Project Description

FALLS FESTIVAL FREMANTLE
DAY ONE

@ Fremantle Oval

4/1/2020

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Catherine Parrish

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PNAU at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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Falls Festival has wrapped for another season, with the final leg of the tour taking place at Fremantle Oval over the weekend. Huge international acts such as Halsey, Disclosure and Vampire Weekend joined an array of Australian artists over two days in what has become one of the most popular annual music festivals in Western Australia. From power pop to psychedelic rock, Sampa The Great to John Farnham, Falls Festival Downtown brings something to the table for everybody to enjoy.

Clear skies and a cool ocean breeze make Day 1 the perfect Saturday for a festival. Glitter and sparkles speckle the crowd like confetti, with high fashion in full swing for today’s mixed bag of performances. Bubbles float across the gathering crowd around Stage 1 and 2 and the air is thick with the aroma of market food and cigarette smoke. Early punters are able to catch Triple J’s Unearthed competition winners Death by Denim and ex-Unearthed artist Sly Withers, but it’s not until Adelaide rockers Bad//Dreems take the stage when things really start to heat up. A small circle pit breaks out during popular single “Dumb Ideas”, proving that Aussie fans aren’t really phased about breaking a sweat at the hottest time of day if you’re willing to play some good ole fashioned pub rock and roll.

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Baker Boy at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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Shortly after comes Young Australian of the Year Danzal Baker and his troupe of dancers and percussionist for Baker Boy. Full of smiles and gratitude, Baker’s set is high energy and well-choreographed, with loud whistles and cheering every time somebody drops to break-dance on stage. Tracks such as “Cool As Hell”, “Cloud 9” and “Marryuna” (a Yolŋu Matha word meaning to dance for fun) have heads bopping left right and centre. Following Baker Boy, Vera Blue takes the stage, her long ginger hair flowing in the wind as she sweeps backwards and forwards in a gorgeous orange mesh two piece. Her angelic voice ripples across Fremantle Oval, overpowering any other noise around her. She pauses during “All the Pretty Girls”, allowing the audience to echo the chorus back to her clear as day, and again during “Lady Powers”, which she dedicates to all the women in attendance today.

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Vera Blue dances at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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Meanwhile on Stages 3 and 4, Adrian Eagle opens his set with a rendition of Ocean Alley’s “Confidence” that is incredibly, even more relaxing and chill than the original. Jessica Cerro also known as Montaigne follows, a tiny but mighty powerhouse who can easily throw her voice out to the wind. She experiences a bit of audio feedback but doesn’t let it throw her off her game, belting out song after song to a smaller crowd than she deserves. Cerro wraps up her underrated set with a staggering performance of her new single “READY”.

Back to the main stage and John Farnham has drawn the older crowd out to dance. Even before setting a foot on stage, a backdrop of the Whispering Jack cover art already has people buzzing with excitement. Farnham begins with a hype anthem “We Will Rock You” by Queen and ends with AC/DC, appeasing his audience with all the favourites including “That’s Freedom”, “Age of Reason” and “The Voice”, complete with bagpipes and deafening “woah-ohs”. Farnham even indulged a little with a rare rendition of “Sadie the Cleaning Lady”, asking fans to “sing along or I’ll come around to your house.” He has recently received a bit of negative feedback for swearing like a sailor at previous shows, but the crowd seem to lap it up here in Freo, even when he tells everyone they can “piss off, you bastards!”

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John Farnham at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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All the way from Iceland, indie folk band Of Monsters and Men take things down a notch for their sunset time slot. In spite of Nanna Hilmarsdóttir and Raggi Þórhallsson perfectly harmonised vocals, much of the crowd seems to make their way to the side stages where rock duo Holy Holy were captivating festival goers. Montaigne joins them for a surprise Like a Version performance of Lorde’s “Green Light” before homegrown Crooked Colours bounce out in matching white jumpsuits, ready to party. A timely set with bright, multicoloured visuals as their backdrop was the perfect burst of energy that was needed just in time for the best performance of the night from brothers Nick and Sam Littlemore of PNAU.

Bursting onto the stage with “Are you ready Perth?” so loud it makes people jump, live performance vocalists Marques Toliver and Kira Divine ooze confidence as they take the main stage by the reins with “Solid Gold”, draped in reflective gold jackets and fluorescent pink tassels. While Toliver and Divine take centre stage, the Littlemores refrain from speaking and hang towards the back, showcasing a unique stage presence that is unlike most artists. Kicking off with the strongest start of all the performances today, the vibe remained consistent throughout the entire set, with punters with tired feet at the back of the venue standing up for hits such as “Go Bang”, “Changa” and “Chameleon”.

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Kira Divine and Marques Toliver perform with PNAU at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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A hard act to follow, Peking Duk don’t quite reach the mark in the same way that their predecessors did. Taking to the stage first with “Stranger”, Canberra producers Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles are highly acclaimed with a huge audience and welcomed with open arms. While the excess use of smoke cannons, laser beams and streamers gets the crowd going, a much more grounded performance is happening on the other side of the venue with electropop Aussies based in Europe, Parcels. This gives weary fans the choice to opt out for a groovier, less intense vibe. Closing the side stages for the day to a small but appreciative audience is Sydney trio Wave Racer, bubbling in their own unique style of electro-synth house music.

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Vampire Weekend at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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Last but not least, New York Indie rockers Vampire Weekend take the main stage and serenade Fremantle with a mix of new and old tracks spanning more than a decade. Opening with “Sympathy” from their 2019 album Father of the Bride, lead vocalist Ezra Koenig, dressed in light blue denim cotton threads and a matching jacket seems cheerful and relaxed despite the mass exodus from the crowd following Peking Duk. Crowd favourites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Horchata”, “Diane Young”, “Cousins”, “A-Punk” and “Oxford Comma” have fans clapping and slow dancing on the side lines. An unexpected cover of SBTRKT’s “New Dorp. New York” is a treat for all.

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Fans hold up their mobile phones during Peking Duk at Falls Festival Fremantle. Photo by Karen Lowe.

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Ultimately the band’s set favours new music over their older, more recognisable hits. Noticeably missing were from 2010’s album Contra is “White Sky”, “Holiday” and “Giving Up the Gun”, however new popular tracks such as “This Life”, “Harmony Hall” and ending the night with a catchy rendition of “Sunflower” feels like the first breath of fresh air since the band’s last visit down under. As a part of the finale, two giant inflatable globes are tossed into the crowd, bouncing across the top of the crowd as Day 1 at Falls Festival Downtown comes to an end just before midnight. A wonderful day for all, and a huge hype for those returning tomorrow.

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AMNPLIFY – DB