North Byron Parklands

Friday, July 25 to Sunday, July 27

Over the years it seemed the weather gods believed Splendour In The Grass to be an ironic title, and would unceremoniously dump enough water over the music and arts festival to turn it into a knee-deep quagmire.

But in 2014 it was different.

Despite a very light shower on Saturday night, enough to keep the rising dust at bay, this year’s Splendour In The Grass enjoyed perfect weather.

The bright sun and clear skies were what punters had always hoped for from Byron Bay’s East Coast position, but that cheery combination always seemed elusive during Australia’s prestigious music event.

This was also the event’s second year at its long designated venue of North Byron Parklands, and it was a relief to see the organisers had overcome last year’s teething problems.

The fancy wristbands of last year, which contained a microchip that’s purpose was never entirely clear, stalled entry in 2013, so it was a relief to be given an old-school material band.

Bus travel from Byron’s town centre was also more fluid this year, which could not be said of last year’s three-hour long queues.

The biggest surprise this year was the giant Amphitheatre stage, where the major headline acts performed to a natural, bowl-shaped hill that comfortably accommodated about 30,000 people.

It was reminiscent of the main stage at Splendour’s two-year sojourn to Queensland’s Woodfordia, where a natural amphitheatre housed performances by The Strokes, Pulp, Pixies and Mumford and Sons.

Seeing the new amphitheatre made it clear why Splendour’s organisers were determined to have the mammoth event move to this permanent home.

The first thing you noticed when wandering around Splendour on the first day is how many bars and clubs there were.

And there was something for every pallet.

Major brands like Smirnoff, Carlton Dry, Bundaberg, Moet and Kopparberg all had their own personalised, trendy watering hole.

But if music was your flavour, then there was too much to take in.

Blackpool three-piece rockers Darlia filled the Amphitheatre with their raw, heavy and very catchy set.

Closing song Queen of Hearts roused punters into a moshpit.

In the GW McLennan tent was a haunting set from Melbourne’s Fractures, who crafted melodic and atmospheric soundscapes.

There's was a chilled, rhythmic sound reminiscent of late-era Radiohead.

Then the Amphitheatre’s volume swelled for singalong sets by The Preatures, Ball Park Music and Spiderbait, with the latter joined on stage by Dan Sultan.

The Preatures dedicated a cover of The Angels’ classic ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?’ to the late Doc Neeson.

The GW McLennan tent was overflowing with punters trying to hear the serene, stunning vocals of Iceland's Asgeir.

They were treated to a haunting cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box.

A special event for older Splendids (short for "Splendour Heads") was the "Be My Guru" set from the Hoodoo Gurus.

This was a special chronological reformation by the band, who walked out on stage as the foursome that recorded 1984's debut album Stoneage Romeos - singer Dave Faulkner, guitarist Brad Shepherd, bassist Clyde Bramley and drummer James Baker.

Opening with Dig It Up, they played more Romeos tracks like In The Echo Chamber, Tojo, My Girl and I Was A Kamikaze Pilot.

Then Baker left the stage to make way for drummer Mark Kingsmill, bringing the group on stage into the Mars Needs Guitars!-era line-up.

The set finished with the current line-up, including bassist Rick Grossman, and Bramley and Baker on stage.

Seeing Baker and Kingsmill on stage, playing separate full drum kits, was not only a sight to behold, but a piece of rock history.

It was the first time since 1984 that Baker had joined the Gurus on stage.

Faulkner hinted that there is the possibility of future reformations shows, so stay tuned.

New York City's Interpol dazzled their fans in the Amphitheatre, while RnB singer Kelis packed out the Mix Up Tent with a hit-laded set that opened with Trick Me and included Millionaire and Milkshake.

When Big Boi and Andre 3000 stepped on to the Amphitheatre's stage for a rare appearance - their only show in Australia - there were people as far as you could see.

And the pair did not disappoint.

Amidst some well-delivered banter, and backed by two singers and a DJ, Outkast opened with B.O.B. and kept the classic tracks coming - Ms. Jackson, So Fresh, So Clean, Roses, Prototype and The Way You Move.

Andre 3000, dressed in a black one-piece suit and Andy Warhol-type white wig, invited girls from the audience on stage for Outkast's monster hit Hey Ya! which, as one might expect, had 30,000 people screaming "Shake it like a polaroid picture!"

Closing with The Whole World, Outkast departed the stage - perhaps never to be seen together again - and left a lot of lucky Splendids with very big smiles on their faces.

On Splendour's second day, the crowd was visited by one of the sexiest ladies of modern rock, Sky Ferreira.

With jet-black hair and a leather jacket, resembling one of the girls from The Craft, the 22-year-old from Los Angeles oozed nonchalant rock chic and her voice sounded incredible.

Despite her already soaring popularity, there's no doubt Ferreira will become a household name around the world.

The highlight of the entire festival turned out to be North Carolina synthpop four-piece Future Islands.

On the back of fourth album, Singles, and a Letterman performance that has gone viral on the internet, a large audience crammed into the GW McLennan tent to see the band - and especially the intense physical and vocal theatrics of singer Samuel T. Herring.

Herring was dressed like a door-to-door Bible salesman and performed with such manic passion that you could have been forgiven for thinking he was the subject of an exorcism.

He delivered each lyric as if it was written into a sermon, and was truly a sight to behold.

The band's high-energy tropical new-wave sound, mixed with Herring's transfixing delivery, made Future Islands' Splendour show a spiritual experience.

Around the same time a huge number of people filled the Amphitheatre to support a contingent of rising Australian stars.

Sticky Fingers and The Jezabels each drew large numbers, while Violent Soho had 20,000 people screaming every note to their hit Covered In Chrome.

As night approached, some rain clouds moved across the sky.

It was an ominous arrival and there's no doubt many Splendids had immediate flashbacks to past Splendour In The Grass festivals that required big gumboots and well-developed thighs to move around the muddy grounds.

But the dark clouds never amounted to more than a light shower. 

Last-minute ring-ins, Oxford math-rock group Foals, who had flown Down Under to replace Two Door Cinema Club, proved themselves to be a stadium act when they entered the Amphitheatre.

The day came to a close with the beautiful voice of Dallas Green, aka City and Colour, whose folk-rock stylings were a chilled way to end Splendour's Saturday.

Along with fan favourites like The Grand Optimist, Fragile Bird and Comin' Home, Green also performed a haunting cover of Pink's Try.

An early highlight on Splendour's final day was Byron Bay three-piece Mt Warning (pronounced em-tee warning).

Difficult to categorise, the trio created unpredictable rock songs with rhythmic dynamics underneath singer Mikey Bee's powerful voice.

Reminiscent of some of Jeff Buckley's work, the band's arrangements used explosions of ragged guitar, sample pads, keyboards and loop pedals to craft emotionally driven rock music.

New Zealand's synthpop duo Broods are destined for big things.

The pair, brother-sister duo Georgia and Caleb Nott, played in the early afternoon at the Mix Up Tent, but drew a very large crowd that were clearly enamoured with Georgia's gorgeous, Florence-like vocals.

It seems that Californian power pop band Grouplove have been to Australia for every major festival over the past few years and the visits are paying off.

They amassed a large audience in the Amphitheatre who sung every lyric of every song.

Singer Christian Zucconi demonstrated his elation by throwing his acoustic guitar high into the air at the finale and allowing it to land on the stage.

When it didn't splinter into thousands of shards, he finished the job by taking its neck and slamming it repeatedly until it was in pieces.

Scottish electro-pop trio Chvrches, also had Splendids singing and dancing across the wide expanse of the cavernous Amphitheatre, accompanied by a dazzling video display on the screen behind them.

Clearly endeared to the young Triple J-listening crowd, Chvrches had everyone's hands in the air for their undeniably catchy single The Mother We Share.

The angelic Swedish siblings of First Aid Kit, folk sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, were difficult to take your eyes off.

Their harmonies and pristine, timeless songwriting were simply mesmerising.

Performing a number of songs from new record Stay Gold, First Aid Kit's beautiful set ended with the title track from record The Lion's Roar and also that album's hit single Emmylou.

The final hours of Splendour In The Grass 2014 had something for everyone, from the introspective folk stylings of Ben Howard, to the eclectic electronica of Darkside, the hip-hop of Adelaide's Hilltop Hoods and the feel-good pop of Foster The People.

But it was clear that many people were going to end their festival with precociously adorable pop star Lily Allen.

With a visual stage motif consisting of babies' milk bottles, Lily Allen appeared in a pair of revealing watermelon-coloured short shorts and a small tank top that exposed her midriff. 

Often joined by backing dancers, Allen was quick to perform tracks from her breakthrough album, 2006's Alright, Still, opening with LDN and soon singing Smile.

There was also a sprinkling of tracks from her latest release, third album Sheezus.

Allen, with the cheeky twinkle in her eye that seemingly lets her get away with anything, poked fun at groups of police officers in the audience (maybe the same cops she got in trouble at Gold Coast airport with her "arrest photo") and complained that her shorts were giving her a "camel toe".

When she asked the crowd if she should change into a pair of jeans, it was little surprise that the overwhelming response was in the negative.

Finishing with a pumped-up remix of Not Fair, Allen waved goodbye and was gone, having orchestrated a perfectly upbeat celebration to end a memorable three days in the Grass.