AAA Backstage Archive

Festival Review: The Falls Music & Arts Festival Day 2 @ North Byron Parklands, 01.01.2016

And so we’re at the two thirds mark; but boy are we not done just yet. 

Today’s review is popping up a little later than yesterday’s because this writer thought it would be a good idea to attend Hip Hop Yoga this morning and now he can barely lift his wrists. Although there were certainly a lot of ‘Downward Snoop Dog’ puns missed, the Hip Hop Yoga was quite the riot. With some veteran stretchers and some virgin chakra aligners, this was a certainly something for everyone. For those who were there to give it a go; it was a lot of fun, but for those religious Yoga peeps out there, it would’ve been certainly challenging. Rolling like a baby on your back is certainly what Yeezus would want. But let me look back into day two with my newly opened third eye. 

A well deserved late start greeted most people’s 2016, with the breakfast view looking like something out of a post apocalyptic movie. The land was sparse, dominated mostly by zombies. But for those who could muster up enough strength, the early 11am Banff spot was definitely the right decision (leave us alone, 11am is early). With a scattered Forest stage lined with people with their head in their hands, piecing together their New Year’s Eve, Banff lit the forest up. Accompanied with his band, the Brissie lad swung his #1 Dads-esque guitar layered chill fest. Sporting some impressive climaxes with an equally impressive vocal capacity, Ben Forbes lived up to every ounce of hype surrounding him. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of this man in this 2016.

The arts side of the fest isn't lost, and the idea of adding comedy to the mix was 100% the right idea. With a lineup of Aussie comedy legends, Nick Cody, Tien Tran and Randy, the whole crowd was rolling over in stitches. Big props to Nick Cody for the vivid recount of the first time he used a hose to clean his backside, it's sometimes hard to find the funny side in poo, but somehow Cody had everyone onside. The felt faced purple man himself Randy was certainly the highlight, having some punters literally rolling over in laughter. His faced paced delivery and chaotic rambling was a journey, but we stayed with him every step of the way. From his quick and ferocious sass, to the puppetry itself, every single part of his set was ROFL worthy. 

The Valley stage opened later in the arvo as our 3:30itis was cured by some Seth Sentry. Welcomed by the dust storm, the mosh pit blew up on the dry barren dust bowl of an amphitheatre and even though we left being 50% dirt; it. was. so. fucking. worth. ‘Going off’ just doesn’t capture a bunch of hungover, sun burnt fans all spitting rhymes as fast as Sentry himself. But all was not well and good as Sentry chucks a rant with, “It’s 2016 and we still don’t have a fucking hover board” before launching into crowd favourite Dear Science. Even with an injured foot Sentry stopped at nothing to get amongst his family of fans, with classic banter going back and forth and the lad bouncing all over the main stage. Old mate DJ Sizzle was on point as always, dropping the sick beats, showering us with much needed water, and launching himself into the crowd for a surf.

If you stayed around a little bit longer, you would’ve caught one of the biggest acts of 2015. A woman who has stormed 2015, leaving no part of the world untouched. She has certainly become the coriander of the music industry; not for everyone, but when done right; bloody beautiful. Her lax vocals took over our bodies as she slammed her mid afternoon set. “It’s forty degrees and I feel like I’m dying,” seemed like the most appropriate lyrics to drop as a stubborn sun glared into her face. But it’s that cheeky grin that’s smacked across the CB3 band’s face that shows just how much they love mucking around. Mixing things up, playing with tempos and having a rad ol’ time on stage shows the command she has over her craft with such little effort.

Every festival sports one “discovery” for each punter. Oh Wonder was certainly this writer’s. It’s always something real special to stumble into an arena and being blown away by the unknown. Hailing all the way from London, the duo create an auric glow, drizzled in gorgeous harmonies marries with speckles of electronica raining down on our heavy hearts. There is a love and honesty that lies beneath each word that soars from their mouths, and you can’t help but just wanting to give them a big hug. Can Australia please keep you Oh Wonder? We promise we’ll look after you. 

But as the sun went down, and we ate our vendor food, the question was asked ‘Were you a Bloc Party or Miami Horror person?’ The choice was tough, the decision was harder. Bloc Party seemed to win the vote of most punters, as Byron’s amphitheatre packed tightly with a passionate mosh pit. A set jammed pack with self proclaimed “bangers”, the London troupe came firing on through with all guns blazing. Tune after tune turned the crowd into wild screams as front man Kele Okereke had the masses in the palm of his hand. Okereke doesn’t shy away in the slightest from some cheeky banter with the crowd; teasing, joking and catching up with his Australian fans that he hadn’t seem for some years now. A few sneak peeks into the new record, about to drop in the next couple of weeks, it was a delicious tease into what to expect, 

So day three is among us, but the party hasn’t finished. So let’s grab our tinnies, set up in pools (BECAUSE OMG THE FLAMINGOS ARE STILL THERE) and let’s soak up more of that sweet sweet music. Or let’s spend the day recovering from yoga.