A lovely day for it, Laneway Festival came to the Footscray Community Centre in Melbourne this past Saturday. The threatened rain never showed and the only moisture that appeared was sweat from dancing (and waiting in front of very hot food trucks, but mainly dancing).
For those who arrived semi early they might have caught new cool band to watch, Drunk Mums. Not perturbed by the early slot or obviously hungover punters, Drunk Mums woke the crowd up with their take on 70s garage rock and got them excited for the day to come.
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart played at the ideal arrival time. Indie scene favourites, the vocals started off a bit quiet but the foursome’s enthusiasm was louder, lead singer Kip Berman in particular playing his guitar and moving around the stage with a raucous energy. The harmonies couldn’t have been improved and the majority of the crowd swayed along in appreciation. Popular songs from their debut album were met with applause but not dancing, most likely because the audience have danced enough over the years since. Even still, a satisfying mid afternoon set.
Austra was where the crowd was at, their Egyptian themed outfits and dancing exciting the audience into a frenzy of gyrating bodies. Clearly everyone present was a fan of last years hugely popular Feel It Break. Lead singer Katie Stelmanis was a blonde vision, her voice eclipsing everything else on stage (including some very enthusiastic dancers).
Laura Marling was a welcome change from the dance music. Such a talented songwriter, and a mature voice beyond her years, this is the main point many make about her but it really is inspiring to see in the flesh, a little blonde doll singing with such passion about life and love (surely she can’t know much about it, but you believe her, you can hear it in her voice). Just when she has finished a song that is country-inspired she turns into a pirate singing a sea shanty, and then suddenly she’s the lead singer in a travelling gypsy band. A solid backing band behind her, Laura lead them like a General heading into battle.
Meanwhile, Active Child was entertaining the crowd with exquisite ease and Girls were finishing up their set with the dreamy ‘Carolina.’ Portugal, the Man played some good old rock and roll, as welcome as seeing all your old buddies at a high school reunion. A downright awesome set, the crowd scrambled to get front and centre. ‘The Devil’ was played with brazen exuberance from the whole band, which the crowd joined in on. Have these guys seriously gone almost 6 years without much hype? Hopefully after that set some tickets are still left for their sideshows.
There was time to catch Ernest Greene from Washed Out DJ before Feist. Ernest played a smooth list of easygoing dance songs from the 80s to the present, drawing in the punters from the harsh sun. Many grabbed a free drink and a camera from Top Shop as Ernest threw a smile to anyone who danced more daringly than the humidity allowed in there. Afterwards Feist drew a huge crowd with her beautiful smile and skilled guitar playing. Not just a one hit wonder, this mega babe was playing before the hype and she’ll keep playing long after.
Everyone needs a bit of Chairlift in their life. Those who knew this headed to their set with a few potato swirls ready to dance. Easy to do, these guys are so cool, excellent vocals too, and the spookiest of electronic beats that brought the sun down.
The Horrors played a not surprisingly killer set. Talk about unassuming on stage, these guys are still some of the best going around (or for anyone who misses England in the 80s). Faris Badwan’s vocals echoed out into the crowd like a cult leader, as the rest of the band played placidly. The band has progressed to a less frightening sound than from their debut, a more palpable shoe gaze and much more welcome to a festival setting (e.g: Faris’s awesome voice). That sounds like they’ve ‘sold out,’ but not so, if you were there than you understand, but otherwise know that this band are paving their way to be one of the future greats. If you don’t think so then try and get ‘Still Life’ out of your head.
The playing times meant the crowd was running to catch half sets for most of the day, but with such a concrete lineup it was foolish to play favourites (it was hard to leave Active Child after ‘Hanging On’ in particular). Sadly the last sets came and it was a toss up between Washed Out and M83, wisely the first half of Washed Out was picked followed by M83 to finish, perfect. Washed Out played their easiest and breeziest (too match the cool change that came in) numbers for the crowd that was in no mood to stop dancing.
The best thing about Washed Out is how easy they make it look to have a good time, nothing fancy, no heavy bass to hide behind. How do they do it? Oh well, just keep dancing. Ernest Greene managed to squeeze in one slow number before getting right back into it. Hopefully they didn’t play ‘Feel it All Around’ because M83 had to be seen before the night was over. Good choice, what a sight the stage was, as tempting as the light at the end of a tunnel. This band has a presence on stage that other musicians should watch out for. Easily the biggest crowd draw for the whole day and with the loudest response. People were dancing all the way back to the Taco Truck. A curly haired blonde babe playing the cymbals provided most of the energy on stage as punters took this last opportunity to crowd surf before an epic saxophone solo brought the festival to an end.
– Hannah Joyner
