When Byron Shire mayor Simon Richardson meets with Splendour In The Grass folks to discuss how to avoid this year’s teething problems – traffic, microchipped wristband and toilet queues – he’ll speak from first hand experience. He told the Byron Shire News he had a 90-minute wait at the Yelgun turn-off and then another wait at the festival gates. “But generally speaking, for a trial festival of 25,000 people, I think overall they did a pretty good job. The bigger question now is what will we do to improve things next time."
A Splendour release acknowledged, “There were a few teething problems with the new site including some external issues with the bus services. After six months of continual wet weather in the lead up to the show, on Thursday night the heavens opened again just as a surge of campers arrived to enter the site. The meeting of these two events resulted in traffic and an uncomfortable set up for some of our campers. However! Once everyone was in the site it was one hell of an awesome time! 25,000 music and arts fans truly made the most of all that was on offer.”
The teething problems shouldn’t detract from the great music experienced. But Splendour had its share of other problems. Aside from Frank Ocean’s last minute cancellation (a boon for Lorde who was summoned from New Zealand as a fill-in, and drew 10,000 of the day’s 25,000-strong crowd to a rousing response), ex-Van She drummer Tomek Archer was called in to replace a sick Klaxon.
Police reported that even before the bands went on, they’d made their first drug bust: a 21-year old passenger in a van, stopped when approaching the gates at 11.35 am, was found with 100 E-tabs. He’ll face the beak in September. Sixty people were detected with drugs on the first day, and 500gms of drugs seized, police said.
- Christie Eliezer
