LANEWAY FESTIVAL, BRISBANE, Saturday 4th, 2023.
Review + Images by Dayna West
The iconic Laneway Festival has returned to Brisbane showgrounds once again. Attending this festival is a long - time past - time of mine, with each year bringing in a varied mix of international and homegrown gems. Laneway 2023 is one of Australia’s biggest returns since Covid-19 & we’re so glad it’s back and stronger than ever. Be sure to wear your sunscreen - Brisbane was NO JOKE! However, as most know - we’re not faint of heart - and took the heat in our stride as we soaked in every sunray and soundwave in sight.
SYCCO
In one of the day's first sets, Sycco got the BNE Laneway crowd singing in the summer rain. Sycco played the role of ‘peacemaker’ as the grounds were suddenly swimming, in a sun-rain affair, but the vibes were high and so were the festival grounds. Having gone from strength to strength over the past few years, it was great to see Sycco on such a large stage, having last seen them perform at BigSound many moons ago. A confident, concise performance - Sycco has a confidence beyond their years & will only go forward from here.
Image By Dayna West
FINNEAS
A truly genuine and uplifting performance by Finneas on Saturday the 4th. A tangible connection could be felt in the air as Finneas performed - a stirringly gifted all rounded musician and producer who performs with a new, fresh sense of power… and a slight edge of grounded introversion. It is a true pleasure to witness someone passionate and elevated by their craft. Starting their set with ‘Naked’ and truly baring their soul to us, their audience, Finneas held the attention of everyone on the field and delivered a moving set in Brisbane yesterday.
Image by Dayna West
JULIA JACKLIN
What’s not to love about Australia’s resident sad happy girl, Julia. Jacklin has an extraordinary reach, entertaining one of the most diverse crowds of the festival, delicately handling us in the palm of her hand, and drinking from her fountain of soul and solace. A truly ethereal presence, her voice conducting the orchestra-like band that backed her, piercing the tear ducks of everyone in sight. Such delicate yet strong songs casting an introspective narrative over the lives of the festival attendees, got me thinking just how connected we all are when listening to tracks such as ‘Pressure to Party’ and “Don’t know how to keep loving you’. A gifted songwriter, storyteller, and musician - Julia Jacklin’s set is the place to be for a moment of you time during your Laneway experience.
Image by Dayna West
100 GECS
One of the more explosive sets of this Saturday, 100 Gecs took things up to level 100 - (or maybe that’s just me coming off the delicate high of Julia Jacklin’s set moments before). 100 Gecs know what they’re about - they know what they’re doing and they know what we want! Time to let it all go, despite the 40-degree humidity - 100 Gecs crowd was dancing, jumping, and not f*cking around. One of the more dedicated and animated stage environments, 100 Gecs had passer-by’s, engaging in their electric pop hits from outside of the festival gates. Booming their eccentric pop beats from the ‘Everything Ecstatic’ stage - an act well paired with the word ‘ecstatic’ - the Gecs audience threw heat concerns out the window and raved their hardest. Lots of red-faced ‘n’ sweaty Doritos and Fritos fans out there, and god bless them.
Image by Dayna West
PHOEBE BRIDGERS
It was no surprise that Phoebes devoted fans waited patiently for her sparkling skull arrangement to gracefully take the stage at 7:30pm, fresh from Fred Again’s set. It was as if I could hear the thousands of broken-hearted, sad girl (and boys, sad anybody’s) rib cages beating in anticipation for our soft goth rock mother to take effect, but in all seriousness - the cardiac muscles were working overtime in the Phoebe pit! I, from behind the camera, shed a sweet tear of sweet admiration and slight unworthiness (something I’ll be looking into) while trying to correct my settings for her moody performance landscape. Keeping focused on the job was hard when the job was photographing Phoebe Bridgers. Phoebe mentioned the recent passing of her father and dedicated her performance of Kyoto in his honor. Those who weren’t already suffering emotional warfare were now - and as a collective, we cherished this delicate and personal exchange. We love you Phoebe!
Phoebe possesses a distinctive yet demanding quality that makes her gift for music so transcendent. It is a pleasure to witness her almost otherworldly performing presence, amongst the charming ‘garden’ landscape that immersed us all, in a place far from where we actually were…But we were there, together.
Image by Dayna West
FONTAINES D.C
Chasing down the HYPE I had been hearing all over the scene of BNE, Fontaines D.C is one of the acts you’re grateful to see before they BOOM. Not because you want to gatekeep - but because you want to experience history in the making. That’s what it feels when you watch Fontaines D.C. That feeling of being on the edge of a cliff, a ‘melancholy adrenaline’ if you will, but it’s that unexplainable feeling… which is why you should experience it for yourself on the upcoming Laneway dates.
Totally lathered in ‘The Clash’, & traditional UK rock vibes, the members of Fontaines D.C, know how to morph that post-rock essence into the present, especially via frontman Grian Chatten, who performs with an eye-catching attitude - a gripping illusiveness that is rare to capture, and hard to capture if you haven’t pumped the shutter speed. The members of Fontaines D.C represent the authentic… casting aside the fake accent-ness of it all - these English/Irish musicians (?) have a bright future in the realm of rock. Next time they play Laneway, it will be on an open stage, with double the crowd, and I hope I’m there to catch it again.
Image by Dayna West
HAIM
The true sisterhood of the traveling leather pants. Music aside, Danielle, Este & Alana - are captivating, charismatic, choreographed talents who lead with purpose and a refreshing sense of fun + freedom. When I say they put on a performance, I mean it. From the minutes BEFORE they stepped on stage they were serving elevated campy, pop. Seeing their growth from laneway 2014, H-AIM has stepped up its G-AIM and we’re all here for our San Fernando sisters.
The energy that this trio exudes is immeasurably tantalizing and you’ve got to be an absolute bore to resist the draw of HAIM. Hearing the crowd recite the band’s TikTok, screaming ‘QUEENS’ and living out their ‘we’re watching mother F- Haim right now’ dreams…it was an all-encompassing environment led by fun.
Delivering a killer set list, with tracks including “Summer girl”, “Forever” and “3 AM” - where Este reminded us that the 3 sisters were single and planned to step about the town post set - which I’m sure excited more than a few festival goers, before ending things on a high with their iconic classic: “The Wire” + ‘The Steps’. Their playful sensibility paired with their rockstar abilities form a deadly trio, a bomb that you BEG to go off. Thankfully Brisbane is tough and can appreciate a deadly trio when they see one, which is why HAIM brought Brisbane Laneway, 2023, to a perfect, bittersweet close. Until next year…x
Enjoying festivals and International acts in our corner of the world again has been better than ever, but the strong presence of female energy in the Laneway festival lineup of 2023, was even better. Female-fronted acts both major and emerging were so present on Brisbane stages this year, making headway with major female acts topping the bill. This opens up so much space for audience members and shapes the festival experience for so many, in hugely positive ways. Although there are big steps to make, the comfort of relishing in these strong, talented women was the highlight of my Laneway Festival.
Image by Dayna West
