Splendour in the queue

Text by Scout Wallen,   photos by Jeff (drug testing since 1986) Dawson

Splendour in the Grass 2018 welcomed music, crowds, and queues. Lots and lots of queues.

There were queues for the toilet, queues for the Byron Bay Organic Donuts, queues for the buses, and queues in the car park. People queued for more than one and a half hours in the car park! I think half of the time we don’t even understand what we’re queuing for – us Splendour-goers just really adore queueing.

In saying this, the queues were sometimes awesome. My favourite queue of the festival is that half-hour wait between acts, where you’re so excited for the next act, you feel physically sick. Or that could’ve been the dodgy burrito you ate. Who knows?!

For me, the waiting period between Angus and Julia Stone and Khalid was my favourite. Standing in the mosh pit of the amphitheatre, everyone was united through our collective anticipation and excitement. Khalid, a 20-year-old singer and songwriter from El Paso America, lit up the Yelgun valley with his contagious energy and melodic tunes. A 10/10.

Something Splendour continually impresses me with is its ability to combine young, local talent with international megastars. We become witnesses to talent of all kinds, from young 16-year-old Franki Kaneur’s soothing indie-pop originals, all the way to Triple J Hottest 100 2017 winner Kendrick Lamar and his gigantic rapping hits.

Young and local talent is able to recognise how close success is to them. With hard work and determination, they could one day get that ultra-delicious, success-proving 10:45pm time slot at the Amphitheatre stage.

All in all, Splendour in the Grass never disappoints. The musical talent this year was phenomenal and I already cannot wait for the first queue of the next festival season: the local presales.