Splendour In The Grass: Part 3
Alright, alright, alright. Day 3. Everyone’s looking a little worse for wear but is pushing on with a concoction of god-knows-what flowing through their veins and their livers. Luckily, it wasn’t hard to keep the momentum going – Sunday saw some of the best performances of the entire festival unfold.
New Zealand sibling duo The Broods brought mellow, electro synth pop vibes to the Mix Up tent, currently enjoying the mass success of single ‘Bridges’ which they performed to a rousing reception, concluding with ‘Mother and Father’. Dreamy vocals with catchy beats – a winning recipe for success. We’ll be hearing a lot more from Georgia and Caleb Knott. Next up was Brit Sam Smith (whom The Broods are about to support on an American tour), whose incredibly soulful voice was a smash hit. He performed heartfelt songs about money, love and all those song-inspiring themes from new album ‘In The Lonely Hour’. Amongst flawless renditions of ‘Money on My Mind’, and lead single ‘La La La’, he threw in an entertaining cover of Arctic Monkey’s’ ‘Do I Wanna Know’ – interesting but not particularly strong vocally. He closed with current lovesick hit ‘Stay With Me’, vocals back up to par with his suited style, ending a beautiful set from an incredibly talented artist.
Next up, Scottish bred Chvrches spread their ethereal, electro sound throughout the amphitheatre. Fragile lead singer Lauren Mayberry’s vocals soared amongst the frantic lights, techno-rific graphics and synthesisers, belting out ‘Lies’, ‘Gun’ and ‘Science/Visions’ whilst dancing jauntily and eccentrically – much like a baby-faced Florence Welch. The trio are certainly multi-talented folk, with Syth player Martin Doherty taking to the mic for ‘Tether’ (also dancing wildly), and Iain Cook often juggling a guitar, keyboard and Syth all at once. A high energy, fast-paced show that illustrates the dynamic sound of these three Scots. Post-Chvrches was a major headlining act from California – Foster The People. Their rock-pop hits packed the venue out – even though they’re a trio, there was certainly a lot of people on stage, at least 6 or 7, all playing musical chairs with their instruments as they swapped each track. Highlight was certainly the groups biggest hit to date, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ – with its laid back Californian vibe, and murky message.
And then – the vulgar, the brash, Lily Allen. This reviewer didn’t know quite what to expect from Ms Allen – she doesn’t really seem like the type to be crumping and shaking her hips around with an entourage of scantily clad back-up dancers. Well, I was quite wrong.
Her neon stage set, lined with fluorescent baby bottles, matched her equally bright attire – a high wasted bikini of sorts. Classy Brit she is, she frequently complained of her ‘camel toe’ and how she should just go ‘put on some jeans’ which got a good laugh, something female pop stars would quite often contend with, but never mention. Allen showed pipes and vocal range few who haven’t seen her live would have expected, as her recorded tracks see her focus more on soft, thick-accented vocal styling’s. An impressive surprise. She performed songs from past albums Alright, Still, It’s Not Me, It’s You and new release Sheezus, throwing in all the old favourites like ‘Smile’, ‘The Fear’ and ‘Not Fair’, as well as performing title track ‘Sheezus’ and new smash hit ‘Hard Out Here’. Standouts were certainly a tender cover of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ which showed off her incredible voice, and ‘Fuck You’ – after which she cracked up about the stone-faced police in front of the pit. She smoked, she danced, she swore, she had back-up dancers with dog masks – she closed Splendour in wonderfully entertaining style.
– Danielle Muir
