So, my thoughts on the much-hyped virtual Splendour XR event. Having experienced both weekends, I have to say that overall I enjoyed it, but I do have a few criticisms.

Firstly, a bit of background. Splendour in the Grass is one of the premier music festivals in Australia, taking place in Byron Bay every July. That was until COVID-19 broke out and made putting on a festival with over 40,000 attendees a health and safety risk. So July 2020’s Splendour got postponed: first until November 2020, then July 2021, and most recently November 2021. I’m not sure if this latest date will go ahead: as of writing this we are in the midst of a third (?) wave of the pandemic here in Australia, and much of it is concentrated in New South Wales, the state in which the festival usually takes place.

Of course, being unable to put on a scheduled music festival must put a lot of strain on everyone involved: the promoters who put a lot of money into making it happen, the contracted companies and staff who build and service the event, the musicians who perform for their keep, and even the audience who budget and plan for these events. Add to this the uncertainty of which artists are available on the dates that the event has been rescheduled for (they might’ve been on for July but unavailable for November), and if they can even make it into the country considering our border restrictions. So, with all that said, perhaps an online “virtual” festival is the next best thing?

Splendour XR was billed as “a world-first immersive virtual music festival experience” that would be “unlike anything you’ve seen to date”. The promotional material mentioned that we would be seeing “your favourite artists performing never-before-seen live sets that have been created especially for this global online event”. I was intrigued. Further promotional material stated that we could create a virtual avatar and move through “an imaginatively embellished but faithful recreation of Splendour’s North Byron Parklands”. The artists on the list looked good: Charli XCX, Grimes, CHVRCHES and more. Plus, apparently none of them were going to be on the lineup for the official Splendour event in November, so this was the best opportunity to see them perform. So I paid for my two-day weekend pass for the early bird price of $AUD34.99 and waited for the day to arrive.

So, as said before, while I enjoyed Splendour XR for what it was, I feel there was a disconnect between what was promoted and what we actually got. Firstly, the impression I and many others had was that this was going to be live performances by artists in a virtual setting modelled after the Splendour in the Grass festival grounds in the North Byron Parklands. Perhaps they’d be performing as holograms or as avatars within the Sansar virtual environment. In the end, that’s not what we got. Most of the performances were prerecorded, and were shown as videos on a screen that covered the stage. A few artists like Aurora, King Gizzard and Charli XCX filmed themselves as holograms, which was closer to the live music experience many of us anticipated. Special props go to What So Not and 2manydjs (aka Soulwax) for utilising both holograms and screens to give us the experience many of us expected based on how the festival was promoted.

That’s not to say the filmed performances were bad. In fact I’d say many of them were enjoyable, particularly the likes of Client Liaison, Pond, CHVRCHES, Spacey Jane and Amyl and the Sniffers. I even discovered a few acts I hadn’t heard of before, like the j-metal band Band-Maid. Many of these videos were made specifically for Splendour XR, and I appreciate the effort the artists put in. Yet it felt a bit of a letdown compared to what was promised, especially when it came to supposed exclusive performances that were actually recordings of performances from other shows. For example, a recording of The Avalanches at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre from earlier in the year looked and sounded good, but was far from exclusive and probably can be seen on YouTube, which must feel like a rip off to anyone who paid Splendour XR tickets to see them perform.

As for the virtual environment itself, it wasn’t the full reproduction of the famous North Byron Parklands we were led to believe it would be, but it still served its purpose well. Instead of the entire festival grounds being simulated in the world, it was mostly just the stages themselves with surrounding scenery and a barrier to keep you within the confines of the area. No walking between over that big hill to get from the main stage to the GW McLennan tent, nor meeting anyone under your favourite tree: it was just the pit and the stage for everyone. I can understand that trying to simulate the entire Splendour grounds might’ve been too difficult (and potentially too stressful for many older computers) so this was perhaps a good trade-off. That said, once you realise that the huge crowd on the hill of the amphitheatre are just NPCs and that you can’t get up there, the experience starts to feel a little artificial. This isn’t helped either by the unconvincing canned audience applause that comes up from time to time.

Obviously one of the draws of virtual worlds like the ones created by Sansar for Splendour XR is creating your own unique looking character, or avatar. I must admit I went for the more average, casual festival look while others went for more bizarre creations. Dinosaurs, sharks, a giant hand and even a sentient park bench: and those were just the identifiable avatars. One thing I did appreciate about attending a festival in a virtual world was the ability to block and mute people. Did someone make a giant avatar and they’re now standing in front of you, blocking your view? Just block them and they’ll disappear from your view. Tired of hearing a bunch of drunken bogans carrying on or someone who hadn’t learned to switch off their microphone and is coughing up a lung? Just mute them with a simple mouse click. If only real-life festivals were that simple. That said, I did appreciate when some young lady (I assume) danced with me during Denzel Curry’s set. In real life I’d be way too self-conscious for that, but here I felt comfortable letting loose.

While my experience in the virtual world went OK, others had a lot more technical issues to contend with. Screens not loading, being unable to connect, stuttering framerates. I did try using my new VR headset for a bit to experience the virtual world as intended, but the stuttering made it unworkable and so I decided to just watch it on my PC instead. I’m glad my nearly-decade old computer was able to hold up despite sounding like it was about to take off throughout the experience. However, it is clear that not everyone was able to enjoy the same experience I did, which is an obvious downside with an ambitious project such as this. Apparently there is a way to view all the performances on demand for the next week or so, but this costs another $AUD19.99 on top of the original ticket price. While admittedly the original promotional material did not say the on-demand portion would be included with the original tickets, it also didn’t mention anything about an additional fee which led many, including myself, to believe it was an included extra. Disappointing, especially for those who were unable to get in and had assumed that they could watch it all later.

So, was it worth the price? I’d have to be honest and say for the amount it cost a lot more will need to be done if they plan to do another in the future (which considering how things are going in Australia right now looks increasingly likely). Having experienced other virtual shows and online live performances that cost less, or in some cases cost nothing, much more would need to be done to make it feel like a genuine virtual festival with live acts. That said, I’d happily give them a second chance if they were able to pull something like that off. As I said before, I enjoyed my experience in Splendour XR, but I’m just not sure I could justify paying the same price for what was offered, especially in light of how it was promoted.

Favourite Moments: Performances by What So Not and 2manydjs, proving that an immersive virtual performance was possible with the right production values. Being able to move quickly between stages without the 10-minute hike over that bloody mountain. Being able to mute and block annoying people. Letting loose and dancing with no inhibitions.

Least Favourite Moments: Having to constantly search for annoying people with voices louder than the performance just to mute them. When I found out the ability to replay performances sever days after the event was not included in the original ticket price as many of us were led to believe.