The country around Australia’s coastal heaven Byron Bay was sunny and alive on the weekend as Splendour in the Grass 2017, now in its 16th year, took over. From where we were standing, Splendour’s big wins were Stormzy and Lil Yatchy. Friday arvo saw Yatchy dive into his breakout single 1 Night at sunset, which felt like a pretty perfect moment. South London MC Stormzy more than packed out a tent on the Sunday night, much to his own surprise. “I didn’t realise there were so many grime heads in Australia” the rapper exclaimed to the crowd.
Plenty of sets were sure-things: Paul Kelly had us all belting How to Make Gravy, and Kirin J. Callinan charmed the festival once again. Pleasant surprises came from newer outfits claiming well-earned space: i-D friend Flex Mami made her Splendour debut, as did Sydney’s sweetest rapper, B Wise.
And if the 35,000-strong crowd got too much, there were on-site installations there to whisk you away. China Heights artist Brooklyn Whelan and Samsung created a virtual reality portal on the festival grounds, where you could hop into a private pod, pop on a VR headset, and float through Brooklyn’s virtual clouds — a fitting way to inaugurate their new arts community, #ToTheMakers.
By far the most unexpected appearance however were two undercover festival guests, Amber Heard and Elon Musk. The couple really seemed to be enjoying themselves — Amber’s in Australia filming Aquaman, and we can only assume Elon is scoping out future hyperloop locations. Till next year!
Credits
Text Meg Duncan
Photography Oliver Hadlee Pearch
Styling Max Clark