Splendour Over Part 4

In comparison to Saturday, Sunday was going to be a far more chilled out time. Little did I know some of the impressive acts I would see today had no such plans for a dull affair.

First up were Blue Mountains kids Cloud Control who’ve been tirelessly gigging around the place for several years now. I saw them support Vampire Weekend in May and was impressed with what I saw. After giving tracks from their latest Bliss Release a try, I was more in-the-know as far as a spectator goes. While I had to leave early, you could tell that despite larger audiences only warming to Cloud Control in more recent times, they are very accomplished as a live act. A good start to the day in the GW McLennan tent.

The reason I left early was to see one of my favourite acts of 09/10 Miike Snow in the Mix-Up Tent, Boy I’m glad that I did! These are the chaps who wrote “Toxic” by Britney Spears among many many many other pop hits. They opened with “Cult Logic” and rather than hearing a Super-nintendo intro to the track, Instead my chest was bombarded with the rippling bass of that same intro, it set the tone for something special. Miike Snow is precisely the reason we go to see live music, rather than hearing note perfect reproductions of what I already own on cd, Miike Snow added a unique live flavour to every song and made the experience unforgettable. From “Burial” to “Sylvia” to “Black & Blue” to “Plastic Jungle” to “The Rabbit” to the closer (surprise surprise) “Animal” I was confronted with infectious pulsating sounds from the finest of Swedish gentlemen, it also didn’t hurt they were dressed like the sharpest looking cult you’ve ever seen.

To say Last Dinosaurs were a disappointment would be going a bit too far but I will say I was far from blown away. These guys are a very young band and they have a knack for songwriting and a very marketable front man. I have a copy of their EP and love it, for the most part the songs they played from the EP were considerably more polished and ambitious than some of the other additions (“Alps” & “Honolulu”). What I saw was an incredibly young band that are still cutting their teeth live and I’ve no doubt they’ll improve but August, 2010 they’ve got plenty of refinement to consider.

In direct comparison to Cloud Control, you can see the years of gigging at the best and worst venues around Australia have served Cloud Control well. Just a bitchy side note, what is with the front man introducing songs with anecdotes that to me seemed like lies, “this next song is about when I met the other band mates who’s Dad knows Richard Branson in Hawaii and we traveled to space” I dunno something like that. Anyways it wasn’t cute, it annoyed me increasingly for some reason, I didn’t appreciate the b.s.

Off for my typical midday shower and food run before I make my pee-holding stay at the Gold View.

When we did arrive back at Splendour, I caught the end of The Vines while lining up. If I worried that perhaps Magic Numbers and Scissor Sisters were two bands of talent who maybe are not so in-vogue anymore, I can safely say The Vines' sound comparatively of a long nailed teacher scratching a blackboard or the sound of an alley cat being tortured with a lighter.

Next up were Passion Pit. Much like Two Door Cinema Club I was desperately resisting the “it” band allure and probably would have skipped them happily. But they did an exceptional job in a fairly late time slot. Obviously their music is suited perfectly to the festival atmosphere but like many bands on the bill, I think they really valued the late time slot they were given by the event organisers and went about proving their worth. I must admit I was impressed, clearly their music is nothing revolutionary but far from trying to be Rolling Stones, they just went about making the crowd get in the mood for a good time. Mission accomplished, the gangsta hand waves were a nice touch.

Along with Miike Snow, Mumford and Sons were one of my must-sees, they don’t seem to be able to stay away from our shores and I think it’s because Aussies have an ever-growing affection for these guys. Again you could tell from their mid song banter that they were immensely grateful and a little nervous to be placed so high up on the festival bill, effectively opening for the Pixies. Cameos onstage from a host of band members (Julia from Angus & Julia, Passion Pit and so on...) from other acts was a nice touch and their catchy brand of London hillbilly was just what the doctor ordered.

Alongside “Last Night” and “You Got the Love”, “Little Lion Man” was definitely one of the songs that will forever be remembered as the soundtrack to Splendour 10.

So I won’t rant for too long (because I’m running late for work) but I skipped the Pixies to see Richard Ashcroft & The United Nations of Sound. I know you’ve lost a lot of respect for me but let me explain. EMI have been very helpful to Whiteboydancefloor for a long time now and having recently received his new bands LP, I thought I’d repay a bit of faith and go and see him. I thought it’d give the review a point of difference too as I’m not an enormous Pixies fan (yet). So in my mind I thought intimate crowd and a chance to get up close and personal with a Rock fossil (albeit one of a fallen empire). We all know he had a cry because the crowd was small and no one showed up so he walked off.

All I can say is, you are pitted against the end of Mumford & Sons and the start of The Pixies, you should have known this or you P.R people should have known this and either pulled out early, asked to change or got the fuck over it. Now Richard Ashcroft I will hate you forever.

Ashcroft’s dummy spit left me no choice but to see Empire of the Sun. They had a very theatrical show complete with back up dancers and costume changes so I guess you could say you got your money’s worth. But there I was thinking Scissor Sisters were going to be the gayest experience I would have all festival, I was wrong again.

So I briefly set off by myself to the Jagercube to have a few Jagers watching the bill for Who The Hell’s incredibly awesome night which they hosted. It was plain to see this was the sanctuary for all the cool kids not able to stomach Empire of the Sun and despite the stinking smell of the Jagercube, one hell of a party was going down.

I came, I drank and I left back to meet up with Miss Clare. After some midnight snacks it was off to base camp. In the morning we packed up our tents, we left our gumboots behind and we went home.

As a final note to a fantastic festival which was run very well, particularly for the first year at a new site, I must compliment the security guards involved in co-ordinating bus transfers to the airport. Now we all know security guards are total fuckwits but these guys either weren’t or they put it aside during the day time hours to make leaving Splendour by bus easily the most efficient mode of travel.

Well Done Splendour, See You All Next Year!