After the news of angry fans lining up for hours at the Melbourne St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, I was a little nervous about what to expect from the Sydney staging of the event this year. I have very fond memories of Laneway last year, because it was so completely different to any festival I had been to before, and provided an ideal stage to showcase some great up and coming Australian bands.
The good news is my fears were not to be realised, as the Sydney organisers had clearly learnt their lessons from the Melbourne fiasco, and worked hard to make sure things were running as smoothly as possible. That's not to say there weren't lines...The Basement, the famous jazz and blues club and one indoor stage for the day, was a bottleneck throughout the whole festival and you had to be pretty dedicated to a band to stick around and wait. But all in all, the crowds were nowhere near enough to put a dampener on the day.
The Sydney version of the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, originally a strictly Melbourne item that has now become a national roadshow, is set in the heart of the city - tucked in behind Circular Quay at Reilby Place. The joy of this festival is that it relishes in the urban surroundings, and mixes together the grittiness and gloss of city living.
But of course the reason I was at the festival was for the music, and it was definitely worth the entry ticket. Philadelphia Grand Jury and The John Steel Singers were great bands to kick off the day, and other highlights for me were Tame Impala and Cut Off Your Hands.
The headliners for the festival were Architecture in Helsinki, followed by Girl Talk. Architecture put on a powerful and always energetic performance, bringing a new take to their hits songs from the back catalogue, a few interesting covers (Ain't Nothing Going To Break My Stride) as well as giving us a taste of things to come with That Beep.
With the energy running high, the crowd shifted into the laneway stage of Reilby Place for Girl Talk. I must confess I haven't been the biggest fan of Girl Talk when he has released albums, but the songs always have a 'party starter' feel to them. But as a live act, he was fantastic. Playing an hour long set, he brought together music from across a wide range of genres to make music that you just had to dance to...and he didn't stop playing for that full hour (which, of course, meant the dancing also was an hour long. By the end my legs were killing me, but it was some good exercise...maybe Girl Talk can bring out a workout album next?)
Despite a few minor drawbacks, the Laneway Festival lived up to, and in many ways exceeded my expectations. Food was typical festival fare, and alcohol was sold at a typical festival price, but I recommend it to anyone in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, or Perth, and you can bet that I will be back there again next year.
CB
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