More Australian music followed Courtney (read about her in part one) with Angus and Julia Stone taking the stage to play tracks from their latest self-titled album and old favourites like “Big Jet Plane” and “For You”. The duo played well, accompanied by a four piece band. But their down tempo tracks didn’t quite match the loud, raw energy of the band that followed. Brighton duo Royal Blood cranked everything up to 11 in what was the best performance I’ve ever seen from them – they really are at the top of their game right now. After a year of non-stop touring, that comes of little surprise.
“Come On Over” opened up the set from a pair who have taken the best moments of rock and roll from the last two decades – a little bit of Jack White, some Josh Homme swagger – and made it their own. This is rock music at its finest with heavy beats and killer riffs. “Little Monster” was an easy highlight, as was “Loose Change” and the incredible “Out of the Black” (I feel I will never tire of that track), which saw drummer Ben Thatcher jump off the stage and into the crowd, before coming back on and finishing it all off. An easy highlight of the day.
Smoke drowned the crowd as Jungle hit the stage, with their jams and their energy starting from the moment the seven piece walked onto the stage, with great soul vibes and a terrific sound. I was told you had to see the band live to “get them” and indeed this couldn’t be closer to the truth. They know how to build a track beautifully and the crowd eats up every moment – rightly so! “Lucky I Got What I Want” was a highlight, as was “Busy Earnin'”. An unexpected stand out of the day.
I’d been told similar things about Future Islands – and indeed the Letterman performance showed that off to an extent. The experience reminded me a little bit of seeing Wild Beasts live – there’s a unique range to Samuel T. Herring’s voice that at once intense and hypnotic, with the band a solid outfit to say the least. A bit of Tom Waits in there, a bit of some of the Motown greats. “A Song For Our Grandfathers” off Singles was a stand out moment, as was the set’s closing number. Excellent energy from start to finish – it was had to look away!
Next up, Little Dragon kicked off the end of the night, which featured four amazing female vocalists in a row. We all know about how great Little Dragon are live – but I have to say Yukimi Nagano and her group have really stepped things up a notch for these festival shows. It’s easily the most amount of energy I’ve ever seen from them – with what felt like a mountain more drums to boot.
Then came Banks, the buzz artist whose debut record Goddess was a hit of last year, arriving on stage accompanied by two backing instrumentalists. “This is What it Feels Like” was well received by the crowd, as was “Before I Ever Met You” and “And I Drove You Crazy”, though I couldn’t find myself getting into it. She’s an amazing vocalist, but there wasn’t enough to the performance or the instrumentals to bring me in – but the days are still early for this artist and I can’t say I ever got into her on record either, so I’m probably not the person to ask for this one. There were thousands of people there who feel very differently than I do.
FKA Twigs, meanwhile, with three percussionists / digital instrumentalists behind her, delivered a powerful – at times intense – performance. And it was a performance in every sense of the word, though not a production in a Janelle Monae or Grace Jones kind of way. The show very much focuses on and relies on her voice and her performance. In fact, it’s all that’s highlighted on the stage, with her band standing in relative darkness as her golden skirt flowed and she danced hypnotisingly through the set.
“Papi Pacify” with its heavy bass and incredible vocals was a stand out of the set, and “Two Weeks” was undeniably intoxicating. My only main criticism is there’s little done to connect with the audience. A quick hello and a brief thank you and that’s about it… Maybe it’s an issue of the limited time they have on the stage, because it was common throughout the day. Banks before her and St Vincent that followed were much the same. There’s something missing when the attempt for connection isn’t made, no matter how strong the performance is.
Though saying that, having seen St. Vincent when there has been a lot of dialogue, that dialogue is a part of the performance and so skipping those parts just makes sense for the limited stage time. There is the sense of a ventriloquist’s act when she performs – and between SXSW 2014, Montreal Jazz Festival, Vivid Festival and now, very little has changed to the set. There’s been some tweaking to the guitar solos, and a song here or there is added or taken away (and for this tour, her hair has been taken away too – looking great I might add!), but for the most part she’s worked hard to perfect her performance – and it’s hard to argue that she hasn’t gotten there.
Even without an encore (there was none tonight) and without the banter, the St Vincent live show is one of the best on the planet right now and I’d happily see it again, again and again. Here’s hoping she releases a DVD of the tour so indeed I can. “Birth in Reverse” remains my favourite moment of the set, with her and her backing guitarist locked in a back and forth in what is a STUNNING riff at the tracks end. And having always felt it ended prematurely on record, live they add just that little bit more to make it feel complete. In fact, that’s very much what the live show seems to accomplish: it makes St Vincent’s music complete.
Though maybe that’s just my love for her and her guitar solos talking….
And with that the festival was at an end. The well behaved crowd exited and rushed off for their trains as the clean up began and the crew prepared for an early flight to New Zealand the next day. To see the festival grow into a sold out event over the last five years has been a great thing – it’s happened in a place where they were told a festival like this would never work. But sure enough, the people have spoken and Laneway Singapore is here to stay. As it should be. Festival co-founder Danny Rogers was not wrong when he told the crowd as they were leaving, “This country is becoming one of the cultural epicentres of the world”.
St. Vincent Setlist:
Rattlesnake
Cruel
Marrow
Cheerleader
Prince Johnny
Digital Witness
Regret
Birth in Reverse
Huey Newton
Bring Me Your Loves
