Lane Stage

St Jerome's Laneway Festival Special

The St Jerome’s Laneway Festival doesn’t tick the usual festival boxes. No field, no mud, no tents. No traffic bottlenecks driving in and out of the site. All in all: no fuss. Pandering to a city crowd (who, let’s face it, feel mild anxiety at the thought of being more than a kilometre away from a macchiato), Laneway espouses urban convenience alongside cutting-edge performances by a handpicked selection of artists shaping the crest of credibility at the time.

Unlike the larger festival productions (of the field variety), Laneway is beholden to the space challenges of interconnected laneways and underused urban spaces that normally cater to the likes of delivery vans and city workers. This gives the event a discovery factor, as you wind your way through narrow lanes in order to discover each stage. From the kudos-laden Stereolab to the perhaps as yet under-known but amazingly talented Dorian Concept, the crowd has complete faith in what Laneway will serve them up, a devotion that has seen Laneway grow from a single Melbournian lane in 2004 to the national sell-out (tickets, not taste) event that it was in 2009.

This year saw the return of the Red Bull Music Academy Radio Stage, bringing a credible electronic edge to the predominantly indie event. Taking a future focus on styles and sounds that push beyond the norm, the stage opted for boundary-pushing performances that included Harmonic 313, his moody electronic beats and UK basslines a stark contrast to his mild mannered on-stage persona. In contrast was the one-man party machine, Rusko. His boundless enthusiasm tore the virtual roof off the joint – the packed and jumping lane testament to the world domination of dubstep right now.

Proving that talent speaks volumes, Dorian Concept won thousands of new fans on this tour – head-down and fingers flying, he pied-pipered a crowd that possibly came to wait for Four Tet and instead found a new favourite. And speaking of Mr Kieran Hebden, he was an obvious stage filler and he did not disappoint taking the crowd on a techier than expected trip through his latest ep alongside some new material. Hermitude were equal measures quality music and tongue in cheek humour – a highlight being an unexpected vocodered version of Björk’s State Of Emergency. The Canyons were all about the boogie and psych cementing their rep as Australia’s disco dons, although Rambl gave them a run taking a deeper trip through soulful and jazz-inflected beats.

The bombast of the bass didn’t rule all day however, Peret Mako proving that delicate melodies are just as powerful as a thumping kick and snare. Giving the electronics a rest, El Guincho drummed and sang his way into many an Aussie heart. But it was Daedelus who wrapped up the event in true Willy Wonka dapper style, puppeteering the mass of sweaty fans with his magic electronic box of jackin’ techno and rave.

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Lane Stage
St Jerome's Laneway Festival Special