With 13,000 punters from Singapore and around the Asian region descending on the iconic Gardens By The Bay, yesterday saw St Jerome’s Laneway Festival take place for the fifth consecutive time in the city, with organisers selling out tickets for the first time ever.
On arrival, punters are handed a bottle of water sponsored by H&M and a poncho (which ends up coming in handy) from Samsung. It’s a little something extra which ensures the experience starts off on the right foot. It also sets a precedent for well executed sponsorship integration – which is much more apparent (and plentiful) here in Singapore than it is at home in Australia.
But such is common place in the region, and all activations are well considered. Just about every sponsor of the event – from H&M and Rdio all the way to alcohol partners Monkey Shoulder and Jose Cuervo – has an activation at the event, all providing unique on site experiences for punters, from shaves and hair cuts, to tattoos and branded VIP “rockstar” toilets, covered in gig posters. It all adds to the experience, and in a city where drinks are ridiculously expensive for the visiting Australian, a $8 price tag for beers and $10 price tag for spirits and cocktails is welcome – especially when their drinks are almost entirely post-mix and anything but the cheap stuff. The house gin was a Hendricks with cucumber and margaritas came on tap! Very welcomed. As was the vast array of excellent food – from Baja Fresh’s burritos, to Yellow Submarine’s Cheesesteaks (not bad!), unique sliders at South East Sliders and hot dogs at The Brat. Not typical food for the region, but given this is a Western festival, it makes sense that there is a Western focus on food – much as there was for Clockenflap in Hong Kong.
Another difference between the Singapore event and their Australian counterparts is a token system. In order to expedite the purchasing of drinks (in theory), tokens are sold for $2 a piece, with food and drinks provided in their exchange. Another big difference is the layout – with Groovin’ The Moo or Falls Festival being the best points of comparison. A main stage broken in two – and a second more dance oriented stage off to the side. Though this means less performances than we have in Australia, it ensured no clashes between the major main stage acts and an almost non-stop barrage of performances.
Kicking off those performances on the main stage was Malaysian band Enterprise, who brought some terrifically dance-laden indie pop to the event, with great beats, tonnes and cowbell and some great energy. They’re a tight group, with electric tastes – there’s elements of Tame Impala in there, M83 and even Depeche Mode. Leeds outfit Eagulls (pictured above) followed right behind, and the group have only gotten tighter since I last saw them at SXSW – but with enough of ‘rough around the edges’ vibes that their gritty post-punk needs. “Tough Luck” kicked things off with some superb riffs and the set went on from there with plenty of reverb, some vocal moments reminiscent of Robert Smith and songs that built masterfully. This is a band at the start of what I anticipate to be a very impressive career.
Australia’s Pond followed, performing on the day after the release of their brand new record Man It Feels Like Space Again. The Nick Allbrook fronted project was gracious of the support of their Singapore fans, and it was a strong performance – albeit with four performing members (less than usual). The set kicked off with “Waiting Around For Grace”, the opening track off the new record. The track is a perfect introduction to the set, kicking off with some cheesy synth (which sounds more “spacelike” on record, to be fair), then the guitar comes in and they don’t stop rocking it from there. Tracks like “You Broke My Cool” were included and are always enjoyable, but this is a band always at their most enjoyable when they jam – and thankfully there was plenty of that, with the new material also shining through.
Cigarette in hand and a three piece band behind him, Mac DeMarco was next, opening his set with “Salad Days”, the opening track and title track off his latest record. “Blue Boy” was an early highlight, with good grooves, as was “I’m a Man”, off his first album. During a slight ‘tuning malfunction’, the band let it rip with a very entertaining cover of Coldplay’s “Yellow” – at the same time the worst and the best cover of the song ever performed. “Brother” went down well with the crowd and he ended the set with a “love song” in “Still Together”, which saw Mac crowd surf as the band jammed, with his set oozing of classic American sounds and DeMarco’s entertaining charm. His music may not be particularly original (then again, what is these days), but he finds a way to make it a unique experience – and a very enjoyable one at that.
Introduced by DeMarco as the great Celine Dion, Melbourne’s Courtney Barnett was next, and kicked off the theme that dominated the rest of the day: amazing female musical talents! She wasted no time to show the rest of the festival how it’s done. She dedicated “Are You Looking After Yourself” to DeMarco later in the set, and went on to cover Celine Dion with “Avant Gardener” as her closing track. OK, so that’s Barnett’s own popular single, but she enjoyed playing along with DeMarco. Other highlights of the set included “Blah”, “Lance Jr.” and “History Eraser” in a set that was solid and enjoyable from start to finish. But we’d expect no less from Ms. Dion. Sorry, I’m confusing you now aren’t I?
Stay tuned for the second part of this review featuring St. Vincent, FKA Twigs and more!
