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Music Festival Review - Laneway - by Alissa Thibault
t’s not your usual music festival and this year’s Laneway proved it again. Set in a relatively tiny corner of Rozelle on a stunning Sunday afternoon there was a little bit of anything on offer – except the rowdy trouble makers.
Laneway made a name for itself starting in a laneway in Melbourne in 2004. It’s always stayed pretty close to its indie music links, with the slow addition of bigger, more popular acts along the way. And this year’s lineup was chock full of them.
Shy, softly spoken Melbourne singer/songwriter Van Joy took the stage quite early and proved to be a relaxing way to ease into the festival. Given the crowd reaction, most were only there to hear his 2013 hit ‘Riptide’, everything else was just filling in time.
Jag War Ma brought some hip hop, Cashmere Cat a cranking DJ set but the biggest draw card by far was the newest darling of the music industry Lorde – the organisers did well to secure her months before her double Grammy win and boy didn’t the crowd love her.
There was plenty on offer to drink from the Red Bull tent, Bulmers cider bars and even a pop-up wine bar. In my opinion every festival should offer free water and there was plenty of that going around too. The food was also top notch– organic street food, Gozleme and Paella just to name a few of the spreads on offer.
All in all, if managed to not get burnt, Laneway 2014 gets two, big thumbs up – especially given the amazing weather. Well played, Sydney.
