Review: Laneway Festival at Wellington Park

Laneway Festival at Wellington Park
Sunday, February 12, 2023

Laneway Festival returned to Perth on Sunday for the first time since the summer of 2020, just before COVID turned everyone's world upside down and pretty much wiped music festivals off the map for several years. With a line-up boasting HAIM, Phoebe Bridgers, Fred Again and more, the festival sat alongside the recent Falls Fest as one of the biggest music events to go down in WA in years.

For its return edition, Laneway Festival had moved from its 'usual' home in Fremantle to Perth's recently revamped Wellington Park just east of the CBD. On a scorching February day with the temperature hitting the mid 30s, some may have been pining for more of the shade, and closeness to the 'Freo Doctor' that the previous locale had offered, but overall the space served its purpose well and will most likely continue to be used for festivals in the future.

Whereas some other festivals seem to cram in as many big acts as they can afford, Laneway have always done things a little differently. The festival always seemed to be created with a sharp curator's eye, instead including artists that serve to satisfy a punter's sense of discovery. This has paid off big time in the past, with some acts that were little known when the line-up were announced blowing up into international megastars by the time the festival arrived. Look no further than Perth's second ever Laneway in 2010 that had acts like Florence & the Machine and Mumford and Sons blow up to become some of the biggest acts in the world in the months before the festival.

Laneway 2023 seemed to have hit the nail on the head with a few this time round too. UK electronic artist Fred Again, Irish post-punks Fontaines DC, and US hardcore act Turnstile are just a few that have surged in popularity in the past six months, evident through Grammy nominations, high positions in triple j's Hottest 100 or releasing the most critically acclaimed albums of last year.

Possibly the most “hot right now" act of the festival, Fred Again delivered a set that showed why he is head and shoulders above other electronic acts, not just on the line-up but in the world. The 29 year old Brit, aka Frederick Gibson, played keys and sang live leading the massive crowd through the huge Turn On The Lights again.. The cameras often zoomed in on his sample pads giving an enchanting 'live' element to everything he did. He gave a shout-put to his producer Tony (“This is Tony, we love Tony") and said “I wrote this song in December," relating to Fred Again's unique method of recording and releasing music like a diary. In possibly the biggest crowd of the day, things hit new heights on the massive 2022 track Delilah (pull me out of this).

Also riding high on a wave of excellent new music, Fontaines DC lived up to the hype on the Born Sandy Devotional Stage. The title track Skinty Fia and Televised Mind got things pumped up, but what was remarkable was how the band could swing that energy into a more sombre tone, especially on the somewhat heavy-hearted How Cold Love Is and I Don't Belong. “Our usual guitarist Carlos (O'Connell) is not here because he's having baby," said frontman Grian Chatten, adding that he had been good enough to pick up a Brit Award on their behalf up there, and in one of the most wholesome moments of the day, he then dedicated the set to the absent band member and his new child.

Having recently been nominated at the Grammys, US punk/hard core act Turnstile actually didn't do the full circuit of Laneway dates, missing the festivals in Brisbane and Sydney to head to California for the awards. They didn't take anything home from three nominations but still, you can't blame them for taking such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Fortunately for Perth fans they were back for the last festival date and put on an absolute blinder of a set. The Baltimore act truly have their sound so well-honed it was captivating to witness, especially on the punchy closer TLC.

No one else on the day had the star power of LA sisters HAIM. The trio were introduced one at a time as they bounced onto the stage and dove straight into an unstoppable run of hits. All three HAIM sisters are supremely talented multi-instrumentalists, and every few songs they would switch to another instrument. Danielle's roaring guitar in My Song 5 showed their rock and roll side, while others showed them more funk and pop sounds. They thanked the crowd for being there on their first visit in nine years, saying “you guys have loved us from the jump." Este led the vocals on 3am and went down to the crowd, remarking how beautiful everyone was and how the “West Coast" was the “Best Coast." They then brought out their saxophonist who played a magnificent intro that led into the doo-wop melody of  Summer Girl, and on request, all the 'summer girls' in the crowd got on someone's shoulders for the song. The best thing about HAIM is when all three sisters harmonise together and all the back and forth between instruments seemed to mean they weren't doing it as often as you'd like. Their songs are so catchy though, the crowd were always helping sing along, especially on their brilliant Women in Music Part III high-point, The Steps.

Phoebe Bridgers on the big stage was a more subdued, yet still spectacular display. With Bridgers and fellow band members dressed in the signature skeleton outfits, and the stage decorated in fairy lights, there was a classy colour scheme that added to the emotive nature of the music. Motion Sickness and Kyoto had the crowd cheering, and songs shifted modes nicely when Bridgers changed instruments, such as her switch from a menacing looking B.C. Rich electric guitar to the piano, with vocals pairing up nicely on the chorus for Graceland Too. Bridgers then introduced the band, before finishing with the perfect closing track I Know the End.

Some of the other headliners didn't quite bring as much to the day. Just months after hitting Perth with his sister Billie Eilish, Finneas came into his own with a set of his original songs. His exceptional skills as a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer was evident with everything he touched. He donned the guitar on Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa then moved onto the piano for Angel, which had all the arms waving. On Medieval, you could identify his producer's approach to music with the rich interplay of drums and instruments, but the songs seemed to be lacking feeling, or coolness.

Girl in Red was basically the opposite. Her songs are simply bursting with melodies and people loved singing along to every word, but it was hard to ignore how short of the mark she is as a singer and lyricist. Nevertheless, the 23 year old Norwegian brought a lot of fun to the late arvo with hits like bad idea! and dead girl in the pool.

Making his name first as YouTuber (namely as the character Filthy Frank), Joji seemed comfortable just talking to the crowd and his fellow bandmates on stage as he was playing his songs. In his banter with the crowd he ended up being gifted a high vis vest, and the Japanese singer-songwriter thanked the gift-giver, ensuring he wouldn't be “fired by his boss" and joked he was glad he wouldn't be “hit by a truck onstage now." Some of Joji's songs feel achingly heartfelt, but seeing him live it was hard to be swept up in the moment when him and his bandmates stopped to banter with each other (or do a 'shoey') during tracks like Attention, Can't Get Over You and Glimpse of Us. Joji was possibly the most natural crowd-worker of the day, but when it feels like he's not taking his songs seriously it was hard for the audience to!

There were a handful of Aussie festival regulars that you knew what you were going to get from and they delivered. Jungle Giants and Mallrat have a stack of loyal fans who lapped up every moment of their sets. Sycco is another Aussie star on the rise, and her live set showed why with tunes like Ripple and Dribble already feeling like future classics. Lazy Eyes also got a chance to show what they were made of (after several cancelled planned visits to WA during the COVID years).

From overseas, there were a handful that shone above the rest.

With long hair and headbands, Back Seat Lovers looked like an old-school rock band, and the Utah quartet had the stage moves back it up too. They kicked off their set with Close Your Eyes before switching to the acoustic for Growing/Dying.

Slowthai was probably the best hip-hop act of the day. Slowthai brought his own kind of hard hitting beats to the stage. Wearing a 'BEWARE OF GOD' shirt, he split the crowd into Side A and Side B and led them in a chant: “Jerry's" “a c*nt." “Jerry's my engineer – he's at the back," Slowthai laughed, evidently finding it funnier than anyone else there. After his popular hit with Skepta, CANCELLED, Slowthai said it was his “last show of the festival," asking the crowd, “can we make it one to remember?" He then played Psycho, and its eerie violin hook was irresistible, as was the more fun and danceable hit Deal Wiv It.

Fellow UK product Yard Act were another highlight of the afternoon, doing well to play out a set of cool rocking songs while the fierce sun beat down on them.

As for surprises it was hard to go past 100 Gecs, who threw a party all of their own. Dressed as wizards with outrageous star hats, the duo bounced around sharing mic duties with the occasional vinyl scratches. The band's sound is a bizarre collision of Europop, hip-hop, pop-punk, hyperpop and more, yet they never sounded like they were trying to be anything but their weird selves. Even with no organic instruments on stage their live show felt as immediate and spontaneous as anything else on the day, particularly when they announced an upcoming new album (out March 17) and celebrated by smashing mallets into metal blocks until they splintered into pieces.

The electronic acts were valiant in keeping the dance floor pumping especially through the heat of the day, with Melbourne's Harvey Sutherland, New Zealand's Chaos in the CBD and Sydney's Logic 1000 leading scorching, sweaty dance floors.

The electronic and dance shows culminated on the Everything Ecstatic stage with a closing set from Ross from Friends, another electronic act that have surged in popularity in the past year, and catching them live it was clear to see why. The trio brought something different to each song as they mixed behind the desks with trippy visuals in the background. Sounding like something from an international food hall of dance music since the 90s, their set swung from DnB, to house, techno and more. They also picked up instruments during some songs, playing live bass guitar and saxophone which enhanced the variety in their set.

Overall Laneway's return was a resounding success and made for an enjoyable day for all. The quality of the main headliners and their performances were worth ticket price alone, but there seemed to be a little less discovering new and unusual acts than in previous editions of the festival.

BRAYDEN EDWARDS

Photos by Linda Dunjey and Adrian Thomson