Splendour Sideshow Wish list

With quite possibly the best line-up of bands ever assembled for an Australian festival, Splendour in the Grass 2010 is gonna be huge! But it’s all happening up in Queensland, tickets are astronomically expensive, and road trips with mates always lead to annoying marathon games of eye-spy and a sweaty, hungover journey home. To save you all the time and money, we’ve put together a list of all the bands that might, might not and definitely won’t be coming to Adelaide for some sideshow action.

The Definitely Nots

The Strokes
Sorry everyone, The Strokes have already announced their sideshows and Adelaide ain’t one of them. With Julian Casablancas visiting Australia twice in the next few months, you’d think he could squeeze in an Adelaide date, but apparently not. So unless you’ve got tickets to one of their Sydney or Melbourne shows, you’re only chance to see The Strokes will be at Splendour.

Pixies
They were only just here a couple of months ago, so it begs the question why they’re coming back at all. But despite singer Black Francis admitting the recent Pixies tours have been grab for cash, their appearance on the Splendour bill is coupled with a big, fat asterisk that reads: ‘Only Australian date’

LCD Soundsystem
It’s going to be the last time down under for James Murphy’s party disco collective, but Adelaide won’t be giving them a send-off. Last week they announced a couple of sideshow dates in Sydney and Melbourne with fellow electronic maestros Hot Chip. At least Adelaide will be well represented with The Swiss scoring the support slot.

Hot Chip
See above.

Grizzly Bear
Again, Sydney and Melbourne will be the only cities to bask is some grizzly goodness after the New York four-piece announced their sideshows last week. And after the Adelaide no-show during their recent Falls/Southbound/Sunset Sounds tour, you can’t help but feeling a little bit snubbed.

The Probably Nots

Goldfrapp
No official word yet, but a handful of Goldfrapp sideshows have been pencilled in for dates in Melbourne and Sydney. Don’t give up on them yet though. Alison Goldfrapp and her production buddy Will Gregory haven’t been to Australia since 2008 when they forgot to book their tickets to Adelaide, so they’re overdue for a visit here.

Empire of the Sun
They’re yet to play a non-festival date, so it’s unlikely the Luke Steele-led Empire of the Sun will break that trend anytime soon. And with the momentum from their 2008 debut album running out quickly, it remains to be seen if and when the empire will strike back.

Florence & The Machine
She was only recently in the country for the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festivals at the start of the year, so you’d think Ms Florence Welch will keep it brief when she stops by this winter. Having said that though, there are plenty of empty dates on her tour schedule before and after Splendour, so who knows?

Yeasayer
Having never been to Adelaide before, cultured New York group Yeasayer look a possible candidate to pop their City of Churches cherry this July. They won’t have a lot of time to do it though, with only twelve days between their final American date and Splendour before jetting off to FujiRock in Japan the very next day.

The Probablys

Passion Pit
With the success of last year’s debut album Manners, there’s every chance Passion Pit will be gracing us with their presence this winter. They have a lot of dates lined up in 2010, so it would make sense that when Passion Pit come out here for Splendour they’ll be playing as many shows as they can.

Delphic
They recently swept through Australia for a whistlestop tour in March, so when they return for their Splendour appearance, logic would suggest that Manchester rave rock trio Delphic will be making it more worth their while this time around.

Two Door Cinema Club
Splendour in the Grass will be the debut Australian visit for Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club. Having put their names well and truly on the map with their crowd-pleasing debut album Tourist Histroy, the indie dance group might just be looking to cash in on their hard work with a full national tour.

The Drums
Another band who’ll be dropping into Australia for the first time, The Drums have both the time and inclination to put on a full run of dates when they get past border security. Their eponymous debut album comes out a couple of months before their trip down under, so it’s a perfectly timed run into the country.

The Definitelys

Mumford & Sons
The Mumford boys were the first to announce their sideshows, well before the Splendour line-up was even revealed. They were only here a few months ago but the Hottest 100 winners are giving Australia more of what they want: ho-downs Mumford style!

Mumford & Sons play Thebarton Theatre on Thu Jul 22.

The Temper Trap
Originally snubbed when they announced a run of shows leading up to the Splendour spectacular, Adelaide was thankfully added to the touring schedule about a month ago. Since trekking overseas it’s been hard to get a glimpse of Melbourne’s The Temper Trap so you’d better make the most of it while you can.

The Temper Trap play Thebarton Theatre on Fri Jul 23.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Announced just last week, Britain’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club will be bringing their gritty rock stylings back to Adelaide this July. With new album Beat The Devil’s Tattoo just released, BRMC have been making waves and look like they’re back to their best. Make sure you catch them when they stop by.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club play Fowler’s Live on Tue Jul 27.

So there you have it: the definitelys, the maybes and the definitely maybes. Keep logging onto ripitup.com.au for all the Splendour sideshow action as and when it comes in.

The mammoth Splendour in the Grass Festival happens from Fri Jul 30 – Sun Aug 1 at Woodfordia in Queensland. Tickets go on sale Thu May 6.

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