The Laneway Way: Five most memorable acts of this year's Laneway Festival
This time last week, St. Jerome's Laneway Festival swung our way for its hot and sweaty final year at Silo Park. Auckland gave a stunner of a day that left even those with sunscreen in desperate search of some shade and water. While it often seems like the majority of people use this festival as an excuse to wear 'festy' clothing, if you managed to take a look at the stages, there were some new and noteworthy acts to see.
Here’s a run-down of our five most memorable acts of the day:
Shamir
Shamir forced us from our pre-Laneway activities to the park early on in the day, blessing us with his futuristic sound straight from Vegas, Nevada. Watching him live was like putting R&B, pop, electronic, dance and a whole lot of rainbows and unicorns into a bowl. This young artist breaks gender boundaries with his virtually androgynous voice, pink striped shirt and jeans that said ‘I’m not going out of my way to impress anybody’. Shamir definitely was a real pleasure to witness and hopefully will visit NZ on the regular.
The Internet
They really don’t lie when they say The Internet is addictive. The sheer size of the crowd proved that everyone knew this act was one not to be missed. Before going, I was warned that Syd (The Internet singer and producer) was claimed to be able to make any girl fall for her. After watching her stage presence it was safe to say that I myself was connected to her network. The electric energy from this group really woke you up for a long day of festivities ahead. The crowd however seemed to forget that this wasn’t Oddfuture, Syds other producing act, and took the opportunity to get ruckus.
Grimes
By the time Grimes was on the main stage, the sun had started setting and everything felt a bit more manageable down in the crowd. Claire Boucher and fellow dance crew did not use this as an excuse to relax though, bouncing around that stage and making sure that we all stayed very much awake by this point. A technically difficulty and a very genuine apology didn’t cause too much disruption. It actually was an amazing reminder of just how live everything is at Laneway. Grimes managed to bounce back and still kill it definitely made this show a memorable occasion.
Shamir
Shamir forced us from our pre-Laneway activities to the park early on in the day, blessing us with his futuristic sound straight from Vegas, Nevada. Watching him live was like putting R&B, pop, electronic, dance and a whole lot of rainbows and unicorns into a bowl. This young artist breaks gender boundaries with his virtually androgynous voice, pink striped shirt and jeans that said ‘I’m not going out of my way to impress anybody’. Shamir definitely was a real pleasure to witness and hopefully will visit NZ on the regular.
The Internet
They really don’t lie when they say The Internet is addictive. The sheer size of the crowd proved that everyone knew this act was one not to be missed. Before going, I was warned that Syd (The Internet singer and producer) was claimed to be able to make any girl fall for her. After watching her stage presence it was safe to say that I myself was connected to her network. The electric energy from this group really woke you up for a long day of festivities ahead. The crowd however seemed to forget that this wasn’t Oddfuture, Syds other producing act, and took the opportunity to get ruckus.
Vince Staples Hip Hop up-and-comer, Vince Staples, was a much-awaited act, coming in hot and heavy all the way from Long Beach, California. He owned the stage as his first premiere NZ performance had us all singing ‘I ain’t never ran from nothin’ but the police’. While I’m guessing the police may not have been happy about the crime related content, it was good to see NZ making new hip-hop artists feel at home.
Hermitude Australian electronic sensations Hermitude made use of their huge turnout by delivering us hit after hit from their recent album Dark Night Sweet Light. The surprise appearance from Young Tapz gave an explosive energy that is not often found from an electronic set and gave us a break from watching the duo behind their machines. When they asked us if we were feeling the buzz, it was clear to see the crowd was buzzing on something.fuck the cinema, this right here was a movie A photo posted by YOUNG TAPZ (@youngtapz) on
Grimes
By the time Grimes was on the main stage, the sun had started setting and everything felt a bit more manageable down in the crowd. Claire Boucher and fellow dance crew did not use this as an excuse to relax though, bouncing around that stage and making sure that we all stayed very much awake by this point. A technically difficulty and a very genuine apology didn’t cause too much disruption. It actually was an amazing reminder of just how live everything is at Laneway. Grimes managed to bounce back and still kill it definitely made this show a memorable occasion.
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