Live Review: St Jerome's Laneway Festival

Pfft, Melbourne thought they had it bad – the move to Esplanade Park in 2014 may have meant Laneway Fremantle punters now only have one traditional ‘laneway’ for a stage, but my God, they’ll be thankful the oval had an abundance of trees protecting them from the sun on an absolute scorcher of a day (40 degrees in Perth!).

There were plenty of people undeterred by the heat though, and locals Dianas, who fit the Laneway vibe wonderfully, eased the early birds into the day with their dreamy pop sensibilities. Peter Bibby (& His Bottles Of Confidence) opened proceedings on the neighbouring Ferris Wheel stage, (the first stage named Ferris Bueller), and he won over the crowd easily with his oft-times crude and humorous storytelling. The local’s new album has become something of a cult hit among music circles, and the band received a cheer of recognition when they played through Hates My Boozin’. It was refreshing to hear Medicine performed with the help of a violin, while final track Cunt had people laughing and cheering all at once with references to the Midland train line and sleeping on a bench with a bottle of booze as your pillow.

Adelaide prodigy Tkay Maidza turned out to be one of the hits of the day, and little wonder – her energy on stage is sublime.

Over at the only stage that resided in an actual laneway, Sydney three-piece up-and-comers Mansionair dazzled the earlier festive committers of the day, with their take on electro-indie-pop. With a spooky vocal resemblance to the likes of fellow Sydney artist Matt Corby, accompanied with the hypnotic grooves of drum pads and keyboard, it’s no wonder that these fresh Goodbye Records recruits are soaring in their rapid rise to stardom.

The talented and fresh-faced 18-year-old from Atlanta, Raury, brought his intriguing blend of R&B, folk and rap, providing what was an energetic and certainly unique performance. Frequently referring to the audience as his “Indigo Children” and with his moderately successful attempts to have us imitate his odd-looking hand gestures, he was equal parts confusing and warmth. Ending on his hauntingly illustrious breakout single, God’s Whisper, was a strong and climactic finish to a powerful and distinctive performance.

SOHN delivered his abstract electronica down-tempo, along with his impressive vocal range to the delight of Laneway-goers. Having collaborated with the likes of Lana Del Rey and fellow Laneway delight BANKS, the London-born artist is undoubtedly in high demand. SOHN could have easily been mistaken for a Celtic druid on the day; in the blistering heat he was donning a drooping black get-up as well as expressing a very serious demeanour about things. A noteworthy but perhaps slightly contrived emotional performance, the Vienna-based producer was definitely worth a look-see.

Adelaide prodigy Tkay Maidza turned out to be one of the hits of the day, and little wonder – her energy on stage is sublime, not to mention her general persona is such that you can’t help but stand back, grinning in admiration (she’s only just turned 19), and simply having a good time because it’s so obvious that she is. Brontosaurus was an even bigger monster in a live setting, while Switch Lanes had people grooving all over the place. You had to chuckle wandering over to the Mistletone Stage, this scribe’s still getting used to the idea of there being pop-up barber shops at festivals (and people actually use them!), but I guess it provides a pretty good viewing spot of the action in the shade, and a hell of a lot of action it was when Perfect Pussy claimed the stage – the raw cymbal crashes combined with Meredith Graves’ frantic movements and vocals made for a highly exciting performance.

Norwegian indie-pop quintet Highasakite must have been dying up on the Ferris Bueller stage, but if they were struggling, they did a good job of hiding it. Ingrid Helene Håvik was supreme on vocals, her powerful voice rocking the audience out front of some awesomely impressive work from Kristoffer Lo, who was playing his guitar with a bow instead of a pick, a la Jimmy Page. Dune Rats brought the party to the Mistletone Stage, introducing beach balls and whole rolls of toilet paper to the rowdy crowd, who lapped up hits Dalai Lama Big Banana Marijuana, Fuck It and Superman. The band got carried away and mistimed cues on several occasions, but the beauty of a band like Dune Rats is no one gives a fuck, because it’s as much about fun as it is about the music with these guys, and they’re masters of both – we need more like them at festivals.

That said, the next two acts on that same stage were superb – Courtney Barnett kept the energy up with an energetic set, helped in part by her backing band; Pickles From The Jar and final track Avant Gardener were obviously standouts. But it was POND that put on the performance of the day. The local lads apologised about midway through the set for indulging in their latest work, but that mattered little to the crowd – they lapped up performances of Waiting Around For Grace and Elvis’ Flaming Star, but nothing – nothing – can produce such a rousing reaction as the band’s arguably biggest song, Giant Tortoise, with that riff (yeah, you know the one), producing a mini circle pit in the process.

Although the UK-based retro-future-funk sensation Jungle consists of just the super talented Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, the act transforms into an extraordinarily chaotic and eclectic seven-piece when they perform live. Putting a well needed modern spin on old school soul, the live ensemble gifted fans with their groovy rhythms and funky bass lines. Located at the aptly titled Ferris Wheel Stage (plonked directly next to Freo’s glorious giant and bright ferris wheel), the band proclaimed their unquenched desire for a swim afterwards and asked the audience which way the beach was, receiving a beautiful synchronicity of hands pointing west.

It was POND that put on the performance of the day.

You can understand where Mac DeMarco gets his cheekiness from – his mum, who has enjoyed travelling around the country on this tour came out on stage and worked the crowd up with one hell of an introduction for her son. He clambered out on stage and launched into Salad Days straight off the bat, urging the crowd (“I see a lotta people, but I don’t see any soul”) to get into the swing. They obliged, which perked up the man’s performance and level of interaction with the crowd, making plenty of quips and no doubt winning over a heap of fans in the process. Caribou was one of the most anticipated acts of the day, and the band delivered in spades. The bass coming out of the speakers was so loud and so deep that it made this reviewer’s eyes go blurry and likely bloodied many a pair of ears. The minimalistic tones had everyone grooving away at a consistent level throughout the set, and the genius himself, Dan Snaith, was all too happy to be up there providing the jams, smiling and waving and thanking people at every opportunity.

FKA Twigs polarised the crowd in the best way possible; half slow-danced to her mesmerising beats while the other half simply stood, transfixed, in awe of her killer dance moves. You could tell Twigs knew she had all the power, the audience in the palm of her hand, yet she was all too happy to thank everyone for their support and introduced the band. She showcased just how good she is in a live setting with popular tracks Video Girl and the pulsating Two Weeks leaving punters with a truly memorable performance stuck in their heads.

UK-based techno producer Jon Hopkins’ musical style has been described as an “intricate mesh of thumping drums, stunning sound design and gorgeous melodies” and that’s precisely what was conveyed on the night. Delivering almost zero interaction with the audience, the elusive and meticulous producer allowed the music to be his sole tool for communication. Hopkins animatedly turned knobs and cued buttons, truly immersing himself into his set, the audience having no qualms in doing the same. Predominately playing material from his critically acclaimed 2013 LP, Immunity, the set truly enchanted the audience with its delicate balance of calm and frenzied sound.

The ‘unpigeonholeable’ genre-destroying prodigy that is Flying Lotus never fails to bring innovation and pure ability to both his production and his live performances. Bringing his mind-blowing 3D visual show, Layer 3, Laneway-goers were blessed with a terrifying but gorgeous amalgamation of sound and images. A dangerous and morphing black and white virus of some sort, as well as blue and purple electricity, danced violently across the intimidating visual set-up, seamlessly matching the erratic nature of the percussion.

Flight Facilities are, in many ways, the perfect act to round out any festival for that matter – they kept the energy levels up late into Sunday night with all their best hits seamlessly blending into each other - no breaks required. Crave You, Clair De Lune and Down To Earth produced one last hurrah from the tired audience after a big day, with many punters still whistling along to Stand Still as they poured out the gates, keen to get home and crash into bed, content but dreading the start of the working week.