Review: Laneway Festival Singapore 2015

I am pleased that I was able to attend my third Laneway in Singapore this year. This time, it was bigger and better. A sold-out event with the estimated crowd of 13,000 with a lot of great performances from great bands throughout.

Here is the list of all acts I've seen. Ranked all the way down to the best act of the event. (I missed Chet Faker and some from Cloud Stage, though. Too bad.)

13. Enterprise

One improvement I've made over the past 3 years: managed to catch the first band to play at Laneway (missed Kings of Convenience and Vance Joy before). And I'm proud it was Malaysians in the form of Enterprise.

12. Eagulls

And then came this post-punk band from UK, Eagulls. The positive warm-up continued. A good set after Enterprise. 2 out of 2.

11. Courtney Barnett

This girl wowed the crowd with her voice and movements on stage, in the plainest clothes you'll ever see from a female vocalist. Reminded me of Juliet Simms sans all those accessories on her.

10. St. Vincent

I only managed to catch this set briefly before I walked off the venue. Her presence alone amazed me before she started playing her guitar. From what I heard, her performance was good. That hair and dress? A+

Oh another achievement unlocked: didn't miss the last act of Laneway (missed Gotye and James Blake in last editions).

9. Jungle

So the hype about Jungle is true. They moved the crowd with their groove and fun music. They funked them up. I can see that from far. The set was lively.


8. FKA Twigs

Another hype proven not just a hype. FKA Twigs. She sang, danced and mesmerized her Robert Pattinson fans and haters.

7. Angus and Julia Stone

The relaxing set from the siblings. A needed temporary departure from rocking tunes of Pond, Eagulls and Courtney Barnett sets earlier. Sing-alongs from the crowd made it a beautiful scene at The Gardens by The Bay.

6.Future Islands

Best individual performance of the night by a vocalist in a band. Energetic. Holy shit. What the hell...

5. Mac Demarco

Viceroy ambassador, Mac Demarco. Jokes, banters, cigarettes, cigarette on guitar, crowd-surfing, Coldplay's Yellow cover and some anthems sung-along. He rocked.

4. Banks

Failing to watch her set in full at Good Vibes last year, I could not miss her this time around. She sounded better and looked sexier! Her hand movements on stage is the runner-up to Future Islands vocalist's Best Individual Performance. Her neck... God!

3. Little Dragon

They enlightened the night with some great electronic music + lightsaber powers! The outro of some of their songs were just brilliant. I danced. Sounded better than Chvrches here last year. There I said it.


2. Pond

No wonder why the crowd went quick to fill up the floor to see this band. Pond is the surprise hit of the day! Slotted earlier in the day didn't mean they are smaller than others. Their dynamism was constant and their set was tight. I should have ranked this band down there at No. 1. But... oh well,...

1. Royal Blood

...Royal Blood is the best rock band I've seen at Laneway Singapore. There were mosh pit and scene. Was this Laneway? They played all the songs from their great debut album (what else?) but still, it was bloody royal and tight! They may have paced-down some of the songs but that was the only point that disappoints. Nevertheless, they were still sound great the entire time. Just two guys on stage making heavy sounds like there are 4 or 5 of them in a band. Kudos, Royal Blood!