Splendour in the Grass – Day 3
Posted on August 2, 2011 by Rex
Standing a top an actual boat in the Strongbow tent singing ‘I’m on a boat’, we realised French group Yelle were starting and rushed down to see front woman Julie in a lycra one piece, chatting to the crowd with the cutest French accent, singing and jumping in a beautiful unison.It was obvious that the festival goers were finishing in style. We were greeted by banana people (whom got the attention of a band on stage) , a parrot and magician duo, teletubbies, and even green man.
Indie chicks were right on cue with peter pan collared dresses, and knee high socks. I found it amazing that girls could have perfectly waved hair, and immaculate makeup… Surely that required a lot of maintenance. It wouldn’t be a festival without denim cut offs and exposed butt cheeks. The bro’s kept it a lot cooler, with ill fitting bonds singlets and boardies. Of course, with the exception of the few who’d spent more time styling their hair than I had.
The Middle East drew a huge crowd to the GW McLennan Tent, things were going smoothly and the crowd was really into it… only for them to announce the group is splitting and it would be their last live show. This only encouraged the crowd to go all in for the performance of their hit Blood.
Watching Cloud Control run on the stage with giant balloons, mid set was surreal enough… and then a small group of people began dancing in an area on the hill, before more and more people joined the group and began running up and down the hill. It caught not only the attention of the crowd, but created an unreal anything-goes atmosphere. That’s what we prefer to see at festivals, over fights and the likes.
It’s pretty much agreed that Pulp should have been headliners, and the crowd they pulled proves it. The whole set was phenomenal. Every last song had the crowd going. ‘Sorted for E’s and Whiz’ had everyone mental, only furthered by ‘Disco 2000’ and closing with ‘Common People’ left the crowd stunned, and ready for Coldplay.
Coldplay proved Kanye isn’t the only person with fireworks, and the screams throughout ‘Yellow’ may just leave me deaf for life. But, oh so worth it. ‘In My Place’, ‘Scientist’, ‘Shiver’ and ‘Violet Hill’. Martin was engaging the crowd, and professed his love for the Australian audience, Splendour in the Grass as a festival and even made references to Home and Away. Easing from ‘God Put A Smile On My Face’ into asking the crowd to sing their drummer Happy Birthday before letting balloons off into the crowd.
Wow. What a way to finish the three days. Ever the skeptic at the beginning, I will definitely be going back next year. I’ll either devote the next year to my tent building skills, or hire myself a Winnebago. Also, a big thanks to Mother Nature for keeping the rain away, all in exchange for a little recycling.
