Falls Festival ‘13
Arriving at the festival on the 30th of Dec (day 2) my companion and I were pleased to see that the sky was relatively clear and the weather promised to be better than forecast. It was my 7th visit to the Marion Bay Falls Festival and I was excited about the quality band line up and also at the prospect of partying with the excellent crew of friends attending with us.
The beautiful Marion Bay site had again turned it on for us – the sun was shining, and although the wind chill kept things relatively cool, the sight of the crystal clear blue water of Marion Bay as a back drop to the main stage was as picturesque as ever. After purchasing a couple of Cascade Blue Cans, which contrary to the Falls Festival program were not ‘super cheap’ at $7 per tin, we settled into our first act.
30/12/13:
‘The Preatures’ were led by the strong stage presence and powerful voice of front woman Isabella Manfredi and rewarded fans who had gotten to the site and set their gear up early or arrived the day before. Their hit ‘Is this how you feel’ which featured as the backing track on the Falls Festival TV advertisement was a crowd favourite and saw many fans dancing to the catchy single. The Preatures were a solid opener to the festival for many who didn’t make it into the main arena before 10:30, including myself, which occurred due to a tent malfunction or inability to erect it quickly (the tent that is). Never the less the Preatures injected real energy into the crowd and were a top start to a big day of music.
Next on the Valley stage were ‘Big Scary’ who were a real festival highlight for me. After listening to the band’s most recent LP ‘Not Art’ many times in the last couple of months I was really looking forward seeing Big Scary live and they did not disappoint. They delivered their intricate and complex tracks to a responsive crowd in the main arena with precision. Particularly impressive was co song writer Joanna Syme’s work on the drums which produced distinctive percussion to the tracks and Tom Lansek’s work on the keys was even better than expected. The highlights for me were the tracks ‘Twin Rivers’ and ‘Luck Now’ although the entire set was very tight and delivered with emotion. Personally I would have like to see Big Scary play later in the day to allow more people to witness what a rock solid Australian act these guys are, regardless it was a great set, well played Big Scary, and well played Falls for getting this band to the festival.
Former Smiths guitarist and co song writer Johnny Marr took the stage around afternoon tea time (3pm) and played some crackers. Being a Smiths fan I knew that this would probably be as close as I would ever come to seeing the original band and hoped that Marr would pull out a couple of ‘Smiths’ tracks. He must have read my mind (or knew that the poorer types in the crowd would boo him until ‘my’ throat was sore if he did not) because he played several classic Smiths tracks and nailed them. Marr’s voice, although different to the distinctive baritone of Morrissey accompanied his brilliant guitar work seamlessly and left fans wanting more. Marr’s closing track ’How Soon is Now’ had members of the audience who didn’t even know who he was singing along. Although perhaps some for the wrong reasons, I heard at least one person say ‘hey he’s singing the theme song to ‘Charmed’, I love that show! Regardless, Johnny was awesome.
‘London Grammer’ was extremely well received by fans in the early evening on the Valley Stage, and the vocals from lead singer Hannah Reid sounded beautiful. I heard many people suggesting that London Grammer was their highlight of the festival and I can see why – a very polished international act with a lot of promise who will hopefully visit Australia many more times in the coming years.
The sister of Beyonce Knowles, Solange, was scheduled as the last act on the small stage on day two and impressed many with her soulful pop inspired tracks. While it is likely her international pop star big sister would not use the field stage as a place to tie up her dog ‘Munchie’ let alone perform on it, Solange belted out track after track to an eager crowd. She earned respect from the audience winning over some new fans and worked well as a late edition on the Field Stage.
The warm up act to the ‘day 2’ head liner was ‘the Cat Empire’ who took to the main stage seeming very 2004 and although up beat and animated produced their usual ‘noise’ which made many in the crowd including myself literally nauseas. The popular Sca/Jazz band have been a festival favourite for almost a decade and appear to be playing the same set over and over again year after year like a corrupted MP3 file. My friends thought that I was being a bit harsh for bagging what they described as ‘an old classic’. I thought about this and actually started to believe them until I witnessed horses in a nearby paddock emptying their bowels in reaction to the childish lyrics of lead singer Felix Riebl, which were truly awful. Whilst the band may, or may not, have made these horses sick to the stomach, a serious conversation needs to be had about what they actually bring to a festival. My thoughts are that enough is enough, someone needs to put this old ‘tabby’ out her misery, she was a novelty when she was a kitten but now she is just a whiny old flee bag who rarely changes pitch and will damage your ear drums if you come within reach of her. Cancel this one fallas, she’s cooked.
In the headline slot of day 2 was ‘Vampire Weekend’ who were excellent. Having not been a huge fan of the band in the past I was uncertain what to expect from the New York outfit. However, in preparation for the festival I had listened to the latest release ‘Modern Vampires of the City’ and really enjoyed it. The band played several tracks from the new album and all their old classics which had a large portion of the main arena, which was now packed, dancing like lunatics. And not just to keep warm (it was now very chilly) but because this band really does make you want to move your feet. Highlights for me were the bands fantastic recent track ‘Step’ and the 2008 single ‘Oxford Comma’. Vampire Weekend were an excellent festival act, and closer for the day, for those of us who were weary from a solid day of socialising, drinking and fun.
31/12/13:
The first act to be enjoyed on a sunny day 3 were Local Hobart band ‘The Middle Names’ who did themselves no harm by putting in a blistering performance on the Field Stage. I hadn’t heard the Middle Names music before New Years Eve despite having heard the band’s name mentioned a few times in the past. But I was happy I left my friends camp site upon his suggestion to check out this Local 5 piece. The lads played with passion and precision and had many up and dancing at 11:20am, which is no mean feat considering many, were only moments before the band started, nursing crippling hangovers. The Middle Names appear to be a very solid act with good song writing ability and an infectious rhythm. I’ll be checking this band out again in the near future.
Next on the field stage was ‘Violent Soho’ and it truly was an assault on my ears. The band could have turned their volume down by 50% and people could have still heard them clearly in Orford. I will admit that I only witnessed 3 tracks from the boys but I truly believe that this saved me from acquiring permanent hearing damage. While it may seem harsh to judge a band based on three songs, I’d seen enough to realise that Violent Soho weren’t for me and were more suited to the topless tattooed covered meat heads who had finally ventured to the field stage after spending the majority of the first two days at their camp site yelling abuse at passers by while drinking ‘smuggled in’ beam cans. I really think Violent Soho would have been better suited to the Valley Stage and Falls organisers should have continued with the tradition of playing more relaxed and alternative artists on the field stage throughout the day. However, for some, this band were excellent with one of my associates claiming they were the highlight of the festival (I’m now seriously considering whether we can still be friends). And although my associate is proving himself to be a complete flog making such a statement, it does show that the Falls organisers do go a long way to try and cater for all tastes, which I think is a great thing.
After my ears stopped bleeding I sat down to watch ‘Gossling’ at the field stage with a can of cider in an attempt to temper a persistent hangover I had earned the night before. Gossling was well received by a decent sized field stage crowd and couldn’t have been more in contrast with the band scheduled before her (Violent Soho). Gossling has a delicate singing voice and kept the crowd entertained while festival goers enjoyed the beaming sun and a nervous first drink after waking up as dusty as hell. The artist engaged with crowd regularly with many in the audience being intrigued by Gossling’s softly spoken voice which was not unlike an apprentice jockey, or small child. In fact I think Shirley Temple (Gossling’s real name) may have been riding in races 3, 5 and 6 at Elwick later on that afternoon. However, regardless of whether or not Gossling is indeed a jockey or small child she was a great choice for that time of day on the field stage and fitted the mood of the crowd splendidly.
Next on the Field Stage were three comedy acts which included Nath Valvo who proved to be an aggressive and at times uncouth small man with an unhealthy fascination with day time cooking shows, fat sausage fingered chefs and masturbation but was none the less was an entertaining opening act.
Ronny Chieng wound up the midday comedy show with his straight talking and charismatic comedy. Chieng who is originally from Malaysia delivered one of the best comedy routines I’ve seen in a while. Topics included were Chieng’s likening of delivering over the phone technical web support to his Mum to barbaric torture methods and demystifying common Asian stereotypes such as small genitalia and poor driving skills. Some good laughs at the field stage broke the day up well and gave me a chance to have a ‘Moo Brew Dark Ale’ which was delicious but ludicrously priced at $7 for a ten ounce. ‘Super cheap bar prices’ Falls? – give me a break, when beers are 40% more expensive (both Moo Brew and Cascade) than at the ‘Taste of Tasmania’ something is wrong.
After some time spent between the two main stages we settled in to see critically acclaimed Philadelphia Indie rock band ‘The War on Drugs’. It seemed a little strange to see such an internationally renowned band such as The War on Drugs on the small Field Stage playing to a very small crowd. But to guitarist/vocalist Adam Granduciel’s credit the band put in a great performance often talking to the crowd and the entire band looked to be enjoying them selves. The War on Drugs clearly looked relaxed and if anything a little disorganised as Granduciel handed their set list to a member of the audience to deliver to the sound tent only moments before they played their first song. For their finale Granduciel put it to the crowd ‘what should we play last’ and after a few suggestions were thrown their way Granduciel replied ‘Black Water Falls was shouted out first, we’ll play that’. And he was right, it was suggested first because I heard the guy next to me shout it out, and when it was confirmed that this what they would play ‘the guy’ threw his arms with great pride as if to say ‘that’s my song I made them play it!’ It was a great moment, the Field Stage has seen many a great moment, may it long continue to.
‘Grizzly Bear’ played 7:30pm on the main stage and delivered a quality performance. Highlights included ‘Two Weeks’ which is a real classic for mine and the bands new single ‘Yet Again’ was also great. By the time Neil Finn took to the stage at 9:00pm many in the main arena, including myself, were well on the way, and very much in the mood for a sing along, and didn’t Neil deliver. Finn played many a Crowded House and Split Ends classic which had everyone singing at the top of their lungs often embracing one another in an unforgettable Falls moment. The New Zealand music legend was super nice to the crowd and while part of me wanted Finn to just cut loose and smash some instruments, swear at the crowd, or push over another musician (Tim Roger’s style) this just isn’t him. Finn finished the set playing a solo acoustic version of ‘Better be Home Soon’ and left the stage to rapturous applause from an adoring Falls crowd.
‘MGMT’ arrived on stage soon after 10:30pm and played a very self-indulgent set of the bands alternative rock tracks. I actually quite enjoyed MGMT’s set but after being on a high from Neil Finn’s massive sing-along set, MGMT seemed to bring the mood of the crowd down. The exception to this was when the band played their more radio friendly tracks from their debut album such as ‘Kids’, ‘Electric Feel’ and ‘Time to Pretend’ but for the most part their set comprised of long instrumentals, monotone vocals, and spacey session type music. Although I enjoyed MGMT I think the band should have realised that they were only playing in the ‘prime time slot’ because of the popularity gained from their alternate pop album ‘Oracular Spectacular’ and played more tracks from that to keep the crowd involved. Or alternatively Falls organisers should have scheduled the band before Finn to ensure that the mood just before midnight was at its peak. MGMT also had minimal to no interaction with the crowd which meant winning them over was going to be difficult. Overall I’m glad I saw MGMT as I think they are a real talent but I think that the band was incorrectly scheduled and would have been better suited to performing earlier in the night.
After an unknown female counted in the New Year with the crowd ‘The Wombats’ took to the main stage. I wasn’t expecting much from the Wombats as their music has never really done it for me. However, their live performance was very solid. The band constantly interacted with the crowd and played with real energy getting almost everyone in the main arena dancing. The Wombats seem to me to one of those bands who are much better live and they were a really good pick for this time slot bringing the mood of the crowd back to its peak. This being said, as the band were nearing the end of their set they weren’t able to keep me away from my tent. After 2 days of solid music I was ready for bed and went to sleep very content with what the Falls Festival had provided me with over the past two days.
Although numbers were down this year by around 3,000 this actually made the time spent at the festival more comfortable and from my point of view took nothing away from the atmosphere. Whether the increase in alcohol prices was made to offset the losses taken from selling less tickets I’m not sure. But if so, I’d gladly pay the extra to keep the festival running because it is without doubt the best thing you can do in Tasmania over the New Year’s Period!
Best Food: Duck Sesame Wrap from St. Anthony’s Food Van
Best Snack: Corn on the cob from the Corn Man (Lots of butter and salt please)
Best Coffee: Bentwood Coffee
Gavin Boyd
