By James Murray and 3news.co.nz staff
Aotea Square is usually peopled by besuited council workers hurrying past that awful pub attached to the IMAX building, but for today at least it will be the habitué of crazy, party-time, indie-rock-and-roll kids. And me, the slightly paunchy, not-dressed-for-the-occasion editor of this website.
Some pictures below illustrate my point.
Indie-Rock-and-Roll-Kid
Chief Editor - 3news.co.nz
Last year of course Laneway Festival was held at the Britomart and people complained of long queues, a rubbish drink token system, no pass outs and a lack of shade.
Let’s hope this is all good in the new venue – the organisers are promising more bars and Aotea Square does lie in the shadow of the Imax building.
While we are on the subject of the Imax building, I kind of hope festival-goers tear the place down if the queues and lack of shade get to them. The purple spaceship monstrosity, complete with tacky rocket lifts, is the most depressing piece of architecture in the world.
That really would be something to live update about, so you really should stay glued to events below.
10:27pm - Apologies for a lack of updates Beach House and Foals Just stole the show. Amazing. More tomorrow.
9:15pm - Zebra by beach house is the festival high point, hands down. Swaying and swaying. Aoetea square is Not a city centre right now. Apart from that damn Skycity metro building.
8:37pm – Yeasayer are one of those bands that could only come from New York. They even have a guido looking guy in their multicultural mix. Vampire weekend and paul Simon are less cool but they draw big comparison.
8:15pm - Yeasayer start with their biggest song to my mind 'o.n.e', sign of a confident band. They have the crowd in the palm of their hand with the exception of the women behind me who is, and I am not joking, standing intentionally on the backs of my jandals. Not meeting my eye though.
8:00pm - Deerhunter are nice and all. Beautiful whole sound but they lack a front man. In fact the only bands so far with a strong lead have been Lawrence Arabia and Ariel's pink haunted graffiti. We need something more than a morose bass player smoking a dag to hang our hat on! Will Yeasayer change all that.
7:25 - Deerhunter have been poorly timed. They sound lovely but it's a bit slow for this point in the night. Should have traded places with ariels pink. Putting bands in order of popularity is not the way to do it.
7:00pm – An entertaining set from Ladyhawke. She has a knack for a hit single. A man in front of me wears a Ponsonby state of mind t-shirt. Jay-Z would be proud. His wife is wearing toeless leggings without heels. Don't do this folks.
6:31pm – Apparently I missed Len brown on stage. Gutted as he is a world class performer. Apparently the trains will get better. Ladyhawke on now and my fiance has described her as pretty so I shall too. She is a bit Springsteen.
6:20pm – Warpaint are a bit ‘meh’ really. Couple of nice songs but then just a bit samey. Hot news though: the lead singer of Ariel Pink has found his jacket. He is following me around again and I can see he is fully clad. Other hot news: a beer is one dollar more expensive in the VIP bars than in the normal bars. An important blow to the people as celebs are usually spend their times licking free absinthe from the thighs of virgins.
6:02pm – OK so I spent some of the day getting a whole bunch of photos of the various types of clothes and accessories on people in the crowd. Check out the Laneway fashion photogallery here.
5:30pm - Unfortunately, I cannot tell you much about Blonde Redhead. I spent their entire slot in the media centre uploading photos. Wasn't all in vain though, it appears I owe the lead singer of Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti an apology, he is not wearing a wig, his hair is his own. He's sitting next to me because someone has walked off with his green jacket, which he had left in the media room. He is wearing lovely clogs and appears remarkably patient, like he is waiting for a plane. Warpaint soon, lots of hype, lots of expectation. Slightly lacklustre album but I hear they are great live.
4:41pm - She could well be right they just played ‘Round and Round’, a lovely song, and it was the first real festival moment. Hand clapping, sing-a-long fun.
4:40pm - It's been decided, my friend Emma just demanded I call Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti act of the day. A bold call so early on but they have this nack of confusing the hell out of me for two minutes and then I kind of go oooh yeah I get it. Sweet lovely discordant tune after tune. They have turned a pretty straight, chilled indie album into something you should probably take a lot of drugs too. Not that I condone that. Crowd thinning out a bit though so maybe not all agree.
4:32pm - Are Ariel's pink haunted graffiti even in tune? The guy in a check shirt next to me isn't sure he just pulled out a tuning fork.
4:18pm - Cant work out whether I love or hate Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti. They lack timing but ooze charisma. Bands are usually taller than this I am sure.
4:13pm - Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti are a pleasingly shambolic live act. They get away with it because their singer is dressed like Andy pandy with the blonde wig from psycho and because they have songs which kind of draw you in. Deceptively simple these guys, like they are playing in your garage.
3:56pm - Pretty awesome set from Holy F**k ends with them sampling with or without you, in a good way. People are able to see in from the street, cheap as chips way to see some quality bands I guess. Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti up next. A particularly short band that has gone for a crossdressing, safari clown look.
3:24pm - Holy F**k are on stage now as a strongish breeze picks up, they're a blur of lead switches and instrument changes. A good change of pace.
3:16pm - Cracking last song from Lawrence Arabia. For a man dressed like a character from brideshead revisited he could rock a bit.
Lawrence Arabia
3:02pm - And now time for a shameless plug. Thanks to nice blocks for giving my cameraperson a free ice block. The spirit of Woodstock lives on. We are clothed though... For now.
2:57pm - Lawrence Arabia playing a nice chilled set. Sitting next to a guy who looks like Jerry Garcia on the lawn. Aotea Square is a good venue, lots of space, grass, queues all good so far.
2:34pm - Lawrence Arabia is a very natty dresser. Pink pin striped shirt tucked into white jeans with a well coiffed moustache. He looks like a man about to audition for the role of ratty in a live action version of the wind in the willows.
2:16pm - Roger Shepherd, the founder of Flying Nun Records, is in the audience watching Childrens Hour. He probably signed them back in the day. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know this band to well. My friend who supported the Headless Chickens playing for Thorazine Shuffle seems to be enjoying it too as does music journalist Graham Reid. They are both good barometers of taste. They remind me of Echo and the Bunnymen, but are a bit heavier.
1:56pm - My fiance has just pointed out that I have been wearing the same t-shirt for three days. All part of my indie disguise.
1:44pm - The makers of a well-known ice tea have employed breakdancers to hand out free bottles. Very hip-hop is iced tea. My iPhone camera is too rubbish to get a pic. look out later for photographic evidence.
1:34pm - Confusion reigns amongst the ground staff about bag checks. I am trying to put my bag in storage, but first person asks thinks I want it checked for contraband again. Why would I want to do that?! Problem eventually sorted, it's by the bFM tent. Emerald City sound better than usual but I find them an uninspiring live act. just never quite get going. great to listen to on headphones though.
1:09pm - An Emerald City have taken to the stage. Have always admired their top hate wearing violinist but all too often poor sound systems and mixing drown the poor guy out. Today though the sounds are pretty good, which is a plus for this multi-layered band.
An Emerald City
12:53pm - James is stoked to be standing in the V.I.P. queue next to Kate Sylvester. "What a trendy gig this is", he thinks to himself. All of a sudden Kate is whisked away through a more important person entrance than James, at which point he exclaims he is "sticking with the people".
12:46pm - James walks into Laneway Festival and is immediately amused by two things. Firstly, overhearing someone saying: "Why is it weird to chat someone up in a cafe but not in a bar?" and secondly a 'race based controversy'. A white teenager runs past four Maori boys doing a haka screaming. The boys apparently take it well.
11:46am - The new line up is as follows -
- 1:00pm An Emerald City
- 1:45pm Children’s Hour
- 2:30pm Lawrence Arabia
- 3:15pm Holy F**k
- 4:00pm Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti
- 4:45pm Blonde Redhead
- 5:30pm Warpaint
- 6:15pm Ladyhawke
- 7:00pm Deerhunter
- 7:45pm Yeasayer
- 8:35pm Beach House
- 9:25pm Foals
11:20am – Sorry to start things off with a fizzle but !!! will not be playing at today’s gig. Their flight from Singapore was delayed by seven hours last night and they have not been able to find alternative transportation.
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