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Tim and Jean
the crowd for Tim & Jean was huge. I think the boys were even pleasantly surprised with how many people were there for 12:30pm but I tell ya what, they put on a show and a half. They played the hits and then some, they busted out their Fleetwood Mac cover of 'Everywhere' plus the rest of the album. It's always hard when a band only has the one album and with only a couple of singles under their belt, it was nice to see how many people knew the songs. They were super energetic on stage, breaking down in to drum solos and hand clapping. I really rate these kids but if you've ever read or heard anything I've said, you'd already know that.

Foster the People
Let's be honest, the crowd was pretty much all about waiting to hear 'Pumped Up Kicks' and 'Helena Beat' and they delivered and then some. Having not seen Foster the People before (mainly because their brief EP tour earlier in the year was like fourty bucks) but they sound just like the record which I guess is always a good thing. I had to ditch during 'Helena Beat' though to make the HUGE walk to the mainstage for Kele.

Kele
Maybe one of the happiest people in the music business, dressed casually to say the least wearing like training shorts and a jumper, but he's cool, he can get away with it. He also looks like he could beat anyone one up now, he's completely shaven his head and has a beard, the look definitely doesn't match his personality, but that aside, the music, he played a nice mix of songs from Tenderoni and a few Bloc Party tracks but he didn't play 'Banquet' or 'Helicopter' which is probs to be expected though.. maybe I just want too much... Once again, I had to leave before the end of Kele to get down to see Muscles.

Muscles
Now I had been told that I HAVE to see his show, he brought up a one tonne truck filled with his stage set, he had his name written out across the stage in big red light boxes, dancing Koalas, confetti cannons and now don't get me wrong, I am a BIG Muscles fan but I don't know what happened yesterday, I was only whelmed with the set. An acoustic performance of 'Ice Cream' a few tracks later was the original version of 'Ice Cream' and then to finish, he did a mash up of his new single 'Koala' with, you guessed it, 'Ice Cream'. Where was 'Lauren From Glebe'? Where were a whole stack of songs from the Muscles album? Or even more songs from his EP Younger and Immature? I mean, he played 'Northern Beaches' which I love but yeah, I was left wanting more...

The Grates
I have no time for people that poo poo The Grates, because say what you will, Patience is one heck of a frontwoman. She sucks up every bit of energy she can and gives it back to the crowd in an explosion of jumps, screams, wails, banter, hi fives and general revelry. Jumping into the moshpit during '19 20 20' she crowd-surfed pretty much all the way to the sound tent and back, then got on stage and was like 'Yeah! You guys know how to hold me up!'. So much awesome in the air. The band definitely seemed to pay their newer material more seriousness, and it was the hits that the kids loved, but isn't that always the way?

Architecturein Helsinki
WOW. By far one of the BEST sets I have seen all Splendour. I have seen Architecture in Helsinki at least a dozen times and I reckon they were probably at their best. From choreographed dance routines during 'That Beep'to pitch perfect vocals, this was AIH at their best. Words can't describe how amazing they were. After every single song me and my friends turned to one another and nodded with approval how great that song was. Buy their album 'Moment Bends' and their entire back catalogue because that's how good that band are.

The Mars Volta
So heading out to see the tail-end of Mars Volta, I didn't know what to expect. Friends over the years had informed me of their 'psychedelic epicness' but I still didn't know what would be happening when I got to the Apitheatre. Basically it was an explosion of epic shreds, a wall of majestic sounds where at one point the lead singer put on a horse's head and it was terrifying. Then he put on a vaudeville hat and sauntered around the stage like a freaky carney. I think it was amazing, but I felt weird on the inside afterwards.

The Living End
I love these guys, and it makes me so happy that they can easily fit on a program between Mars Volta and Janes Addiction, and rock the sh*t out of the crowd. They literally exploded onto the stage with 'Second Solution' then followed it up with 'Roll On' with Frontman Chris ripping up the stage and bass legend Scott somehow playing his instrument and standing on top of it at the same time. Things chilled for a bit while they boys trialled some new material but then brought the crowd to fever pitch with a medley of 'Who's Gonna Save Us' that turned into 'Prisoner of Society'. Suddenly there about 70 people crowd surfing all at once and everyone single peep in the venue was singing along. After Chris Cheney said ''You guys are f*cking unruly tonight'' and then ''The Living End is not a shoegazer band, we're not trying to be cool''. Amen, just a pack of legends.

Pnau
Well well well, what can I say. WOW. The boys told me when they came in that there would be no gimmicks, no giant balloons on stage, no acrobatic shows, just music and a light show but boy oh boy, the music most certainly spoke for itself. They were SO GOOD. Songs from their 2008 album PNAU mixed brilliantly with songs from Soft Universe. I was surprised at how well the crowd knew the new songs but then again, I pretend I know new songs too. Highlights were definitely 'Unite Us' and  'Embrace' where they brought out a singer to do the Ladyhawke part and she also sung the chorus to 'Baby' oh my god, the memories are flooding back already. I can't wait to see these guys again at Homebake.