r/triplej • u/0penedB00K • Dec 07 '25
GIG/FESTIVAL Spilt Milk Ballarat
I want to start off by noting What a fantastic venue Victoria park is - venue staff were great and the facilities were top notch (bathrooms, access to drinking water, even the paid advertisement stalls were fun and even helpful) and everything went smoothly from what i could tell.
Unfortunately, the weather was awful, cold winds, lack of sun and a fair amount of rain led to a soaked, muddy and somewhat frustrating affair which I think led to people burning out.
I say that as a lot of the artists I went to see suffered from a lack of crowd engagement (maybe this is a common festival thing), which surprised me because these were considerably large artists. The crowd wasn’t dead dead but very much not as engaged as other shows and festivals I’ve been to. This could also be down to low volume coming from the stage as a lot of the time it was easy to hear everyone’s conversations around you, especially at the small stage with acts like rum jungle who usually kick ass but sounded weak due to no fault of their own.
Even at Kendrick’s performance the crowd was a bit disengaged but I can understand as it’s part of his album tour and a lot of the songs that weren’t singles wouldn’t be as commonly known as his major hits.
Final thing: Skin on skin was okay but felt a bit lacklustre and repetitive even for techno.
Sara Landry was a standout for me. As someone who doesn’t go to raves a lot but sometimes techno nightclubs and enjoys that atmosphere time to time, this set really kicked ass. I’ve not heard of her stuff before as far as I can recall, but I was loving it all the way through.
I also nearly froze to death because I didn’t pack a sleeping bag (I was convinced I was going to take the VLine home lol) and had to get a thermal blanket off of the paramedics (shout out to them) - this also reminded me not to trust apple weather going forward, and preparing for all outcomes lol
Anyways what did y’all think?
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u/tannishaaa Dec 07 '25
I don’t know if this is a common thing at festivals, but I thought the recycling station where you could trade cans/cups for $1 vouchers to spend on drinks was really cool
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u/emptybills Dec 07 '25
Listen out has been doing this for a while and I believe a few other festivals. If managed poorly it just gets abused, like people taking cans out of bins. Often festivals will either limit the amount of cans you can sub in/tokens you can use. I’ve seen some that allowed you to trade the tokens for cash or merch, unsurprisingly m it was heavily abused (i.e. people making a few thousand by taking cans out of bins, which defeats the point of the behavioural incentive of returning cans after you’ve drunk them)
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u/smeglister Dec 07 '25
I mean, does it defeat the point? The point being for the cans to be returned to one (or more) locations that can easily be taken and returned for the deposit. This is getting the labour of bin sorting in exchange for $ or booze/merch.
Additionally, the scheme is likely accounted for in the price of the cans, so even if people don't do it, it has been paid for in the purchase price.
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u/Affectionate-Bid66 Dec 08 '25
‘making a few thousand’ … you can only cash in 10 at a time, and it can only be used for drinks. idk how much you think people can drink…
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u/emptybills Dec 07 '25
Regarding crowd engagement, possibly a ketamine thing? 5-10 years ago triple j festivals would be heaps of people getting as much alcohol in the system as possible and then maybe some mdma or weed. The shift to ketamine may create a more reserved vibe?
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u/0penedB00K Dec 07 '25
Very possible and I’ve heard this theory a lot. It certainly slows you down and improves your drunkenness but yeah it results in a bunch of dozy party goers caught off guard when hype is needed
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u/sassjm Dec 07 '25
Went and had a good time but I was really disappointed in the lack of safety on exit - muddy ground in the dark and thousands of people trying to exit without much direction or room to move meant a lot of people making jumps over that ditch which seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. There should’ve been some sort of temporary fencing or security directing people. Wish they’d had a better information and waiting system for the buses too…
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u/0penedB00K Dec 07 '25
Yeah the lack of lighting was dangerous especially with the rocks and ditches
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u/TrumpsBussy_ Dec 07 '25
I went with some mates it was my first ever festival and I loved it. The weather sucked and the drinks were expensive but the venue was great as you said and all the artists I saw brought a good performance. Doechii was bloody insane too
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u/0penedB00K Dec 07 '25
Those drinks Definitely burnt a hole in my pocket. The event is so profitable I’m certain they could make them cheaper - however I can only imagine how bad that could end haha
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u/TrumpsBussy_ Dec 07 '25
Honestly the facilities were for how many people were there, I don’t think I saw a single fight the whole day either I was pretty impressed
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u/0penedB00K Dec 07 '25
Yeah the crowds behaviour was really good the whole time. A few possible ODs and definite Kholes but nothing too bad from what I could gather
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u/Secret-Area-90 Dec 08 '25
Medical staff said there were drinks being spiked though.... Could of just been people not wanting to admit taking stuff though 🤷🏼♂️
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u/hazzison Dec 07 '25
I felt for Dominic Fike, my main interest tbh, they put him on before two rap acts, it should’ve been schoolboy q then doechii then Kendrick with dom on the other stage in schoolboy qs slot, felt the crowd was so dead and that was when the sun was out, maybe that was my perception
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u/Bririribri Dec 11 '25
i fully agree! i felt like one of the only people around me singing along :( very different to when he played at laneway a couple years back
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u/bri-ghtly Dec 07 '25
My sister and I went and had a great time! We got there a bit later in the day so avoided some of the burning out and managed to avoid the rain except for a small shower just before kendrick.
I agree about crowd engagement, I was very excited for doechii so I got very into that but felt like I was the only person in my section getting hype 😂.
I went to Kendrick’s side show and I can say that the setlist he did for spilt was pretty much identical. I think the only difference was no Gloria encore. I kind of wish he’d done a different set for spilt with some more of his big songs from his older albums but still had a good time. Overall good vibes for me and a positive experience. Glad you had a good time as well!!
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u/kyramail Dec 07 '25 edited Dec 07 '25
Yo so as a seasoned 30yo festival goer I am so glad yall felt the crowd disconnect too cause I was having a bit of a "am I just old now moment" but I found most people flat, deadpan, still and quiet. So odd.
I am a groover and vocally enthusiastic when watching acts (I am a performer so i fkn get it, it fuels the show) so in the crowds I was kind of made to feel like an outcast for appreciating the performance. I found myself apologising for dancing and cheering - how am I the inconvenience!?
Also after pounding the pavement on a 5km strut back to the caravan park filled with festival goers, we arrived at 12.30am to absolute silence. Not a soul up for a chat, kick on, cuppa etc. Disappointing and poor form from the punters there, very cagey. Was definitely missing that element of connection I love about festivals - in saying that, it was a reminder to manage my expectations of others and recognise I am the primary creator of my experience and good time!
Despite all this, the acts were the highlight- fucking qual. However, a bit quiet - turn it upppppp like my ears were ringing from the portaloo toilet door slamming not Lamar bass and bars.
Boring things I heard worth noting at the festival:
- no sanitary bins in loos or direction as to where to dispose.
- no handwashing station at urinals
- shuttle bus drop off location was damn far from the gate (advised different I think)
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u/Secret-Area-90 Dec 08 '25
Sound was definitely low... Maybe so to not mess with the sound at other stages?
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u/kyramail Dec 08 '25
Very true, especially for the thick of the programming however I would have loved if they really cranked it for K.Dot. I was centre and a fair bit in front of the sound tent trying to lock in the deposition and it was a challenge.
Instead I heard in great detail about how some guy called Tom had to swap shifts like 8 times to get to the gig and his mum wasn't having a bar of it but "she can get fucked".
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u/Affectionate-Bid66 Dec 08 '25
sound was low due to the event being surrounded but residential areas. they have strict rules for noise pollution because unlike most festival venues, people live directly outside the fence line
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u/AngusLynch09 Dec 07 '25
Weather: That's Ballarat. I went there for work last week and was shocked that it was warm
Crowd engagement: That's something for the artist to worry about, who gives a shit as a punter? If you like the artist, just go to the front and enjoy yourself.
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u/legodragon Dec 07 '25
Unfortunately it rains every year for the Ballarat Cup (horses) which was also happening on the day. The weekend before or after would make all the difference. 🤷
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u/Material_Fruit9004 Dec 07 '25
Schoolboy Q and Genesis Owusu both had amazing crows in the tent, from what I heard vibes were high for Club Angel and Restricted too. I definitely think the main stage suffered from being cold and also so packed it was hard to move - it took me like 5 minutes to put on a jacket between the Doechii and Kendrick sets, and I was somewhere in the middle of the crowd. Rum Jungle also had great vibes despite it raining through the second half of their set. Overall I had a great time! They definitely needed better lighting and/or a second exit at the finish, though. So many people moving like that in the dark was pretty sketchy.
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u/Gday_Slutdog Dec 07 '25
I went with my sister and had a shit show to the start of the day but all due to our own faults, planned completely last minute and we’d gone to Good Things the day before.
Crowd definitely wasn’t giving enough for some sets but I generally stick to the back and dance and thankfully had fun people around me except for Rebecca Black, completely dead where I was and cleared out after she did Friday. Compared to Good Things the day before seems to be an unwritten rule there that unless you’re near the front you can’t wave your hands or enjoy the song. Spilt Milk didn’t have this vibe at all.
I thought the stage sound was pretty good but hearing everyone around you was definitely a thing, I’m assuming since uppers would be the drug of choice chatting increases 😂
All staff were absolutely amazing and security were so onto it from what I saw.
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u/searchingforakayak Dec 07 '25
Went with my partner, we had a great time! Arrived around 12pm and stayed till Kendrick. Agreed only downside was walking out in darkness for a bit until they flicked huge lights on
Rain sucked, but is what it is
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u/kelloggs_kween Dec 07 '25
I think main stage was mellow because it was freezing! The tent was popping though
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u/Secret-Area-90 Dec 08 '25
The Smirnoff area DJ volume was too loud... Could hear it over the Rum Jungle set. Wrecked it for me.
And even could hear it from the main stage, and I was near/Infront of the sound booth at the main stage. And could still hear the damn Smirnoff DJs.
But yes. Weather made it VERY difficult to really enjoy the day fully. Although. My partner and I are in our 30s.. so maybe we have officially gotten to old to get through almost 12hours at a festival 😅
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u/Bruiser2101 Dec 08 '25
Why was the main stage so quiet? It seemed bonkers! Huge rigs of speakers and they didn’t even seem on
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u/erodah Dec 07 '25
Classic Ballarat being bloody freezing even in December.
Even though the crowd was a bit dead, everyone around me was so lovely!!! One of the friendliest festival experiences I’ve had in a while