After the shambles that was St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2009, 2010 brought about a fresh start for the festival, with the New Year bringing in a new venue and ultimately a whole new and positive Laneway experience for those who struggled with the previous year’s event. It was a beautiful sunny day, I was in Footscray (for better or worse) and ahead of me was a line up of remarkable bands.

Starting my day on the Moreland St stage, to a crowd of not that many was Mark Barrage. It was a shame that there were only 20 or so people there to watch, because his crazy electro-pop songs would have been a great party-starter. Over at the Car Park stage was the heavily 60’s inspired Frowning Clouds. Trussed up in paisley shirts, skivvies and Beatles haircuts, they jangled their way through a set of guitar rock songs, as well as a cover of Bo Diddley’s ‘I’m Alright’. Though they wear their influence on their sleave, performing live and entertaining people come naturally with today’s Laneway crowd no exception to that experience.

Next up on the same stage was Black Gold (pictured above), an act I knew very little about. The brainchild of Eric Ronick and Than Luu, they played, manned with a guitarist and bassist, a set of slightly corny but definitely uplifting pop songs, Eric’s voice floating high and sounding passionate. They played happy pop music, a vibe that continued through the whole festival. Despite being a band I had not heard anything from before, I was glad to have caught their heartfelt set.

The River stage hosted a delightful performance by Oh Mercy, laid out before them a giant grassy hill, covered in revellers basking in the sun and the Melbourne band’s calming, indie pop stories. As always, ‘Seemed Like a Good Idea’ sounded magnificent, though the tale of an older woman with a much younger man, ‘In My Stride’ stood as a highlight. Oh Mercy are a band easy to listen to and always a joy to watch play live.

Back at the Car Park stage was Hockey, hailing from Portland, Oregon and armed with dance-enthusiastic pop songs. Much like Black Gold, Hockey were not a band I knew a whole lot about, but they got my foot tapping, and I noticed a fair amount of the good crowd they pulled singing along. The quartet, plus their one touring member, bound through a set of insanely catchy pop songs, it was fun to watch them play and put a dance in my step!

The Moreland st stage was then graced by Bridezilla (pictured above), a quintet who appear to be going from strength to strength. Opening their day with ‘Lunar Eclipse’, front woman Holiday’s soft vocals melted with Millie’s saxophone and Daisy’s romantic violin. A treat for me was to finally hear ‘Brown Paper Bag’ live, as well as witnessing ‘Heart You Hold’ again, slowly snaking its way into a complete outburst from all, hectic yet delicate. The same with ‘White Feather’, sounding urgent, authoritive but with timid streak; Holiday’s desperate calls of ‘Fire, fire, fire’ echoing out across the growing crowd.

Up next at that very stage was Triple J’s Hottest 100 winners, the band of the moment and the act most attendees were there to try and catch a glimpse of, Mumford and Sons (pictured below). Equipped with their grass-roots influenced folk rock tunes, they drew a crowd that completely blanketed the narrow street,, all in awe of this coveted band. Third song in was the little ditty everyone was waiting for, ‘Little Lion Man’, causing a giant sing-a-long, that well debated “Fucking” being spat out by frontman Marcus Mumford and audience alike. Mumford’s grainy vocals matched perfectly with the country rough appeal of the music he sang along with. While I was a little disillusioned by the giant amount of hype this band had received in the last six months, they truly delivered and lived up to everyone’s expectations.

Though, bailing on the end of their set, I went and caught the last 20 minutes of Scottish rock band, Frightened Rabbit. What originally started as a project for frontman Scott Hutchison turned into the quintet I was lucky to see power away on stage. They were an incredibly exciting band to watch, playing their rock and roll songs with a great fervour, in particular the drummer, completely annihilating the skins of his drum kit, yelling out any frustrations he may have had. Scott sang with an aggression that has left a lasting impression on me. 
 

Then was our very own hometown heroes; Eddy Current Suppression Ring, always reliable at putting on an energetic show. ECSR would have to be one of the most unassuming quartet of men, but in stage they really know how to tear shit up! Their songs are fun and active, ‘Memory Lane’ and ‘Wrapped Up’ from 2008’s Primary Colours were played early on in their set and incited some eager punter to dance, and Brendan ‘Suppression’ Huntley jerked about the stage.

I then motored back to the River stage, to see what all this (The) XX fuss was about. With an album I found less than inspiring, I was curious to see how the songs would translate live. Though I wasn’t completely enraptured by the trio as many around me were, I was pleasantly surprised. The softly spoken Romy’s voice sounded flawless and her guitar work subtle and elusive against the harsh drum machines. Amongst their performance was a cover of Womack and Womack’s ‘Teardrops’, their own take on the song allowing it to slip spotlessly in their set. The XX floated between understated and a little boring, but had many wowed.

While at this stage I was MEANT to be witnessing the amazing Echo and the Bunnymen who were unable to make it due to a missed flight, I went to the Car Park stage, holding a giant dance party known as The Very Best! The project of singer Esau Mwamwaya and Belgian dj’s Radioclit, creating African infused dance hip hop songs which beckoned a healthy crowd, moving and writhing about. They mixed their own music with the likes of MIA’s ‘Paper Planes’ and even ‘Heart it Races’ by Architecture in Helsinki, two tunes that caught even those standing in the giant food lines’ attention. As the two dancers kept the excitement going, one of the Radioclit gentlemen shared around the crowd a bottle of Vodka, before leaving Esau to finish the day with one last rendition of a Michael Jackson song.

Then up next was the band I was waiting the whole entire day for, hailing from Georgia, Atlanta; The Black Lips (pictured in header, above and below). Though a little more subdued than I think everyone expected, they were still astounding and lots of fun, jumping through a set of their peculiar garage punk songs with guitarist Cole, bassist Jared and Joe on the drums all taking their turn at vocal duties. Second song in was ‘Drugs’, from their most recent LP, 200 Million Thousand , as well as my favourite ‘Dirty Hands’. Other highlights included ‘Buried Alive’, a rattling number with all four men yelling out the chorus together. For the last song of their set, Jared made his way into the crowd, walking on people’s shoulders; one last ‘Harrah’ before they had to go. They’re a little bit rough around the edges, like to party hard and have been kicked out of clubs and countries alike, but they know how to write and play some simple but genius rock and roll songs with quirky, sometimes cringe-worthy lyrics. They were lots of fun, and left me feeling hyped-up and energised.

I was then about to catch the last 20 minutes of Dappled Cities (pictured below) on the River stage. I do not believe that Dappled Cities could ever do any wrong. Donning shimmering gold bodysuits, they played their starry-eyed indie pop songs as the sun settled down behind the big hill. Both from their 2009 album, Zounds , ‘The Night is Young at Heart’ and ‘The Price’ sounded tender and performed with a theatrical passion, as well as Sarah Blasko joining the lovely boys on stage to sing a duet between herself and vocalist Tim Derricourt, a truly swoon-worthy performance.

I decided not to battle the bulk of the crowd swarming their way to the Moreland st stage for Florence and the Machine. I continued to hang around to watch some of the Middle East’s set. Squeezing all seven members on stage, they played their folky tunes with the full moon rising behind them. Though it was all quite picture-perfect and they sounded pretty, after a day of energetic acts, they were a little dull and lifeless on stage. It was calming but it was just as if they were going through the motions.

I felt that if I missed Flo and the Mac’s set all together, I would regent it for some reason (pictured above, on the screen). So I managed to catch the last two songs, ‘Dog Days are Over’ and ‘You’ve Got the Love’. Florence’s voice sounded beautiful when she sung live, though talking to the crowd it was all a little but over the top, with a continuous bout of clichéd “I love you Melbourne!” and “Melbourne! You’re beautiful!” as if she expected us to want her praises. I find it quietly bizarre that her one (somewhat plain, in my opinion) album get her band so far as to headline this tour. Though that is the nature of the beast, the crowd she drew proved she’s what is ‘hot right now’ and performed accordingly.

This year’s St Jerome’s Laneway Festival was genuinely my summer’s best festival experience. Big Day Out is always good but a lot of work, my Falls Festival experience didn’t quite pan out as I had hoped and last year’s Laneway escapades left me very disheartened, but this year they bettered themselves 110%. The crowd was amazing, the bands were awesome and the event well and truly redeemed itself, good job guys!