Falls Festival day one at Byron Bay was an absolute scorcher, but I made it through the day and here are the highlights.
NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE
6 piece Melbourne alt pop group Northeast Party House were the first to open up the Falls Festival main stage. Even though the day was an absolute scorcher, packs of people were seen pouring into the arena from all angles to come and have a groove. Playing popular tracks such as Youth Allowance and Perfect Lines, Northeast Party House were the perfect opening act to warm up the crowd to their festival festivities. I hadn’t heard Northeast Party House before but their unique sound and pumping dance moves kept the crowd on their toes for their entire set.
MALLRAT
Mallrat the adorable chick that she is rocked out on the stage in some funky ripped overalls and the fans went wild. Although the day was only getting hotter she managed to pull a crowd giving a shout out to her fellow hometown brizzy homies who made it out to see her. Playing some golden oldies such as Sunglasses and For Real, Mallrat also debuted a new single that she worked on with the Jungle Giants and The Belligerents. Having seen Mallrat just last month when she supported Thundamentals, I noticed her on stage presence and confidence this time was through the roof. The crowd favourite and my personal favourite was her upbeat track Uninvited where the sing along left her set on a high.
SPIT SYNDICATE
Our favourite Sydney One Dayer’s Spit Syndicate never disappoint and just like all those other times they started a party and everyone wanted to attend. Kicking off with their fan favourite track Amazing, the crowd put their hands to the sky and started swaying left to right to the beat. Backed by a talented band, Spit had a live guitarist and keyboardist that unlike most hip hop artists who only bring a dj, it took their set to a more real and intimate level. Front men Nick and Jimi are the true representation of brotherhood, their chemistry on stage gives off such a positive vibe and with every song the connection between the crowd and the boys grew. This was also the first time fans were hearing Spit Syndicate’s latest tracks Know You Better and Inhibitions and with the mixture of all their golden oldies and a shout out to their boys in one day, Spit Syndicate killed their set and started the party.
GRANDMASTER FLASH
For any hip hop supporter, lover or listener, Grandmaster Flash was as close to a legendary hero as we were going to get. Kicking off his set with a documentary about his life and growing up the Bronx, the crowd was skeptical but as soon as the music kicked off the main stage turned into a party. Splicing together multiple famous rap songs from the 80s to now Grandmaster Flash was on the tables getting the crowd singing to DMX, Drop It Like It’s Hot and more. Grandmaster has the energy of 15 people, he didn’t need a hype man he was the hype man and the crowds response was out of this world. People from everywhere were migrating to the front and for the hour that grandmaster was present on the stage there wasn’t a person sitting still.
HOT DUB TIME MACHINE
Hot Dub Time Machine were up next taking us on a journey through musical time on their very own time machine. Kicking it off in 1954 right through the ages to 2016, hot dub played every possible banging song you knew all the words to from start to finish. Following through with 2016s latest comedic meme, Hot Dub started his set with a remix of the ‘Niiiice Gary’ meme before playing through classics like born to be wild, gold digger, twist and shout. Canyons of confetti were going off as the crowd sung to almost every song he played as well as giant blow up Hot Dub balls being thrown around the crowd during daft punks classic one more time.
CHILDISH GAMBINO
American actor, rapper, singer and songwriter Childish Gambino was the man taking Falls Festival Byron through to the new year. Kicking off the night with a rather relaxed track, Gambino was full of energy and from the moment he graced the stage the crowd was going wild. Starting off with a few tracks from his new album, Gambino kept the crowd wrapped around his little finger as we waited for his classic oldies. Highlight of the night was when the first note from Sober was played and the crowd went from swaying to singing and dancing like crazy. Childish was spitting fire with his lyrics, leaping around the stage and making every minute he spent on the stage count like it was his last. Finishing off his set on a high, Gambino played 3005 as Falls Festival gave him the last of the energy as the night came to a close.
