Splendour In The Grass Day Two provided a chillier morning than the day before but the acts were still fire and I went to see plenty. My knees were already sore from to much dancing and my belly was a little angry because all I fed it was apple cider and Owens Noodles. But I took in everything to offer from having a dance at the Silent Disco to singing Outkast at the Coniki Bar Karoke. I had a blast and here are all my highlights.
MALLRAT
Brisbane female emcee Mallrat was the first act to kick off my Saturday morning on day 2 and I was super pumped to have a boogie. She’s not always perfectly in tune but she is so cute and her songs are so catchy that everybody sings a long anyways. Mallrat started off her set with single Smile before smashing out singles Sunglasses and Tokyo Drift. Tokyo Drift had every girl on shoulders swaying their hands left to right as Mallrat leaped around the stage putting her mic out into the crowd to hear all the screams. Her new song Rush Hour was the crowd favourite because it’s so upbeat and funky it was the perfect single to get your grooving juices moving and wake you up to start the day. Mallrat seemed a lot more relaxed and confident on the stage than I’d seen her before and backed my her main girl Denim the girls rocked it.
HOCKEY DAD
Two piece from Wollongong Hockey Dad are two of some seriously funny dudes and their on stage banter had the crowd in stitches. I have never laughed and simultaneously rocked out at the same as much as I did during their set and I definitely wasn’t alone. They had the perfect relaxed surf rock tunes for an early sunny afternoon set and songs such as Laura had the crowd singing along. Halfway through their set fans started to chant “Shoey” and drummer Billy did in fact have a shoey out of a fans shoe that was the dirtiest van I have ever seen in my entire life .. Filthy!
DUNE RATS
How do I even begin to describe the Dune Rats. These guys are so hypo and insane they probably need to be checked into a mental asylum but instead they make killer tunes and they were up on the amphitheatre stage ready to cause some havoc. With two massive blow up dunies lager cans and rock on hands plus a door with do not press the dunies graced the stage on two mini motorbikes to a packed out crowd that were already loosing their shit. Dune Rats had more energy than I had ever seen before and with a bucket load of new music since the last time I saw them meant I got to see heaps of tracks from their new album live. 6 Pack and Red Light Green Light had the crowd screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs while Scott Green and Buzz-Kill brought out the moshing madness in everyone. Some guy next to me stood on another guys shoulders at some point with a fitted sheet sign that if I remember rightly got burnt at some point during their set in Dune Rats spirit.
ROYAL BLOOD
U.K. duo Royal Blood were absolutely insane. Even though they only had the two of them they made enough sound for 5 members and the tones and power coming from their instruments was just incredible.
I had heard a few songs by Royal Blood before but I hadn’t done my research. When I came to find that there wasn’t even a guitar in the band but yet a bass that was tuned to sound like a guitar I was left spellbound by the skill and knowledge both members must have to create the sounds they were creating. Vocalist/guitarist Michael and drummer Ben fed off each other’s energy the entire set and with such high energy tracks the strobe lights and their music mix together made for a wild party. There is nothing more incredible then seeing thousands of people bopping their heads to the same beat and that’s exactly what happened during single Monster. It’s that feeling of family and togetherness surrounding music that I really love and Royal Blood created the perfect vibe for a good old fashioned family rock out.
I also managed to see Luca Brasi, Slumberjack and Two Door Cinema Club who were all bloody incredible as well. Especially TDCC as I found myself dancing for the duration of their entire set.
