Live Review: Laneway Festival

When your glasses break in the moshpit at a festival, after only being there for ten minutes, you know you're in for a big one.

Laneway Festival at Harts Mill in Adelaide is renowned for always being a scorching 40 degrees and for showcasing some of the world's freshest crop of talent. This year's Laneway was unlike the others — the weather was strangely tolerable, there were excessive amounts of glitter and the acts were satisfyingly wild.  

South Australian sweetheart and triple j Unearthed awardee Lonelyspeck, aka Sione Teumohenga, absolutely killed their early-bird set with some ethereal tracks from their upcoming EP, Lave. After witnessing Lonelyspeck shudder softly into the microphone on tracks like All My Skin On The Air, up-and-comer Julia Jacklin was plucking her guitar and melting punters' hearts from another stage. Drawn to those indie-pop chops, men thrust their tinnies into the air as Jacklin crooned to warped tracks like Don't Let The Kids Win and Pool Party.  

The '80s synth-pop dream team GL busted out some burners from their debut album, Touch, to a small-yet-dedicated crowd. As the Melbourne duo produced some dancefloor magic — charging those gritty synths and brilliantly ostentatious outfits — people began to stream through the gates and fill up the empty concrete spaces. By the time the UK funk-soul queen NAO began her set, there was a crowd. While balancing crunchy beats and a groove-fuelled flow, NAO kept (her) cool through tracks like Fool To Love while festivalgoers (caked in glitter) staggered to the lyrics.

Aurora brought a slice of Norway to the main stage. Backdropped by a forest, the nymph-like performer trod delicately over electro-pop tracks like Running With Wolves before telling the crowd to "put some sun cream on". Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins similarly told his fans to "drink more water", literally and metaphorically, as he trapped his way through tracks like Jazz and Spread Love while yelling at the moshpit, "Water is knowledge, and water is truth". A truly remarkable musician, Jenkins laid down some true love in the Australian heat.

Indigenous Australian hip-hop twosome AB Original also brought some heavy truth. With the Indigenous flag pinned to the back of the stage, and an Australian flag questionably draped under Briggs' hat, the dynamite duo slammed tracks like 2 Black 2 Strong and chants of "no justice no peace" while The Funkoars rapper dropped some brutal racial plugs ("You slept at your mum's? The concierge didn't even let me check into my hotel").

As the AB boys killed and chilled, Clams Casino's overwhelmingly wet bass began to permeate into the grounds. Above the ambient samples, trap loops and sea of bobbing limbs, someone even said: "Clams Casino was totally the white dude who knew he couldn't rap, so he just ended up making sick beats instead." He's not wrong. As Clams moved through weighty tracks like I'm God and All Nite, he mastered the crowd with multiple drones and recorded vocals. As the vape clouds settled, the New Jersey producer certainly wasn't afraid to use a monstrous amount of bass to match the mood.

Suddenly, the raw chorus of Dalai Lama, Big Banana, Marijuana cut through the Mill. Queensland's grunge-fuelled Dune Rats played their newly released anthem to a Laneway crowd that defiantly threw around glitter-lined braids and carelessly spilled frothies on their party shirts. But the Dunies reciprocated. They fittingly altered those lyrics to "Marijuana" on repeat, and the glitter/beer chaos ensued.

Just as the sun was beginning to disappear, American ambient outfit Tycho brought some seriously colourful techno to the main stage. As the four-piece played tracks like A Walk and Coastal Brake, punters nodded in peaceful unison to the welcoming progressions and luminous riffs. In the perfect follow-up, UK producer and jazz don Floating Points — accompanied by his devastatingly talented live band — then started their hypnotic set. Complemented by some hefty Da Vinci-looking visuals, their glossy electronic tracks bent into one another, broken by guitar-shredding solos and rich dynamics. Moving between four-to-the-floor dancefloor bangers and pure atmospheric layers, the versatility in Floating Points' set was unreal.

Tame Impala was and always will be one of Australia's best musical exports. The psychedelic pop-rock powerhouse, and Laneway headliners, opened their stellar performance with mesmerising lights, echoey vocals, confetti, screaming (from punters), crying (also from punters) and everything in between. The Perth five-piece played all the bangers — The Less I Know The Better, Let It Happen, Apocalypse Dreams, Feels Like We Only Go Backwards, Elephant — to an explosion of dancing and sheer ecstasy. The confetti didn't stop coming, either. Every time Kevin Parker would let rip a killer riff, more paper would blast kaleidoscopic colour 200 feet into the air.

As the confetti was just beginning to settle, Sampa The Great had already showed off what she could do. Accompanied by a powerful group of back-up singers, the Adelaide local cruised her way through some enchanting soul-imbued hip hop that screamed strength and sass. As she sashayed through Blue Boss and Weoo, the crowd moved their fingers and jumped around to her every whim. 

Gabriel Winterfield, from Jagwar Ma, has weaponised vocals. The psychedelic Sydney band crystallised their set with infectious electro- and boogie-fuelled tunes, which moved everyone to the front of the stage, itching to wear out the tread on their trainers. 

But then the lights came on, it was 11.30pm and it was over.

Laneway 2017 was eclectic, electric and remarkable. Although this year's line-up tapered into more mainstream territory, the audience was gripped by the glitter, guts and determination of the performers, who looked like they were having a ridiculously good time as well. And with geniuses like Tame Impala and Flying Points on the same bill, who could ever compete?