BREAKING NEWS || HILLTOP HOODS SAVE SPLENDOUR DAY #3

The last day is always the hardest. Its been 3 days since your last shower, your portable charger is on its last legs and you haven’t eaten anything other than hot chips and bread since the minute you arrived. But luckily day 3 was jam packed with killer acts to keep the drinks and the good vibes flowing.

 

SLOWLY SLOWLY 
After an arena tour supporting Amy Shark, Melbourne rockers Slowly Slowly took to the Main Stage to show why they’re one of the best bands in the country at the moment. Kicking off with the climatic Dinosaurs, the rest of the set featured tracks off both of their albums ‘St. Leonards’ and ‘Chamomile’. Slowly Slowly also performed their well loved Like A Version cover of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love before finishing with their big new hit Jellyfish. It was a hot morning out in the sun, but that wasn’t stopping die hard fans from moshing and singing along at the top of their lungs. Slowly Slowly put on an incredible performance and made for a killer start to the last day of Splendour.

 

HONNE 
After coming onto my radar from the good ol YouTube recommendations, UK Electro-Pop duo Honne became my surprise standout from the weekend. While it was a mid afternoon Mix-Up Tent set, what they delivered was something that I could easily see as the sunset slot at the Amphitheatre. With a 3-piece band backing the duo, it created a non-stop dance party for 45 minutes and while I had dabbled in their music before, I have left a fan.

 

LAST DINOSAURS

What better way to kick off a sunset on a Sunday afternoon than with Last Dinosaurs. Pumping out all the fan favourites like Eleven and Zoom the boys seamlessly played through an array of tracks with ease and funk. From front to back the crowd was grooving to their easy listening indie rock tunes and the boys were definitely picking up on the positive vibes. True to Aussie traditions Last Dinosaurs gave into the good old fashion shoey which lead vocalist Sean explained (wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be). Having seen Last Dinosaurs in November at Shakafest I definitely felt like they were more rehearsed and tighter as a group. But to be honest you could be in the worst mood and still have a killer grove to a Last Dinosaurs tune.

 

THE RUBENS

By the time The Rubens took to the stage the Amphitheatre was packed. With people rolling in from all sides it was clear The Rubens had a bucket load of fans. The group banged crashed and sung their way through an hour set of major hits including Freakout and Casper. The one and only Gflip was also included in the mix replacing Sarah Aarons on vocals, dueting with frontman Sam Margin through Never Ever as well as treating us to a killer drum solo. Fan favourite is and always will be Hoops which took the crowds energy up several notches. The group also covered Same Drugs by Chance The Rapper which made for a nice little tribute towards his lack of attendance . The Rubens then closed their set with single Million Man as the crowd sung along along one last time.

 

MATT CORBY

Matt Corby is an amazingly talented musician with a great voice. I’ve been lucky enough to see him live plenty of times but never on a stage as big as the Amphitheatre and never with as many people. Having recently released new music, Corby had a bucket load of tracks to show off to his eager fans and he did it with style. Playing favourites such as Brother and his triple j Like A Version of Chains with Tina Arena herself, Corby made sure to keep the crowd on their toes for his entire set. With tracks that makes you sway and songs that makes you sing Matt Corby created the perfect atmopshere for a late night Ampitheatre performance.

 

JAMES BLAKE
After Chance’s no-show, UK musician-extrodinarie James Blake instantly became my most anticipated set of the weekend. After releasing ‘Assume Form’ earlier this year, it instantly became a very important record to me, and I was eager to here some of the tracks live.

Kicking off with the aforementioned title track from the album, it sets the scene for the journey we’re about to go on for the next hour. Following, we lead more into the hip-hop cuts from Blake’s discography including Life Around Here (which coincidentally has a Chance remix, but we won’t be hearing that tonight), Mile High and Where’s the Catch. The new rendition of Mile High was beautiful. Travis Scott’s vocals initially played out a-cappella before simple chords were added upon Blake’s arrival and all culminated in the crescendo of the track we know and love today.

 

An extended version of Voyeur got the crowd dancing before being swooned by Rosalia’s (side note: when is a festival going to book her??) recorded vocals for the beautiful duet of Barefoot in the Dark before Retrograde got the best reception of the night.

 

As it was a festival set, I knew there were going to be songs I would have loved to hear but knew I wouldn’t. Unfortunately those songs had to be I’ll Come Too, Power On, Can’t Believe the Way We Flow, and Are You In Love?. To be honest, not hearing any of these songs killed it a little bit for me, however, Blake is such an incredible and mesmerising performer that it didn’t matter in the end.

 

SZA

Unfortunately I don’t really have much to say about SZA’s set. I’m not sure whether it was a technical issue or I just wasn’t feeling it, but the performance I saw was one not worthy of being on a Splendour lineup at all. SZA actually had a really beautiful voice and great engagement with the crowd but everything else seemed a bit off beat and unorganised.

 

 

HILLTOP HOODS

Closing Splendour In The Grass Day three were legends Hilltop Hoods. I was one of the few that was over the moon when I found out they were replacing Chance The Rapper, mainly because I barely know any of Chance and I know every song by Hilltop.

 

Opening their set with single Chase That Feeling the crowd was instantly hooked as thousands of fans started flocking over the hill. The boys were super enthusiastic to be playing the main stage and went above and beyond to give the best performance they could from a flawless setlist and incredible line up of special guests.

 

Big names included Illy for single Exit Sign and Ruel for Wont Let You Down. Both wearing Chance The Rapper merch, the boys absolutely slayed their features tracks and gave a shout out for having the opportunity to be apart of Splendour. Montaigne also joined the boys for single 1955 and Adrian Eagle for catchy beat Clark Griswold.

 

Hilltop Hoods played Nose Bleed Section, Love It, Leave Me Lonely, it was banger after banger performed perfectly with high energy and the crowd couldn’t get enough. Hilltop Hoods are party starters, they can take people’s energy from nothing to 1000 within minutes and that is exactly what Splendour needed. Rapping every word in perfect sync with some cheaky banter in between tracks, the vibes were at an all time high from the very minute they walked on stage and it never stopped flowing. From all sides fans were rapping, dancing and singing along with massive smiles on their face. It was defintely clear Hilltop Hoods perfected exactly what they set out to do, tear the f**king roof off!

 

Hilltop Hoods gave one of the most memorable performances of Splendour and for a last minute set the boys really pulled it together.

 

Splendour In The Grass 2019 was a major hit all round. This year was way more organized, the acts were on time and the lighting and sound on all stages were bloody incredible. It was another fantastic year at the new permament home and what a way to celebrate 6 months into 2019! Bring on next year!

 

PHOTO CRED || IAN LAIDLAW