St Jerome's Laneway Festival

This review was written February 2010.

There were no laneways this year at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, with Sydney College of Arts playing host to the overly-indie festival of the summer. With three stages spread nicely across the sandstone campus, it was convenient to make those desperate runs in-between acts, or throughout the various timeslot clashes. It was definitely the place to be for the Sydney 'indie' crowd, where people's fashion nearly took the attention away from the quality of music that was being performed.

Indie-pop band Florence and the Machine attracted the largest crowd of the day. The energy brought to the stage by front-lady Florence Welch, along with her unique voice, drumming moves and climbing antics led thousands of people to let loose in dance. The musical arrangement of each song differed slightly to her album, making the performance more authentic and raw. Her delightful sapphire outfit along with the on-stage flowers, earthy backdrop and the enchanting harp really established the jungle atmosphere which her music is inspired upon.
But there was one question that was on everyone’s mind: WHERE WAS THE GLITTER? But it’s ok. We forgive you Florence, after all you were amazing.

Echo and the Bunnymen were probably never the best choice for this festival. The arrogant middle-aged men made awkward jokes about the brilliance of their music, ruining the mood for all who had settled at the main stage eagerly waiting for the headlining act. However, these men did deliver a strong set, with great sound, and they are to be commended for that.

Gracing the same stage earlier was the lovely Sarah Blasko, who always charms audiences with the delicate huskiness of her voice. However, her awkward robotic dance moves just seemed unnatural, and brought on the feeling of discomfort.

A definite mistake by festival organisers was the unbelievable time-slot clash between Mumford and Sons and The xx. Mumford and Sons were all the talk, with their recent number one hit on the Tripe J Hottest 100, Little Lion Man. Delivering the sprightly sounds of indie-folk led by charismatic lead singer Marcus Mumford, their guttural vocals were glazed with perfect harmonies and amazing banjo riffs. On the other side of the grounds, 3-piece band The xx delivered a seductive performance with their minimalist songs, and beared a haunting presence on stage.

Throughout the early hours of the day, there was more of a taste of local artists including the fragile sounds of The Middle East, the 7-piece band from Tamworth. The delicate vocals of the three lead singers along with their use of an overwhelming amount of instruments on stage, dazzled and awed audiences. The tribal-pop sounds of Sydney singer/songwriter Jonathan Boulet was a slight disappointment due to the terrible staging acoustics. Melbourne duo, Kid Sam were brilliant in sound and allowed their audience to see how far the two artists could go musically, with only an electric guitar and drums.

Along with the glorious weather, the sophisticated fashion of the crowd, and the high quality musical acts, the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival was one to be remembered.

4 stars out of 5