Photo from triple j website

Triple J rewarded dedicated costume-wearing festival-goers by hosting a pre-party at The Great Northern in Byron Bay.

Lucky winners and industry peeps gathered into the back room to dance the night away with Yacht Club DJs, DJ sets from DZ Deathrays and Last Dinosaurs and a special set from triple J presenter Lewi McKirdy.

But before the doors even opened, we were treated to an "impromptu" busking set from Zulu Winter. The band had a battery-operated keyboard, a speaker box and two acoustic guitars to play with and attracted a crowd on the street.
We were treated to acoustic renditions of three songs: "Bitter Moon", "Let's Move Back to Front" and "We Should Be Swimming". Despite not having a microphone, lead singer Will Daunt could be heard clearly over the street noise of Byron Bay. The set was the perfect way to kick off a weekend of fun and revelry.

Inside the Northern, people in costumes waited patiently for the doors to open. Lewi McKirdy was first on the decks and played to a gradually filling room. Notable costumes included Teletubbies, Indians, a Pharaoh, Wilfred, a slice of watermelon and many, many animal suits.

The emptiness, lack of people on the dance floor and the inclusion of "Fight For Your Right to Party" and "It's A Hard Knock Life" in Lewi's set gave the whole event a school disco feel early on. Once DZ Deathrays stepped up to the decks, lifting their masks to see what they were doing between tracks, the room filled gradually.

The party-goers were being sensible before the long weekend ahead, the line for the bar was no longer than three people most of the time, and people were downing water supplied at the end of the bar.

It was the perfect way to start the "Splendour bender" without going too crazy and getting all the punters keen for the start of the festival.