It’s been sixteen years since St Jerome’s Laneway Festival‘s humble beginnings, in a cosy Melbourne laneway. Now a mainstay of Australian music, drawing thousands of punters across the nation’s capital cities every summer, the festival has continued to see mass success with it’s emerging-talent-spotlighting formula, giving a platform to artists on the cusp of turning the world on its head.
For its 2020 edition, the festival once again meticulously curated a lineup that crossed genres, from punk to hip hop, indie-rock, and RnB, to synonymously challenged and charmed music lovers, as punters flitted between artists they loved and artists they would soon add to high rotation.
Melbourne surprised everyone lashings of delightful Vitamin D, and with vodka kombuchas and Jamesons in hand, all were treated to a day of excellent tunes and all-round good vibes. Here are just a few of our highlights:
WUNDERKIND, SCHMUNDERKIND
“Do you know X is only Y years old??” has become a common phrase thrown around the pit in between bangers. The novelty of being both hella young and talented is surely soon going to wear off, with a huge chunk of artists on this year’s lineup either born after 2000 or barely scraping into the ’90s. From NZ’s BENEE (freshly 20) to England’s Col3trane, and Mahalia — 19, and 21 respectively, and Australia’s own Ruel and Kaiit, who have become national treasures at just 17 and 22, the future has never looked brighter. Brimming with infectious confidence, these four artists took the stage with the panache of performance veterans, wowing day-one fans and winning over a whole legion of new ones.
THE AUSSIE NARRATIVE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE ENTERTAINING
Rest easy, because with names like Sunny Coast lads The Chats and Perth singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly, Australian storytelling is in a golden era. If you haven’t seen either of these artists live yet, I highly suggest you get your shit together. Since going viral with their Down Under anthem “Smoko” in 2017, The Chats have gone from proudly bogan strength to strength, with reluctantly relatable punk-infused songs that speak to your everyday Aussie, and touch on a wide range of important themes from Maccas runs, to pingers, and contracting gonorrhoea (“Hands up if you’ve had a sexually transmitted disease” they yell at the crowd before launching into STI-addressing hit “The Clap”). Armed with her guitar and pulling off her black culottes to reveal epic ’80s fluro green tights, Stella Donnelly switched-up the mood with her incredible sunset set; her sharp lyricism and energetic delivery (not to mention her always-astonishing vocals) had audiences singing along emphatically half the time, and gawking in silent awe at others.
HIPSTERS ARE PUTTING THEIR HIPS IN HOP
Rounding out the revelry, Dreamville‘s J.I.D and Odd Future alumnus Earl Sweatshirt sent Lanewaygoers into a frenzy. Separated only by an explosive set by pop royal Charli XCX — whose Laneway afterparty performance is still the talk of town — both sets had crowds ditching prime real estate on the green hillside to hit the centre of the mosh. J.I.D’s return came in hot, as the Atlanta native spat his fire bars over big beats. New cut “Big Black Truck”, which opens the deluxe version of the J. Cole-led ‘Revenge of the Dreamers: III’ compilation project, had hand pistols thrown up in the air, as everyone bounced shoulder-to-shoulder. With more introspective numbers under his sleeve, Illinois’ Earl Sweatshirt was welcomed back with open arms, dipping into his lo-fi roots — a catharsis for another epic installation of Laneway.
Photos by Tim Lambert.