Falls Festival - South Fremantle Oval, 6-7th January 2018
Words: Todd Lockley
The lines were long, the weather was hot, the bands were plentiful and the destination Fremantle. The only downer was the lines were long. Unless you're Kate Moss, in which case, hooray for everything! Falls Downtown had finally come around to the majestic landscape of South Fremantle Oval, once the home for The Big Day Out when it was in it's infancy. It was exciting to see it transformed once again into a musical oasis. As sweet as sherbet.
The Jungle Giants filled the main stage blank space and asked with zest "Let's see what you got Freo!" It was refreshing knowing a few artists had taken the time to distinguish the void between the sibling cities. While some performers switched between the two, some were just plain arrogant like Allday who quizzed "What up Perth? Freo? What ever it is!" However, he went on to perform an All "Naaaaaay" set, so we'll scratch him from the form guide nice and early.
The melodies were bouncing, just like the crowd, and the early entry of the Fremantle Doctor didn't tarnish any of the Jungle Giants sound, with the band waltzing through Kooky Eyes and You've Got Something before the token JJJ favourite (every band had one) Every Kind Of Way was trotted out to an appreciative crowd as lead man Sam Hales asked to see the early birds "dance moves". They obliged with gusto.
Methyl Ethyl were next up and they dragged the pace down immediately, almost to a yawning stand still, which was a shame, as their predecessors had done a stellar job at connecting with the crowd. The dressed-in-white ensemble toyed with a Caribbean sound which was upbeat but their demeanour was not, almost seeming disinterested in promoting themselves. There were shout outs to songs recorded close by on Wray Avenue, just around the corner from the venue, and lo-fi local Stella Donnelly brought some mesmerizing keys in what could be considered the first guest performance of the day. But it wasn't until Twilight Driving, complete with a effervescent saxophone, that they shone a little life into their set. By then it was all too little, too late.
From the young to the old, it was Fall Festival line up surprise packet Daryl Fucking Braithwaite who would be the first to fill one side of the main arena with up-for-it princesses and peaking princes. He was gracious and on point, bringing a sense of professionalism to proceedings that was not matched again throughout the weekend. He opened with All I Do, rose to the occasion by testing the age of the crowd saying "In 1976, before the Horses was born, this came out!" Howzat! and set the perfect sound track to the day with One Summer. But everyone in attendance, even he and his band (who were introduced one by one), knew there was only one magical song people wanted to hear, The Horses.
It was like the clock had struck midnight, with millennials hugging as the opening keys rang out, people dressed in horse masks embraced and a sudden flood for the front of the stage, where punters pumped toy horses in the air. Daryl had unleashed The Horses, and for a shithouse song, it just felt right to sing along to. Further more the professional, he thanked Falls for bringing his music to a generation lost in mumble rap and dubstep death, before being presented with a cake from the organizers celebrating his 69th birthday. Happy Fucking Birthday Dazza!
The Jungle Giants filled the main stage blank space and asked with zest "Let's see what you got Freo!" It was refreshing knowing a few artists had taken the time to distinguish the void between the sibling cities. While some performers switched between the two, some were just plain arrogant like Allday who quizzed "What up Perth? Freo? What ever it is!" However, he went on to perform an All "Naaaaaay" set, so we'll scratch him from the form guide nice and early.
The melodies were bouncing, just like the crowd, and the early entry of the Fremantle Doctor didn't tarnish any of the Jungle Giants sound, with the band waltzing through Kooky Eyes and You've Got Something before the token JJJ favourite (every band had one) Every Kind Of Way was trotted out to an appreciative crowd as lead man Sam Hales asked to see the early birds "dance moves". They obliged with gusto.
Methyl Ethyl were next up and they dragged the pace down immediately, almost to a yawning stand still, which was a shame, as their predecessors had done a stellar job at connecting with the crowd. The dressed-in-white ensemble toyed with a Caribbean sound which was upbeat but their demeanour was not, almost seeming disinterested in promoting themselves. There were shout outs to songs recorded close by on Wray Avenue, just around the corner from the venue, and lo-fi local Stella Donnelly brought some mesmerizing keys in what could be considered the first guest performance of the day. But it wasn't until Twilight Driving, complete with a effervescent saxophone, that they shone a little life into their set. By then it was all too little, too late.
From the young to the old, it was Fall Festival line up surprise packet Daryl Fucking Braithwaite who would be the first to fill one side of the main arena with up-for-it princesses and peaking princes. He was gracious and on point, bringing a sense of professionalism to proceedings that was not matched again throughout the weekend. He opened with All I Do, rose to the occasion by testing the age of the crowd saying "In 1976, before the Horses was born, this came out!" Howzat! and set the perfect sound track to the day with One Summer. But everyone in attendance, even he and his band (who were introduced one by one), knew there was only one magical song people wanted to hear, The Horses.
It was like the clock had struck midnight, with millennials hugging as the opening keys rang out, people dressed in horse masks embraced and a sudden flood for the front of the stage, where punters pumped toy horses in the air. Daryl had unleashed The Horses, and for a shithouse song, it just felt right to sing along to. Further more the professional, he thanked Falls for bringing his music to a generation lost in mumble rap and dubstep death, before being presented with a cake from the organizers celebrating his 69th birthday. Happy Fucking Birthday Dazza!
Bad//Dreems were on point from woah to go, rumbling through a full throttle energized performance which saw costume changes, mixed drinks (cider & beer) and rollicking renditions of Gutful and their JJJ offering Cuffed And Collared.
In the same vain was the delightful Smith Street Band. Now this band is usually a hard pill to swallow, however on this day, the over weight Ed Sheeran appeal of main man Wil Wagner was wonderful to watch. As well as that familial monotone growl, he produced a few funnies as well as dedications to "the one-and-only Daryl Motherfucking Braithwaite!". Birthdays and Passiona were groovy, but it was Death To The Lads and their rousing rendition of The Killers When You Were Young that gathered the biggest responses. "Are we Flume? I dunno. Thank you very much, we’re Flume!" joked Wagner before one more sing-along in the form of Throw Me In The River rounded out a solid set.
Most likely purchasing many more fans along the way, this guy, the aforementioned "Illy On Heroin", Allday was somewhere in between all this. Not only did he not care for where he was, he produced a sub par effort (and horrendous haircut) before finishing on a minor high with You Always Know The DJ. On the hip hop tip, Vince Staples produced the set of the genre of the two days, from start to finish having the crowd on a pogo yo yo, bouncing about to his bippidy boppidy
The most disappointing part of Falls Downtown was the scheduling of UK sweethearts Everything, Everything in the god awful, just-after-start, time slot. With their journey of a set kicking off with Night Of The Long Knives, they detoured through the jolty Cough, Cough, the beautiful wailing of Jonathan Higgs in Regret and ending with the epic Dizzy Rascal meets Radiohead bliss of Distant Past, which saw the crowd go crazy for the ecstasy fuelled keys and every present pace change ups. Hopefully they'll be back again soon for some solo jaunts where they can really give their everything (everything).
Best performance of the weekend has to go to The Dune Rats, who sprinted onstage, screamed something incoherently into the microphone to explain who they were, then launched head first into their drugs and booze bogan bedroom anthems they've carved a career out of. Six Pack came early, and with it, two massive inflatable beer cans that bounced around the crowd for the set’s entirety. One lad was seen guarding one that had gone flat late in the day like a caveman. Bullshit, Scott Green and the epic sing-along Braindead kept the Rats running, before local hip hop royalty, Drapht joined the lads onstage for a rumbling rendition of Drapht's track Mexico, with head Dune Rat Danny Beausa explaining "We picked one of Draphts songs cos all our songs are shit!". Finishing up with Dalai Llama Big Banana Marijuana, the Rats had reigned supreme and brought a little sunshine spark.
From sunshine spark came sleepy slumber as Angus and Julia Stone took advantage of the setting sun with a big blue moon visual spinning around their back drop. They were boring, even Big Jet Plane! Much in the same vain was lethargic Bee Gee's soundalikes Jungle, whose songs all seem to sound familiar. From car commercials maybe? A short stroll to the backstage was short lived due to the noise coming from Slumberjack. Gross! And Fleet Foxes and Glass Animals should possibly had switched spots with early morning openers Ecca Vandal and Alex Lahey, the latter solid performers, the former had people wondering if Flume was really worth it.
In the same vain was the delightful Smith Street Band. Now this band is usually a hard pill to swallow, however on this day, the over weight Ed Sheeran appeal of main man Wil Wagner was wonderful to watch. As well as that familial monotone growl, he produced a few funnies as well as dedications to "the one-and-only Daryl Motherfucking Braithwaite!". Birthdays and Passiona were groovy, but it was Death To The Lads and their rousing rendition of The Killers When You Were Young that gathered the biggest responses. "Are we Flume? I dunno. Thank you very much, we’re Flume!" joked Wagner before one more sing-along in the form of Throw Me In The River rounded out a solid set.
Most likely purchasing many more fans along the way, this guy, the aforementioned "Illy On Heroin", Allday was somewhere in between all this. Not only did he not care for where he was, he produced a sub par effort (and horrendous haircut) before finishing on a minor high with You Always Know The DJ. On the hip hop tip, Vince Staples produced the set of the genre of the two days, from start to finish having the crowd on a pogo yo yo, bouncing about to his bippidy boppidy
The most disappointing part of Falls Downtown was the scheduling of UK sweethearts Everything, Everything in the god awful, just-after-start, time slot. With their journey of a set kicking off with Night Of The Long Knives, they detoured through the jolty Cough, Cough, the beautiful wailing of Jonathan Higgs in Regret and ending with the epic Dizzy Rascal meets Radiohead bliss of Distant Past, which saw the crowd go crazy for the ecstasy fuelled keys and every present pace change ups. Hopefully they'll be back again soon for some solo jaunts where they can really give their everything (everything).
Best performance of the weekend has to go to The Dune Rats, who sprinted onstage, screamed something incoherently into the microphone to explain who they were, then launched head first into their drugs and booze bogan bedroom anthems they've carved a career out of. Six Pack came early, and with it, two massive inflatable beer cans that bounced around the crowd for the set’s entirety. One lad was seen guarding one that had gone flat late in the day like a caveman. Bullshit, Scott Green and the epic sing-along Braindead kept the Rats running, before local hip hop royalty, Drapht joined the lads onstage for a rumbling rendition of Drapht's track Mexico, with head Dune Rat Danny Beausa explaining "We picked one of Draphts songs cos all our songs are shit!". Finishing up with Dalai Llama Big Banana Marijuana, the Rats had reigned supreme and brought a little sunshine spark.
From sunshine spark came sleepy slumber as Angus and Julia Stone took advantage of the setting sun with a big blue moon visual spinning around their back drop. They were boring, even Big Jet Plane! Much in the same vain was lethargic Bee Gee's soundalikes Jungle, whose songs all seem to sound familiar. From car commercials maybe? A short stroll to the backstage was short lived due to the noise coming from Slumberjack. Gross! And Fleet Foxes and Glass Animals should possibly had switched spots with early morning openers Ecca Vandal and Alex Lahey, the latter solid performers, the former had people wondering if Flume was really worth it.
Ex Oasis front man Liam Gallagher, fresh off a stunning album release, was on point. He still had the cool-as-fuck swagger, but this time backed it up with a solid performance. If you saw Oasis at the EntCent back in 1998 you would remember a different Gallagher. Him leaving the whole "tossing the tambourine" on the ground 151 times a set was a nice touch. Instead, he sported a hoody so tight you could just see his Lennon-esque glasses and smashed it out the park with opener Rock n Roll Star, rock and roller What's The Story (Morning Glory), pleasant surprise Some Might Say and the worst song of the 90's to finish up, Wonderwall.
To the fucking tool bag that let off two orange flares during Gallagher's set, go drown yourself! How fucking idiotic can someone be? You endangered lives and put the whole festival at risk. Die! On a lighter note, to the girl in Chicago Bulls top and black skirt, your epic cart wheels into rocking out dance moves were hilarious and made for amazing viewing. Until you clocked that other girl in the head and knocked her out. Bummer!
Foster The People had obviously taken exception to following Gallagher, wandering out on stage with the nonchalantness of Oasis at their peak. Frontman Mark Foster strutted the stage as if he were channelling, or perhaps mocking, the man who had just finished on the adjacent stage. Probably only bettered by The Dune Rats, washing their way through Helena Beat early, they were confident and full of sass even delving into a rendition of Blitzkrieg Bop made famous by some awful band called The Ramones. Foster took to the microphone to make an impassioned plea/statement about the state of the world today before the familiar bass bop intro of Pumped Up Kicks had the capacity crowd in a frenzy for a final time.
Festival headliner Flume was on top of his game. But in all honesty, what is his game? He somehow magically mixes without headphones on what looks like an old Atari console piece. On Top and Insane were early highlights, yet the songs he included in his set drew more cheers than his own with Major Lazer Get Free getting a rinse and Lorde’s Tennis Courts effortlessly blending into Never Be Like You. Flashy lights and heavy bass is nice but it kinda left most feeling empty after a day (or two) of quality music from amazing internationals and local produce.
Falls Downtown was a dead set success, and should thrive for many moons with the amazing and schizophrenic variety of music it shares. Let's all hope that it lasts.
To the fucking tool bag that let off two orange flares during Gallagher's set, go drown yourself! How fucking idiotic can someone be? You endangered lives and put the whole festival at risk. Die! On a lighter note, to the girl in Chicago Bulls top and black skirt, your epic cart wheels into rocking out dance moves were hilarious and made for amazing viewing. Until you clocked that other girl in the head and knocked her out. Bummer!
Foster The People had obviously taken exception to following Gallagher, wandering out on stage with the nonchalantness of Oasis at their peak. Frontman Mark Foster strutted the stage as if he were channelling, or perhaps mocking, the man who had just finished on the adjacent stage. Probably only bettered by The Dune Rats, washing their way through Helena Beat early, they were confident and full of sass even delving into a rendition of Blitzkrieg Bop made famous by some awful band called The Ramones. Foster took to the microphone to make an impassioned plea/statement about the state of the world today before the familiar bass bop intro of Pumped Up Kicks had the capacity crowd in a frenzy for a final time.
Festival headliner Flume was on top of his game. But in all honesty, what is his game? He somehow magically mixes without headphones on what looks like an old Atari console piece. On Top and Insane were early highlights, yet the songs he included in his set drew more cheers than his own with Major Lazer Get Free getting a rinse and Lorde’s Tennis Courts effortlessly blending into Never Be Like You. Flashy lights and heavy bass is nice but it kinda left most feeling empty after a day (or two) of quality music from amazing internationals and local produce.
Falls Downtown was a dead set success, and should thrive for many moons with the amazing and schizophrenic variety of music it shares. Let's all hope that it lasts.