The controversy surrounding festivals has become so frequent to the point where it is now tiresome. Thankfully, Laneway not only managed to stay out of the media, but also assembled a quality line-up of artists unlikely to cause strife – perhaps because they are firmly in the camp of the topical ‘Triple J approved sound’.
Although no longer in the centre of the CBD, public transport did a magnificent job at ferrying everyone to and from the new location in Fremantle. The weather was perfect and although the strong sea breeze was too cool for some, it took the heat out of the day
The carelessly fashionable, beautiful people filling the venue with their bucket hats and nose piercings, top knots, and tie-dye made for a polite and well-mannered crowd. It’s also worth mentioning that the event’s crew were efficient and avoided drawn out changeovers between acts, so this is a shout out to those troopers.
Disappointingly, the timetable hosted some frustrating clashes, including King Krule and Earl Sweatshirt, HAIM and Danny Brown, and Chvrches, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Jagwar Ma, so hard choices had to be made.
The Fremantle Esplanade lacks the titular laneway, so the spacious venue branched away from the park to include a side street beside Notre Dame University. This narrow chute packed the people in, leaving no room to ‘cut sick’, as such. Trying to get in or out required one to duck and weave and push and shove, but it was worth it to access the stage collaboratively curated by Future Classic (FC) and the Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA).
Rap legend Earl Sweatshirt kicked things off mid afternoon. Touring with fellow OFWGKTA members Taco Bennett on the decks and rapper Domo Genesis, the trio had fun on stage, delivering hits from albums Earl and Doris. Having seen him (metaphorically) destroy the Capitol during the tour Earlwolf with Tyler, The Creator last year, it was saddening to have to see a slightly frustrated Sweatshirt try and incite the surprisingly – and disappointingly – mellow crowd to get involved. One got the impression that they knew the lyrics word for word, but didn’t seem to want to move.
Genesis was an exciting addition, filling in for missing contributors and performing ‘Elimination Chamber’. He also shared his new, if not slightly repetitive, song ‘Hot Soup In My Motherf*ckin’ Bowl’, which he had the crowd roaring back at him before launching into Mellow High track ‘Yu (Remix)’.
Highlights included singalongs to choice phrases such as, ‘I’ll f*ck the freckles off your face’ in ‘Molasses’, the 12th track off Doris.
Racing off to James Keogh, aka Vance Joy, proved a transition as jarring as Brad Pitt’s sudden penchant for facial hair.
The emotion-laden lyrics of his folky goodness had the smattering of couples in the huge crowd slow dancing. Operating with drums, keyboard, and bass in support, the Hottest 100 king stuttered through some crowd interaction before thankfully launching into ‘Snaggletooth’, ‘Play With Fire’, and new track ‘All I Ever Wanted’, which remain firmly within the tradition of his oeuvre. Switching between a guitar and his iconic ukulele, he concluded with ‘Riptide’ accompanied by an epic singalong.
American producer Marcel Everett, known as XXYYXX, played some interesting and unusual sounds that had people dancing, but unfortunately he elected for a slower finish, one that was lost on the crowd.
Cashmere Cat, aka Norwegian Magnus Høiberg, immediately followed with big drops. Surprisingly, the sullen, nervous looking youth pulled his hood low and seemed to ignore the audience. Interspersing the clever, futuristic r n’ b from his 2012 debut EP Mirror Maru with Beyoncé’s ‘Drunk In Love’, Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’, and festival favourite Kanye West’s ‘Bound 2’, the producer/DJ/turntablist did not engage in stage theatrics, but got people dancing nonetheless.
Franz Ferdinand vocalist Alex Kapranos once told The Observer that his band made “music for girls to dance to”. Danny Brown makes music for bros to get pumped to. The 32-year-old King of Detroit served Laneway with a healthy portion of spank, intensely rapping in his iconic, high-pitched voice about molly and blunts for 45 sweaty, raucous minutes.
Undeniably the festival highlight, his cheeky and inventive escalations of the standard rap boasts had punters losing their cool, forming a circle of death (which is unusual for Laneway). Thankfully, his setlist included material from his fantastic 2011 release XXX, including ‘Monopoly’, but unfortunately not ‘Adderall Admiral’. As expected, hits ‘Dip,’ ‘Kush Coma’, ‘25 Bucks’, featuring lovely vocals from Purity Ring’s Megan James, and ‘Smokin & Drinkin’ from his 2013 release Old went off.
Seeing Brown meant missing Haim, which was disappointing as punters were raving about their set.
Although Jagwar Ma’s track ‘Uncertainty’ is a seriously good tune, Glaswegian three-piece Chvrches won the clash battle. The electro-indie rockers were album perfect, and technically strong rather than high-energy performers. Angelic lead vocalist Lauren Mayberry had hearts skipping as her mesmeric voice took the crowd to a place of unadulterated pleasure. The Bones Of What You Believe is a killer album bursting with hits, but following ‘Recover’ with ‘Tether’ was the high point of the entire festival.
It’s hard to remember a time when Grammy award-winning teen superstar Ella Yelich-O’Connor, better known as Lorde, wasn’t a ‘thing’. With a crowd forming an hour before she hit the stage, the 17-year-old drew a sea of humanity for her headline timeslot. Backed by a tight rhythm section dressed in white, she delved into the hits from her debut record, Pure Heroine.
Convulsing like a woman possessed and flapping her arms like she might take flight, Lorde was the most energetic of the day’s mellower acts. In a subversive move, she chose not to save her Hottest 100 runner-up megahit ‘Royals’ for the finale, and instead played this mid set. While her cover of Kanye West’s ‘Hold My Liquor’ didn’t quite hit the mark, overall her performance was strong.
Despite numerous punters complaining about one thing or another, on the whole the day was a resounding success. Bring on next year!
