Music festivals – like any other entertainment platform – are an intensely personal experience.
With the sheer number of things on offer – music, food and beverages – it isn’t too difficult to customise the experience for oneself.
Thus, from our perspective, Laneway Festival Singapore 2018 was loud & noisy rockin’ fun, because we wanted it to be.
Thus, for us, rock ‘n’ roll (such as it is in 2018) was delivered in myriad forms, called by elaborate names to justify one’s own idiosyncratic preferences.
Whether you called it psychedelic rock, dream pop or shoegaze, 90s vets Slowdive and Indonesian quintet Heals brought the noise but leavened with a dollop of atmosphere.
Veering across the spectrum, one could marvel at the somewhat ‘old-school’ rock structures of Father John Misty and The War on Drugs, flavoured with a hipster-ish update, which made it all more kid-friendly.
Where once upon a time, pundits would object to a substantial local and regional presence, our very own Obedient Wives Club, Amateur Takes Control and Tim De Cotta, more than held their own with their different takes on guitar rock music.
In terms of so-called indie-alternative rock, we were treated to the fledging Melbourne-based Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever who while supplying the energetic forms of 80s indie pop, were found lacking in the songwriting department in parts somewhat.
Then, there was Wolf Alice. A North London outfit now in its eighth year, the band celebrated the power and glory of punk, hard rock and even heavy metal. Ellie Roswell was like a banshee on stage, her petite form belied the dynamism of her performance. Hypnotic, pulsating and mesmerising throughout!
Kudos to all concerned. We had a great time. Bring on Laneway Festival Singapore 2019!!!
All photo credits: Jazreel-Anne/Laneway Festival Singapore.
Thanks to 19sixtyfive for making this review possible.
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