Reviewed Tuesday December 30 – Saturday January 3
You will find heaven and hell, Aldous Huxley wrote, when you open the doors of perception. 17,500 punters found heaven and hell at the Falls Music and Arts Festival pretty quickly, with a lot less philosophical thinking. Hosting Falls for the second time, there was a sense that North Byron Parklands had drawn a different crowd than the festival was accustomed to. But selfie sticks and unnaturally large muscles aside, the four-day event would prove heavenly with its spectacular scenery and sounds.
The second day of festivities, the Wednesday, was when the ball really started rolling with Canadian trio Badbadnotgood. The perfect foreplay for New Year’s Eve celebrations, the set began laid-back (with some in the crowd shrugging at the “elevator music”) but grew in energy as it continued, featuring original tracks and covers of Tyler, The Creator and Flying Lotus.
Melbourne duo Client Liaison drew what must have been their largest crowd yet. The signature ’80s Australiana aesthetic and crowd-pleasing performances of ‘Feed The Rhythm’ and ‘Queen’ ensured they were an undeniable festival highlight – despite the technical difficulties that saw them begin the set late, and consequently cut-off mid-song.
Salt-N-Pepa walked onstage shortly afterwards to the tune of Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy In Love’, and immediately dubbed themselves “the original queens of hip hop”. Performing very few of their own hits, Salt-N-Pepa didn’t play ‘Push It’, ‘Whatta Man’ or ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ in full. The girls instead mashed tracks that awkwardly transitioned from ‘Fancy’ to ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ to ‘Sweet Child Of Mine’.
Empire Of The Sun closed New Year’s Day with an extravagant set that had more to do with performing than it did playing music. Rather than listening to the set, I found myself wondering how much the choreographed back-up dancers (in different costumes each song), exploding confetti and futuristic light show must have cost the duo. Though they seemed more concerned with making a spectacle than music, Empire Of The Sun’s performance was still worth catching with old hits like ‘Walking On A Dream’.
Clashing with headliner Alt-J on the final slot was Norwegian DJ Todd Terje, who rewarded the faithful few that made it to his set. Terje left us remembering the heavenly half of Falls as the entire crowd crouched together for what felt like minutes before jumping up in unison. Everyone knew they’d made the right choice to hit the Forest Stage for the final performance, cheering “Toddy! Toddy!”
Although Julian Casablancas will never be forgiven for pulling out of each of the Falls Festivals this summer, Run The Jewels, Jagwar Ma, Tycho and Jamie xx made the lineup worth catching – even if Black Lips and SBTRKT were disappointing and unmemorable. Otherwise, I’d arrived thinking the lineup wasn’t that great. It turned out there was no room for it to be any greater.
Photo by Dylan Demarchi
