Concert Review: Laneway 2019 Albert Park January 28, 2019

The 10^th Auckland Laneway Festival took place yesterday. Like the first one, Florence + The Machine were on hand to close out the night. But that’s about all that was similar to the first. Fortunately just about all the changes to the festival have been for the better.

Like a lot of people I talked to before the festival, I found this year’s line-up a little underwhelming. Florence has been here a few times and Courtney Barnett just played an awesome show at The Powerstation a few months ago. A lot of the other names were relatively unknown to me and my circle of friends, but that may just be a result of being quite a bit older than the target demographic  and so, out of touch with what “the kids” are diggin’.

After a mid-morning fog and drizzle, it turned into a picture perfect day for a music festival in Auckland. And so off I trotted down to Albert Park.

I had planned to get there early to catch Miss June, one of my favourite local acts, but stuff happened and I didn’t get to the venue until much later. I did, however, run into the band’s soundman, who assured me that their set went down very well. (Click here to watch Miss June’s 13th Floor Video Session)

After conducting my interview with Courtney Barnett, which you can listen to here, I got to the festival in time to catch Aussie favourites Gang Of Youths. I was in the mood for some rock, and these guys filled the bill, offering up some Springsteen-inspired tunes in the bright afternoon sun. It felt good…it sounded good. And they looked like they were having a ball on stage. (Click here to watch the 13^th Floor interview with lead singer David Le’aupepe)

Next up was a wander over to the Dr. Martens stage to catch some extreme NZ noise from The Dead C. The veteran trio were in fine form, despite playing in front of a green and pink banner with a puppy on it. Very strange…but wonderful to hear their dissonant sounds wafting out into the unsuspecting youngsters on the surrounding grassy hills.  (Click here for Marty Duda’s recent interview with The Dead C)

Then it was back to the Princes St stage for Mitski. The Japanese-American indie musician was in prime performance art mode. Each song had its own accompanying moves, gestures, pantomimes or choreography. She seemed to be operating in a completely different world that the rest of us and I got the feeling that this would have been much better in a more intimate setting. As it was, it was still very entertaining and about halfway through her set Mitski came out of her “character” to address the audience on a more personal level. (Click here for the 13^th Floor interview with Mitski from 2016).

I then ping ponged back to the Dr Martens stage for Parquet Courts. Again, my need to rock was satisfied by the band as they came out…rockin’. The crowd was into it, with plenty of dancing/pogoing/moshing whatever it was they were doing in time to the music. I did have an unfortunate encounter with a Smiths fan during the set. At first all was good, until he suggested that I attend a Smiths cover band show. When I informed him that I, indeed, hated The Smiths, he didn’t take it well. Despite telling him that I quite liked Johnny Marr’s solo work, his friends had to separate us. (Click here for Marty Duda’s recent interview with Parquet Courts)

Then, with some trepidation, I made my way to the Rotunda Stage to see R&B singer Jorja Smith. In the past, I’ve had bad experiences trying to see anyone on this stage as its been way too crowd. Sadly, the same was true again. I caught a couple of Jorja’s tunes…she was fine, if a little like everyone else, but her band was excellent. I then spent about 15 minutes wrestling my way out of the crowd to go see Courtney Barnett.

What can I say? Courtney was Courtney. She and her band sounded excellent throughout  their set. The sound was good and the vibe was cool. There was the one annoying guy standing next to me continually shouting his love for Courtney. Fortunately, she couldn’t hear him, unfortunately, I could. Things got worse when he decided to throw his big, sweaty arm around my neck. I’m sure he meant well, but I was not in the mood. A glare sent him on his way, and I enjoyed the rest of the set. A few new songs wouldn’t go wrong now for Courtney, but, hey, the old faves still sound good.

Again, I ventured over to the Rotunda stage to see  Denzel Curry, and again I was repelled by the massive crowd. What I heard sounded fresh, particularly his love for The Beatles and Black Sabbath.

Then finally back to Princes St stage for Florence + The Machine. By this time my feet were killing me. I made the mistake of wearing my Chucks (to impress Courtney) rather than my orthopaedic “moon shoes” and now I was paying the price.

I managed to stay for about half of Florence’s set before hobbling off home. Her big, strong voice had no problem filling the street and her on stage presence even seemed larger than life as she twirled her way from one side to the other.

I noticed as I walked toward the exit that a giant video screen had been set up for folks who didn’t want to battle the crowd. Good idea!

Laneway has come a long way over the past 10 years. Now it feels like a grown up festival…the natural continuation of Big Day Out and Albert Park feels like its natural home. OK, I’m looking forward to next year… with sensible shoes.

Marty Duda