Splendid

Over the last week I was lucky enough to review a handful of Splendour In The Grass sideshows for Tone Deaf. The only thing that nearly compares to attending the festival is going to as many of the sideshows as possible, and this has become an annual tradition for me, as the cost associated with Splendour are far out of my uni student price range.

On Friday night it was British weirdos Everything Everything at The Corner, who proved why they’re such a buzz band at the moment. It was an intriguing and genre-bending show that was led by frontman Jonathan Higgs’ incredible falsetto.

The next night was one of my favourites at the moment, kiwi/Americans Unknown Mortal Orchestra, along with stoner-rockers Wavves. UMO were just incredible live, playing material mostly from one of my favourite albums of the year, II. The talented trio extended and teased out every song, taking every opportunity to provide an elongated jam. I also found Wavves surprisingly enjoyable. Being not all that big a fan of the band’s recorded material, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but they were very entertaining.

After a much enjoyed night off, on Monday I was at The Hi-Fi for MS MR. Although quite liking their debut album, I found them slightly underwhelming in a live setting. Lizzy Plapinger’s vocals were undoubtedly brilliant, but the set sounded similar throughout, and the band’s awkward stage presence didn’t do much to help.

My final Splendour sideshow was Darwin Deez back at The Corner on Wednesday, and it was an absurd, ridiculous, and thoroughly entertaining way to finish the run of shows. The band obviously don’t take their music too seriously, and their live act is just fun and enthusiastic, including many choreographed dance routines interspersed in the set.

I’m already excited for next year’s Splendour In The Grass, perhaps more so for the sideshows rather than the actual festival.