The Falls Music & Arts Festival lineup reads nothing more than a high dose of fun, with celebrations happening in Lorne, Marion Bay and Byron Bay over New Years Eve.
The first queens of hip hop, Salt N Pepa, will ring in 2015 at Falls Festival Byron while The Alt J, Röyksopp & Robyn, Spiderbait, John Butler Trio, Bluejuice, Cold War Kids, Jamie XX, SBTRKT, Vance Joy, The Presets and The Temper Trap are just some of the performers who will join hundreds of local musicians and artists for the 4 day music and arts festival to be held locally at the North Byron Parklands, Tues Dec 30 to Friday Jan 2. More artists will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Falls Music & Arts Festival has been entertaining music lovers for the past 21 years in Lorne (VIC), 11 years in Marion Bay (TAS) and last year added Byron Bay to its beautiful coastal locations. The Falls Music & Arts Festival is known for its diverse music and arts programming, free camping and laid-back, friendly atmosphere.
View the full lineup here – fallsfestival.com.au
LOCALS TICKETS INFO
The festival is giving all Byron Shire residents and south Tweed Shire residents (40 kms north or west of North Byron Parklands) priority access to a limited allocation of all event type tickets including special New Years Eve only tickets. Locals tickets will go on sale from 9AM THURSDAY AUG 28 through byron.fallsfestival.com.au/locals until sold out. Only the purchaser needs to be a local and can buy up to 4 tickets each.
If you’re outside the ‘locals’ area you are encouraged to sign up for the ballot though before Monday 25 August. Most Falls Festival tickets are allocated to sales through the ballot process, starting at 9am on Thursday August 28; however, for those who miss out, there will also be a small allocation of tickets set aside for general public sales starting at 9am on Wednesday September 03.
The Falls Music & Arts Festival Byron is an 18+ event. Click here for more event information.
JUST SOME OF THE ACTS
Riding An Awesome Wave from their 2012 Mercury Music Prize win all the way to Falls, ALT-J have earned their victory lap of Australia! After all, their ubiquitous debut record sold over a million copies worldwide, with three tracks ‘Breezeblocks’, Tessellate’ and ‘Something Good’ all making their way into triple j’s Hottest 100! Back with their follow-up This Is All Yours due this September, teasers ‘Hunger of the Pine’ and ‘Left Hand Free’ are shifting and intrepid sonic adventures already gaining massive traction on airwaves around the world. Currently slaying audiences on a promo tour across the US and UK, it’s your turn to catch them live at Falls!
Named as an ‘Artist to Watch’ in 2014 by Time Magazine, VANCE JOY’S ‘Riptide’ was the highest selling Australian single in 2013. Reaching top ten on the ARIA Singles and UK Singles charts, the song topped triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown, along with Fearne Cotton (BBC Radio 1 UK) naming ‘Riptide’ her Song of the Year. With a first time appearance at Falls to premier tracks from his debut album, it’s sure to be one huge sing-along-party!
JAMIE XX, the multi-talented beatmaker and creative member of lo-fi Mercury Music Prize winners the xx – one of the most influential acts of our generation. Having carved out a name for himself outside of the band, thanks to a host of critically acclaimed remixes, the likes of Florence and the Machine, Gil Scott-Heron and Adele, alongside producing his own material, few can match this talented young musician’s prowess right now. With a couple of new single releases this year titled ‘Girl’ and ‘All Under One Roof Raving’ it seems he never takes a step in the wrong direction. Bassline junkies get your fix at Falls!
One of the most distinct, festival-ready outfits around today, COLD WAR KIDS have morphed effortlessly from the buzz band that brought us ‘Hang Me Up To Dry’ and ‘Hospital Beds’to the distinguished single machine we see before us. Blessed with that reedy, urgent cry of a voice, lead singer Nathan Willett and his erstwhile cohorts have never been far from our hearts and radios with tunes like ‘Something Is Not Right With Me’, ‘Louder Than Ever’, ‘Miracle Mile’ and newest single ‘All This Could Be Yours’(taken from their latest album) never failing to impress.
A shining jewel in the crown of Australian dance music; where would we be without THE PRESETS? For so long now we’ve been able to rely on the duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes to produce bangers worthy of the world stage and, on every occasion, they’ve delivered the goods. This year alone they’ve already issued two new classics (‘Goodbye Future’and ‘No Fun’) as part of their resolution to release several singles across 2014 and, as these new tracks slide in next to 2012’s Pacifica as well as the likes of ‘My People’and ‘Are You The One?’ – It’s clear that The Presets are unstoppable!
As a self confessed “flower punk” band, THE BLACK LIPS have steadily built a reputation for mayhem and disorder in the glitziest possible way. Their earlier shows were known for nudity and regurgitation, but as they shifted gears slightly, these Atlanta natives found a knack for tunes that cannot be underestimated. Their latest effort, Underneath The Rainbow, was produced in part by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and, while his presence is obvious in it’s dangerous stomp, the record is further proof that The Black Lips’ powers lie in their fluorescent personalities.
GEORGE EZRA, so hot right now. Following a striking set at Glastonbury this year, the release of his debut album Wanted On A Voyage is something of a tremendous accomplishment for the Hertford-born singer-songwriter. It seems reaching fifth place in the BBC ‘Sound Of 2014’ list at the end of last year has really set the wheels in motion for this album – including the hit tracks on everyone’s lips ‘Budapest’ and ‘Did You Hear The Rain?’! Playing guitar, bass and keyboards, Ezra delivers structurally simple songs with enormous gusto, suggesting an uncynical, joyous release in the very act of making music, which is extra special to witness live.
Seeing THE TEMPER TRAP live is one of life’s real treats. It feels like it was just yesterday that were collecting a tonne of ARIA awards for their second self-titled studio album. This time capped a hugely successful period as the band wrapped up an extensive period of touring featuring sold out performances around the globe and marked by supporting The Rolling Stones in London’s Hyde Park, a stadium tour with Coldplay, and playing in front of 100,000 people at the AFL Grand Final. The Temper Trap return to the live circuit in 2014, premiering material from their anticipated upcoming third record, working with Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange producer Malay. No biggie.
MILKY CHANCE, the German indie-pop duo specialise in unstoppable ear-worms and have been making serious waves with their single ‘Stolen Dance’ – soaring up the iTunes chart to steal the #1 spot! If you’ve been anywhere near a radio in 2014, you’ll know this tune, that bouncy, euphoric slice of acoustic guitar pop sung in adorably broken English by lead singer Clemens Rehbein. The track itself was taken from the band’s debut album Sadnecessary – a record which has charted all over the world, including a stint at Number 8 in our own ARIA charts. Hugely popular in Germany, Australian’s have quickly embraced Milky Chance and they’re rewarding us with their first ever trip to our shores!
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. TYCHO is the moniker for San Francisco based visual artist and musician Scott Hansen; a mysterious character who has spent the last decade moulding a combination of sound and art to create a body of work now distinctly his own. Tycho first raised eyebrows with his debut record Dive – a synth based odyssey heavy on swelling instrumentation and mood. This year saw the release of Awake – a work which employs a three-piece band to spectacular results. Tracks like ‘Montana’and the title track deliver a spacious yet epic mood that, in a live setting, promise to be nothing short of spectacular!
One of the buzziest buzz bands of recent times, Englishmen (Oxfordians to be exact) GLASS ANIMALS didn’t so much pop up on our radar as they did slide in next to us, buy us a drink, drape their arm over our shoulders and utter a polite, yet sexy “‘ello love” into our unsuspecting ears. The love affair started with the dripping synths and coo-ing vocals of debut single ‘Gooey’, continued with follow-up salvo ‘Pools’and was consummated on their gorgeous debut album Zaba. Take us now Glass Animals – we’re powerless to your charms.
Ten years after Eurodans, TODD TERJE’S 2004 breakthrough EP, the Norwegian disco king has finally released his debut album: It’s Album Time. Given the wry grin of that title, it’s only fitting that It’s Album Time is a saucy trip through all of the influences that Terje has nodded to over his career. There are loose-hipped lounge tracks, funky jazz noodlings, Italo epics and humid piano house stormers. All of this is stitched into such a heady trip of sonic extravagance it’s sometimes hard to stop and draw a breath. Playing this live for the first time in Australia this summer, it’ll be a good time party mix.
How’s this for a compliment: when quizzed recently on the reformation of Oasis, Noel Gallagher quipped that his ex band members were too busy “talking about f**king Jagwar Ma” to get around to it. So if raising the ire (and ear) of Manchester’s biggest grump is any indication of success – these ex-Sydney (now London-based) psych-dance lads JAGWAR MA are doing pretty damn well for themselves. Originally cobbling their sound together while chateau hopping in the south of France, debut album Howlin’ mixed a heady blend of Madchester inspired synth melodies and rave ready soundscapes to perfection.
Sydney’s finest STICKY FINGERS are back to add another page to their bourgeoning rap sheet. Specialising in summery good-time vibes, with tunes like ‘Caress Your Soul’and ‘Australia Street’both lobbing up in their respective Hottest 100 countdowns. Their newest single ‘Gold Snafu’picks up where these mini-anthems left off as the lads cobble together one of the finest, most addictive live shows on the Australian music circuit today. Just like the Rolling Stones record they share a moniker with, they’re unpredictable, sexy, strange and undeniably inclusive.
Railing against his catastrophic moniker, THE KITE STRING TANGLE is the experimental project of alternative, electronic artist Danny Harley. Taking inspiration from the likes of Active Child, Fever Ray and Mount Kimbie, Harley explores emotions such as nostalgia and self-reflection through gently propulsive and highly textured tracks. His universal single ‘Given The Chance’showcased just how much traction he has created by lobbing up in the top 20 of last years triple j Hottest 100. As a result, the Kite String Tangle sit squarely at the forefront of the Australian electronic scene.
As the winner of triple j Unearthed’s Artist of the Year in 2013, Melbourne hip/hop, indie cool kid REMI sits primed at the crossroads of success. Expertly mixing tight rap flow with a smooth singing voice, Remi got his start in 2011 as he collaborated with Sensible J and Dutch under the Melbourne collective Run For You Life. All this was preparation for his inevitable solo career as he unleashed the infectious singles Sangria and Livin’. His recent debut album Raw Infinity X was a hugely popular Feature Album on triple j and holds Remi in good stead for a massive future.
Read about many more acts HERE.
NYE ACTS
Less jerkin’, more twerkin’! Boogie Nights is a time to put on fancy dress and to be fancy-free. Happening on December 28 in Lorne, December 29 in Marion Bay and December 31 in Byron this year. Taking the lyrics on the attack will be…
Luminaries of the hip-hop world, SALT N PEPA are charged with not only being the first all female group in the genre, but also with completely flipping the script on a male dominated world – breaking the glass ceiling so that generations of ladies could rise up! Gaining prominence with their talismanic hit ‘Push It’, the ladies cut a swathe through the late 80’s and early 90’s with tunes like ‘Shoop’, ‘Whatta Man’ and of course, ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’. With a fearless approach and still with boundless energy, Salt N Pepa tour today as living legends of hip- hop.
ALISON WONDERLAND, the woman Diplo called “one of the best DJ’s in Australia”, has been everywhere of late. Hot on the heels of her brilliantly titled Rural Juror tour, she has released her highly anticipated Calm Down EP and established herself position at the top of the Aussie DJ scene. Her blend of old school dance, hip hop and EDM, as well as an incredible eye for detail, has propelled this former cellist onto the must have list for any warehouse or festival stage. A true ‘it-girl’ and a stayer as well, Alison Wonderland has it all.
BADBADNOTGOOD (BBNG to their mates) are a jazz trio from Toronto known for their appreciation of, and inauguration into hip hop culture. Meeting in jazz college, these gun musicians decided that there was no need for jazz to be an old man’s game and began putting together versions of tracks by the likes of Odd Future, Kanye West, MF Doom and Feist. This got the attention of the artists they were covering and pretty soon BBNG were recording jam sessions in Tyler The Creator’s basement. They have also produced tracks for Danny Brown and remixed Soulja Boy. College kids they ain’t.
Stuck somewhere in Australian society between 1987 and 1999, Melbourne duo CLIENT LIAISON are taking their mullets, shaded sunglasses and shoulder pads to the festival stage. As they move through their synth-pop based electronic bangers, these two lads pay homage to a time when Diners Club ruled supreme, when Ansett was our airline of choice and when John Howard would proudly power walk through the nations capital with the concerns of a disgruntled country on his furry brow. Visuals, clothing, dance moves and an unfaltering energy are key to Client Liaison. Put it on the company credit card.
EVENTS:
Dec 28, 2014 to Jan 01, 2015 in Lorne, VIC (est. 1993) 18+ event
Dec 29, 2014 to Jan 01, 2015 in Marion Bay, TAS (est. 2003) All ages
Dec 30, 2014 to Jan 03*, 2015 in Byron Bay, NSW (est. 2013) 18+ event *Jan 03 exit day
TICKETS:
Locals Tickets on sale 9am Thursday 28 August through byron.fallsfestival.com.au/locals
For all other tickets sign up for the ballot through fallsfestival.com before Monday 25 August Limited allocation of general sale tickets on sale from Wednesday 3 September.
