Thursday at Lorne started not with a whimper but a downfall, as rain made sure campers arrived to the festival site well and truly soaked.
Opening the action on the Valley Stage, triple j darling Gretta Ray took control early on, proving her potential on a large stage. As Falls entered the guts of the afternoon, it was a mixed bag; emerging British star Shura felt her way through her debut Australian show to a positive but slightly subdued response, before Alunageorge took things up a notch with some heated party vibes.
Golden Features, a last minute addition to the Falls Festival line up in place of MØ, was the perfect act to follow on from Illy, pictured below, whose set riled the audience up in the amphitheatre right in the middle of the worst heat of the day.
Come sundown, things took a more sexy, low tempo turn as Ta-ku took over from Fat Freddy’s Drop‘s blissed out hour and a half set, with help from the incomparable Wafia, performing their joint EP in full in amongst the beatmaker’s other tunes.
The tailend of Thursday’s program at Lorne of course, belonged to Childish Gambino. Coming through after Broods’ late night set, Donald Glover and his fantastic live band introduced 2016 album Awaken, My Love! to Australian audiences for the first time. Always a captivating performer, Childish Gambino’s set exuded professionalism, the right dose of chaos and technical bravado.
From the opening doses of “Me & Your Mama” through to the funky rework of “Telegraph Av and a visit to his ridiculously good STN MTN/Kauai EP, the diversity within Glover’s songwriting talent shone strongly and the crowd vibed brilliantly. Closing with “300, Childish Gambino bid Lorne farewell – a strong and promising start to the rest of his Australian run.
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