Azealia Banks
It’s safe to assume most of those gathered to see Azealia Banks at Splendour in the Grass were there on the strength of one song. I was one of those people – half attracted by the idea of that irresistible beat reproduced live and half interested in what else she has to offer.
Thankfully, taken as a whole, the set delivered. Sure, the musical highlight is 212 – played last and a little lacklustre – but the crowd remained onside throughout, even as we waited for the payoff. Desperado stood out as a tune to revisit. Others kept us bobbing despite sounding, as one friend put it, like generic beats waiting to be sampled in better tracks.
Banks focused on the crowd and seemed happy to be here, which is notoriously not always the case. However, it was the backup dancers we came away talking about. This male duo appeared at random intervals to dance with an explosive energy that belied their tight choreography. They even took solo turns front and centre, whipping the mainstream crowd into a frenzy with some high camp freestyle, like entrants at a drag ball walk-off.
Perhaps another day, a less mud-soaked, more sober audience would demand more. Then again, perhaps rolling out a closer like 212 all but guarantees any mediocrity elsewhere is forgiven. Fred McConnell
The Rubens
Sam Margin may well be the next great Aussie frontman. The charismatic lead of the Rubens, back live in their first major shows since 2013, has the Splendour crowd dancing from the moment the band walks on stage, and when he crowd-surfs in a large, colourful rubber boat, he’s buoyed by a sea of adoring fans.
As if reading the collective mind, he runs with a few bars of the Doors’ Riders on the Storm as the opening for hit song My Gun, conjuring up visions of the charismatic Jim Morrison.
Throughout their tight, fast-paced one hour set, The Rubens offer a taste of their eagerly awaited second album, out later this year. The hard driving guitar riffs and lovelorn lyrics on Hoops and The Fool sit comfortably alongside hits like Never be the Same, Elvis and of course Lay Me Down. Finally they close with new song Hallelujah, and the promise of many more great things to come. Alexandra Spring
Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols essentially have two types of song. There are the catchy, upbeat pop songs and the stoner jams. But how do you balance the two at a festival show?The Dandies’ answer, it seems, is just to alternate, more or less. A slow opener eases us in before Get Off gets people dancing.
But it’s a three-song run in the middle that enervates the crowd. We Used To Be Friends gets them clapping and singing along and Horse Pills has them jumping around before the inevitable Bohemian Like You sends them into a frenzy. Flares are lit, beer cans are thrown and at least one girl bares her breasts to the camera surveying the audience.
Then they launch into Godless, and it’s like the whole thing never happened – back to long, rhythmic jams and head-nodding. Alan Evans
UV Boi
One of several Brisbane acts at the festival, UV boi has been touted as one to watch this year, and didn’t disappoint a feisty crowd who made it clear early on they were baying for bass.
What they got was an exhilarating melange of dubstep, breakbeats, 808 sounds and aggressive American trap from a young innovator in Australian electronic music. It was a collection perfected to hit the spot with a crowd who went mad for every big drop and the excited punch-the-air DJing from UV boi himself.
UV boi was having a blast, youthfully bobbing around to the throwback rave sounds and hand claps. “Am I looking handsome?” he joked into the mic when a festival photographer came on stage towards the end. He finished with the expected; his fantastic single Luv, a big crowd singing along to the catchy hook at his first Splendour. Onwards and upwards for this dude. Bill Code
