exhilarating finish to the 12 months

The annual Falls Festival was born in regional Victoria – the southwest coastal haven of Lorne, to be precise – however in 2022 it underwent a scenic shake-up for the primary time in practically three many years. Secret Sounds had the pageant booked in on the Pennyroyal Plains in Birregurra (roughly 40 minutes south from Lorne), however final September, an issue with site permissions pressured the pageant in a special route: to the big city.

Any fears {that a} central Naarm setting would uninteresting the Falls expertise had been rapidly squashed – the Sidney Myer Music Bowl is solely idyllic, lined with botanical magnificence (by advantage of its setting within the Kings Area Gardens) and, because of the award-winning structure of the titular bandshell, one of the best acoustics bodily doable at an outside music pageant. Add just about excellent climate, the excitement of New Yr’s Eve and one hell of a line-up, and Falls had a foolproof recipe for 3 days of success.

Every day of programming felt tailor-made to particular tastes – the primary day (Thursday December 29) was heavy on hip-hop, the second on rock and pop and the third on indie – with the occasional curveball thrown in to maintain issues attention-grabbing. Take for instance Thursday’s mid-arvo set from the OG Wiggles, whose jaunty ’90s pre-school bangers (plus an adorably tacky cowl of Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’) was sandwiched between an explosive showcase of Rico Nasty’s gritty and visceral hyper-rap and a set from Genesis Owusu that proved he’s at the moment an important voice in Australian hip-hop.

Quick rising to an identical stature are 1300. They performed early on Thursday afternoon, delivering adrenalised pop-rap à la Brockhampton with a tasteful twinge of Western Sydney cheek and Ok-hip hop swagger. The raucous power they fostered was mellowed by MAY-A, whose prickly emo-pop tunes roared to life with the help of her backing band, amplifying the jagged angst of her in any other case low-key recordings. DMA’S served the identical position at nightfall, providing breezy and saccharine respite after Owusu’s mind-rattling wallops of depth.

Aminé did a stellar job cranking the power again as much as 100, bounding across the stage with rapturous stamina as he spat a few of his sharpest and most compelling bars (‘TwoPointFive’ cuts ‘Charmander’ and ‘NEO’ being highlights). Driving that top, Lil Nas X closed the primary evening out with a set that “spectacle” wouldn’t come near describing: a three-act epic, grandiose and camp and extraordinarily attractive, replete with a minimum of 5 costume adjustments (between lore-heavy interludes) and an octet of backup dancers.

Friday’s itinerary kicked off with a pair of native up-and-comers, Bec Stevens and Floodlights. Each revelled of their wealthy and vibrant soundscapes – grounded in gut-punching emo scorchers and spirited, ‘70s new wave-inspired Australiana respectively – which duly amped the group up for Beddy Rays’ rip-roaring punk. They spurred the pageant’s first mosh pits, nevertheless it was Peach PRC that actually introduced the afternoon’s power to a peak, eliciting deafening screams with bubblegum belters like ‘God Is A Freak’ and ‘Forever Drunk’.

The rising star herself beamed with youthful exuberance – a temper King Stingray had been very happy to buoy as they playfully breezed via cuts from their stellar debut album. Constructive power likewise anchored G Flip’s set however theirs was gripping extra for his or her inventive virtuosity; whether or not singing, drumming or laying waste to their fretboard, Georgia Flipo stored the group riveted. The identical might be stated for Spacey Jane, who eased us into the night with a bevy of ethereal, sun-kissed bops all primed for sing-alongs in settings like this.

Although CHVRCHES’ set was marred barely by dragging interludes and ‘Screen Violence’ cuts that felt shoehorned in, the Scottish pop juggernauts nonetheless managed to bash out the most effective units of the day, full of life and lustrous of their uncooked pleasure. They deserved the headline spot, as Jamie xx confirmed that whereas his deck-manning skills are essential to The xx, he flounders when left to his personal units. His 90-minute set of tepid home and jungle meandered, like Jamie himself wasn’t simply going via the motions, however actively making an attempt to bore his crowd.

Arctic Monkeys fared significantly better as Saturday’s (and technically Sunday’s) headliner, ringing within the new 12 months with a belting rendition of ‘R U Mine?’. Previous to it, they reeled via hits like ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ and ‘Brianstorm’ with the sort of charming swagger that’s made them such pageant favourites for the previous 20 years. Songs from ‘Tranquility Base Lodge & On line casino’ and ‘The Car’ fell shockingly flat (even evoking some boos from the hill), however Alex Turner and co. got here in clutch with loads of traditional materials to ship 2022 out on a excessive be aware.

The remainder of Saturday’s invoice lacked the fortitude of their predecessors; Ocean Alley and The Vanns each performed their songs with conviction however no quantity of tightness may conceal their stylistic vapidity. Units from Lastlings and PinkPantheress supplied an inverse expertise – although each have formidable catalogues, their performances felt bland and uninspired. However it wasn’t all drab: Magdalena Bay shone of their first-ever Australian present with lashings of color and infectious buoyancy, whereas Telenova’s personal set of cinematic indie-pop confirmed that after a 12 months of taking part in the nation’s largest festivals (like Spilt Milk), they’ve honed a hypnotic stage presence. Ditto, on that entrance, for Amyl And The Sniffers’ delightfully unhinged showcase of pit-ready pub-punk.

Capping off a whirlwind 12 months of reside music – arguably the largest Australia’s seen for the reason that onset of the pandemic – Falls 2022 left us feeling hopeful for one more stacked 12 months of gig-hopping forward. Now we have excessive hopes, too, that this central relocation may be a everlasting one: although the coastal setting and tenting had been missed, the right sound and backdrop of Melbourne’s coronary heart greater than made up for it.