Review: Laneway Festival 2020
The biggest and most ambitious Laneway Festival to date.
St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has been an important part of the Australian summer festival circuit for many years, known for consistently bringing out the best upcoming international and Australian talent for all to enjoy. 15 years in, the festival continues to deliver and grow with this year’s iteration bringing out The 1975, Charlie XCX, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and many more. The Melbourne leg took place at Footscray Park on a beautiful summer day, and our team explored all there was to offer at Laneway 2020.
First stop on our planner was to head to the River Stage, alongside the Maribynong River, to catch punk-rock band Pist Idiots. The crowd, packed in numbers and not deterred by the early time slot, brought their A game as we enjoyed the mosh pit and good vibes as we bopped along to a range of the bands well-known hits, a new song and some crowd favourites. Special, Smile and Roundhouse were our favourite moments of the set, and the band kicked off what we knew was going to be a big day ahead of us.
Following the first mosh of the day, Omar Apollo came out in style on the Dean Turner stage. Real name Omar Velasco, the Mexican-American singer-songwriter performed his perfect blend of jazz, R&B, funk, alternative, soul and pop music to the enthusiastic crowd. Bringing us back to Earth, Omar wowwed us with his smooth vocals from albums Stereo (2018) and Friends (2019), as well as his incredible dance moves. Finishing the set strong, we were delighted to hear Unbothered, Brakelights, Hit Me Up, and break-through hit Ugotme. We hope to see Omar return to Australian shores soon enough.
The next set in the afternoon was delivered by Oliver Tree. Having done our research prior to attending the festival, this was one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the day, and Oliver made every moment count. From coming onto stage on a scooter, wearing a tracksuit and flare jeans, the American vocalist, producer and filmmaker from LA brought his band and bowl cut for an afternoon of fun. The genre-blurring genius who has been described as ‘part meme, part something less definable’ played tracks from his EP Alien Boy and debut album Ugly is Beautiful.
There was hip-hop, electronic, dance and pop music, wrapped into a magnificent stage show that involved a costume change, a punch on between band members, a bulletproof vest that read ‘Protect This Bowlcut’, a world-first performance of what turned out to be AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and finishing the set off with a scooter trick. Did we mention they also played music? Highlights included hit track Alien Boy, Hurt, Do You Feel Me and Miracle. There were things that occurred in the set that we never thought we’d see live on stage, and now, we’ve come to expect this level of theatrics from all future performers.
We headed back over to the Dean Turner stage to catch New Zealand indie-pop darling BENEE whose chill beats, hilarious stage presence and great tracks allowed for a continuous sing-a-long throughout the set. Wasting no time, BENEE performed Tough Guy, Wishful Thinking, Supalonely and Soaked in succession, winning over the crowd with ease. Performing tracks from EPs FIRE ON MARZZ and STELLA & STEVE, BENEE has already managed to become a local that Australians want to claim as their own. When she returns to Melbourne again, which she will, we would love to be there.
At this point, it was time for one of the biggest moments every punter had been waiting for; the chance to see Tones and I play a hometown show, after being booked out for the majority of 2020 performing some of the biggest festivals and shows around the world. The River Stage became as packed as the evening performances, as everyone gathered to see what all the hype has been about. The woman behind the music, Toni Watson, armed with her trusty keyboard and loop pedal, belted out her indie-pop tracks from her debut album The Kids Are Coming. Having won four out of eight nominations at the 2019 ARIA Music Awards, Tones and I has been the breakout artist of 2019, taking the world by storm.
Tones delivered an electrifying set, performing hits such as Never Seen The Rain, Johnny Run Away, The Kids Are Coming, and of course, Dance Monkey. The latter provided the biggest sing-a-long at the festival, possibly to date. There were also many surprises, with a cover of Flume and Chet Faker’s Drop The Game, Youth Group’s Forever Young (shout out to the OC!) and new single You’re So Fucking Cool. What was clear at the end of her set was that Tones and I is not going anywhere, and we look forward to seeing what 2020 will deliver for the Melbourne local.
At the next stage of the festival we faced our first clash, and decided to divide and conquer. Hatchie took on the Fishbowl stage, while Hockey Dad dominated the Dean Turner stage. Highlights from singer-songwriter Hatchie included her tracks Sure, Try, Obsessed and Stay With Me. The best moment of the afternoon was hearing Hatchie exclaim, ‘Melbourne, you always come out for us – even more than our hometown!’ Over on the Dean Turner stage, Hockey Dad turned up a wild set with their alt-rock antics; with frontman Zach Stephenson and fellow band member Billy Fleming performing one of the most enjoyable sets of the day. With a full backing band in tow, the live experience was enhanced and we partied on to Join The Club, I Wanna Be Everybody, new single I Missed Out and main single Seaweed.
Having seen DMA’s at their first ever show in Melbourne, it’s incredible to see what the trio from Sydney have managed to achieve in the following years. Excited to see them again at the River Stage, we followed the masses to hear Tommy O’Dell and crew play through tracks from their albums Hills End and For Now. Wanting the set to last the night, we enjoyed the time we had with the boys, and appreciated the chance to hear both old and new tracks. Play It Out, Silver, Delete and Lay Down were the stand outs – and DMA’s proved once again why they have a loyal following, both in Australia and internationally.
We headed over to the Future Classic stage to see The Chats – a band who have hit it big in the previous year and have grown a loyal fan base ready to enjoy their pub-rock in a festival setting. The first thing we noticed about the set was that it was the most amount of people we’d seen at this end of the festival in the entire day. The set had everything – a mosh pit, songs like Bus Money, Smoko and The Clap. The self-defined ‘best band in the world’ had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand, closing with an incredible rendition of Pub Feed with tour mates Bad//Dreems joining them for the ultimate Aussie banger.
At the conclusion of The Chats, we stuck around the Fishbowl Stage to see one of our favourite artists Stella Donnelly. We weren’t sure what to expect as a festival set, having seen Stella in intimate venues around Melbourne, but regardless, she delivered by opening with a solo performance of Mechanical Bull and a duet of Mosquito, after inviting her band to join her on stage for a wonderful performance. Synchronised dance moves and crowd participation for Die, bittersweet feels from Season’s Greetings, an important discussion with Boys Will Be Boys and even a cover of Dido’s Thank U. The ‘EDM machine’ that is Stella Donnelly (at one stage pretending to play Sandstorm), showed us what to expect from ‘Festival Stella’ and we loved every second.
We rushed back over to the main stages for one of the most incredible live bands known to Melbourne; King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. As the undisputed best named band known to date, frontman Stu Mackenzie and band returned for a hometown victory lap as they performed an entirely different set at each leg of Laneway Festival. Playing tracks from Infest the Rat’s Nest and Flying Microtonal Banana, we’ve learnt over time the best way to enjoy a Gizzard concert is to just roll with it. Their psychedalic visuals powered through their set, with highlights including Open Water, Rattlesnake, Planet B and Am I In Heaven? The strangest thing about seeing the band at a festival was not seeing them for 2-3 hours, as is common practice. Nonetheless, the band were the perfect choice as we transitioned to the night time and prepared for the headliners to take to the stage.
Preparing for the final set on the River Stage, we secured our spot in the front row to see Charli XCX bring her pop antics to Laneway Festival. Charli brought with her an impressive set up and production and captivated her audience by launching straight into Next Level Charli and I Love It. Cue a mass sing-a-long, while the energy continued to pulse as the crowd enjoyed Gone, White Merecedes and Vroom Vroom. The set featured heavily from albums Charli and Pop 2, continuing the party with I Got It, Boys, Unlock It, Girls Night Out and finishing with banger 1999. Charli brought the party to the next level and had everybody ready to close out the night in style.
It was now time for the headliners to join their fans, as The 1975 and frontman Matty Healy emerged to one of the loudest and most energetic crowds we’ve ever seen. Screaming their way through opening track People, they brought it right back down for Give Yourself A Try, TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME and Me & You Together Song, wooing the crowd off their feet and onto each others shoulders. The 1975 came prepared to prove they are headline material and performed an incredible range of new tracks from their album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships and old classics from their previous albums.
Highlights included It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You), Somebody Else, Love It If We Made It (featuring an introduction by Greta Thunberg), Chocolate and Sex. The energetic band finished on The Sound, as fans and punters alike were overjoyed at a wonderful end to the perfect day. From the incredible music, to the food and drink options, the lack of lines and the friendly people throughout the festival, Laneway Festival manages to prove once again how to have a good time as they put on one hell of a show.