Last year, Splendour said goodbye to their expansive/interim Woodfordia site with a lineup featuring two of the biggest acts in the world – Kanye West and Gotye Coldplay – but don’t expect such high-powered headliners when the festival returns to Byron Bay in July.
Speaking with Noise11.com, Festival Producer Jessica Ducrou said headliners would reflect the reduced crowd capacity and revenue potential of their spiritual home in Belongil.
“Obviously moving from Woodford to Belongil Field the venue is smaller,” Ducrou said. “17,500 is what we run at there. That obviously effects how much you can spend on your talent. No, we won’t be having acts like Kanye and Coldplay who are some of the biggest acts in the world. We have some great bands people will be very happy with”.
Previous Belongil headliners have included Sonic Youth (2006), The Flaming Lips (2009) and Queens of the Stone Age (2005) so we’re not worried about the festival’s taste or pulling power (even on a reduced budget). Just rule out any acts who require a cherry picker, programmed fireworks or local interpretive dance troupe to execute their performance.
Splendour in the Grass will announce their 2012 lineup in April and take place at Belongil Field, Byron Bay from July 27 to 29.
Photo: Pierre Suu via Getty
