For the last couple of months, everyone has been trying to crack the code to Splendour In The Grass’ lineup safe. The winter festival, now taking its permanent residence in the picturesque forestry of North Byron Parklands, has turned the whole country into tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists.
Now in its 13th year, picking apart Splendour has become a fine art. Based on the timing of last year’s announcement, which fell on April 19th before selling out in record time, a mid-late April drop seems almost inevitable. The prospect of the Splendour 2013 lineup coming next week also gains traction with Triple J weighing in on that illusive announcement date.
Drivetime host Lindsay “The Doctor” McDougall announced over the airwaves yesterday that we can expect an official lineup announcement “next week”, reports Faster Louder.
“I wanna play a song by Jake Bugg now. You may’ve heard his tunes on a little promo for a certain festival that’s happening at the end of July, Splendour In The Grass,” he teased. “Now, no word on who’s playing Splendour In The Grass – we’ll find that out next week.”
“No word” isn’t strictly true, as – with every year – parts of the lineup have already been leaked a little early. Between all of the speculation (including the annual Bob Dylan rumour), there have been a series of confirmations that have come straight from the acts themselves.
The National, James Blake, Airbourne, and The Polyphonic Spree have each let slip of their place on the three-day festival bill, while other high-profile acts including Alt-J, Big Boi, Chvrches, Cold War Kids, Deap Valley, Jake Bugg, Of Monsters and Men and Wavves have all supplied enough reason to believe they could also feature on next week’s lineup announcement.
The prospect of the Splendour 2013 lineup coming next week also gains traction with Triple J weighing in on that illusive announcement date.Sadly, the hotly-rumoured Phoenix won’t be making an appearance, hushing rumours of a possible headline spot that began to circle after guitarist Laurent Brancowitz said an as Australian tour in support of their latest album, Bankrupt! (released today) was “a priority because we’ve always enjoyed it a lot there … we’re working on it right now.”
In an interview with Triple J’s The Doctor, Phoenix have changed their tune ever so slightly. “We discussed it today and we’re very excited but we’re still figuring out what’s happening,” said frontman Thomas Mars, “[We will tour Australia] either at the end of this year or very early 2014.” While it rules them out of Splendour, it could possibly mean a headlining gig from the French indie quartet at Falls Festival, Harvest or Big Day Out.
Back to the Splendour certainties; brooding indie rockers The National “let slip” their plans to hit Byron when speaking to Samantha Clode for Triple J Magazine’s upcoming June/July issue. Clode passed on the message in a tweet which has since been removed, saying, “their new album is excellent & Matt Berninger tells me they’ll tour Oz for a certain winter festival + more dates late 2013: @the_national.”
Their appearance at Splendour will coincide with the release of their forthcoming album, Trouble Will Find Me, which lead crooner Berninger has described as an “immediate and visceral” collection of tracks. The first snippet of their sixth release, the slow-burning ‘Demons’, certainly fit that description and was quickly added to our Mixtape.
Meanwhile, English producer-performer James Blake became Splendour’s worst kept secret during his recent brief trip Down Under. Between playing his intimate shows that sold out in a matter of seconds, Blake freely announced to various media sources he would be returning for the July festival. “We discussed it today – [We will tour Australia] either at the end of this year or very early 2014.” – Thomas Mars, Phoenix
High-flying Australian rockers Airbourne also added themselves to the growing list of acts unable to keep a secret. Singer Joel O’Keeffe made an all-but-subtle confirmation, saying the band “[will] be back in Australia for Splendour In The Grass and a few other shows,” with an army of amps in tow.
The 40-strong Texan pop army The Polyphonic Spree were even easier to crack, only taking one inquisitive fan on Twitter asking about any future plans to tour Australia for lead singer Time DeLaughter to confirm, “we’ll be there for Splendour.”
This takes us to the list of not-yet confirmed but highly suspicious acts, whose upcoming touring schedule places them as prime candidates for a Splendour showing.
Of Monsters and Men rose to the top of the rumour mill after singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir locked in national tour dates for the mysterious month of July; while Scottish electro-pop group Chvrches similarly booked in a string of shows for early August, conveniently timed with a week’s break after the end of Splendour.
Then there’s Alt-J (∆) who simply just can’t get enough of Australia, announcing their third return in a year with three shows that oh-so strangely match up with Splendour’s winter dates, and Californian stoner-rockers Wavves who used Twitter to confirm they’ll be in the country sometime later this year.
Big Boi sparked whispers when he tweeted he’ll be “doing a tour in Australia in July” to Theophilus London and to “holla at ya people”. Cali female duo Deap Valley have just played a two-date run in Sydney and Melbourne – which could have been a warm up for Splendour’s winter weather. While fellow Californian indie rockers Cold War Kids are also likely to make the long trip to Byron.
Not to mention Jake Bugg who, as pointed out by The Doctor, found his track ‘Lightning Bolt’ being used as the soundtrack in a recent Splendour trailer.
Thus, the yearly hunt to pick apart the Splendour In The Grass lineup is drawing to a close. Now that we’ve analysed the potential acts to death and back, we’re now taking bets for which day the announcement will fall on.
If you’re worried that the 2013 lineup is being spoiled though, don’t be. With over 80 bands gracing last year’s event, and little activity regarding what Australian bands might be playing this year’s Splendour, there’s bound to be as many surprises as smug vindications come next week.
Splendour In The Grass 2013 Dates & Location
Friday 26, Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July
North Byron Parklands
