The Falls Festival, Lorne 04/05
By Jess McDougall
from 
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In its 12th year The Falls Festival in Lorne, Victoria was privileged to have good weather all weekend and a studded line up. This year the festival sold out tickets a month in advance; something that hasn’t been achieved for a long time. But it was understandable with the head liners being The Black Keys and De La Soul.
Out on a farm Falls provides 2 stages and 2 days of music. The highlights were expected and unexpected; The Cops, YouAmI, Hilltop Hoods and The John Butler Trio rarely disappoint and this New Years Eve was no exception. The Vasco Era, Special Patrol and Carus and The True Believers were lesser known bands that were excellent live.
The Cops played rather early on the first day but the 5 piece from Sydney drew a large crowd on the back of their debut album “Stomp on Trip Wires”, which has seen them excite so many people this year and for good reason. The Cops seem to have 5 completely different members who compliment each other so perfectly and this comes through in their music and their live shows.
YouAmI have a stage presence and attitude that comes out at every gig and with such a large following now the band knows what we like to hear and how to keep us happy; with Tim-Rodgers-Rock-God-Moves, no shirt on and all the hits, we were happy. (They weren’t so happy in Tassie, I hear.)
The John Butler Trio, The Beautiful Girls and Xavier Rudd had perfect time spots for the mood of the crowd. The Beautiful Girls were mid afternoon on the 30th and are laid back, with reggae and dub influence that found your hips swaying and your head slowly nodding in time. John Butler pretty much capped off the night for me because you can completely get lost in the music and the crowds good vibes when the John Butler Trio are playing.
From Adelaide Special Patrol kicked off the last day of the year with their darkly layered music which sounded amazing on the big stage with front man Myles’ voice booming and drummer Rob playing so hard he broke 2 drumsticks.
Hayden entertained us with a story about a cat and masturbation while playing a solo gig with a harmonica and some very chilled guitar. Hailing from Canada Hayden is an established entertainer which is reflected in the talent that he shows on stage.
Unsurprisingly The Panics put on a beautiful gig and the Perth band’s unique sound captivates you with its confidence and gracefulness plus the guys are bloody nice too.
Donavon Frankenreiter impressed the crowd with an 11 year old boy on the harmonica who came to help out the moustache-ed man of laid back music.
Not only to be remembered for their recent cover of Black Betty Spider bait played a gig full of hits and crowd participation and we all loved Black Betty.
But perhaps the bands that stole the hearts of the falls punters this year were De La Soul and the Hilltop Hoods. De La and The Hilltops have a way of turning a crowd into a party. The Hilltop Hoods were the last band for the weekend and managed to have the entire hill bouncing their arms, bringing in a second new years (around 1.10am) and going nuts with crowd sing a longs in amongst playing their classic tracks like “Nose Bleed Section”.
The head liners certainly didn’t disappoint. The Black Keys, a 2 piece who hail from Ohio use their drums and guitar to their maximum potential with blues inspired music and a husky voice to boot, ushering in the New Year in complete rock n roll style.
Unexpected highlights reminds me of why I enjoy music, a little discovery can brighten your festival. One of the highlights was defiantly The Vasco Era from Apollo Bay they’re a 3 piece whose mixture of blues and acoustic with slide guitar and percussions verge on country but reverts back to rock n roll in such a fashion that you get swept up in the fun. Carus and The True Believers made use of the violin and what I think was a mandolin to create an amazing vibe (catch both these gems in Feb. in Melbourne.)
Falls is probably the best way to spend New Years and is defiantly one of the most popular ways with 15,000 people making the trek. And why not you get lots of good Aussie bands including Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire, Epicure, Butterfingers, TZU, Claire Bowditch and a few good international acts The Thrills, The Black Keys and De La Soul, what more could one really want?
Out on a farm Falls provides 2 stages and 2 days of music. The highlights were expected and unexpected; The Cops, YouAmI, Hilltop Hoods and The John Butler Trio rarely disappoint and this New Years Eve was no exception. The Vasco Era, Special Patrol and Carus and The True Believers were lesser known bands that were excellent live.
The Cops played rather early on the first day but the 5 piece from Sydney drew a large crowd on the back of their debut album “Stomp on Trip Wires”, which has seen them excite so many people this year and for good reason. The Cops seem to have 5 completely different members who compliment each other so perfectly and this comes through in their music and their live shows.
YouAmI have a stage presence and attitude that comes out at every gig and with such a large following now the band knows what we like to hear and how to keep us happy; with Tim-Rodgers-Rock-God-Moves, no shirt on and all the hits, we were happy. (They weren’t so happy in Tassie, I hear.)
The John Butler Trio, The Beautiful Girls and Xavier Rudd had perfect time spots for the mood of the crowd. The Beautiful Girls were mid afternoon on the 30th and are laid back, with reggae and dub influence that found your hips swaying and your head slowly nodding in time. John Butler pretty much capped off the night for me because you can completely get lost in the music and the crowds good vibes when the John Butler Trio are playing.
From Adelaide Special Patrol kicked off the last day of the year with their darkly layered music which sounded amazing on the big stage with front man Myles’ voice booming and drummer Rob playing so hard he broke 2 drumsticks.
Hayden entertained us with a story about a cat and masturbation while playing a solo gig with a harmonica and some very chilled guitar. Hailing from Canada Hayden is an established entertainer which is reflected in the talent that he shows on stage.
Unsurprisingly The Panics put on a beautiful gig and the Perth band’s unique sound captivates you with its confidence and gracefulness plus the guys are bloody nice too.
Donavon Frankenreiter impressed the crowd with an 11 year old boy on the harmonica who came to help out the moustache-ed man of laid back music.
Not only to be remembered for their recent cover of Black Betty Spider bait played a gig full of hits and crowd participation and we all loved Black Betty.
But perhaps the bands that stole the hearts of the falls punters this year were De La Soul and the Hilltop Hoods. De La and The Hilltops have a way of turning a crowd into a party. The Hilltop Hoods were the last band for the weekend and managed to have the entire hill bouncing their arms, bringing in a second new years (around 1.10am) and going nuts with crowd sing a longs in amongst playing their classic tracks like “Nose Bleed Section”.
The head liners certainly didn’t disappoint. The Black Keys, a 2 piece who hail from Ohio use their drums and guitar to their maximum potential with blues inspired music and a husky voice to boot, ushering in the New Year in complete rock n roll style.
Unexpected highlights reminds me of why I enjoy music, a little discovery can brighten your festival. One of the highlights was defiantly The Vasco Era from Apollo Bay they’re a 3 piece whose mixture of blues and acoustic with slide guitar and percussions verge on country but reverts back to rock n roll in such a fashion that you get swept up in the fun. Carus and The True Believers made use of the violin and what I think was a mandolin to create an amazing vibe (catch both these gems in Feb. in Melbourne.)
Falls is probably the best way to spend New Years and is defiantly one of the most popular ways with 15,000 people making the trek. And why not you get lots of good Aussie bands including Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire, Epicure, Butterfingers, TZU, Claire Bowditch and a few good international acts The Thrills, The Black Keys and De La Soul, what more could one really want?