The Falls Festival saw out its first full day of programming, with both The Grand Theatre and Valley Stages running at full capacity.
Crowd crushes and mini-stampedes unfortunately marred what was otherwise a great day out in Lorne, with the DMA’s crowd running into dramas on the way back down for London Grammar. It seemed an odd choice to have the Sydney band up in the theatre given their massive pull (not to mention their mammoth set in Splendour’s amphitheatre earlier in the year), but they obviously proved their worth as a band capable of reaching arena-like levels of popularity.
Falls Festival put out the following statement in regards to the DMA’s crowd crush:
There has been an incident, just before 11pm tonight at the Lorne leg involving a crowd exit after the DMA’s set in the Grand Theatre en route to watch London Grammar in the Arena. Medical staff were immediately on hand to assist all affected patrons. Up to 50 incidents of varying degrees were attended to, no critical injuries have been recorded. Entertainment has been suspended in the Grand Theatre for the rest of the evening, normal programming will resume tomorrow. For any specific enquiries please contact [email protected]
Elsewhere during the day, highlight sets came courtesy of artists including the incredible voice of Ry X, Dumb Punts and the mastery of Remi, while Matt Corby‘s return to the festival scene was one people obviously had been waiting for eagerly, drawing huge numbers as the sun went down.
London Grammar proved to be the perfect band for some ethereal nighttime sways, with the temperature in the air dropping quite noticeably, the crowd was feeling relaxed and loose. Only to be followed up with the fire of Violent Soho, of course – a huge way to cap off an even bigger year for the boys from Mansfield.
Falls Festival continues today in Lorne, Victoria as well as Marion Bay, Tasmania and kicks off in Byron Bay.
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