Laneway Festival Singapore 2017 Recap: Rainway, Smaller Crowds, and a Less Enthused Line-Up
PUBLISHED January 24th, 2017 06:00 am
After six years as one of the largest events in Singapore’s indie calendar, is the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival now starting to plateau or evolve? Here’s what we thought of this year’s edition of the Melbournian musical export.
A flashback to Neon Lights
It really seems to be an unfavourable season for music festivals, doesn’t it? Less than two months after the mud pools at Neon Lights comes another event plagued by endless rain – this time from two in the afternoon all the way till midnight, so much that the portmanteau ‘Rainway’ was splashed (pun intended) all over social media.
The last edition this happened at was the inaugural Laneway at Fort Canning Park in 2011. Still, energy levels were kept high by the likes of NAO, Glass Animals, and Mick Jenkins, though unfortunate local acts Astreal and T-Rex had to bear the brunt of the thunderstorm. On the bright side, there wasn’t much mud to slip on.
A more foreign line-up
The list this year – 29 international and homegrown acts – felt a tad less exciting than previous years with say, the likes of FKA Twigs, Banks, or Caribou. Rather, 2017 brings in better-known names like Australian producer Nick Murphy (previously known as Chet Faker) with his lazy synths, Tycho’s engulfing instrumentals, and uninhibited Oxford quartet Glass Animals to headline the festival.
This line-up was supplemented with more low-key bands, a fact that could have led to the reduced turnout this year of 10,000 people (as compared to some 13,000 in both 2016 and 2015). Don’t get us wrong though, we loved many of them – the 19-year-old Norwegian budding star Aurora with her unearthly vocals, Japan’s KOHH with his combination of rock and hip hop influences, funk-soul lady NAO, and Chicago’s leading hip-hop act Mick Jenkins.
Locally, industry veterans Astreal fight the showers with equally thundering shoegaze beats from their new album, while fresh entrant T-Rex showcased a daring progressive rock set with the help of a saxophone. In the smaller White Room, which is used for intimate electronic sets, DJ A/K/A SOUNDS and Poptart (Weelikeme & Kidg) got the crowd jumping with some enthusiastic hip-hop, jungle, and house loops.
Canny organisation and scheduling
Some better scheduling this year meant that it was much easier to watch nearly every act (or at least, a snippet of everyone). Previously, the packed line-up and short playing times forced fans into tough decisions, particularly when two fantastic acts start performing around the same time. While past editions saw poor sound and unsuitable stages for certain types of acts, the volume this year was turned up a notch, dishing out great quality sound for more vibrant and energetic performances. That said, the rule of no re-entries continue to irk many festival goers.
Improved food options
Laneway is known for serving a great variety of festival grub and beverages every year, but we don’t think we’ve seen such a huge range before – almost as many as the number of acts. The prices are still around the range of $8 to $15, which again isn’t the most affordable, but is to be expected of the festival scene. Think Spanish tapas by Pim Pam FOC, fusion Cantonese cuisine by Full of Luck Club, grain bowls by Ninja Bowl, Italian coffee by Caffe Vergnano, and ice pops by Popaganda.
As the Laneway sound shifts year by year into the sphere of production-heavy electronica and less acoustic-focused music, we’re starting to see fewer pretentious festival-goers and crown-wearing hipsters in the fields of Gardens by the Bay and more serious music lovers. How future editions will advance from here on, we don’t know. But for now, Laneway still a gratifying experience for all regardless of age and taste.
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival Singapore 2017 took place on Saturday, 21 January 2017 at The Meadow, Gardens by the Bay.
