Laneway 2012: Lights and music!

MANILA, Philippines - Fort Canning Park is home to the now-annual Singapore leg of Australia’s Laneway Music Festival (a.k.a. The Giant Hipster Picnic). Just last Sunday, Ramon de Veyra and I joined the mass exodus of Manileños who decided to brave the second Laneway Music Festival in Singapore despite reports that it rained for eight hours straight last year and several of the inebriated attendees decided to make the best use of the copious amounts of mud by, um, sliding around in it. Since it was Ramon’s second time, he got to road-test his Festival Survival Kit, even though the showers barely made it past a light drizzle, which I was mucho gracias for.

But we’re to talk about the music! Not the weather! Below you will find our recap of our favorite performances at the festival. Read on to see why we hope you got to catch Toro Y Moi at Hard Rock last Wednesday, why you should catch The Pains of Being Pure At Heart on the 29th (props and kudos, Joffy!), and why we pray to the Lord above that the rumors of M83 playing here in March are true.

New Discovery

RDV: I’d only heard of Laura Marling and seen her name online, but her set was lovely, and now I understand why whenever I’d ask fans to describe her stuff, the first thing they’d say is “She’s just so… cute!” Though I come to Laneway for the bands I already like, it’s always great to discover some performer you weren’t aware of.

CS: For me, it was Toro Y Moi. I know, I know, but I’d never personally heard anyone rave about the bespectacled Chazwick Bundick (awesome name, right?), so I never bothered. But hearing his ‘70s danceable synth-pop live brought to mind two words: Sexy time.

Biggest Surprise

RDV: The Horrors’ new sound. I was only familiar with Sheena Is A Parasite, and only because its music video was directed by Chris Cunningham. Two albums later, they’ve apparently matured and left the screechy punk and settled into, appropriately, post-punk. Another surprise: Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek’s armpit hair. Trés distracting. (Qué horror! — CS)

CS: I would’ve wanted to say Cults, who are known for being meh live, but now I’ll never know because I was in the ridiculously long line outside during their entire set. The Drums impressed a bunch of people with their unexpectedly tight live sound, but again, I can’t personally vouch for that because I decided to test my alcohol tolerance right before their set and temporarily passed out. What I did manage to catch was M83 keyboardist/vocalist Morgan Kibby (uy, si Graveyard Girl!) nearly stealing the spotlight from frontman Anthony Gonzalez when they closed Laneway.

Unexpected Whitney Houston Tribute

Pinoys invade Laneway: 1. Carlos Concepcion with Mike Concepcion and Bianca Valerio; 2. Victor Basa with Divine Lee; 3. Saab Magalona; 4. Valerie delos Santos and Robby Mananquil;?5. Raya Mananquil and Adrian Calumpang; 6. Frank Magalona and Carla Villanueva; 7. Preview’s Eunice Lucero and Stylebible’s Jacque de Borja; 8. Steve Tirona and Otto Ferraren; 9. Niña Sandejas; 10. Diego Mapa; 11. YoungStar’s Toff de Venecia and Karen Bolilia with Mei Bastes and An Estrada. Photos by VICTOR BASA, Graphics by DAVID MILAN

RDV: The morning of Laneway ’12 was when news of Whitney Houston’s untimely death broke. We wondered if any of the artists would be dedicating songs or doing tributes, with popular guesses being Feist, Laura Marling, or Anna Calvi, but the actual tribute unexpectedly came from Girls. Lead singer Christopher Owens opened their set with an intimate, solo cover of I Will Always Love You, with the audience joining in.

CS: I was in a Port-a-let when this happened, but I heard every heartfelt, occasionally sintunado word. Hey, Whitney had a reported five-octave range. Nevertheless, it was a great moment, especially if you take into consideration that I was in a Port-a-let.

Fangirl Moment

RDV: During one of Twin Shadow’s climactic crescendos, vocalist George Lewis Jr. threw his red electric Stratocaster into the air and let it land on the floor, prompting every Filipino in the front row to gesture “Give it to me, then!” In the middle of the next song, Lewis Jr. did just that, giving the undamaged-looking guitar to an ecstatic Raya Mananquil.

CS: It has to be me during Feist’s set. Heck, I named my column, “Wild Card Inside,” after a line from the song I Feel It All. And even when I was initially apprehensive about “Metals,” which I thought was a big F-U to the people who christened her Miss Middlebrow (no, not the Frida Kahlo kind), any doubts I had were put to rest after seeing the strongest tracks performed live. Feist: Manila. How Come You Never Go There?

Random Celebrity Sighting

RDV: We spotted Erlend Øye of The Whitest Boy Alive/Kings of Convenience walking the grounds. He wasn’t on the roster, so we assumed he was there to perform with someone — likely Feist, who sang on a few tracks on the second Kings album, but no. Guess he was really just there as a fan. Cool.

Best Salvaged Performance

CS: I have to give credit to The Pains of Being Pure At Heart for coming back strong when a major technical glitch disrupted Say No To Love, putting a long pause in the midst of a truly enjoyable set.

Best Performances

RDV: The Drums played a terrific, high-octane set, singer Jonathan Pierce swaying and sashaying like nobody’s business. Twin Shadow surprised me with their rock-star showmanship and stage presence. Toro y Moi’s alternate arrangements were a delight and turned the hill slope venue into a dance floor. Feist, as expected, delivered an elegant, lively, smooth-as-silk performance, charming the pants off everybody. And then M83 closed the show with tremendous walls of sound that would’ve made Phil Spector proud.

CS: From rocking out on Mushaboom, to playing the “delicate little flower of a song” I’m Sorry, which genuinely moved the 7,800-strong crowd, and almost f*cking up Nina Simone’s Sealion by dropping the bottom half of her mic, but then saving the day by singing for all that she was worth, Leslie Feist did not disappoint. Of course, I cannot talk about Best Performances without mentioning M83. Witnessing their rich, dreamy sound performed live is one of the greatest favors you can do for your ears. An honorable mention also goes out to Yuck whose ‘90s rock-inspired debut ranked among the top favorites of indie heads this year and did not pull a Lana del Rey by actually justifying the hype when they played live.