Laneway Festival 2010- Mumford + Sons.... Florence + the Machine ...etc etc

Stepping off the train at Fortitude Valley with a bunch of indie kids, silly youngens and general oldies the start of St Jeromes Laneway Festival was just a tad upsetting. Arriving at the gate which is yet again in the much less charming RNA showgrounds then its old location by the Zoo, it felt like a wet fish to the face when I heard that headliner, Echo and the Bunnymen, had cancelled. A whole heap of upset old people were trying for refunds as a storm rolled through the valley. Wet and a little terrified (which is how I like my punters) some youth jogged swiftly towards the stages for the start of the day.

U.S product Hockey kicked off on Stage 10 which had by far the most charm of all the stages on the day. Hockey brought an exciting punch of sound to hopefully lighten the day after the earlier disappointments..... Apart from the guys accent this is surely a band to watch.

Wild Beasts are hopefully waterproof as the heaviest rain and thunder bolt and lightening very very frightening hit the outdoor stage. A small crowd huddled under tree's to see the much hyped English product who didn't disappoint. It took only 2 songs for most of the crowd to move their indie swaying into the amassing puddles as the band rolled through a good set. Full of the catchy pop hooks and almost comedic vocal stylings the band brought some welcome energy to the earlier proceedings. .

Now to call a band a whore could be seen as a little harsh... however The Middle East seem to play every festival going this summer...but much like a good hooker they do it oh so well. A crowd who were mostly getting ready for the following act seemed to be drawn in to the beautiful melodies and bon iver esk vocals. Formative hit "Blood", which has got some impressive airplay in independent circles overseas, went off the hizzie yet again and new material shows much promise for a good year in 2010 for the local act.

The organizers of Laneway has this knack about them.... be it gypsy voodoo or good scouting but they can pick acts far in advance that will be huge when the festival comes around. They did it with Feist... they did it with Manchester Orchestra, and in 2010 they have done it again with Mumford and Sons. The biggest crowd of the day gathers on the main stage to see the impressively successful and apparently lorded Mumford and Sons. In what seems a cute touch the relatively unknown band in their home country set up their own gear the whole time receiving the loudest squeals of 'oh my god! oh my god!' this festival goer has ever heard. Upon a expectantly noisy entrance the band looked completely shocked, in their first ever show in Australia, as the crowd response was the best I have ever seen. The worrying amount of young girls going bonkers to lead singer Marcus Mumford could have been a dampener on the show however the huge chorus of a crowd only added another element to the already impressive show the band put on. Rolling through hits with style and grace the band left everyone happy and the showcasing of new material which sounded a little more rockabilly and less lovey dovey left fans wanting more. As is testament to the appeal of the band, set highlight "Little Lion Man" was oddly performed about three songs in and the mesmerized crowd hung around to see the rest of the set, still screaming lyrics until the very end.



It is not often that I am so totally conflicted with a timetable clash that I can't focus on what I'm watching. The lure of demented legend Daniel Johnston became too much as I quickly escaped the Mumford mosh and ran to see the end of his set. The mood quickly shifted from screaming glorification to quiet admiration as the small and unique crowd stood still in the misty rain with rye smiles filling their faces. Reading from his infamous songbook, Daniel recited songs from his illustrious catalog of simple, poetic and sometimes terrifying collection of folk ballads before being joined on stage by the full band. In what seemed a maniacal touch Daniel spouted morbid jokes at the crowd as he clearly struggled through his set, making it all the more special. There is nothing quite like watching a mind slowly break with every passionate, off tune, shriek Daniel hits and overall it is a harrowing ordeal. It is however reedeming to witness the real beauty and genius of the man who left us so long ago, and will be a gig that no-one in that small crowd will ever forget.

Sarah Blasko is beautiful... she is one of Australia's finest products and manages to provide her unique blend of ballad pop of high class with every performance. It is always a little upsetting when such a talented muso draws such a small crowd however the red bulls being consumed at the bar after Mumford and Sons allowed for the true fans to get a intimate performance out of her. Drifting away from older material (which makes me sad) she delivered all the new hits that did oh so very well in the Hottest 100 and left all her faithful fans happy now leaving on a 8 month adventure to the UK. Good luck Sarah.

The cancellation of British store-horse Echo ad the Bunnymen could have left a massive gap in the Laneway lineup to which it wouldn't recover but to fill this void prolific Melbourne instrumentalists the Dirty Three stepped in. Another silly timetable mistake put the highly successful trio; who mix folk melody with rock energy and stir in elements of classical, jazz and blues; before the current queen of indie pop Florence + the machine. Lead man Warren Ellis showed some impressive dance moves as they rocked through their 15 minute epics like "Life is fucked" and "Hope" however the majority of the crowd wern't moved. The Dirty Three hold the impressive accolade as the loudest gig I have ever seen. The crashing drums and shreiking violins forced many whiny, 18 year old Florence fans to spend the entire gig with fingers in ears... which brings me to my most important point of the day... FUCK YOU FINGER IN EAR FLORENCE FANS! have some respect! An amazing performance however let down by poor timetabling.

I have never seen such a girl orientated/lesbian/floral dress wearing nosebleed section n my time as was present for Florence + the Machine. The indie pop superstar has never toured Australia and made sure her fans here will be chasing her back again soon with one of the most visually pleasing and vocally impressive shows in Laneway history. 23 year-old Florence Welch glided on stage in her beautiful outfit as was hoped and proceeded to wow the crowd with hits off her highly successful 2009 release "Lungs". Hits Kiss with a fist, Cosmic Love and Drumming Song all sent the crowd bonkers however the trained pogo in Dog Days was a sure festival highlight. Florence displayed some vocal acrobatics to which place her in the highest regard of indie songstress's and some beautiful accompaniment on harp made the gig all the more special. Finishing with some trademark spinning dance moves, Rabbit Hearts left the crowd wanting more... and me wanting a piece of the sexiest legs in music...ever.



Overall the Laneway organizers are very very lucky. When a headliner cancels and a storm rolls in things can be fixed however some poor timetabling would have left sour tastes in many mouths if not for some stellar performances. Unfortunately by the looks Laneway will fall next year to another festival which gets bombarded with wanks who have nothing else to do on weekend and ruin it for us music lovers... but it has been a good ride.