Live Review: St Jerome's Laneway Festival

2 February 2015 | 1:32 pm | Cate SummersHannah Story

Laneway Festival Sydney, you did so, so good this year!

Oh Laneway Festival, you glorious, hipster-stuffed ball of goodness! It was just so good to have you back for another year, and you did not disappoint in the slightest!

From the bike valet parking out front to the smorgasbord of gourmet food trucks (including the likes of Mary’s or Porteno for those ultra-classy eaters), to the Sandal Making Workshop which was all levels of Zooey Deschanel quirky, Laneway pulled out all the stops to make all their cool, hip guests feel right at home.

FKA Twigs. Pic by Josh Groom.

It didn’t just stop at lavishly trendy stalls exclusively selling ironic T-shirts though, there was also music. Really great, amazing music the entire day. In a win for diversity the line-up was full of strong women and people of colour, rather than the expected lazy festival line-ups of yore: just white boy guitar bands.

From the get-go the crowds slowly piling in to the Sydney College Of The Arts were greeted by the sweet sounds of I Know Leopard, the winners of triple j’s Unearthed comp and creators of infectiously sweet pop tunes. Similarly Sydney boy’s Mansionair delivered a mesmerisingly chill set including their calling card Hold Me Down.

Connan Mockasin enlisted Kirin J Callinan as his back-up singer/muscle, balancing upon Callinan’s shoulders as he played guitar. The rest of his back-up band were shirtless and vibing the chill psych grooves, probably the best descriptor of the guitar bands that played throughout the day. Then New York’s Perfect Pussy were just that, Meredith Graves wailing, bounding across the stage, all feminist power and energy. The only other rock performance from the day that even came close was the two lads from Royal Blood absolutely ripping into the Mistletone Stage (and Eagulls gave it a ripper go too). Incredible.

After all, Laneway was really all about the girls this year. Missouri-born Angel Olsen offered up a toothsome blend of indie-folk and old Southern style rock, picking up the pace on Forgiven/Forgotten and serenading the crowd with the cheerfully sad Hi-Five. Our own Courtney Barnett followed suit with her signature deadpan drawl and witty ramblings about asthma puffers and Pickles From The Jar. Songs from her recently announced debut record didn’t get the crowd singing along, not like History Eraser, but they did demonstrate that Barnett is one of our best exports, daring to write about her own experiences. The garage tinge to her live show is worth the price of admission alone.

Over to Mac DeMarco and his slacker vibes: the audience threw cigarettes up to him (an expensive show of admiration: as the day ended cigarettes became a rare, most prized commodity), while his guitar jangled through Salad Days. The Aussie contingent was then again well represented by the Perth lads from POND whose brand of high energy psych-rock (mostly from new record Man It Feels Like Space Again) left us all exhausted: too much time in the mosh and not enough beer to pick us up. The crowd was feverish, sweat pooling under singlets and summery caps, reaching out to the enigmatic frontman Nick Allbrook, who climbed on top of the speakers to close out the set.

Well you know what? Lykke’s loss was Laneway’s gain. Maidza slayed.



Yukimi Nagano, lead singer of Swedish progressive rockers Little Dragon easily captured the attention of those around her both audibly and visually. Dressed in a neon-pink dress, Nagano swirled and sashayed in top frontwoman form through a low-key, dreamy set characterised by Nagano’s warm vocals melting into constant waves of pulsating synths. 2011’s Ritual Union was a fan favourite during the set, and a cascading echo of fans clapping and dancing accompanied closer Klapp Klapp.

In January it was announced that Swedish singer Lykke Li could no longer make it to Laneway and was replaced by local up-and-coming rapper Tkay Maidza. Well you know what? Lykke’s loss was Laneway’s gain. Maidza slayed. From crowd favourite Brontosaurus to newer songs, Maidza had the crowd in the palm of her hand. The fabulously upbeat and catchy U-Huh ended one of the best sets at Laneway this year and had everyone thinking “Lykke who?” as they danced on.

FKA Twigs was like a goddess, gyrating along to her bass-heavy, rhythmic beats. Ache was tenderly mesmerising, and packed quite an emotional punch as FKA turned and twisted throughout the song in a heartrending way. Although Twigs and her outfit game are queen, the big, open stage didn’t really do justice to Water Me and even Two Weeks: her vocals seemed lost in the mix, a little muffled and lacklustre.

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Caribou. Pic by Josh Groom.

Then it was onto the highlight of the night, the eccentric mystery that is St Vincent. From the robotic voice message at the beginning of her set it was obvious that this was going to be a little weirder and left-of-centre than the rest of the day’s acts. Opening with the disconnected, almost Kraftwerk-esque Rattlesnake, the set continued like the weird boat ride in Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory: a little bit exciting, a little scary and a lot to take in. Digital Witness and Regret were treated to a little reworking to show off Annie Clark’s phenomenal guitar skills. Huey Newton showcased Clark’s natural talent vocally and lyrically and closer Bring Me Your Loves cemented her spot as one of the most charismatic and talented musicians around at the moment.

Then it was time to close off the night with a bit of a dance: whether you crammed into the Mistletone courtyard for Caribou or watched as Flight Facilities had their sound cut out; regardless of whether you checked out Flying Lotus or Jon Hopkins, you were in for a treat. The crowd roared with excitement, cramming into every nook and cranny and getting their grind on for a solid two hours, closing out an exhausting day.

Laneway you did so, so good this year. Although bones are sore and heads are hurting and the road to recovery may be a slightly long one for some (us, for us, we are at work today), it was so, so worth it. Until next year friend. Kudos.