Splendour – a single word, a précised title, so conducive of… well, what did Splendour mean to you? For some, it was shared moments with absent friends, interstate liaisons and a weekend of hugs and smiles. For some it was three days of sensory gluttony, a feast for the ears and eyes, an indulgence of sight and sound.
For a few it recalls new love, fleeting romance, stolen kisses in magical moments. And then, of course, there was the debauchery, the sex, the drugs, the rock n’ roll of the country’s most renowned celebration of contemporary music. However your Splendour weekend was spent, whatever memories you may take with you from a field somewhere near Byron, there’s no denying that 2014 excelled in the Splendour in the Grass chronology.
Bone dry but for the slightest sprinkle, stellar performances from a gamut of international acts, new faces, friendly crowds, clean grounds and superb organisation, it was a year against which all others will be measured.
Outkast, Lily Allen, Hilltop Hoods, Foster The People – every band, whoever they were, wherever they were from and whatever renown proceeded them, stepped up, brought their A-Game and went all out to give the Splendour crowd a performance they’d remember for a long, long time. For the punters, it was all in the planning.
Tickets bought, travel logged, the finer details expanded exponentially. Hair dyed and braided, wardrobe scrutinised and embellished, props and accessories purchased, single-use extravagances to splendify their Splendour experience. Confetti cannons, dancing owls, enough make-up to fill an Olympic pool, audio-visual opulence immersed every corner of the North Byron Parklands. Whale balloons, Valentine fairies, a million facial sequins and lots and lots…and lots of beards.
More hipsters than a coffee convention sponsored by Brixton, all ages, a million smiles and the grinning, gaudy cranium of Mr. Lionel Richie – Splendour in the Grass went above, beyond and a long, long way past. We will all take our own happy memories and lasting impressions from that weekend in late July and many will already be ticking off the calendar squares until 2015’s return. Here is a collection, a microcosmic scrapbook, of just a few of our favourite Splendour moments. Indulge the happy memories, fill in the amnesiac blanks, discover all you missed, enjoy the weekend one last time…until next year.
Photo’s by Mel Carrero and Kirra Pendergast
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