Splendour in the Grass is Australia’s largest, Winter festival, taking place from July 30th to August 1st, and is so popular that in past years, tickets have sold out in a matter of hours with scalped tickets going for over $3,000 on Ebay. This year, the line-up is once again worthy of desperate measures as the festival welcomes a gambit of bands from around the world but particularly, must see acts from the U.S.: The Strokes, Pixies, LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, Jonsi, Goldfrapp, Florence and the Machine, Surfer Blood, School of Seven Bells, the Drums, Scissor Sisters, Tame Impala, Yeasayer, Foals.

To accommodate the masses of fans who have pledged their allegiance to Splendour, the festival has moved to larger grounds in Woodfordia, Queensland, away from the Byron Bay locale they have occupied since 2001. The facilities has room for 20,000 campers and since outside accommodation is scarce in Woodfordia, most festival goers will be staying onsite. The difference this year is that Splendour has erected a Tent City that those without a tent can hire.
 
Tips:

• Since it is Winter in Australia, expect temperatures to be cold at night with warmer conditions during the day. Bring layers that can be slung around your waist when it is hot and a coat and hat for the evening.
• What seems to plague most outdoor festivals are wet conditions so rain boots and a pair of sneakers are recommended, no flip-flops here.
• The showers usually have a long wait but since the festival is only three days and not in the dead of Summer, many festival goers sponge off in their tents or use baby wipes. Bring a plenty of water that you can use for teeth brushing and face washing so that you don’t have to slog our way to the showers at night.
• Food is essential for those looking to save cash and time waiting in lines and is allowed in the tent areas.
• A torch or flashlight is mandatory item at Splendour and some people even suggest a miners’ helmet with a flashlight a fixed to help with late night toilet runs.
• If camping, make sure and get there early. The campsite opens Wed, July 28th and the best spots are taken quickly. If you want to bunk next to your friends, arrive at the same time so you are placed next to each other.
• Above all, Splendour is a very hippy, laid back festival that probably has as much to do with the season it takes place as the clientele is attracts. Take it easy and have fun.

Kylie Minogue: Icon

This week, our intrepid music writer James Hendicott is headed to the southern hemisphere to check out the scene in Australia. Forget the didgeridoo and check out James’s six picks — from rock superstars AC/DC to one very over-the-top pop legend.
 

 
The Scene in Six Sounds: Australia
By James Hendicott
 
Indigenous music in Australia -– which is based around instruments like the didgeridoo -– dates back more than 60,000 years, and is kept alive to this day by a number of contemporary artists. Most modern day Australian music, though, is a result of ‘cross pollination’, a creative force that has seen the land down under produce some of the best genre-fusing bands in the world. Not to mention a certain iconic rock band….
 
A Rock and Roll Education: AC/DC
 

Band Name: Deloris. At the moment.

Home base: Melbourne, Australia

Members: Marcus Teague, Ben Gook, Joe Hammond, Tim O’Connor

Museyon Guides: How would you describe your style?
Marcus Teague: We started with a very American (and Australian) indie rock template. Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Archers of Loaf, kind of thing. Pop songs masquerading as weirdly tuned and timed, clattering guitar songs, about epic narratives. The last album, ‘Ten Lives‘, was a bit more focused and exploratory (Listen to it here). Now we’re kind’ve stripping everything away, while still trying to keep a sense of narrative (and rythm) about it all.

Deloris

MG: How would you describe the Melbourne sound? Is there even a “Melbourne sound”?
MT: ‘Melbourne’ bands are generally guitar bands that have a certain rudimentary quality to them. It might not be the case in practice but it is in its execution and aesthetic. Melbourne likes to think it operates unto its own worldly rotations, which makes it hard for outside bands to make an impression on the scene and forms a clique of bands that don’t look — or trouble those — outside Melbourne’s borders. Which of course does make some pretty great, incestuous and original bands to the outside world. But if you look at the clique and lineage that they’re emulating, then it can often degenerate into a constant, thinly veiled homage to the usual names like Nick Cave, Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine. Still, the good stuff seems to bubble to the top.

Localized hip-hop and dance music are pretty massive in Australia right now, and arguably a lot bigger then the rock and indie band scene — the bands able to draw the biggest crowds in Australia right now are probably dance bands The Presets and Empire of the Sun. I like those bands, but Australia tends to fall prey to whatever’s played on the radio, so often people champion bands that have a built a career with ‘hits’ or are just good at emulating more well known bands from overseas.

Seemingly not many people are able to engage too much across different genres. But that’s typical of social circles in reasonably small cities so I’m not sure it’s unique to Melbourne. Maybe it’s the amount of people that are involved in the scene which makes it different. ‘Cause there’s a lot. A new band seems to start up every day and there’s a gig on every night. Always, which can be hard to keep up.

I think generally if there’s a ‘good’ Australian sound it’s one without pretense. And if there is a pretense, it’s in the name of trying to achieve something unique. And any Australian act worth their salt can usually put on an engaging and confident live show.

MG: Any tips for music-lovers visiting Melbourne?

MT: The best tip is to pick up the free street press papers that you’ll find at most record, clothes and book stores. They have gig listings, interviews and all that kind’ve stuff. There is a gig on every night in Melbourne so if anything, there’s too much to choose from.

Venues come and go a bit but the best is probably the Forum, which is an old theatre decorated inside as if it’s outside, with parapets and trees and birds and stars on the ceiling. The main decent sized venues
are The Corner, Northcote Social Club, East Brunswick Club, Roxanne and maybe the Hi Fi Bar. The best smaller venues are the Old Bar, the Workers Club, Revolver, Wesley Anne and the Empress. Better still are the numerous warehouse, backyard and DIY shows that happen most weekends, if you know where to look.

The Forum

MG: Are there any local bands do you think should get more international attention?
MT: Us! – When bands needed to rely on labels and publicists to get attention I think there were always a bunch that deserved more. But with the internet, again, the good music seems to be able to filter out and make an impact anyway. So I don’t neccessarily think bands need MORE attention, but some of the bands that I often think would be able to make a comfortable living from music if they weren’t stuck here in Australia are Kid Sam, Grand Salvo, Witch Hats, Dappled Cities, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Oliver Mann, You Am I, Aleks and the Ramps, The Middle East, Charge Group, My Disco and … any number of bands really, when I think about it now.

images: MySpace, MySpace, SplaTT/Flickr

The recipe for a rock ‘n’ roll explosion is simple: Take a bunch of frustrated teenagers. Mix equal parts isolation and desolation. Stir in a lot of boredom and add a conservative society for good measure. That’s exactly what gave birth to Brisbane, Australia’s mid-’70s art rock revolution. 

From the moment The Saints released their genre-defining “(I’m) Stranded” — arguably the first punk rock record — in 1976, Australia’s “little bands” began developing a breezy take on 1960s rock ‘n’ roll, creating a lo-fi, DIY sound with a distinctly “Down Under” vibe. 

To get the story of how it all started — from the people who made it all happen — check out “Brisbane Bands.” The 1988 documentary, which originally aired on “Rock Arena” on Australia’s ABC TV, follows the rise of Brisbane rock from underground scene in a conservative city to internationally influential movement, as told by the likes of punk pioneers The Saints and indie rockers The Go-Betweens. It also features some totally awesome 80s computer graphics and plenty of very cool tunes. (Thanks to Maxwell for the tip!)

Want more music? Pick up a copy of Music+Travel Worldwide and join Museyon’s Mel Campbell as takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – from its roots in 1970s Brisbane to Melbourne’s thriving scene today.

image: iStock