PUBLISHED January 20th, 2015 04:00 am | UPDATED May 18th, 2020 04:31 pm
Attention, music-lovers! Whatever your jam is — be it jazz, rock, EDM or obscure indie bands – chances are there’s a music festival tailored just for you (and your fellow groupies). If you’ve never been to one before, why not give it a try this year? We assure you there’s nothing quite like the experience of listening to your favourite musicians, LIVE. Here’s what we lion city dwellers can expect in 2015!
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival
Originating from Melbourne, ‘Laneway’ is now synonymous with the indie music scene in Singapore. The 5th installment will bring together folk-blues siblings Angus & Julia Stone, as well as other leading international acts like electronica musician Chet Faker, multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent, and rock duo Royal Blood. Look forward to some local and regional acts as well, including Hanging Up The Moon and Pastel Lite. If you’re a self-respecting hipster or simply game to discover new talent, you’ll want to go for this one.
St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival Singapore will be held on 24 January 2015 at The Meadow, Gardens By The Bay.
The Gathering
Forefront Entertainment, the people that brought us Chvrches, The Flaming Lips, and (who can forget?) Tenacious D last year is presenting its very first multi-artist line-up gig, adding on to the slew of music festivals here in Singapore. Think amazing acts like acclaimed Canadian producer Caribou, indie pop group Belle and Sebastian, and English rock band Temples, not to mention the soulful vocals of our very own Charlie Lim and local collective Pleasantry. The only catch is, the event is on Valentine’s Day, so if you’re single, good. If not, let’s hope the both of you have the same taste in music!
The Gathering will be held on 14 Feb 2015 at Fort Canning Green.
Singapore International Jazz Festival
For the second year running and on its way to becoming the premier international jazz-inspired music festival, Sing Jazz 2015 will feature some of the biggest international and regional names in the world of jazz—Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Chris Botti, jazz-orchestra Blue Note Tokyo, and the New York-based collective Snarky Puppy. The great thing about jazz’s ‘restless’ nature is its capricious energy, sure to infect any listener regardless of music preferences. This is sure to be one swinging night under the stars. Did we mention that Jessie J will be sharing the stage as well?
Sing Jazz will be held from 5 – 8 March 2015 at Marina Bay Sands.
Baybeats
If there’s one thing you should know about Baybeats, it’s that you won’t catch any big-name acts here. Rather, if you want to see emerging homegrown and regional talents given the opportunity to perform, this is the place to be. Since 2007, Baybeats has been the premier Asian-centric alternative music festival in the region, with bands playing everything from folk, pop, metal, post-rock, emo, punk, electronica, and everything in between. Auditions for 2015 are still on-going, but you can be sure that the winners who emerge are every bit as good as international names. And the best thing about this very ‘Singaporean’ festival? It’s totally free!
Baybeats will be held from 26 – 28 June at Esplanade – Theatres By The Bay.
ZoukOut
We’re sure this one doesn’t need any introduction. ZoukOut has been Asia’s largest dance festival since 2000, winning awards many times over since its inception and drawing crowds of 40,000 each year from all over the world to Sentosa’s Siloso Beach. In just the past few installments alone, we’ve seen multi-Platinum winning producers like Steve Aoki, David Guetta, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto and Skrillex come down to our shores. 2015’s line-up has yet to be announced, but being the 15th anniversary and SG50 this year, it’s probably going to be mind blowing!
To find out about other forthcoming festival dates keep an eye on our events listings here.