St Jerome's Laneway Festival - Adelaide
10th February 2012
Words: Rob Lyon
Words: Rob Lyon
It’s hard to believe that St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2012 is over for another year. As each year rolls on the Festival continues to improve, carving out its own niche, creating something different compared to what else is out there. Laneway is not your typical festival out in a field or in the showgrounds but rather, in the most unlikely of spaces, with stages tucked in between buildings in small streets.
While not having big names like previous years, 2012’s line up was rock solid and what was quite clear was that a lot of research and planning went in to presenting a quality line up (and with some bands who wouldn’t ordinarily tour Adelaide). With plenty of great acts to see, a bit of a juggling was required to see as much as possible, but ultimately it shaped up for a great night.
The weather for most of the day was quite average, with rain looking to put a dampener on proceedings but fortunately, despite a few early showers, it held off for the most of the night. On a side note, it was interesting to see the sorts of ‘music fans’ that were attracted to Laneway, with plenty of hipsters, posers and scenesters their quota of photos to add to their Facebook profile, as their attention spans only lasted around five minutes.
Even with a smaller crowd than previous years, it was obvious that the layout of stages this year was a lot better (except for the George Street stage) with movement between stages being easier for the most part.
With gates opening at five-ish, most punters strolled down straight after work. For many, the night started out with New York duo Madelline Follin and Brian Oblivion, going under the guise of Cults. Their self-titled debut was a hit and touring as a five piece, the band brought it together well live. Changing up some of their songs to suit playing a five piece really worked for them, delivering a more aggressive sound than on record. With a shortish set there wasn’t a lot of time for dicking about and obvious highlights included Go Outside and The Curse.
With heavens above opening up again, fans scurried for shelter or made the quick dash over to the Court Yard Stage to see Chairlift. Chairlift, despite all the attention, seem to be one of those bands who are essentially take it or leave it, having a lot to prove especially to punters standing out in the rain to catch a glimpse. Opening with Sidewalk Safari and Take It Out On Me there were still quite a few arms remaining folded.
Yuck is the closest thing to a modern-day Pavement. Fuck they were great! The hipsters were out in force to witness one of the highlights from this year’s Laneway. Drummer Johnny Rogoff’s big hair was worth a look in a set that featured all their singles including The Wall, Georgia, Holing Out, Rubber and Get Away.
While not having big names like previous years, 2012’s line up was rock solid and what was quite clear was that a lot of research and planning went in to presenting a quality line up (and with some bands who wouldn’t ordinarily tour Adelaide). With plenty of great acts to see, a bit of a juggling was required to see as much as possible, but ultimately it shaped up for a great night.
The weather for most of the day was quite average, with rain looking to put a dampener on proceedings but fortunately, despite a few early showers, it held off for the most of the night. On a side note, it was interesting to see the sorts of ‘music fans’ that were attracted to Laneway, with plenty of hipsters, posers and scenesters their quota of photos to add to their Facebook profile, as their attention spans only lasted around five minutes.
Even with a smaller crowd than previous years, it was obvious that the layout of stages this year was a lot better (except for the George Street stage) with movement between stages being easier for the most part.
With gates opening at five-ish, most punters strolled down straight after work. For many, the night started out with New York duo Madelline Follin and Brian Oblivion, going under the guise of Cults. Their self-titled debut was a hit and touring as a five piece, the band brought it together well live. Changing up some of their songs to suit playing a five piece really worked for them, delivering a more aggressive sound than on record. With a shortish set there wasn’t a lot of time for dicking about and obvious highlights included Go Outside and The Curse.
With heavens above opening up again, fans scurried for shelter or made the quick dash over to the Court Yard Stage to see Chairlift. Chairlift, despite all the attention, seem to be one of those bands who are essentially take it or leave it, having a lot to prove especially to punters standing out in the rain to catch a glimpse. Opening with Sidewalk Safari and Take It Out On Me there were still quite a few arms remaining folded.
Yuck is the closest thing to a modern-day Pavement. Fuck they were great! The hipsters were out in force to witness one of the highlights from this year’s Laneway. Drummer Johnny Rogoff’s big hair was worth a look in a set that featured all their singles including The Wall, Georgia, Holing Out, Rubber and Get Away.
Another big highlight of the day was finally getting the chance to see Neil Finn’s band Pajama Club make their first appearance in Adelaide (and coincidentally the second to last show for drummer Alana Skyring who’s hanging up the sticks at tour’s end). Unfortunately, the Courtyard Stage had cleared out, leaving only the diehard fans to witness the brilliant performance. Kicking off with These Are Condition and From A Friend To A Friend it didn’t take the band long to hit top gear. There was plenty of Neil Finn banter in the set, including using the analogy of a “fart in an elevator, wrong on so many levels” to respond to a comment from keyboardist Sean Donnlly. Set highlights included David Bowie cover Moonage to coincide with the great man’s birthday, Daydream and a dedication of Golden Child to sons Elroy and Liam in New York. Tell Me What You Want was another great moment.
Laura Marling? Yawn! Next up, The Drums on the George Street Stage. If there was ever going to be an organisational disaster, this was where it was going to happen. Not a great deal of thought went in to putting these chaps in a location that didn’t pose a safety risk to those trying to get the best vantage point. Punters were scaling the walls and other crazy shenanigans in order to get close to the stage or even get a glimpse of the band. With no easy way in or out, it was just a enormous crush of people, leaving security personnel to scratch their heads and try to work the situation out. For some, it turned into a case of “fuck this, this is stupid”, retreating back to Fenn Place where the view was surprisingly good. Despite all the dramas, the Drums put on a great show. Hard to beat top-notch singles in the ilk of Me & The Moon and Let’s Go Surfing.
Laura Marling? Yawn! Next up, The Drums on the George Street Stage. If there was ever going to be an organisational disaster, this was where it was going to happen. Not a great deal of thought went in to putting these chaps in a location that didn’t pose a safety risk to those trying to get the best vantage point. Punters were scaling the walls and other crazy shenanigans in order to get close to the stage or even get a glimpse of the band. With no easy way in or out, it was just a enormous crush of people, leaving security personnel to scratch their heads and try to work the situation out. For some, it turned into a case of “fuck this, this is stupid”, retreating back to Fenn Place where the view was surprisingly good. Despite all the dramas, the Drums put on a great show. Hard to beat top-notch singles in the ilk of Me & The Moon and Let’s Go Surfing.
This year’s Laneway Festival belonged The Horrors who were, in short, outstanding. With three killer albums by way of Strange House, Primary Colours and Skying in the can it was going to be interesting to see which hits they were going to pull out. Opening with Endless Blue their sound was ear piercingly loud and front man Faris Badwan was in full control rarely putting a foot wrong. Adelaide fans were treated to a set featuring I Can See Through You, Scarlet Fields, Who Can Say, the awesome Still Life and closing with the epic Moving Further Away. The only down side to their show was the length of the set. Adelaide can only hope they come back for a club show and play longer than fifty minutes.
Laneway Festival 2012 proved to be a winner and some of the positives that stood out were the quality line up and improved layout of stages. Despite the negatives of the crush at the George Street stage, the hipsters, posers and scencesters who were there because it was cool to be, and excessive line ups for the loos, the night had plenty of highlights.
Laneway Festival 2012 proved to be a winner and some of the positives that stood out were the quality line up and improved layout of stages. Despite the negatives of the crush at the George Street stage, the hipsters, posers and scencesters who were there because it was cool to be, and excessive line ups for the loos, the night had plenty of highlights.