The British indie rockers Foals will headline the Falls festival and Southbound this year, fresh from the news that they turned down a spot at Glastonbury because they claimed they were too unfit.
Foals’ singer, Yannis Philippakis, told NME on Friday they had been tapped on the shoulder to play before Florence and the Machine in June but turned it down because they hadn’t had a chance to rehearse the songs from their new album, What Went Down, live, and also because he’d been smoking too much and would have wheezed throughout the set. The Libertines filled the spot instead.
Foals are joined at the top of the lineup by fellow British acts Bloc Party, who are working on their fifth studio album, and Disclosure.
The announcement also confirmed the British four-piece Django Django would play. Rumours the band would return to Australia for the summer festival circuit this year have been going strong since producer/drummer David Maclean hinted in a Triple J interview they could be back. The band played Falls when they last toured Australia in 2013.
The lineup for both festivals was announced on Monday morning.
The festival will kick off with a set from Weird Al Yankovic, who is headlining the pre-game event Boogie Knights alongside the Australian electronic act Art vs Science.
Australia’s Paul Kelly will be at both festivals with the Merri Soul Sessions, a set featuring great Australian singers in Dan Sultan, Kira Puru, Vika and Linda Bull and Clairy Browne.
Rüfüs, Melbourne singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett, hoverboard-deprived Seth Sentry and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard round out the Australian bands on the list, which also includes festival stalwarts Birds of Tokyo and the Hilltop Hoods.
The Scottish hip-hop boy band Young Fathers, LA artist Børns and the indie rock group the Maccabees are also on the list.
Falls will be held at the Splendour in the Grass grounds at Byron Bay for the third year in a row, as well as Marion Bay in Tasmania and Lorne in Victoria.
The Lorne event, which is now in its 23rd year, runs from 28 December to 1 January; Marion Bay from 29 December to 1 January; and Byron Bay from 31 December to 3 January.
Southbound, the west coast twin to Falls festival, will be a three-day event for the first time in 2016, running from 8 January to 10 January at its regular home of Sir Stewart Bovell Park in Busselton.
Falls festival lineup:
Alpine; the Avener; Birds of Tokyo; Bloc Party; Børns; Courtney Barnett; Disclosure; Django Django; Foals; Gang of Youths; Gary Clark Jr; Halsey; Hiatus Kaiyote; Hilltop Hoods; King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard; Kurt Vile and the Violators; Little May; the Maccabees; Mac DeMarco; Meg Mac; Oh Wonder; Paul Kelly and Merri Soul Sessions featuring Clairy Browne, Dan Sultan, Kira Puru, Vika and Linda Bull; Rüfüs; Seth Sentry; Toro y Moi; Young Fathers; Weird Al Yankovic; Art vs Science; Fleetmac Wood.
Southbound lineup:
Alpine; Birds of Tokyo; Bloc Party; Børns; Courtney Barnett; Disclosure; Django Django; Foals; Gang of Youths; Gary Clark Jr; Halsey; Hiatus Kaiyote; Hilltop Hoods; King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard; Kurt Vile and the Violators; Little May; the Maccabees; Mac DeMarco; Meg Mac; Oh Wonder; Paul Kelly and Merri Soul Sessions featuring Clairy Browne, Dan Sultan, Kira Puru, Vika and Linda Bull; Rüfüs; Seth Sentry; Toro y Moi; Young Fathers; Weird Al Yankovic; Art vs Science; the Dancing Accountant; Death Disco DJs; Funk Club DJs; HWLS; Koi Child; Pilerats DJs.
