Three of 2012’s most buzzed about bands combined forces for their Splendour in the Grass sideshows, an exhibition of sorts on the current state of new music this year.
Zulu Winter arrived on stage shortly after the doors opened to an unusually small audience. The London hipsters’ atmospheric and catchy rock perfectly imitated their debut album, Language. Frontman Will Daunt beckoned the few punters closer to the stage. The band did the best they could to create some energy, doing a pretty good job considering one of their synths had been damaged on the flight over; but unfortunately there were simply not enough people in attendance to fully get into the groove.
Their set was solid; the band couldn’t have been any more convincing with their slick guitars and British accents. As repetitive choruses are a given in most of the band’s songs, few in attendance would have left without at least one of their tracks stuck in their brains. ‘We Should Be Swimming’, ‘Let’s Move Back to Front’ and set closer ‘People That We Must Remember’ were among the catchiest tunes.
A quick turnaround saw Howler up next. The garage rock band from Minneapolis had no shortage of pop-punk energy. Lead singer Jordan Gatesmith’s ‘I’m a dick’ charm got its fair share of laughs. His band mates did, however, rein him in, imploring him to be more sincere about his excitement of being on the bill.
The room began to fill during their slot and the band’s energy got the whole crowd moving. Closing out the set, the band invited the crowd onto the stage and the blokes were first up. Soon after, the female fans made their way to the stage to rock out as hard as they could. ‘Back of Your Neck’ closing with a little bit of chaos that few would have expected.
Friends took their time to get to the stage, although lead singer Samanthi Urbani revealed soon after the opener that she had “literally just woken up”. Think of her as a born again Nelly Furtado, although much cooler. The masculine fans from Howler’s set made way for the indie kids to come to the fore as the Brooklyn band inserted some dance into the evening’s entertainment.
The room was at its full capacity as Urbani gave ‘shhhs’ and squeals during most of the bands songs. The drummer, Oliver Duncan, was casually swigging a bottle of Jack Daniels between numbers.
Friends got the crowd dancing as in a way they hadn’t all night and just like Howler, they finished their set with audience members on stage. Their album, Manifest, got its best promotion yet when the group pulled out their pumping single in ‘I’m His Girl’.
By the end of the set, an enthusiastic member of the crowd donated their bra to the band, as Urbani questioned; “I guess it was a good show then?”
It’s too early to tell whether these three bands, on their first ever tour of the country, will outlive their initial buzz. But one thing was apparent during their performances tonight: all three acts have live shows with the capacity to help them earn their due.
– Corey Tonkin
