Falls Festival - Erskine Falls in Lorne, Victoria (29 - 31.12.09)

Upon the arrival of the new decade,
patrons of the Lorne Falls Festival were left scalded by the sun’s
rays and soaked through and through by one of the most treacherous storms
the event has ever seen. Nonetheless, most of the 15,000 or so attendees
were delightfully content with the whole three days.  

Thirteen years on from its debut,
the festival organisers have not failed yet. Providing festival enthusiasts
with a unique blend of music and the arts, Falls Festival prides itself
on its fantastic location and enviro-friendly atmosphere. With 2009
marking the first year the festival has adopted an age limit of 18 +,
the more mature crowd endured three blistering days in a row, forcing
many to flock back to the beach for some brief relief via the Falls-Lorne
shuttle buses. However, back home at Erskine Falls the guests were treated
to many impressive performances at the Grand Theatre and Valley Stage,
as well as experiencing the artsy-antics of the Village. 

This year, the line-up boasted
a combination of Aussie and international acts, some widely renowned
whilst others are only just emerging onto the music scene. Festival-goers
with a three-day ticket trundled to their campsites on the 29^th,
already feeling the impact of the sun’s rays. While some continued
to struggle with their tent’s pegs and poles, those others who were
thoroughly organised were lucky enough to see the talented Megan
Washington perform early in the day, followed by emerging Melbourne
group The Wagons. Most were settled in by the time Sarah
Blasko hit the stage to give the crowd a haunting set featuring
songs from her award-winning album ‘As day follows night’.
Aussie rockers Wolfmother lured thousands to the Valley Stage,
resulting in the formation of a brutal mosh pit, forcing those of a
more fragile stature to retreat to the top of the hill. Nonetheless,
the three-piece were thoroughly entertaining as they ground out hit
after hit including ‘Woman’,
‘Joker and the Thief’ as well as several new songs from recently
released album Cosmic Egg. Drawing the night to a close, DJ
Yoda managed to keep the crowd moving to an interesting but slightly
disappointing performance combining over the top audio visuals with
a music selection ranging from TV theme songs to current chart hits. 

On day two, the timetable was
fraught with clashes between artists playing at the Valley Stage and
the Grand Theatre, resulting in disagreements amongst peers, and disappointment
for those forced to miss some of the talent Falls had to offer. The
first significant crossover came early, with the cute singer-songwriter
Lisa Mitchell from Albury enticing a chilled and varied crowd to
the Valley Stage while Brisbane group Yves Klein Blue hit up
the Grand Theatre. The YKB were in fine form, getting the crowd moving
with their hits ‘Getting Wise’ and ‘Polka’, while later
in the day local-acts Little Red and the Temper Trap maintained
the positive energy. The latter, a quartet from Melbourne, particularly
stood out, invoking sing-a-long’s and hand waving to their celebrated
single ‘Sweet Disposition’, as well as providing an impressive rendition
of ‘Fader’. Karen O led the Yeah
Yeah Yeahs in an exuberant set complete with elaborate backdrops
and giant eyeballs. She jumped and jived all over the stage, keeping
the crowd utterly captivated throughout ‘Zero’,
‘Gold Lion’ and an outstanding performance of ‘Date with the
Night’. Jamaican electro-act Major
Lazer (Soundsystem) pleased dance-lovers with an assortment of songs
and mixes of the electro and dubstep variety. The excitable dancers
and vocalists kept the crowd enthusiastic by drawing 30 or so lucky
young women onto the stage. The Grand Theatre, which at night became
affectionately known as the ‘Rave Tent’, continued well into the
early hours of the morning for those with enough energy to continue. 

Prior to the beginning of the
Festival, the Falls Official website warned of the possibility of ‘four
seasons in one day’, and to ensure that one be prepared for extreme
weather should it eventuate. This year Mother Nature did not disappoint.
On the 31^st, a blue moon, the day began as a scorcher with
hundreds of bodies huddling under the large shade tent in a bid to escape
the heat. In keeping with the lyrics to ‘Parlez-vous Francais’,
many men ont tombés ses chemises (threw their shirts off) as
2008 winners of Triple J Unearthed, Art
vs Science (pictured above), kept everybody happy, yet hot, at the main stage. The
final day of the year wore on, and clouds were brewing as the imminent
storm loomed closer and closer. The glorious moment of relief from the
39 degree weather finally arrived in the evening as Jamie T (pictured below)
delivered a playful set including songs such as ‘Stella’
and ‘Sticks and Stones’. The young Brit had people crowd
surfing, shoulder riding and dancing with joy as the raindrops began
hammering down. Luckily for the thousands of ticket-holders, and unlike
its rival counterpart Pyramid Rock, Falls was not deterred by the electrical
storm overhead, enabling NYE to continue with hardly a hitch. Xavier
Rudd and Rodrigo y Gabriela impressed the now soaking crowd
with their dynamic stage presences and their heavily guitar-oriented,
bluesy dance tunes. Arguably the highlight of the three-days, music
veteran Moby had everybody entranced by his incredible performance.
The versatile performer kept the die-hard fans happy with classic hits
from his celebrated album Play and simultaneously impressed those
who were previously unfamiliar with his music. The rain continued to
plummet down well into the New Year as Hilltop Hoods helped kiss
the Noughties goodbye. Finally, DJs such as up-and-coming Naysayer
& Gilsun and Festival favourites Playing with Knives DJs
had the true party animals up until well after the first sunrise of
2010.  

I entered the grounds to the energetic
rock’n’roll tunes of Philadelphia Grand Jury, before them
a substantial crowd dancing for 12pm, considering the partying that
would have gone down the two nights and days before. While their fan-favourite
‘Going to the Casino’ was the perfect tune to New Years Eve kicked
off, their most recent single ‘The Good News’ stood out as a great
sing-a-long for all involved. Next was Dappled Cities (pictured below) gracing
the Valley stage with a romantic set of pop songs. I was a little late
to the Dappled Cities party, with this being the first time I had the
honour of seeing them live, but they took the award for movie-moment
of the festival - ‘The Night Is Young at Heart’ rolled out across
the hills, the sun was shining hot as hell, but as everyone was dancing,
it was a weirdly dream-like snapshot.

I made the hike up the hill towards
the Grand Theatre where Andrew Bird was playing a set of gentle,
spacious songs carried along by starry-eyed violin. I went to take a
peek at Andrew Bird’s set out of curiosity, not really knowing what
to expect, but his indie-folk tunes definitely had me spellbound! Despite
having injured his foot, like a real gentleman Andrew Bird and band
gave the awestruck crowd a wonderful and relaxing performance.

An interesting way to break things
up was a comedy set from Arj Barker. I don’t know how to review
comedy as such, but he was definitely on fire today, his jokes localised
for the Australian crowd had everyone laughing with him, and at themselves. 
I then stuck around for one of my favourite local acts Oh
Mercy, opening with the Triple J endorced ‘Seemed Like A Good
Idea’. It was 3.30 in the afternoon, and oh Mercy was the delightful
indie pop calm before the storm.

To be honest I am not that big of an
Art vs. Science fan, but this Sydney trio brought the fucking party
like there was not going to be a brand new year the next day! Both band
and crowd never wavered in energy, the hour long set kept all involved
dancing right through until the end. Joining the party on stage the
John Steel Singers trussed up in horse masks and glittery red capes,
jumping up and down “like an elevator” to audience favourites ‘Parlez-vous
Francais’ and of course, ‘Flippers’.  I hung around for
Little Birdy, who played a consistent but a little boring set. They
managed to pull a decent crowd who were enthusiastic about their catchy
songs, such as the most recent ‘Hair do’ and ‘Bodies’, I found
it to be a little lack-lustrous, though it was nice to hear ‘Beautiful
to Me’ live, a song I remember adoring when it was first released
back when I was 14, having not heard the country-esque pop song for
years.

Up next was Jamie T and the Pacemakers,
his set hailing in the impending storm that had been looming over the
festival for the last hour or so. As the rain poured, Jamie T brought
everyone a set of his quirky reggae-reminiscent pop songs, his cheeky
smile the only sunshine on the now completely drenched afternoon. Though
the weather took a turn for the worse, Mr T had the crowd moving, a
particular highlight being the great sing-a-long to ‘If You Got the
Money’. After Jamie T’s set, I took the opportunity to go get changed
into some more shit-weather appropriate clothing, and came back to the
Grand Theatre, greeted by the Phenomenal Handclap Band, hailing
from New York. Looking more like the cast of Hair with just about
as many players, they rolled through a pretty chilled out set. Though
it was hard to tell if the band themselves were enjoying it at all,
the crowd sure were. The Bonds-endorsed ’15 to 20’ had the theatre
happily moving enthusiastically, but most memorable was their closing
tune ‘I Been Born Again’, this slightly trippy pop number that I
found to be still stuck in my head hours and many bands later.

Next up in the Grand Theatre was my
favourite quintet, The Scare. Their brutal punk-infused pop songs
doing anything but scaring the punters away, but enticing the rather
intoxicated crowd to move even more ferociously. While opening with
the older ‘Bats! Bats! Bats!’, they charged through a set of tunes
from their 2009 LP Oozevoodoo, including singles ‘No Money’,
‘Could Be Bad’ and ‘she Can’t Say No’. Lead singer Kiss Reid
managed to bridge the gap between stage and barrier, both joining the
audience for a dance and attempting to alienate anyone in the path of
his dark saunter. Closing the raucous was ‘Cry’, one long-lasting
bite of punk rock enthusiasm; their own way of saying goodbye and leaving
a lasting impression on many.

I wandered around the giant hill between
the two stages, watching those donning wetsuits slide down the incline
as if a slip’n’slide and taking in the spectacular that was Moby.
Despite his softly spoken demeanour, he and his band were loud and their
set captivating, in particular the live rendering of ‘Honey’ pricking
up the ears of everyone around, even those taking refuge in their tents
were singing, as well as a small cover of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ slotted
in for some kicks had the crowd pumped. Nice job, Mobes!

Then for some stupid reason I let the
Hilltop Hoods hail in my New Year. I’m not really a Hilltop Hoods
fan, but  like many I thought they’d be a fun way to bring in
2010. Despite the large crowd, the Hilltop Hoods were flat, and the
countdown beginning out of nowhere and at 6 seconds took everyone by
suprise, coming and going with hardly any recognition given to the New
Year at all.

After a disappointing call-in for New
Years Day, I went for another stroll to the Grand Theatre and caught
five or so minutes of KillaQueenz set, the two female MC’s,
loud and boisterous. Judging by the attitude of these two ladies expressed
on stage and the frenzy they had their crowd whipped-up in, they would
have been a far superior choice for the midnight slot.

Finishing off my New Years’ 
celebrations was the weird and wonderful King Khan and the Shrines.
Oh wow, finally something to make my jaw completely drop to the floor!
Channelling Screaming Jay Hawkins, King Khan and his rag-tag team of
musicians (plus one gogo dancer for good measure) bounded, screeched,
hollered and preached their way through a set of rock and roll songs
about everything and nothing. Everyone who had the slightest bit of
energy left in their tank let loose to King Khan’s crazy sex-driven
tales.

After King Khan finished telling his
crazy stories through bluesy rock and roll ditties, it was well and
truly my bed time, though many revellers soldiered on with the Grand
Theatre paying host to many dj’s, such as Playing with Knives dj’s
taking up the 4.30am till 6am slot, waking up at about 5am I could hear
the bass echoing right through to the other end of the campsite. 

My one day Falls Festival camping adventure
had come to an end, and was an interesting experience to say the least!
For the most part it was this giant dance party, everyone there to have
a great time, spirits (including the alcoholic type) were high and fun
times were definitely had. Erskine Falls is a memorable and breath-taking
venue to host a festival of this calibre, I just hope the organisers
can continue to pull the same calibre of bands and crowd for many New
Years to come!

Photos by Alexandra Duguid