St Jeromes Laneway Festival @ Bonython Park, Adelaide 9/2/2024
The 2024 Laneway Festival in Adelaide was wonderful this year. It was certainly different for me than previous years as there were fewer acts I knew but I found that all the acts I saw were fantastic.
First up was a local Adelaide band called The Tullamarines who I had seen before and never failed to impress. They are young and energetic and have a lot of fun. Members Josh, Angus, Benny and Lucinda are all in other local bands I have seen but I find the pop sensibilities they show in this band are the ones I love the most. My favourites of their set were Head Roll Back and I’m So from their recently released Ugly Cry EP. Throw in a great cover of Ball Park Music’s Head Like a Sieve and you have a dynamic set.
Next, we have Miss Kaninna who was born in Tasmania and is a proud Yorta Yorta, Djadja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman. She has been performing for a few years and this was her first time in Adelaide. Her different styles impressed me as she performed hip-hop, soul and R&B in her set. She is a confident, in-your-face and honest performer and I enjoyed her songs My Bad and Heavy. I look forward to seeing her again.
My first trip to the separate Harts Mill stage was to see Hemlocke Springs and she did not disappoint. Hemlocke is from the US and became viral after her bedroom-produced songs achieved popularity on TikTok. I love her 80s-inspired Synth-Pop. She told us how she wrote her songs while studying to be a grad student and could not believe she was now halfway across the world singing her tunes for us that the crowd knew. The opening Heavun and enknee1 were my highlights.
Next up was the Aussie band Teenage Dads who I was lucky to have seen twice in 2023 and performed another brilliant set. This Victorian band are very professional and with some excellent catchy songs. The choruses with their wonderful harmonies are so good. Lots of the crowd were singing and dancing along to Hey, Diego! and I Like It. They played a kickass cover of The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star which they originally performed on Triple J’s Like a Version. The songs with the synth make those even catchier like Midnight Driving and Cheerleader. The final song was Teddy which they perform with such infectious energy.
The crowd is starting to swell when Angie McMahon starts on the Never Let It Rest stage and she is an Australian treasure. She starts with Keeping Time from her 2019 Salt album and then Fish from her dazzling 2023 album called Light, Dark, Light Again, one of my favourite albums from last year. Most of the set is from that album. Letting Go was so emotional, moving and personal. Just so good. Angie’s Abba cover of Knowing Me, Knowing You starts like the traditional version but rocks when the rest of the band join in. Divine Fault Line was another killer song that showcased Angie’s heartfelt and passionate voice. She ended the set with a grand performance of her most well-known song which is Pasta from her first album.
I was able to catch most of D4vd (pronounced David) from the US on the Harts Mill stage and he was impressive. His music career started when he made Fortnite video montages on YouTube and to avoid copyright issues used his music created on an iPhone as the backing. With D4vd you get a bit of everything as he dabbles in a lot of genres like Hip Hop, Pop, Indie and Rock. He started with Worthless and played You and I which first blew up in Australia. His adorable six-year-old sister joined him on stage for Here with Me. I found all his songs to be very catchy and I look forward to what he puts out in the future.
Back to the main stage to see one of my highlights of the day the incomparable Faye Webster. I was concerned that the mostly young crowd would not be into Faye as it took me a while to appreciate her wonderful music, but the kids were enjoying her as much as I was. Faye is from Atlanta Georgia and released her first album in 2013 when she was sixteen! Her indie country vibes have mesmerised me. The first song she played was But Not Kiss and was my favourite. It is the first single from her yet-to-be-released album Underdressed at the Symphony which I am looking forward to. There was superb countrified slide guitar on Kind Of and the song Jonny had a great jazzy feel to it and then a blues feel on In a Good Way. The crowd went crazy for Right Side of my Neck and then later for the final song Kingston both from her breakout 2019 album Atlanta Millionaires Club. There was a lot of love in the crowd for Faye and I hope she returns to Adelaide one day for her own show otherwise it will be another interstate trip for me.
Dope Lemon was next and put in another professional and workmanlike set of exceptional tunes. Angus Stone and the band were first-class today. The best tunes were Marinade, Uptown Folks and the snappy Home Soon which had people dressed as cartoon animals dancing on stage with the band. My only complaint with Dope Lemon and (his other band) Angus and Julia Stone is that lately they only do festivals in Adelaide. Dope Lemon’s last stand-alone gig was in 2019 and Angus & Julia Stones was in 2017. Regardless, Dope Lemon’s set was very enjoyable today
My highlight of the festival was next with Raye from Tooting, London. By the time Raye was on stage the crowd was huge. Her incredible voice and stage presence won over new fans. She told us early on that she was ecstatic that her seven-year contract with her record company that refused to release her album was finally over. She released her 2023 album My 21st Century Blues independently last year. The first track today was The Thrill is Gone which was an old-school jazzy uptempo song. It was a perfect start and highlighted Ray’s wonderful voice and how tight her band was. The infectious groove of Flip a Switch was awesome. The dance anthems Black Mascara and Prada were killer. Escapism her breakout solo song was last and got the biggest crowd reaction. An artist to look out for.
Aussie dance act Confidence Man on the Harts Mill stage put in a short but captivating set. They have a lot of fun and appealing tunes in their set. I love their 90s-style electro-pop songs like Boyfriend (again) and Holiday which got the crowd up and dancing. I love how they have pivoted to a more club-focused sound with their most recent tracks On & On (again) and Now U Do. I was lucky to have seen them perform in Barcelona last year and they continue to impress me. Sugar Bones and Janet Planet dance and sing and Clarence McGuffie and Reggie Goodchild supply the music. The latter two in masks for the whole show. Sugar Bones was dancing so hard he fell and started bleeding but carried on regardless.
After a break, I watched Steve Lacy back on the main stage. I had previously seen him as part of the band The Internet back at Laneway 2016 who seem to be on a long hiatus. Steve was exciting and at times sounded like a modern version of Prince and Jimi Hendrix with a smooth funk and soul sound. His band was impressive, especially on an incredible mostly instrumental cover of Rage Against the Machine’s, Killing in the Name Of. I felt that he lost the crowd during a solo set that consisted of shortened versions of CU Girl, Infrunami and Love 2 Fast but that he and his band were back on form with the brilliant Buttons from his latest album. The crowd went wild when Steve played his hugest hit Bad Habit. He ended his excellent set with Dark Red from his magnificent first EP
The last act of the day was Stormzy who put on an unbelievable show. Stormzy is a British rapper who has been around for ten years and keeps gaining more and more well-deserved popularity. The band and DJ TiiNY were an outstanding backup as were his 4 backing vocalists. The visuals on the screen behind him were awe-inspiring and when you round that off with spectacular lighting, fire and fireworks you know you are witnessing a special night. Early on Stormzy asked the huge Adelaide crowd “Give me your energy and I will give you back everything I got”. Throughout the set that is what happened. The crowd was soon chanting his name and Stormzy gave us a powerhouse performance in return. We got outstanding recent hits Toxic Trait and The Weekend but his early songs got the hugest reactions. Shut Up and Crown were so good but my highlight was the beautiful, uplifting Blinded by Your Grace Pt 2 The last song was Vossi Bop from his 2019 album Heavy is the Head and it was a perfect finish to a great set as most people in the crowd were singing along to it. A wonderful end to another Laneway festival. Bring on 2025 Laneway!
Live Review By Richard De Pizzol