Review by Merinda O’Brien / Jose Eduardo Cruz
The final day of the first ever Falls Festival Byron Bay came with the sadness that this great event was coming to an end. Today once again had a massive line-up to cherish and delight. Whilst the numbers did significantly reduce throughout the week, today was nevertheless just as busy, but with a bit more room to dance.
Bunkering down at the main stage once again we captured the tail end of Bombino’s set which was pumping and we only wished could have caught the entire performance. Emma Louise was brilliant and the stage backdrop added an amazing feel to her sound. This brought Solange on the stage, who just happens to be Beyonce’s younger sister. She brought a lot of flare and left no doubt as to how talented her entire family is.
West Australia’s Pond completely changed the atmosphere with their psychedelic rock. Hammering out an intense set, the crowd appreciated the interaction their lead singer had with them. Consisting of one previous and one current Tame Impala member, Pond has an instantly recognisable sound. There is definitely a great edge to their music one which could see them quickly rise up the pecking order in the Australian music scene.
Violent Femmes opened with crowd favourite Blister in the Sun which saw a great sign along. Who hasn’t danced and sang to this song at least once in their lifetime. Great to see that they still party hard.
Without a doubt the highlight in this year’s event was Neil Finn. I have never witnessed an artist hold a crowd in the palm of his hand so elegantly. Every classic hit was there and every single person sang every lyric flawlessly. Just amazing. Sadly the rain hit near the end of Neil’s set which dispersed some punters.
We were able to catch a little of both The Wombats and MGMT, but with rain threatening to destroy our camera equipment we hid under some trees to avoid the misfortune of having to replace some gear. Some memories are better kept in the mind than on film.
With all the violence that has been happening in every Australian capital city over the year it was great to see that in contrast at Falls everyone was well behaved and happy. Not a single incident of violence was seen throughout the entire event. Massive shout out to www.redfrog.com for providing such leadership and support with alcohol consumption not only at Falls but throughout the broader community.
Sadly Falls Festival Byron Bay is over, but 2013 has provided a great platform for next year which should be just as successful.
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