By the Laneway…

The debut of the Laneway Festival in Singapore was held recently and has been dubbed Rainway, Rainway Mudlane and even Lameway for those unfortunate few who did not make it to the fest. Rightfully so because if you are an indie music fan or can appreciate good (unprocessed) music and were in the region, you only have blameway for not making the right decision to go.

Our account of the Laneway Fest started midway through Ladyhawke’s set. We had planned an hour buffer from our estimated arrival time by bus from Malaysia to get to Singapore’s Fort Canning. Instead, we arrived an hour late and missed the first act and one of BBC’s Sound of 2011 nominees; Warpaint – no thanks to the rain for that! But like they say, “if you can’t beat them – join them”, in this case ‘them’ refers to the rain. With that, thousands of festival goers – armed in ponchos and with umbrellas, braved the incessant rain for more than ten hours. What seemed like rain on Laneway’s parade at first turned out to be the perfect complement to the ultimate musical festival experience with amazing talented musicians to boot.

Having experienced a few music festivals in Europe, the crowd in Singapore was definitely more docile (i.e. – less drugged out / drunk trouble makers). This made for a pleasant and safe experience. In addition, the fact that bands like these don’t always make their way to the region, made the audience more appreciative and it resonated throughout the place and into the hearts of the musicians who, when performing, showed how grateful they were for the support and praise. It was in fact a ‘first’ for all the bands to perform in Singapore. In a news report heard on BBC 6Music – Foals were taken aback by how some fan girls approached them after their set with handmade stickers with their names on it. The ladies in Warpaint admittedly have never experienced people screaming during their performance and could only smile and blush at the fact.

Singapore has always been a musical hub for the South East Asian region. But judging from the response conveyed by the audience and that of the musicians present at Laneway Singapore, this particular festival has officially put Singapore on the map for a “must perform in”. As festival co-founder and organizer Danny Rogers puts it – “We can’t control the weather, but we can control the music …..” But isn’t a bit of uncertainty thrown into a perfect blend of music, a yin and yang of things, a great formula for a maiden event? Plus no one forgets their first time.