Tuesday, 23 February 2010 11:55
Accommodating two stages; eighteen bands; and 5,000 indie music fans in central Auckland was never going to be the easiest of tasks - but props to the organisers of St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival for taking on the challenge. It’s about time there was something to give Mount Smart Stadium’s annual Big Day Out a run for its money, and Laneway’s alternative inclination means it’s the perfect foil for the BDO’s Top 40 offerings. Indeed, the event’s New Zealand debut, held on the first of February at Britomart Square, attracted a sell-out crowd, thanks to the pulling power of headlining acts Echo and The Bunnymen, The xx, and Florence and The Machine.
Gates opened at noon, with a selection of New Zealand’s best bands to kick off the event: up-and-comers Street Chant, Dear Time's Waste, The Naked and Famous, and Surf City, alongside old hands Family Cactus, Bachelorette, and The Phoenix Foundation. Synth-pop group The Naked and Famous underlined their reputation of being ‘ones to watch’ with their stirring set, which included their recent hits ‘All Of This’ and ‘Serenade’. Singer Alisa Xayalith gave an energetic performance at the mic, although the crowd was reluctant to respond in kind: clearly, 1:00PM was too early to persuade the infamous ‘Auckland semi-circle’ to disband and dance, despite The Naked and Famous’ lively charm.
Wellington-based seven-piece Family Cactus, often described as New Zealand’s answer to Arcade Fire, showcased their melodic sensibilities and baroque pop song-writing in a set that made for easy-listening on a summer’s day, and their stage presence was formidable. The soaring harmonies between vocalists Adam Ladley and Nina Siegler gave a lift to their songs, most of which were from their debut album ‘Come Howling’, although their delicate autoharp was hard to distinguish amongst their other instruments.
Following Family Cactus’ set on the Red Bull Live Stage was Bachelorette, a.k.a. Anabel Alpers, who was a last-minute addition to the programme, having been called upon to replace Portland guitar-pop band Hockey. A one-woman project sat at a synth, Bachelorette’s atmospheric electro-pop (such as the circling and reverb-heavy ‘Donkey’) was well-received by the crowd, and a fitting opener for Australian songstress Sarah Blasko, who took to the stage to play songs from her critically acclaimed album, ‘As Day Follows Night’.
On the Tyler Street Stage, The Phoenix Foundation performed their alternative folk-pop to a large crowd, which was in part assembled in readiness for The xx. Some tracks were from their upcoming album (“which will be finished in a week – or we’re fucked”), although it was tracks such as ‘Damn The River’, from the band’s 2005 album ‘Pegasus’, that received the warmest welcome from their audience. Singer/guitarist Samuel Flynn Scott, dressed in a full-length black cape, gave a confident and suave performance, while eagle-eyed audience members would have spotted Liam Finn and Connan Mockasin on percussive duties towards the back of the stage: a reminder of the tight-knit nature of the New Zealand music community. With four albums (well, just about) under their belt, The Phoenix Foundation are one of the heavyweights within the Kiwi indie scene, and their laidback but precise show reiterated that point.
Indeed, The Phoenix Foundation, along with Family Cactus and Bachelorette, are regulars on the nationwide gig circuit, and I’d imagine that most of the audience would have at least heard of them, if not seen them live before. As a result, it was easy to forget that international artists of considerable standing were performing at Laneway until The xx - one of the festival’s most anticipated acts – took to the stage around 4:00PM. The reserved British trio, dressed in cool black and draped in silver chains, opened with ‘Intro’, the first track off their acclaimed debut album ‘Xx’: an ominous, percussion-heavy instrumental that commanded attention.
Their songs performed live, differed little to how they appear on ‘Xx’, which didn’t seem to disappoint their fans, who sang along to first single ‘Crystalised’, ‘VCR’, and ‘Shelter’. Jamie Smith kept a low profile, huddled over a synth positioned between the band’s two vocalists, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, who gave an understated, stylish performance - as was fitting to their minimalist tracks. The xx remained detached from their audience, bar Sim’s brief admission that this was their first time in New Zealand; they were happy to be here; and they were looking forward to seeing Echo and The Bunnymen.
If one thing would have bettered The xx’s performance, it would have been a later timeslot. At 4:00PM, it was most definitely daylight, which jarred with the songs’ nocturnal atmosphere. They would have undoubtedly been brought to life by the dry ice and lighting effects such as Echo and The Bunnymen’s set was later illuminated by. However, the sound quality surpassed expectations: the bass was full-bodied, and Madley Croft’s and Sim’s voices were balanced almost as precisely as they are on the album. This was best showcased in ‘Infinity’, the rousing, cymbal-crashing climax of the group’s set.
Once The xx departed from the stage, there was a visible migration to the beer tent, as people rushed to hydrate - or otherwise - as much as possible before Black Lips and Dirty Three, which meant the crowd for Cut Off Your Hands wasn’t as large as it could have been. However, they gave a polished and strident rendition of songs from their debut album, ‘You & I’, including ‘Closed Eyes’ and the TV3 favourite ‘Oh Girl’. Unfortunately, their set collided with that of Daniel Johnston, cult folk-pop singer-songwriter, and their high-energy performance drowned out his acoustic set, much to the chagrin of Johnston’s fans.
If only Black Lips had preceded Johnston, rather than followed him, as this ‘flower punk’ band from Atlanta, Georgia, would have had no trouble drowning out Cut Off Your Hands. The bluesy pop-rock group was one of the few bands performing at Laneway to incite a mosh pit - or rather, what a friend dubbed “a pit of flailing limbs”. Black Lips are known for their provocative live performances, and their Laneway set didn’t disappoint: they cracked off-colour jokes between songs, crumpled beer cans on their foreheads before booting them into the crowd, and singer Cole Alexander locked lips with guitarist Ian Saint Pé. Florence Welch of Florence and The Machine could be seen dancing at the side of the stage, and later gave the band a shout-out in her own set.
I left Black Lips’ performance early, as I wanted to catch Australian trio Dirty Three, an instrumental group of a violinist, a drummer, and a guitarist. I was apprehensive about how this would translate to an out-of-doors festival otherwise geared towards indie-rock, but Dirty Three’s set proved to be second only to Florence and The Machine’s in terms of musical prowess and showmanship. Bearded violinist Warren Ellis (a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds), was without a doubt the figurehead of the group: crackling with energy, he kicked his legs into the air, wrangled his violin like it was an extension of his body, and clearly felt his instrument’s every yowling note. Ellis was also one of the few musicians to actively work his audience, his between-song banter engaging and humorous.
Dirty Three performed ‘Some Summers They Drop Like Flies’, from their fifth album ‘Whatever You Love, You Are’ - a restless and mournful number that allowed Ellis to showcase the emotional control he had over his instrument, and his intuitive interaction with drummer Jim White. ‘Everything’s Fucked’ began peaceful and reflective, before climaxing in a distorted, growling violin solo that found Ellis writhing on the floor. In terms of energy, they rivalled young upstarts Black Lips, despite being several decades’ their senior. Their set, despite only being around half an hour long, converted me from a sometime listener to a fan: Dirty Three and Florence and The Machine are the only groups that I left Laneway knowing that I’d pay to see their solo show.
Still spellbound by Dirty Three, I caught a little of Chris Knox’s set, announced on the day as being the ‘mystery band’. Knox, joined by The Nothing and Dimmer’s Shayne Carter, gave a growling and passionate performance that, like Dirty Three, proved that advanced age is no barrier to a great stage presence. Indeed, his retro-punk styling belied the fact that he had a stroke less than a year ago, and the audience welcomed Knox’s return to the stage.
Returning to the Tyler Street Stage, legendary English post-punk group Echo and The Bunnymen began their set to a large and enthusiastic crowd. A rumour I’d heard that lead singer Ian McCulloch’s voice had deteriorated over the past decade was dismissed as soon as he took to the stage, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark sunglasses, to perform songs from their latest record, ‘The Fountain’, as well as old favourites. From the screams of recognition at the opening bars of ‘The Cutter’ and ‘Killing Moon’, it was clear that these were the tracks the audience was waiting for, and they were made all the more breathtaking by lighting effects and dry ice.
Echo also played a rambling medley of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ (or rather, ‘Merseyside’) and Wilson Pickett’s ‘The Midnight Hour’, which emphasised their easy self-assurance on stage. With decades’ worth of performances under their belt, they were confident enough to take such a risk - rather than playing tracks exactly as they appeared on their albums, as The xx did. They closed with a soaring rendition of ‘Lips Like Sugar’, to great applause. Echo and The Bunnymen didn’t appear at Melbourne’s Laneway Festival, because McCulloch missed his flight from Britain; at Auckland, they were an undeniable highlight of the event.
Then, for the night’s headliner: Florence and The Machine, the breakthrough musician of 2009. From the moment Florence Welch danced onto the stage with ‘My Boy Builds Coffins’, a track from her debut album ‘Lungs’, the audience was captivated. No wonder: draped in a gold sequined sweater and black leggings, Welch cut a striking figure as she shook, swayed, and skipped her way through her set, shaking her trademark mane of red hair. Her ‘machine’ of backing musicians aside, her performance was as magnetic as her voice, which is earnest and full-bodied, even on the highest - and longest - of notes. Indeed, Welch proved to be a more skilful singer live than I’d anticipated from listening to ‘Lungs’, and with these stripped-back, less-produced versions of her songs, she was able to indulge in flourishes and trills, some of which moved her audience to spontaneous applause.
The crowd was largely comprised of screaming girls, some accompanied by their dutiful boyfriends: as my male friend commented after her set - “I don’t know what you call the opposite of a sausage fest, but that was it”. There’s no doubt that Welch appeals mainly to the fairer sex, but it seemed that few could resist the magnetism of her performance, even if they wouldn’t listen to ‘Lungs’ at home. I was amused to see a couple of singlet-wearing tough guys singing along to her hits, ‘You’ve Got The Love’ and ‘Kiss With a Fist’. Although these are her most popular songs, it was her rendition of lesser-known moments of her debut - ‘Cosmic Love’, ‘Hurricane Drunk’, ‘Dog Days Are Over’, and ‘Blinding’ - that were the most enchanting live. She also covered Fever Ray’s ‘If I Had A Heart’.
Her whimsical anecdotes endeared her to the audience; she praised New Zealand’s “air and trees”, and promised to return “fruitless” in the future, after a run-in with a M.A.F. Detector Dog at the airport. Her interaction with the crowd was unselfconscious, but commanding: she said jump, we jumped. There was a moment when rain began to fall, illuminated in shards as it passed the stage’s light, and Welch climbed onto the outer edge of the stage and stretched to catch it with her hands - and it was magical. I know I’m not alone in saying that I would have paid the $100 ticket price to Laneway for her set alone.
Following Florence and The Machine’s enthralling set, which she finished with ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)’, I stopped in to see what whiz kids Squeak E Clean and DJ Zegon - otherwise known as N.A.S.A. - were up to on the Red Bull Live Stage. My expectations were low, as the appeal of their 2008 album, ‘The Spirit of Apollo’, rested on the puree of guest appearances, none of which were touring with them. I was pleasantly surprised: N.A.S.A.’s trashy, hip hop-sampling electronica had the crowd dancing, in spite of their aching feet. ‘Strange Enough’ and ‘Money’, from ‘The Spirit of Apollo’, were received well, while a mix that sampled The Beastie Boys’ ‘Intergalactic’ took the party sky-high, to the point of bringing a couple of aliens to the stage (no, really). N.A.S.A. was an energising, edgy act to end the festival with, although their set was ended abruptly (“They want to shut us down!”), as Laneway was running an hour overtime.
Bar a few hiccups to do with lack of seating, overcrowding at the bar and long lines for the food stall, New Zealand’s first Laneway Festival was an overwhelming success. The line-up was incredible, with something to appeal to everyone’s taste, and the acts rose to the occasion, by and large performing stellar sets. Indeed, the last two hours or so of the event - Echo and The Bunnymen, Florence and The Machine, and N.A.S.A. - rank among the best musical experiences I’ve ever had, and more than warranted the ticket price. Certainly, if its debut is anything to go by, Laneway Festival is going to be a highlight of your summer for years to come.