Splendour beats the scalpers
Wed 02 August 2006
Nathan Price, Journalism
There were some notable absences from Byron Bay in the days leading up to this year’s Splendour In The Grass festival.
The sunshine again hid behind dark rain clouds, just like previous years. There were also the cancelled gigs that are so common amongst the rock fraternity - but neither were as noticeable as the scalpers missing from the wet street corners.
For the first time organisers of an Australian festival sold tickets with the intended recipient's name and date of birth printed on them, effectively eliminating scalping.
By requiring ticket holders to have the appropriate identification the organisers culled a trade that had taken on considerable proportions with the advent of internet-based auction sites, such as eBay.
In past years a walk through the town before the festival would involve numerous offers for tickets to the “sold out” event.
Splendour In The Grass tickets became a lucrative commodity as the festival’s popularity rose.
Ticket numbers to this year’s event were increased to 17,500, a figure still dwarfed by the 50,000 plus who attend the Big Day Out festivals around the country each year. Last year Splendour In The Grass sold out in two days and this year – even allowing for the new procedures – sales were even quicker.
“We were greatly disappointed with the obvious and calculated ticket scalping for the 2005 event, which resulted in many people paying inflated prices to attend Splendour in the Grass,” festival co-promoter Jessica Ducrou said.
“In response, we introduced a new ticketing system that will make sure genuine patrons are able to attend Splendour In The Grass. The new system is loosely based on the model developed by the organisers of Glastonbury (an open-air festival in England), who faced similar ticket scalping problems.”
The internet auction sites have consistently refused to remove the tickets and police have been powerless to intervene. The irony was not lost on fans of Splendour In The Grass, which began life as an “indie” (independent) festival, who watched it fall victim to a commercial virus.
After declaring the new procedures a success at the time of sale, organisers have reason to be pleased after the weekend. The new ticketing procedures were simple and queues were quickly negotiated. Most importantly though everyone understood that real fans were being given greater opportunity to get tickets at their market value.
So what is the great appeal of Splendour In The Grass?
In short it’s everything Australia’s other premiere festivals are not. It is located in Byron Bay as opposed to your closest capital city. It is held in winter, not summer. More than that though, Splendour In The Grass feels intimate and relaxed compared to the overwhelming size of a Big Day Out.
The festival has gone a long way to shedding its alternative image since its inception – or perhaps alternative music has become a lot more mainstream. Either way this year’s Splendour in the Grass attracted some of the biggest and brightest rock and indie acts from Australia and overseas.
Splendour ’06
It was very much a tale of two days for Splendour ’06. Saturday bore the brunt of the bad conditions and everyone not in a pair of gumboots was squishing mud between their toes at every step.
The better acts also performed on Sunday, as Australian rockers The Vines made a memorable return to the stage after a three year hiatus on the back of a very public breakdown. Wolfmother and British pop-rock outfit Scissor Sisters also capped a memorable and sunny Sunday.
It was a surreal end to Sunday night as Brian Wilson, of Beach Boy’s fame, led the crowd in a rendition of Row Your Boat.
Splendour In The Grass organisers have traditionally invited an older act and Brian Wilson was a wonderful choice as the young crowd sang all the old Beach Boy classics word for word.
Right on cue the rain started to tumble as the last notes were belted out, leaving the tired crowds to trudge home in the wet one last time.
Image(s) designed by Nathan Price
Enter comments about this article
Submitted Comments
Nathan, you totally capture the essence of the splendid splendour, an experience that should never be missed!!!A good combination of facts and explanation highly convincing to readers. A very enjoyable read!!
Alana