Purple I thoroughly enjoyed their set.

Wolf & Cub - Main Stage

The only thing that draw me to this band is the fact that they have 2 drummers. They haven't really evolved much as a band since I saw them last, still really fuzzed out and living vicariously through Deep Purple. Average set.

- One of the downfalls of Marion Bay is that they are often 2nd priority to Lorne when it comes to the New Year performers.

Architecture in Helsinki - Main Stage

They did the same set as Meredith which was disappointing. Although it was fun to see everyone reminisce on their childhood when they covered the Never Ending Story Theme song. Their new material sounds great live, they even put a few vocoded "That Beep"'s in for good measure. The lead singer looks a lot like the guy from Spoon.

Fleet Foxes - Field Stage

Nothing pleased me more than to see 90% of the punters leave the main stage when Mystery Jets started. Only to get to the Field stage to see that said punters had clearly gone to their tents to get wasted…not to see Fleet Foxes. Fleet Foxes were a stand out. Absolutely majestical. Sound was perfect. I’d heard about their impromptu shows at SXSW and Robin Pecknold did not disappoint. “Sun It Rises” and “He Doesn’t Know Why” were obvious stand outs.

Cut Off Your Hands - Field Stage

They were ok... The lead belted out some single drum percussion whilst singing which was interesting. They shouldn't have ended with "Oh Girl"...

Eli "Paper Boy" Reid - Main Stage

Really surprised me. He had a 7 piece band that he worked with really well. This motherfucker has soul. 3 guys on horns made it even better. Honestly hadn't heard much from him but he definitely made me a fan.

Blue King Brown - Main Stage

Did the same old shit. I knew she'd start preaching and she did. I support global warming activists and whatnot but I don't need to hear it at a festival. The guitarists did do a cover of "Thunderstruck" though which was impressive.

The Grates - Main Stage

Never cease to put on a lively show. They still have Conan as their tech/percussion guy! He is a genius. Their new tracks sound good live. Even managed to drop in some e.p tracks. It'd be refreshing to hear some B sides but judging by everyone's reaction to "Aw Yeah" you can tell they made the right set list decisions.

Gomez fucking suck. Yawn-town.

Franz Ferdinand - Main Stage

With the main stage having a few sound problems on the first day, it took Franz about 4 songs to really get into their set. Ulysses sounded sharp and the festival favorite "Michael" got the crowd going. Reasonable set, however they seemed less than enthused.

Jamie Lidell - Main Stage

The crowed thinned as Jamie took the stage (he had the 1.40 am time slot), however he still put on (in my opinion) the best set of the day. Widely renowned for his improv shows, this was no different with a little bit of scatting, various solos and the 7 person band working together seamlessly. "A Little Bit of Feel Good" was a stand out and ended with "Multiply".

A-Trak - Main Stage

Fuck this guy amazing. He was the first and youngest Canadian to win DMC at age 15. I had never seen him play live before but it became quite obvious as to why he is Kanye's tour dj. Absolutely flawless mixing. He played a very club friendly set incorporating a lot of loops and some insane scatching. Apparently he uses Serrato, which is interesting because I thought the majority of the U.S/Canadian guys used Ableton. Hands down one of the best sets I have ever seen.

DAY 2

Soko - Field Stage

Absolutely fucking pathetic. I can't believe I missed Tame Impala for this. She wailed through her first song singing out of key and her guitar wasn't tuned correctly. After fumbling through the next few song she then mumbled in french something about "when we become more popular we can afford a guitar tech to tune our guitars"?? She then insisted on having a toy tiger tied around her neck for a particular song, which kept falling off. Then to top it off, she failed to save herself and murdered both of her singles. (She almost whispered "I'll Kill Her") She obviously hasn't been playing live for very long.

Grafton Primary - Main Stage

They have really evolved. The lead singer is a touch creepy (rang-er wearing a little bit too much leather). Tight synths and an enjoyable set nonetheless.

Lykke Li - Field Stage

Amazing. Definitely a highlight of the festival. The field stage was at about one quarter capacity, which was fine a lot more dancing space. She had no female back up singers but had vocoder vocals partnered with some brilliant percussion. She went through most of the album plus some e.p tracks. Stand outs were "I'm Good, I'm Gone" and her version of "Dance, Dance, Dance" mashed with "Oxford Comma" that lead to a solo marathon (with Li even belting out a little drum solo of her own.) I'd heard rumors that she covered "Can I Kick It?" in her live sets. Needless to say, I lost my shit when she absolutely nailed it in her encore. She even did a little bit of crumping.

Tegan & Sara - Main Stage

They seemed uninterested and just went through the motions with their set... There was a little bit of crowd banter in their cute Canadian accents, but not much else.

- Faker fucking suck. I seriously hate them. Nathan is a cocky fuck.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Main Stage

The Dap-Kings warmed up prior to the tiny Miss Jones taking to the stage. The 8-piece, horn orientated band ran through some their own tracks before she took the stage. Jones clocks in at about 5 foot nothing (with heels on), however she still manages to belt out the high notes perfectly and get her Brooklyn shuffle on.

The Kooks - Main Stage

I'd never seen the Kooks before. I've heard a lot about their sets, with the insane groupies, platinum status in the UK etc. Apart from the arrogance of Luke Pritchard, who was drunk as fuck and the shy genius attitude of Hugh Harris they actually played a really tight set. Seeing them live, you can't help but think that they have awful lot of hits, which is not a problem at all, however it is quite evident in their stage presence. You could hardly understand a word Pritchard was saying in between songs and Harris hardly said a word underneath his trilby.

Ash Grunwald - Field Stage

A really talented down to earth Australian musician. He played for an extra half an hour and really appreciated the crowd, it was uplifting to see.

The Hives – Main Stage

The Swedish quintet brought in the new year with renewed vigor. According to Howlin’, the band celebrated their 15th year together this very day. And after seeing them a few times before, one can’t help but be pleasantly surprised every time I see them. Always dressed so sharply and Stones-like stage presence. They ran through some of Veni Vici and Your New Favourite Band. Solid set with some scaffold climbs included.

Late of the Pier – Main Stage

I really felt sorry for these guys. Not only did the crowd thin out, but it was quite evident that the majority of them didn’t know who they were… Instrument malfunctions and poorly set up percussion plagued them however they kept playing looked like they were having fun. Andrew Faley or “Francis Dudley Dance” as he prefers to be called, absolutely goes crazy on his sampler and synth. “The Bears Are Coming” and the insane breakdown of “Bathroom Gurgle” seemed to pique the crowds interest, even if it was only 500 strong…