Life is a Laneway
Judging from the number of
STARcolumnists I ran into at the Laneway music festival in Singapore last Feb. 12, there is a very real danger that this issue will be, as Toff de Venecia put it, “an unofficial Laneway special.” Be that as it may, here are my ratings of the whole experience.
THE LOCATION: Fort Canning Park was a pretty ideal place for an event like this: basically a giant patch of land covered with grass and shaped like a slightly tilted bowl, with the two stages on the lower rim. This meant you could get a decent view of the performers from almost anywhere on the grounds, except perhaps from behind a huddle of tall hipsters. RATING: A
THE FOOD/DRINKS: Overpriced and not very good, but when you’re dehydrated and starving from eight-plus hours of standing and shouting, you don’t much care. Insane lines were insane, but gave people a chance to make friends with other dehydrated and starving people, like Victor Basa. RATING: D- (Would have been an F, but hey, Victor Basa.)
THE PEOPLE: Lots of Pinoys made the trip, as expected; at some points it felt like Cubao X or The Collective on a grand scale. High fives, big smiles, dumb jokes. Friends aside, there were occasional unrepentant jostlings and douchebaggery, but nothing major. Also, plenty of eye candy, in summer-appropriate scraps of clothing. RATING: B+
THE BANDS
CULTS. Their set started as our line was inching towards the entrance, and from that distance, their songs sounded glorious and faraway, like a paradise that would forever be denied us. In reality, they were probably just good. RATING: N/A
YUCK. Like a mashup of some of the best bits of the ‘90s. Good stuff — and they’re likely to get better as their repertoire expands beyond a single album and some B-sides. RATING: B+
CHAIRLIFT. Intricate yet accessible pop. And armpit hair. RATING: B
AUSTRA. “Their set’s not over yet?” The best thing about Austra was that their dancing gave us something to laugh our asses off about. RATING: D
GIRLS. Emotional, engaging. Kicked off with a Whitney Houston cover. RATING: B+
THE DRUMS. Flamboyant, feisty, fun. Somewhere on YouTube there is a video of us losing our minds to Let’s Go Surfing. (Not in video: me collapsing on the grass afterwards.) RATING: A
ANNA CALVI. Time for a snack/bathroom break. RATING: N/A
TWIN SHADOW. From the first minute of their first song, I decided they were the best band of the night (a notion that would only be seriously challenged by the very last act). RATING: A+
LAURA MARLING. My girlfriend gives her an “A.” I’m not going to argue. RATING: A
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART. Good songs, but their set was marred by technical difficulties. Better luck in Manila, guys. RATING: B
TORO Y MOI. Funky soulful throwback goodness. Did not respond to shouts of “Kababayan!” Nevertheless, RATING: A
FEIST. Glorious performance. Sent thrills down thousands of spines. SIngapore loves Feist! RATING: A
THE HORRORS. Like the vampires they resemble, they drained us of our will to live. Just when you thought their set was over, they broke into what seemed like a pointless, joyless, songless jam. The only good thing about their set was that, after several centuries, it ended. RATING: F@#!
M83. Ten times more awesome live than I expected. Gigantic, throw-your-hands-in-the-air Super Pop. RATING: A+
