Project Description

SPILT MILK FESTIVAL

@Victoria Park Ballarat

30/11/2019

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Kelsey Hentschel

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Spilt Milk Ballarat was a surprisingly steamy hot day at Ballarat’s Victoria Park. Kids from across VIC swarmed the grounds and sweated it out all day with an array of A-Grade talent. With this kind of line up, it was always going to be a massive day – even the opening acts were packed out.

Due to some transportation mishaps, my crew & I made it into the festival just in time for New Zealand’s hottest up & comer, BENEE. Put this girl on your list to see live. With hits like ‘Supalonely’ and ‘Glitter’ this girl is about to blow up. She crept around the stage displaying sporadic bursts of energy. Overall a really impressive set. On a less star studded line-up I would expected her to sit much higher on the bill.

Coming straight from her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and straight to Spilt Milk was Tones and I. Unless you’ve been living under a rock this year, you’ll have no doubtably heard of the girl taking the world by storm at the moment. I was curious to see her set, as I wasn’t really sure what to expect & it seems the whole festival swarmed to get a piece of it. She covered Flume and Chet Faker‘s ‘Drop The Game‘, as well as Daft Punk‘s ‘Lose Yourself to Dance‘. The crowd were buzzing while she introduced what will likely take out triple J’s Hottest 100. The entire tent went nuts for ‘Dance Monkey‘, as the be expected.  I overheard a few people outside the tent saying they had come to the festival solely for Tones and I, so kudos to the festival organisers for snagging her before she explodes into astronomical stardom.

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As was the case for the entire day, I found myself strategically timing the sets and legging it across the festival venue to alternating stages. As soon as Tones and I was clear of the stage my friends and I joined the massive sea of punters making their way to the Main Stage for G Flip. About half way through her act, G Flip, as per,  showed off her unquestionable drumming skills which she flaunted while singing her catchy and heartfelt songs. As is tradition during a G Flip show, we saw the artist perform a long drum solo medley tracked to a mash up of tunes including ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ into some ‘In The Air Tonight’, ‘All Of The Lights’ and topped off with Kylie Jenner’s iconic meme ‘Rise and Shine’. It was simultaneously extremely captivating and dance inducing. I’ve seen G Flip many times now, and I continue to be impressed by what she brings to the table.

G Flip was the beginning of a series of dilemma for triple J fans, with Lime Cordiale and Middle Kids following on the main stage at the same time as Winston Surfshirt and Allday over in the Basquait Tent.

Lime Cordiale played the main stage next, and un the boys really brought the house down. But the line of the night goes to Oli with, “I hope you’re slip, slop, slappin’ and not taking too many cappin’s!” It was hilarious, and i’ll be stealing that line for all future festivals.

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A massive crowd built for Hottest 100 champs Ocean Alley, again perfectly suited to the afternoon timeslot. The crowd for Dom Dolla‘s house set seemed slightly larger than the wilder mosh for Dune Rats, who scored the sunset slot.

Sadly, troublemakers climbing up the marquee’s supports again stopped the set, receiving a lot of boos from the crowd as they got down. On the main stage, Dunies were shooting C02 all over the place, tearing through a set of classics like  ‘Red Light Green Light‘, and ‘Funny Guy‘ , before closing with the anthemic ‘Scott Green‘. The entire crowd were screaming that one word for word.

My highlight of the festival was Scottish trio CHVRCHES. These guys never disappoint. Showing us exactly why they’re such a beloved festival act, with an explosive set. Front-woman Lauren Mayberry glided and span around the stage flawlessly, all while wearing some of the tallest high-heeled boots I’ve seen in years. The woman should be given a standing ovation purely for the bravery. CHVRCHES naturally put on an energetic show. Again I’d like to give props to Lauren Mayberry for exerting such a massive presence for such a small woman.

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Up next was our headliner Khalid. After attending his solo gig a few days prior I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from this set. He brought along his six dancers to dilute the stage, which while i loved and respected his decision to do so, I felt that it detracted from his own stage presence. I often found myself just watching the dancers & not really paying attention to the singer himself. That being said, It was still a very well received performance. Crowds were beaming up at the young artist as he belted out hit after hit. An excellent show, however I personally would’ve switched the set position with the aforementioned CHVRCHES. After Khalid‘s huge closing track ‘Young Dumb and Broke‘, the crowd arguably effortlessly flowed out through the gates, with a few ‘Hey Baby‘ singalongs catching on.

Spilt Milk had such a strong line-up that it’s hard to knock the festival. Despite the (unexpected) belting heat and subsequent dust storms throughout the day, I think i speak for everyone when I say we all had a fabulous time, celebrating music, fashion, and friendships. Discussing the event with my friends, not one of us could fault the organisers for the structure of the day – the layout, lineup, and set times were pretty spot on. With a line-up like this, the set clashes were absolutely inevitable & a nod to how huge these artists all are, once again i’m impressed by how the festival organisers managed to secure them all.

My only not of criticism comes at the very end. The trip out of the festival could be streamlined, with a lot of people just wandering across Victoria Park hoping they’d find the buses or a taxi. In a rural area such as Ballarat the transport for patrons to and from the festival can be really tricky, and while i haven’t any solutions to this issue, I have to comment on the amount of people, perhaps ill-prepared, who struggled to find their way home.

Overall a wonderful festival with an absolutely killer line-up. I for one cant wait to see what happens next year.

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