Festival Review: St Jerome's Laneway Festival

On February 8th, 2013, Adelaide Laneways were graced with the likes of The Rubens, Flume, The Japandroids, of Monsters and Men, Bat for Lashes, Chet Faker, Alpine, Alt-J  and many many more musicians, both local and international for the St Jerome's Laneway Festival. 

A smorgasbord of indie / folk/ rock acts assured that the event was a sell-out with many punters arriving before 5pm to enter the venue, suss out the situation and plan their attacks on how they would venture from stage to stage to see their favourite acts. (time of course would assure that this was not up to individuals but rather the incompetent security staff and systems put in place by event management.)

The Divine Fits - up close and personal

Nat and Brit - Awesome!
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But first; the music.  Whilst many were unfortunately unable to access stages to watch musicians play (we thought this is what the $120.00 was for?...) this music blogger, was more fortunately familiar with the venue and "laneways" and was one of the lucky ones.  Alpine were first on the agenda - drawing in a reasonably sized crowd it was clear from the get-go that many festival goers were those who listened to entire albums rather than the singles alone.  Dancing and singing along was madatory and the Alpine singers Phoebe Baker and Lou James were flawless - the bands live rendition of their biggest hit "Gasoline" was pure bliss to listen to. 

Next, we caught Yeasayer, Cloud Nothings, Chet Faker, The Rubens, Of Monsters and Men, Flume, Japandroids (AMAZING), A little bit of Alt-J, a little bit of Bat for Lashes and finished then night with the Divine Fits - Cudos to Miss Natalie (who often writes album reviews for RTM), who managed to sneak backstage to hang out with non-other than front man Britt Daniels.  

image: boudist.com

All artists were incredible, performing to a tee - This was the fourth time I had seen The Rubens (although at about 5'5" I use the word "seen" loosely) and the boys did it again, melting hearts or girls (and likely guys!) everywhere.

Unsure of what Flume would play and how he would perform, it quickly became evident that this young DJ has established his own sound signature as well as cult following.   His mellow beats and remixes are surprisingly refreshing in comparison to the dance music played on commercial stations, and it's for this reason it's a safe call to say that the best of Flume is yet to come.

Japandroids were my personal highlight and I think it was because this was an unplanned band to see - although in the lead up, many people had nothing but good things to say.  I was so impressed by the stage presence that the two (yes only TWO) band members gave off, and the racket of rock and roll noise they produced. 

the not so great wall of weslo.

Overall the music was fantastic and the line up did not disappoint.  The venue, security and management of the event however was poorly executed and even behaviour from SAPOL was misunderstood by the crowd, who by comparison to other music festivals were not that bad.  I witnessed one of the two arrests on the day which "required" 3 police officers and 2 security guards to aggressively pin down a young male who did not appear to be resisting in any way.  It was unclear why this arrest took place, including by fellow policemen who were clearly more flustered and panicky than general crowd members.  Further  embarrassment to the Adelaide festival is highlighted in today's Indaily, which reads:

"The locked gates meant the smaller stage inside Fowlers Live emptied out quickly and Brooklyn punk act The Men played to no more than 15 people on their first trip to Australia."

How the crowd control was conducted remains a questions for the authorities, however this was clearly a foreseeable problem considering the calibre of acts performing, in the highly condensed time table, in incredibly small locations.  An alternative to the City West Campus? Perhaps the Adelaide Show grounds.  Sure the "Laneway" concept is novel, however realistically this is people's safety we're talking about, and providing a product that is promised upon purchase of the ticket.  And the Showgrounds have plenty of "Laneway-esk" nooks and crannys more suitable for a 4000 people event.

Scathing reviews of the festival's management have flooded the internet with many vouching that next year they will be attending the festival in another state. 

The Divine Fits

I always say an event is what you choose to make it.  I enjoyed Laneway.  I had a good time with my friends listening to great music.  Money's worth? Perhaps not.  Unfortunately, I believe the Adelaide leg of this festival failed to deliver in many areas for both audience and artists, but I put this as a challenge to the event organisers and look forward to seeing how they will improve this 'boutique' festival in 2014.