Return From Splendour Pt 1

Photo from Pedestrian.tv

I'm at university right now meaning I don't have access to my Splendour photos so I thought I'd start my Splendour posting with a run down of the location and general set up.

So it's about 1pm on Wednesday afternoon and I'm frantically setting up my tent under the ominous clouds and spitting rain drops covering the Woodfordia campsite. My day had started catching a plane to Brisbane and then shuttle to Woodford.

With the music not beginning until Thursday we took the opportunity to take the Splendour Shuttle ($4 each way) five minutes into Woodford, stock up on supplies and grab a bite to eat. This is the moment where I should have purchased gumboots, a rookie error.



As the rained absolutely bucketed down, I had a decent pizza at the Woodford Hotel Motel. In fairness they did try and get me to have the steak special but they didn't have diane sauce and working in a Steakhouse makes me ungreatful and difficult to please when it comes to cuts of meat. I thought I'd spare Clare my whinging and know-it-all attitude with steak and opted for the Magarita Pizza.

With rain still pelting down it was back on the shuttle and back to base camp. It was a very wet night and it goes without saying that we weren't praying the rain would subside.

On Thursday we woke to an overcast and misty morning. Apart from a few small spits early on, the Sun broke through for extended patches and things were looking on the up.

As this was our first Splendour In the Grass we had not camped at the Byron Bay location however of the few punters I spoke to who had attended several Splendours, they all remarked that this site was much larger and in particular there was a lot more room for the campers. However I will say Splendour did use this added space as the ideal invitation to sell more tickets and good luck to em.

The toilets were unsurprisingly disgusting with many toilets blocking up purely because some punters aren't a fan of flushing and I was sure to wear my thongs in the shower as some used them as an alternative toilet. Clare's description of the ladies camp toilets was similarly gruesome. However you have to take these things as they come, it's an enormous festival and the fact that I got warm water for my showers was a luxury I'll never take for granted when camping ever again. I'm even more grateful when I hear of the chick taking a dump in a Tipi Forest Tipi. There were ample toilets both in camp and in festival, no excuse you trashy bitch.

Unsurprisingly the line up for Thursday night was not exactly star studded and Thursday was more for exploring the new site, having a nice feed and having a couple of cold ones. I did not participate in the latter on Thursday but I did like the coupon system Splendour implemented for alcohol. You went to designated tents and purchased $2 drink tickets (much like rides @ The Easter Show) with a standard can of Slate bourbon or Smirnoff 4 TIX ($8), A Jager + Redbull 6 TIX or 5 TIX at the Jagercube and the crowd favourite red or white wine just 3 TIX. Beer was somewhere around 3 or 4 tix aswell I'm not sure, I don't do beer but it was encouraging to see a distinct lack of VB or Extra Dry, instead Coopers was your go-to beverage.

This might all sound boring or irrelevant but I really believe that the products you sell really says something about the kind of clientele / behaviour you are seeking to have your festival known by. A.K.A Big Day Out 'kiss the flaggers' not welcome.

Food wise there was an endless supply of different options and if you read the vendor requirements it was clear that the Splendour organisers had put clear guidelines in place to promote a vast range of food options. Vegetarians are a growing but still second class species in my opinion however at Splendour they weren't just catered for, they were worshipped.

My favourite food discoverings at Splendour included Fine Earth Food's Angel Bay Beef Burger ($9 plus Lemon Barley Water $2) I think I had a burger at some point everyday, Spaghetti Junction's Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini topped with a Creamy Walnut Sauce ($15 pricey but restaurant quality) and Iron Wok's Mi Goreng Noodles (plenty of chicken for $10). Clare couldn't keep away from the $2.50 cookies and everytime she bought one I definitely ate my share. For those more adventurous with food than myself, Splendour would have been your tastebuds playground!

The musical highlight or should I say only band we saw during the Wednesday / Thursday lull was The Blackbirds who are of Australia's Got Talent fame. As they said themselves, they started by saying appreciated they didn't really fit the criteria of a AGT winner however they knew it would be a great chance to gain some exposure.

We saw them on Clare's recommendation @ The Temple Stage and were able to get not 5-10 metres away. They were on stage a little late which was confusing but when they did finally get on they ripped through an enjoyable covers set which ended with the rousing Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking" featuring impromptu Vanilla Ice rapping and much much more. They were warm and appreciative of the small but responsive crowd with singer Mama Renee elegent and graceful while ukele-axeman Benhur providing the comedy and interaction with the crowd. For the most part they were good but the final mash up was sensational.

In the coming days I'll be getting my photos together and telling you all about the Gold Bar VIP experience as well as getting into the music of course where I'll gush all over Little Red, Miike Snow and more. I just thought I had to get something started and add more when I get home!