Laneway Festival

It would seem that the organisers of the Laneway Festival were a bit greedy this year, cramming an extra fifteen-hundred people into the same space as last year, thus making the event one of the most poorly organised festivals I have ever been to. Barely being able to move through the packed crowd, being able to watch the bands perform was a luxury. It could have been a good evening considering the line up that was organised.

Kicking things off early was the all girl sensation Warpaint, and their brand of psychedelic indie rock, which after a few tracks became slightly boring. The sound did not vary and the songs seemed all meshed into one. Stornoway chilled things out a little with a set full of relaxed folk rock complete with some impressive banjo and violin work. The centre stage began to get quite rowdy as the slow thumping sounds of Beach house filled the air. Their alternative dance music was received quite well as the crowd began to energise and dance along. It was clear that there were a few people who had specifically come to see Two Door Cinema Club and the boys from Ireland did not disappoint. With a booming, clear sound they bounced their way through a set full of up beat indie pop which included big singles such as Something Good Can Work and Undercover Martyn.

One of the few acts I was able to see inside Fowlers was local Australian group, Cloud Control, who are still riding high off their Triple J Hottest 100 appearance. Once again, without much variance in their grunge rock inspired sound, the group mentioned that they were heading off overseas and that we should all "have a good year" insinuating that they would not be back for a while. The first highlight of the festival were New York's Yeasayer, who kicked off their performanc with the single O.N.E, which proved to be the loudest sing-a-long of the day. The band members were particularly talkative, sharing a story about how the police and sniffer dogs searched their backstage area ten minutes before they went on to play, and were very grateful for such a rambunctious crowd. The song every one was waiting for finally came at the very end of the set. Ambling Alp was quick to top the sing-a-long record set at the beginning of the show. Surprisingly, the only moment of the day when I was not crammed into a crowd was when Gotye took to the stage. They were, hands down, the most amazing performer of the festival. Opening the set with Eyes Wide Open, the three piece produced an astonishing sound full of weird effects and deep, creeping grooves. Giving a sneak peek into some new material, including a track called Smoke And Mirrors, Gotye confirmed that the new album will be truly magnificent. The day ended with a shockingly boring set from Cut Copy, who favoured their new unreleased material over the songs the fans know and love.

Although the differences between the acts were slight and the differences in their individual sound even slighter, there were a few stand out moments that saved the Laneway Festival from becoming a complete disaster.

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