Melbourne Laneway Festival backlash

As a follow on to my previous post about The Crayon Fields, the backlash against the badly organised Melbourne leg of the Laneway Festival has begun. The best coverage is on The Enthusiast and The Vine with another article and punters venting on Mess and Noise... and Faster Louder has the festival's somewhat weak response to the criticism.

Crayon Fields at Laneway

Piss-smelling inner-city streets, the stinking-hot weather and a ridiculous inability to get into the smaller stages detracted from what was one of the better festival lineups of the summer - Melbourne's now annual St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Those who didn't cough up the $99 for a ticket had the opportunity to partake in the spirit of the fest at two FREE stages - one in the QV complex (see photo below) showcasing acoustic music. Tobias Cummings, Emily Ulman and Grand Salvo being highlights here...



...and around the corner Holly Throsby, Luluc, Oh Mercy (below) and more were on the Library steps, providing a more upbeat electrified experience.



As the sun slipped behind nearby buildings the pink-skinned crowd at this stage lounged around on the grass drinking smuggled cans of Carlton, smoked ciggies that were banned in the main event and allowed themselves to be wooed by the dreamy pop of Geoff O'Connor's group The Crayon Fields.


Crayon Fields - not at Laneway. Pic by Snipergirl.

The local four piece are back in action after a small hiatus, with a new 7" in tow...



"Mirror Ball" from their forthcoming, but delayed longplayer All the Pleasures in the World, is getting plenty of radio play on Triple R and Triple J, and they sound more exciting live than ever before. Adding cello and violin to their show at Laneway, they bopped their way through some older classics and a swag of fresh material. Geoff was at his bashful best and the rest of the dudes were rock solid in the clammy heat. "We should have gone into the library" he quiped shyly at one point "they'd have air conditioning. And books and computers". Nerdly banter rules.

Pitchfork approve of the new tunes too, and you can read all about them and download Mirror Ball for free. Guy Blackman, who often sits in with Geoff in his other project Sly Hats, is releasing the album through Chapter Music, hopefully sometime soon this year. But you can get the 7" now or grab their excellent first LP "Animal Bells".

The band play again tomorrow night, February 3rd, at Billboards supporting Stereolab from the UK before skipping over the Tasman to play in Auckland and Wainuiomata. Then they're off to Europe in April and May. Dates, as they stand, are on the Crayon Fields myspace page.

Spiral's in town.

Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg is back in Australia this summer, playing Laneway Festival and a Melbourne show next week at the Northcote Social Club with a 'pickup' band of locals including his mates from Gersey and BBQ guru Julian Wu. Go figure! Along for the ride on Tuesday 3rd of February is campfire-pop heroes Port O'Brien, currently featured in TV ads locally (see below) and gathering some momentum on the back of their excellent album of 2008 "All We Could Do Was Sing".

Kannberg, in case you don't know, is the former guitar-slinger and founder of the best band ever invented in the known and unknown universe: PAVEMENT. I've been reading Rob Jovanovic's essential bio of the band "Perfect Sound Forever" which is the perfect accompaniment to the recent Pavement redux-reissues. It features interviews with the band, plus reviews, flyers, artwork, photos and anecdotes from people involved with them. So, so good.

The question on everyone's lips though is when's the Pavement reformation tour? Its now ten years since they broke up and 2009 is also the 20th anniversary of their first release. Surely, the planets are aligned? Scott told Time Off Sydney:

"I actually saw Malkmus last night, he played here in Seattle... We were supposed to have a little talk about that (the reunion), but instead we ended up having a little too much to drink. So, those best laid plans went to waste. So, I can tell you that nothing is imminent"

Boo! Come on!!! Ok, so some good news for fans of Kannberg's work as Preston School of Industries is that he'll be releasing a new, as yet un-named album, as "Scott Kannberg", in the not to distant future. It will be out through Matador. We're sure to hear some new tunes from it this coming Tuesday too!

So, anyway here's that Port O'Brien track to also get you excited about their small club show on the 3rd:

Laneways Erupt

Many years ago, as I stood on tip-toe, craning my neck to see Broken Social Scene, trying block out the overpowering smell of piss and drunk bogans, I swore I'd never attend another Melbourne Laneway Festival.

However, the 2009 linup for the now annual event has just been announced, and I gotta admit, I'm very, very tempted to give it a second chance. The festival has expanded from Caledonia Lane into Lonsdale Street (see the photo above) and also into Lt Lonsdale Street alongside the QV building. So maybe it will be easier to get around, as well as see bands and avoid the stinky pissy laneway. One can only hope.

Anyway, here's the lineup, I'm VERY excited by Born Ruffians, Port O'Brien, Stereolab and No Age:

GIRL TALK, STEREOLAB, ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, THE HOLD STEADY, THE DRONES, CUT OFF YOUR HANDS, FOUR TET, TAME IMPALA, EL GUINCHO, JAY REATARD, BURAKA SOM SISTEMA DJ/MC SET, THE TEMPER TRAP, NO AGE, JOHN STEEL SINGERS, CANYONS, PIVOT, PORT O'BRIEN, HOLLY THROSBY, BORN RUFFIANS, MOUNTAINS IN THE SKY, TIM FITE, STILL FLYIN , DAEDELUS...plus more to be announced

The Laneway Festival also goes to Perth for the first time (as well as Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide), and the Melbourne leg takes place on February 1st. Tickets go on sale October 27th.