Laneway Festival at Singapore 2011

LATEST UPDATE JANUARY 2014: 

For some strange reason, the photos no longer appear on this post. I am uncertain what has happened to them, but I reckon it's a Blogger issue. For photos of this beautiful island, please check out my photos on Facebook HERE. 


Dear friends,

If you’re a massive indie music fan like me, and love free-spirited concerts; and if you had to choose to go to just one concert in a year (if you really have to). Laneway Festival is where your money should be at. The deets: January 29, Saturday at Fort Canning Park.

Four simple reasons why:

1. It cost around 100SGD, about RM200 for a 10 hours concert. See that’s about RM20 for a set (up to 30 – 45 minutes depending on songs and solo pieces) when a one piece concert would usually have a set of just 45minutes, an hour tops (including intervals) to cost equally that much. If you really think about it, that’s a conjob.

2. It’s a bloody festival. That means eating fries and gulping down beers at 3PM on a Saturday while dancing is most welcome (DAMNENCOURAGEDSOMEMORE). Other concerts even restrict cameras like wtf?

3. It’s on a freaking massive field. About that time and age you literally dance in the rain instead of singing in drizzles infront of your house and say you did it. Jyeah right.

4. Let's just say... it was a massive festival:

Lineup for Sg’s Laneway Festival is as below (in order of appearance); Warpaint, Ladyhawke, Beach House, Deerhunter, Holy F@#k!, (!!!) chk chk chk, Yeasayer, Foals and The Temper Trap.

When Audrey told me about Laneway Festival, I was really excited and back then even though I knew about The Temper Trap, I admit I didn’t know ALL of their songs. But still, I wasn’t hesitant. I told her to get it because I’ve planned my holidays, and a concert festival to boot the holiday was definitely the kick I wanted.

That was about a month plus ago, and ever since I’ve started Youtubing the bands, I fell in love with especially 3/ 9 of the bands. I knew it was going to be epic.

Sleepy Audrey before the concert because we slept at what, 3.30AM and woke up at 9AM.

See I’ve never really used that word epic to describe anything cause I kinda don’t know what that word really depict, but thanks to Laneway I now know what epic means. Or looks like. It felt like it was a festival in a festival, and the best part was I really can’t think of anyone else who’d make the concert anymore epic than it was then spending and dancing and singing in the rain with AudreyLove and with uh, a kangaroo? Oh, that's Oliver (something, something) in red hat. That guy who hosts the Sony Cybershot show in AXN.

So the 3 bands that made me a million more excited to go than I already was were ; Warpaint, Foals and The Temper Trap.

Warpaint

Thanks to the multi talented hot foursome with their psychedeliic jams, I now know too what a girl crush means. I have a massive girl crush on Warpaint’s bassist. My God, she’s hot. The criteria to look ‘yeng’ in a band that are purely in my opinion would be ;

a. Personality (this is usually shallowly judged based on what they wear and their playfulness/showmanship on stage),

b. Hair (eccentric souls usually have out of the ordinary hairstyles, or maybe a twist)

c. Your performing aura (you know how sometimes some singers or performers have the best showmanship and they can make everyone jump from their seats?) Just that, x-factor aura you know?

d. And of course most importantly, how good their hands are with the strings. And yes, because you have all that, I love you Lindberg;

Hehehe yes I was abit stalkerish.

Warpaint as an intro act was epic. I thought I missed Elephant cause I was about a song late, but when they hit the first note for it as the last song I went nuts. Didn’t help that Lindberg was gorgeous as hell, I loved her and her style and her stage persona I was snapping her away on my trusty Lumix.

Ladyhawke

After the Warpaint, Audrey and I needed to redeem ourselves for being a song late. We squeezed in and we manage to get to right infront of the grand stand. Ladyhawke was dressed in all black, sleeveless shirt and skinnies. After a couple of songs we were very close to going deaf. We first found out about Ladyhawke back when we were in Adelaide. Most of the pubs were playing her song so we were pretty stoke for the set as well.

It was worth it!!

Beach House

Then there was the Beach House. Honestly, I don’t remember any of their songs prior to the festival. Abit uncool, but I was depending on their showmanship and of course jive to make me dance, and the main vocalist was a show herself. Covered in a bright green jacket, almost gender-unidentified she owned the board. Like others, this band has an electronica feel to it but compared to Foals, this has a more calm, cool and collected feel. I guess you know, they ARE the Beach House.

Right after this with deafened ears, growling stomach, dry throat, Salonpas-ed back, cold pale toe nails we decided we had to leave the precious spot or we will die out of suffocation or hunger, you know whichever. So we squeezed our way out for a couple of cold drinks and NACHOS. God bless their cheap filling food, we lasted till midnight with just that.

Then we found another spot. Somewhere much further but the entertainment we got from watching the hipsters and just about everyone else was basically priceless. Plus, we had a couple of seriously energetic cool Canadians behind us who so infectiously partied all night long, right up to getting topless by the end of the night.

Deerhunter

These two dudes were relaxing on the ground when the moment the band struck their first note, they jolted up.

A unique note to start maybe? You do not need to be stoned to feel stoned when you listen to their music. I mean yes this is an indie fest, but Deerhunter’s set was a whole new level. What is an opposite of delirium? Yeah that. Slow and eccentric in it’s own ways, Deerhunter (singer iteslf looks like a deer acc. to Audrey) started off with a great intro, minor vocal intrusions and ultimately really psychedellic. You will literally feel lost in their music. Because I kinda did. And shit, I didn't took a photo of them (the deer).

Holy Fuck!

An electronica band that has very minimum vocals. By minimum I mean three or five intrusions, usually sound like ‘aaaahhhh’, ‘yeaaaaah’. Long and autotuned. Not easily relatable but my God can they perform. Drums was good, bassist was good as well.

See the table tuner?

(!!!) chk chk chk

I know what you guys have in mind. How the hell do you say that? I didn’t know how to at first as well, I kept referring them as C-H-K as in letter by letter to Audrey when she makes the “chek-eh-chek-eh-chek” sound I was like, RIGHT OKAY. I really don’t know the functionality of the three exclaimation marks either. Erm how do I describe their music without using the word eccentric again. Well I guess it’s fresh. Main vocalist was a ball of energy. Trademarked this really cute odd dance, and it seems like he’s having so much of fun you’re in doubts whether he’s on something or not. And yes, did you notice he wore a really short, short pants that they look like boxers? Oh God, bojangles.

He terrorised the crowd as well, in a good way ‘cause everyone started groping him that time. Will I ever listen to their music? Of course, but that might requires alot of redbull maybe.

Yeasayer

This is a pretty awesome band.

I was pleasantly surprised. I knew most of the fans there went for the last three bands which were Yeasayer, Foals and The Temper Trap but I didn’t know what to expect from this particular band. Based in New York but infused with which I think abit of local indian beat (one of them is an Indian I think) the music is a rarity and they briefly remind me of alternative tribal music. Check them out.

Foals

And by far for me me the highlight of my night. I would like to pat my back for being able to discover Foals all by myself. Despite sounding like an alternative dance, the songs are considered transgressive, which actually when I think about it – yeah they were. Dark and twisted, the lyrics are ill but in celebration of death. The whole set made me love them a million times more musically wise. Brilliant guitar solos, brilliant drum solo, excellent vocals but when combined it becomes this slow headbang on an injection. Psychedellic and hazy.

The thing about Indie music that you will never get from big music productions is that they will not sound the same and they’re usually well, psychedellic. Because they’re not signed by big local music productions, they maintain a certain element of oddity and mysteriousness and non-main-stream-like (which are usually repetitive lyrics, similar like music beats and very simple and understanding lyrics). Indie’s don’t conform to these and some songs are subtlety violent that they're considered "not for all ages". Loved their set. PLEASE CHECK OUT THEIR MUSIC. You will not regret it.

The Temper Trap

Audrey was looking forward to The Temper Trap the most – I’m sure you guys have had heard of Sweet Disposition the soundtrack for (500) Days of Summer. I love the lyrics. I listen to their songs all the time, and I’ve always had The Temper Trap moments back in office so I know most of their songs. We were dancing and singing to it, it really felt like a dream.

You know, to be able to see the them live when all this while you’ve had it on records. The beat, the feel, the experience. Their songs are like fervented body shakers. Especially the drum beats.

There were a few more things I remember the most besides the epic lineup. The party people, which some went home bottomless, topless – at least less on some parts these people were crazy awesome sports throughout the festival rain, or no rain:

Really? Could you ever imagine people start undressing in a concert festival and mud sliding down on like what seemed like family park at 3PM? Really?! These people sure know how to party alright.

An awesome travel journalist who were killing me and Audrey slowly with his exciting travelling stories (hikling in Laos, living in Sumatra, boating to Sumatra, went to Nepal on and on) :

And last but not least, the chance to dance in the heaviest rain one could ever imagine. Actually the rain was playing a mockery on us, it rained really heavily during the sets and then die down completely during intervals, and the wind blew, then rain again, then stopped again. There was a point I was all soaked right to the undies. I was dry and then wet, dry and wet, dry wet, dry wet. I was literally shivering down my spine.

Look through my Facebook photos for that shitty wet photo of us - while I show you a non wet after party photo of me and my sweetest friend here hehehehe. I love you Audrey!

Okay, I plan to go to the Roskilde Festival in say 5-6 years time 'cause it's a 5 days festival, so that my friend is gonna be way crazy. Who's coming with me for that one?!

Love & peace,

Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.