Yet another St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has been and gone. The big fiesta down at Perth Cultural Centre in Northbridge brought along its usual friendly atmosphere, polite crowd and a splendourific mix of exciting acts. Empire of Perth went down to check out the vibe, chat to people, snap some shots and enjoy the oh-so-anticipated acts.
This year’s line-up featured The Drums, Active Child, Chairlift, Feist, M83, The Horrors, Toro Y Moi, Washed Out and SBTRKT, just to mention some of the main names. Needless to say, we’ve been very lucky having these international acts hitting our shores. We tried to catch them all, but unfortunately we’ve to admit we were unsuccessful in that regard. Read Sara Mattsson’s report from the day.
One of my first thoughts was: “there are so many well-dressed people here”. And there were. Everywhere. I came across some really funky outfits, hats and brighty coloured lips — and watches! I’m such a sucker for accessories.
Entering the festival just in time for Chairlift, I walked through the big crowd that had just watched the end of The Drums. The trio from Brooklyn, NY, had managed to draw a lot of people, that was for sure!
Caroline Polacheck, Chairlift
The electronic pop group Chairlift, also hailing from Brooklyn, consists of Caroline Polacheck and Patrick Wimberley. The set’s stand-out was Polacheck’s voice — it’s to die for. ‘Take it out on me’ from 11-tracker Something released this year was very well executed. The American singer sounded impeccable throughout the whole set. She looked pretty impeccable too, in her blue cropped top and big sunglasses. Apparently the band usually has a ”no-sunglasses-on-stage-rule”, but this hot and mostly sunny Saturday they had to contravene that rule. The duo got a loving reception when 2008′s “Bruises”, from debut album ‘Does You Inspire You’ (2009), was introduced.
My friends and I wandered around, checked out the surprisingly quiet markets and popped past the Spiegeltent where people were waiting for Total Control. I was expecting the tent to be unbearably hot, but as a matter of fact it was quite cool in there.
Outside, the heat had dropped a few degrees. Canadian Leslie Feist entered the Museum stage, and the energy this singer-songwriter busted out amazed me. Accompanied by the female folk trio Mountain Man, they together headed straight into our music hearts.
It was now time to make an assessment of the food. After warm recommendations from all my friends, I went for Govinda’s vegetarian food. $8 for a large portion of curry and rice — totally worth it. I bumped into an interesting duo in the line, two guys happy to chat. The fact that they then proceed to becoming my dinner company demonstrates one of the main features of the festival — the open and friendly atmosphere.
The clock had just passed 6.20pm, when I fell in love. Chaz Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi, — what a babe. This is a man to watch. On his first Perth visit the South Carolina native presented impressive productions, among them ‘New Beat’ and ‘Still Sound’ from his 2011′s Underneath the Pine album. His music can be categorized as a mix of electronic/synth-pop/funk, but he’s been mostly linked to the genre chillwave. What I like so much about his compositions is they can be both great breakfast company as well as played at the pre-party. A medium-sized crowd was dancing in front of the stage, and the rest (this writer included) sat down on the surrounding stairs chilling. By staying to watch the whole of Toro Y Moi’s set, I missed out on The Horrors. As every festival-goer knows, clashes are unavoidable. However this day, most of them were manageable thanks to the venues considerably small size and a well-organised timetable.
Anthony Gonzalez, M83
My friends and I made it down to the Museum stage about five minutes before the French synth-popper M83 were due to start. It turned out to be way too late, which equalled mission impossible to find a spot anywhere close to the stage. It was totally packed. Thankfully, Anthony Gonzalez put on a show that was both a feast for the ear and eye. They went through ‘Reunion’ from latest double album Hurry Up We’re Dreaming (2011) and ‘We Own the Sky’ from 2008’s album Saturdays = Youth among many more tracks. I got the feeling people got a bit sick of the packed crowd and started moving towards the Pica stage to catch Active Child. However as soon as the quite overplayed but insanely catchy ‘Midnight City’ started, people rushed back to dance along to the track that made it into #5 of Triple J’s Hottest 100’.
Active Child
Los Angeles lads Active Child put on a fine show. Starting off slowly with a distinct sound, the harp and Pat Grossi’s beautiful vocals were definitely the highlights from these dreamy synth-poppers. They rolled through ‘Playing House’, ‘You Are All I See’ and the Hottest 100’ favourite ‘Hanging On’ from You Are All I See of last year.
It struck me at one point later in the evening, after having experienced tunes from this wide-range of different genres, that the term ‘genre’ is dying. By taking a look at alternative and electronic music — the core of this festival — artists nowadays seem less keen on belonging to one genre. Instead they come up with new ones such as ‘chillwave’, and that puts you into an endless wonder: What on earth is that?
The final card (and my personal pick) SBTRKT, Aaron Jerome, featured soul vocalist Sampha. They had some technical difficulties as they prepared their launching track. The London producer has been labelled the ‘genre-everyman’, which proves my point mentioned above. Today’s technology compiled with a savvy generation is leading the way, but I feel quite confident in saying I do think we like it.
Sampha launched into the set with ‘Hold On’ and a powerful voice. They ticked off ‘Wildfire’, ‘Trials of The Past’ and ’Pharaos’ just to name a few from the highly praised self-titled LP of 2011. It was magical to see the mass move as the heavy bass in ‘Living Like I Do’ went through our veins. My favourite feature of the show was Sampha’s percussions addition. However, the 50 minutes the pair was allotted to entertain went all too quickly. All in all, the men-with-the-masks were such a perfect ending of the day.
I just have a few last words to add: For the significant amount of dollars we spend on a festival ticket, we expect a certain level of performance from all parts involved. We know exactly what we are after, and this year, I actually think we got it all. Nice vibe? Check. Brilliant performances? Check. Honestly, I would really like to give some constructive feedback, I just can’t come to think of anything. So, thumbs up Laneway!
Words: Sara Mattsson
Photography: Adam Leigh
AC Slater
Pacific Vibes
