“You guys are very fuckin' lucky.”
Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison takes a break during the Scottish folk rockers' set to remind us of this, and he's absolutely right. The stars have aligned for another killer Laneway – while other festivals seem to cast a wider net and catch fewer fish every year, this one knows its audience and rarely puts a foot wrong. With a lot of foresight (and a little luck), the Laneway crew have put together a bill full of artists who are surfing the zeitgeist right now.
That includes Frightened Rabbit, of course, who broke through to the 'mainstream' (such as it is) with their 2013 LP, 'Pedestrian Verse'. They kick the Carpark Stage – all the acts that were scheduled to play the Carpark Stage have been moved to the larger Alexandria St Stage, and vice versa, because Lorde – into high gear with spirited renditions of 'The Woodpile' and 'Keep Yourself Warm'. Hutchison's heartfelt vocals sometimes get lost in the mix, but the energy doesn't. He's bummed that they won't get time to play a sideshow at The Zoo on this tour, but that's okay – after a performance like this, Brisbane still loves them.
I take a wander over to the Alexandria St Stage, where freshly crowned Hottest 100 champ Vance Joy is on a mission to prove that, hey, he's got more songs than 'Riptide', and, hey, some of them are pretty good. While both of those things are true, it doesn't necessarily result in a great festival set. At this stage, the Vance Joy catalogue consists of a lot of meandering folk tunes that would sound great over a quiet drink or two in an intimate venue, but aren't built for this stage. If he didn't have 'Riptide' up his sleeve, he'd lose the crowd altogether – but he DOES have 'Riptide' up his sleeve, and it ends his set on exactly the high you'd expect.
(A light shower gives Vance a chance to try out some witty stage banter. “I love when the rain comes and it hits the asphalt and it makes that smell. You know that smell? That's a good smell.” Sure is, Vance.)
It's back to the Car Park Stage after that, for what is (in my mind) the festival's main attraction – Kurt Vile and The Violators. Vile – on vocals, guitar and hair – and his band are in fine form, and while the setlist is brief on paper, every track is jammed to within an inch of its life. Vile's records are great, but it's only at the live shows that these songs are properly unpacked and given the expansive treatment they deserve. Of course, Vile is the sort of genius who hits such a great, laid-back tone that it doesn't really matter what he's playing, anyway, just that he's playing. The tunes all start to bleed together after long enough, but the crowd is with him all the way, kicking up a minor dust storm in his wake.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra are up next, and it turns out I jumped the gun a little by assuming Vile would be the day's highlight – these guys are simply on some other shit, and no one else I see today can touch them. Extended guitar breaks and monstrous jams are the order of the day here, but the songs are great, too ('So Good At Being In Trouble' is perfection). The end result is something like soulful '60s pop by way of Rage Against The Machine; languid tunes for a lazy Sunday played by unrelenting madmen. Somehow, it doesn't just work; it KILLS.
There's not much time to revel in it, though, because Lorde is playing the Alexandria St Stage. It's not every week that someone wins a couple of Grammys, completely dominates the global entertainment press and then stops by to play a few tracks in Fortitude Valley, so this is, you know, a moment (and another example of luck and foresight at work). It's a moment she doesn't entirely live up to, though.
Whether it's the epic epicness of the past year finally catching up to her or just her inclination towards minimalism (Lorde's 'band' consists of a guy in a silver suit poking at a computer), it's all a bit underwhelming – after a day of incredible guitar bands, there's something a little unsatisfying about a pop star singing over her hit records. I mean, it's not like it's a bad set, but it's not transcendent, either, and that's where she's set the bar. By the time the final line of 'A World Alone' hits and Lorde abruptly departs, The Jezabels – given the seemingly impossible task of following this cultural juggernaut – might breathe a sigh of relief.
(Pretty much everyone I talk to afterwards has a similar impression of Lorde's set, but as the lady herself would say, let 'em talk. One relatively lacklustre Brisbane show is not going to make a hell of a lot of difference to her at this stage.)
I head back over to the Car Park to catch the last few minutes of Cloud Control; weirdly enough, it's their closer – 'There's Nothing In The Water We Can't Fight', a four-year-old song that's won, at last count, zero Grammys – that gets the most rapturous response of the day so far. It seems the Laneway audience reserves its deepest love for bands with guitars and drums (and Danny Brown).
Warpaint are tasked with closing the Car Park Stage, and they do not disappoint. Boasting Sydney's own Stella Mozgawa on drums, the LA quartet are keen to show off their new, self-titled album; it's a big step forward for the band and its incorporation into their live show makes them significantly harder to pin down to any one style or genre (Mozgawa's drumming, which never lets up, is the only real constant). Still, they close with old favourite 'Undertow', their barefaced Nirvana tribute; each member of the band crowding around Mozgawa's kit and pushing the tempo until they can't push it any further and it's time for them to reluctantly leave the stage.
Warpaint probably wouldn't headline a stage of this size at any other major Australian festival, but they're perfect for this one. That's why Laneway works, and why – as bigger, more fancied but less focussed events fall by the wayside – it'll still be here in 2015. Who knows what the zeitgeist will look like then?
ROHAN WILLIAMS
Laneway is always one of the best one-day festivals around.
Small enough to feel intimate, big enough to pull well-known bands and close enough for home to be only a short walk. This combination makes for an awesome day no matter what anyone actually ends up sounding like or if the organic doughnut stall is there or not. Jokes aside, it was the music and not the food nor location that made this an excellent outing. The crowds were undeniably high in hipster numbers and the moustaches, tattoos and denim outfits were everywhere but there were smiles on most faces and people were polite. This always makes festivals better. The bands on the biggest stage pulled the biggest crowds with the exception of Daughter who played to an adoring and packed out audience.
Heading over to Haim, the girls didn’t disappoint and who just keep getting hotter. Maybe it’s their confidence, maybe it’s their ‘don’t-give-a-fuck’ attitude or maybe it’s the way they just dig their own music so much. There is something so appealing about a band that fully commits and is in the moment when they play. More popular now than when they played Splendour 2013, most of the crowd sang along and danced to the upbeat pop rock sounds. They’ve also added a keyboardist which spiced things up and made even more hot girls to look at.
What can one say about Lorde? The singer of the moment, this girl is riding high and people can’t get enough. One of the main topics of conversation throughout the day was ‘how is it possible that Lorde is not headlining? How can she not be the final act? Must be tough to be The Jezebels tonight’ etc. etc. It wouldn’t matter when she played, it was always going to be ridiculously good. And it was. And everyone saw it. The early evening was actually the perfect time for her, the air was cooler, everyone was humming along happily and they played hit after hit. Even the policemen standing near was singing along and knew all the words.
Lorde was a hard act to follow, The Jezebels would’ve expected that but it didn’t seem to impact the band. They sounded big and bold and brash, the lead singer has a killer voice and it is mesmerizing at times. By this stage, the crowd are sensing the night is heading towards its close and are keen to keep it going. So the dancing was enthusiastic, the singing was louder (and more out of tune) and the lazy glow left by Lorde was still shining bright on people’s faces. A most excellent evening and it didn’t even rain.
MAJELLA McMAHON
It’s easy to forget that Kirin J Callinan is actually Australian, considering his banter between songs and baritone growl are both delivered in a British accent.
He’s joined onstage today by an androgynous Ziggy Stardust on bass and occasional keys, plus a super stoic drummer triggering the odd sample between fills and vacant stares. The trio open with 'Embracism', which Callinan uses to immediately showcase his exceptional guitar tones, built from feedback and menace; confrontational intensity as front man; and sweet moves – he’d throw his guitar spinning into the air and catch it on the beat, which was not even gimmicky, at all! The group closed on a high with 'Love Delay' featuring a storming finish that cemented Callinan early as one of the standouts. Oh yeah, and he has a mullet, too.
The first few minutes of Parquet Courts were marred by a whining feedback that had everyone, including the band, looking around in confusion. The group continued unfazed, and when 'Master Of My Craft' and 'Borrowed Time' were smashed out in quick succession everything but the sheer force and radness of these guys was forgotten. A quick thanks from the lead singer for his fresh (and free) haircut and it was straight into 'Stoned And Starving', the set highlight, crowd favourite and most extended outro of the day.
When Danny Brown finally set foot onstage after what seemed like hours of anticipation and instrumental beats, the crowd flipped. Brown drew the largest Zoo Stage crowd of the night, deservingly, and when he dropped 'Dip' the place lit up – crowd surfing, moshing, screams of “molly” / “swag” etc. The highlight of the set was the rapturous call and response during 'Blunt After Blunt' – “I smoke: blunt after blunt after blunt after blunt after (continue ad infinitum). Despite the marijuana haze this crowd was far from being gripped by a Kush Koma.
Don’t get this twisted, Run The Jewels are pretty good, but having to follow the charisma and vitality of Danny Brown, few in the modern hip hop game would be as engaging. Instead of victorious, El-P & Killer Mike taking the stage to a sample of Queen’s 'We Are The Champions' came across as hopeful — the punters should decide such matters, and they were all heading towards the Future Classic Stage.
Four Tet entered through a cloud of purple smoke and within seconds had the huge indoor stage engulfed in phaser and strobe. He had over an hour to work with, so could take his time with the build up – which is what he did for forty-five minutes, by which time it became unclear what he was actually building up to / if anything. Surroundings began turning strange as midnight approached and yawns all round signalled the contented end to another huge performance and another huge Laneway Festival.
NASH JOHNSTON
