It doesn’t quite feel as much like summer without a nice music festival. St. Jerome’s Laneway started out as a Melbourne affair, but has spread to all of the major Australian cities including Brisbane and features a great lineup of promising and established talent with a modern sound.
We got a chance to see Methyl Ethel, Majical Cloudz, Japanese Wallpaper, Diiv, Health, Big Scary, The Internet, Battles, Violent Soho, Grimes, Chvrches and Purity Ring.
It was great getting back (or at least closer) to that old Lowlands vibe (thank the heavens for chips in cups!). From the poppy and booming Grimes to the experimental and attention-demanding Battles. With amazing performances like the drumming in Health, Battles and Big Scary to the promising talent and enthusiasm of young acts like Methyl Ethel. And unlike Lowlands, rain is actually a welcome refresher in the Brisbane weather.
And it’s nice to be able to fit in some personal favorites like Chvrches. More so because they were virtually exploding off of the stage with a performance that takes them from promising indie band to self-assured power act. It’s a rare thing when a concert feels both personal and fun, but also energetic and larger than life.
What stood out as typically Australian: a smoker’s section (no smoking in the concert tents); no sweets – just deep-fried and BBQ and a bit of ethnic food, but all savory; far less drunkenness, probably because of prohibitive alcohol prices; a distinct lack of weed smells; slightly more polite and generally happy looking audience; horrible Australian fashion sense extending to festival outfits, with many (too?) revealing outfits added on top for women; hotpants are back in full force; Australians clean up after themselves in daylight, but when night falls they make up for it.
De foto van de slapende Simone zit al in mijn album!