Fragments of the lineup for Australia’s biggest winter music festival, Splendour In The Grass, have already been pieced together from the number of leaks and let-slips in recent months; with it looking likely that Wavves, Of Monsters And Men, The Polyphonic Spree and, even on a remote chance, Bob Dylan are all heading to Byron Bay for the 2013 edition.
But the real festival lineup sleuths will be able to sift through a whole lot more clues as to this year’s Splendour bill with the news that Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival have revealed the first 28 artists for their own 2013 iteration.
So how are the two connected? Well, the Japanese three-day music festival is held in July, usually just mere days before Australia’s Splendour In The Grass, and as previous years have proven, there’s often some overlap between the bands playing Fuji Rock and those that end up on the Splendour stages.
Splendour In The Grass’ Jessica Ducrou has also previously remarked that the two events even have open communication about their shared bills. “We’ve always had a light dialogue on dates and so on but interestingly this year we have started talking more with them and I think that will really benefit everyone,” she told FasterLouder in a 2011 interview.
To use 2012 as a litmus test, a number of acts wound up on both lineups, including solo White Stripe, Jack White, the newly reformed Texan rockers At The Drive-In, the jangling guitars of The Kooks, The Shins, and Django Django; as well as Explosions In The Sky, Michael Kiwanuka, and Electric Guest.“We’ve always had a light dialogue on dates and so on… I think that will really benefit everyone.” – Jessica Ducrou, Splendour In The Grass
So who’s jetting to Fuji Rock for 2013, and therefore a likely contender for Splendour?
As festival promoters Smash reveal on their website, topping the bill is the newly revitalised Nine Inch Nails, Icelandic goddess Björk, and indie darlings The xx, who will each be headlining their respective days on July 26th and 27th.
These are the first official dates for Nine Inch Nails tour following Reznor revealing a new live lineup and plans for extensive worldwide touring through 2013/14. The NIN linchpin noting: “The band is reinventing itself from scratch and will be comprised of Eric Avery, Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini, Josh Eustis, Ilan Rubin, and me. The first shows will begin this summer, followed by a full-on arena tour of the US this fall, and lots of other dates worldwide to follow through 2014.”
The announcement of Björk to the Fuji Rock lineup is one, Smash notes, they’ve “been waiting for ten years to hear… both her performance in Tokyo in 1998 and her show in Naeba in 2003 left strong impressions.” She’s also well overdue for an Australian visit, having last toured the country as part of the 2008 Big Day Out, and has since released her critically acclaimed 2011 album Biophilia and its accompanying remix companion, Bastards.
The xx – who are already heading to Australia for an April tour – lead the rest of the impressive Fuji Rock 2013 lineup that has been revealed thus far, an eclectic mix that includes DJ Shadow, Foals, fun., Killswitch Engage, Toro Y Moi, Yo La Tengo, Coheed and Cambria, and the last surviving member of legendary punk The Ramones, CJ Ramone.
There’s also the recently reformed Rocket From The Crypt, Death Grips, Daughter, Flying Lotus, The Hot 8 Brass Band, Julio Bashmore, and Australia’s very own global-conquering Tame Impala on the Fuji Rock 2013 bill.
In amongst those headed to Fuji Rock is an act that further confirms them for a return to Splendour In The Grass this coming July, Icelandic folk collective Of Monsters And Men.
The group are blindingly popular in Australia, having scored the penultimate spot on Triple J’s Hottest 100 this year, scored a #1 ARIA album charts position with their debut My Head Is An Animal, and even wowed audiences with their appearance on the Laneway Festival this past February (*phew*). In fact Of Monsters And Men made their debut Australian visit with last year’s Splendour In The Grass and a 2013 appearance would make it two for two for the nu-folkies.
Singer Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir already confirmed an Australian tour for later this year, insinuating the possibility of a Splendour presence. “We’re gonna come back here in the winter time for you guys,” says Hilmarsdóttir.
Wavves is also highly likely for a Splendour lineup slot, with a tweet from the band confirming a visit to Japan and Australia in 2013, putting him in contention for Summersonic and Fuji Rock as well as Splendour.
https://twitter.com/wavves/statuses/301778333090340864
Meanwhile, The Polyphonic Spree’s Tim DeLaughter also spilled the beans over twitter that the cult-sized psychedelic pop ensemble would be heading to Australia for Splendour In The Grass 2013 this July, and then there’s the juicy – but iffy – rumour that Bob Dylan could be headlining the festival.
You can view the Fuji Rock lineup, and begin your own betting rings for Splendour 2013, by taking a look below:
Fuji Rock Festival 2013 Lineup Announcement
Nine Inch Nails
Bjork
The XX
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
CJ Ramone
Coheed and Cambria
Daughter
Death Grips
DJ Shadow
Feed Me
Flying Lotus
Foals
Fun.
The Hot 8 Brass Band
Hurts
Jack Beats (DJ Set)
Julio Bashmore
Killswitch Engage
Kyte
Maya Jane Coles
Modeselektor
Of Monsters and Med
Porter Robinson
Rocket From the Crypt
Tame Impala
Tom Odell
Toro Y Moi
Yo La Tengo
