Photography by Joshua Braybrook
Across a decade of expansion, Laneway Festival has become an international signifier of essential music, often booking acts just before they break globally.
I’d been wanting to attend St Jerome’s Laneway Festival for quite a few years now. Having previously hosted everyone from Lorde to Billie Eilish, it’s an event that has become renowned for not only showcasing some of the best up-and-coming artists around, but as an event that also acts as a springboard for artists to attain attention from Aussie crowds.
Meaning that when the 2023 lineup dropped, spanning a multitude of genres, whilst also being stacked with some of the most innovative and in demand artists around the world at the moment, my excitement levels couldn’t be contained. A sentiment that I was not alone in, with many punters revelling over the chance to finally see the likes of HAIM, Joji and Finneas live in the flesh. Although, whilst those acts were certainly the headliners of the event, and by all accounts were phenomenal in their performances, they weren’t the acts that got me ecstatic when I first saw the lineup, that stemmed from realising I would finally get the chance to see the likes of Turnstile and Fontaines D.C live.
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So before the annoyed pop enthusiasts comment to let me know that I didn’t see- ‘insert name here’, I know. But that’s the beauty of multiple stage festivals, they appeal to a variety of demographics and fanbases, meaning everyone in attendance ultimately ends up seeing different acts to one another. So this is MY Laneway. Sure, it may go against the grain to the standard festival goer, but honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing.
After a lightning storm resulted in a forced cancelation of Harvey Sutherland’s set at Loch Hart Music Festival, it was pretty amazing to finally see his new material live. Having gone a more Todd Terje inspired disco route on his newest release, Boy, Sutherland provided vibrant, upbeat disco grooves that got punters moving early on in the day. Playing a mixture of old and newer singles, Sutherland tore through tracks like Jouissance, Age of Acceleration and Clarity, as well as a blistering cover of Party Dozen’s ‘Fruits Of Labour,’ which saw his expansive synth set up getting a solid flogging in the process.
Yard Act has to be one of the most intriguing groups around at the moment. As one of the only English post-punk outfits to not be affiliated with the emerging ‘Windmill Scene’ (Shame, Black Midi, Squid), Yard Act mark themselves as one of the few up and coming punk outfits to seemingly not be embraced by their peers. They have however, received endorsements from the likes of Elton John, who re-recorded one of the group’s biggest hits as a featured guest vocalist. Making them a bit of an outlier within the current day punk scene.
Well, fair to say I’m team Elton because the Leeds based group were absolutely phenomenal. With ‘The Overload’ sitting as their highest streamed single, it made for a surprising opening track, but it was a move that the crowd loved, with people immediately singing along and opening up the first mosh of the day. Dead Horse, Fixer Upper and Land Of the Blind made for welcomed additions to the set, as did a surprise cover of Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s ‘Which Way To Go.’ With vocalist James adopting a spoken word approach reminiscent of The Falls’ Mark E Smith for 100% Endurance, Yard Act marked themselves as an incredibly unique live outfit, clearly leaving an impression on old and new Aussie fans alike.
Having seen (and been blown away) by the Fontaines D.C.’s headline show at The Forum, it was pretty cool seeing how the Dubliners adapted to a much shorter festival time slot. Merging a 90 minute set into a 50 minute set time is almost an impossible feat, but yet, Fontaine pulled it off with ease. Dropping most of the slower tempo songs from the setlist to play their more punk rooted material, Fontaines absolutely blew through their set, wasting no time in between songs to chat to the crowd. Opening with crowd favourite A Lucid Dream, Fontaines’ quickly blasted into Sha Sha Sha, Roman Holiday and Televised Mind, with each song gaining an even greater crowd response than its predecessor. Big inevitably garnered the wildest crowd reception, with punters going into a frenzy when Tom Coll first teased the song’s distinctive drum beat. Performing with an nonchalant demeanour and a clear appreciation for the crowd, Fontaines made up for lost time, proving exactly why Aussie fans have had such a warranted excitement for seeing them over the past few years.
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Up next was Fred Again, the English based producer who has seemingly come from the darker alcoves of the UK club scene to become one of the most in demand artists in the world. In fact, Fred is currently so damn in demand that he was the only artist to be booked the 7-8pm time slot. As you can imagine, the entire festival was in attendance, but boy, that only increased the vibes, with a literal sea of people singing and dancing as Fred dropped hits such as Jungle, Rumble, Delilah and Turn On The Lights. With a clear prowess on beat pads and an incredible visual show that saw each feature artist’s face appear on the big screen, Fred Again absolutely dazzled the crowd, winning over a slew of naysayers on his way. Although, hype doesn’t always lead to originality, and whilst Fred is undoubtedly an incredible producer, his utilisation and technical abilities behind a beatpad weren’t necessarily any more notable than the likes of KiNK, Ceephax Acid Crew or Reiner Zonneveld. If you’re one of the people that is currently all aboard the Fred Again hype train, maybe give some of these other acts a shot as you’ll probably find something you like.
Having made a name for himself as one of the artists spearheading the modern UK rap scene, slowthai certainly lived up to the hype. Donning the stage in a matching tracksuit that evoked the imagery of an Australian prisoner, slowthai tore through his set with a ferocious energy, barely stopping in between songs to let punters catch their breath. As one of the many acts to cause hysteria upon being announced for Laneway, slowthai proved exactly why he’s such an exciting artist, with the English based rapper leaving fans in awe as he dropped hits such as ‘Selfish’, ‘Momentary Bliss’, ‘Doorman’ and ‘Inglorious’.
Now for the moment we had all been waiting for (or at least, the moment the hardcore kids had been waiting for), Turnstile hit the stage to close the night. If you’ve ever come across footage of their live shows on Youtube, you know this was not one to be missed. There was an energy evident before the band even hit the stage, but from the moment the riff to Mystery came in, it was on; crowd surfers were flying over the barrier at a rapid rate, the pit opening up to be the size of a football oval and the singalongs were deafening. ‘Real Thing’ garnered an insane reception, as did Underwater Boi, which gave way to some of the loudest singalongs of the night. Closing with ‘Holiday’ and ‘T.L.C’ – the vibes couldn’t have been higher, with fans giving it their absolute all from the second that the bassline was introduced to the moment TLC’s harmonious singalong rounded out the night. It was truly an unforgettable set, and the perfect round out to a downright incredible day.
