Despite listening to the Voltaire Twins since they began a few years ago, I don’t know the names of any of their tracks. I’ve heard them all before (except for one I noticed was a newie, and I told Jaymes Voltaire’s partner that I had noticed in a ’see, see I do know stuff’ kind of voice, even though I knew nothing else). One thing I can attest to is that they do put together a cool show, Jaymes’ stage antics were especially amusing, claiming to be Mumford and Sons got a chuckle out of the crowd, and attacking Jye’s drums and leaving him to fix them up impressed me!  The crowd cleared toward the end of their set, but that was given because of the cross over with Mumford and Sons.

The greatest part of the Mumford and Sons set was not “Little Lion Man,” despite a number of people leaving straight after it was played (I’m not bitching here, I’m just observing). “The Cave,” got the best response out of the crowd, and Holly and I enjoyed that because we could see a little more by then! Mumford and Sons play well on their ‘folk’ image, doing a call and response with ‘Hoe-down.’ Their on stage energy was also a clear stand-out winner. How do you stand still when four guys are going crazy on stage? After the excitement of folk music it was time for a beer.

I caught Sarah Blasko’s set, but again was over my head. Luckily Holly and some of my friend’s came to the rescue! I was informed that she barely touched her previous work, playing nothing off the first album and only one song from the second. After hearing this I was pretty surprised, because I recognised almost every song in her set, suggesting that her new work has been received with open arms. The crowd seemed pretty impressed too.

By about 8pm I started to feel a little more sure on my feet. The Very Best (essentially Radioclit with a different MC) did not hesitate to start a riot of dancing. There massive LED screens, there dancers and there MCs were a highlight of the day. Opening with a crazy mashed up intro song and going full force into a rendition of “Bang,” the energy did not stop for an hour and a half. I slipped over to see The XX for a few minutes, but wasn’t too impressed, so headed straight back to see the rest of The Very Best and Radioclit. Radioclit continued in the same style as The Very Best, making a huge 3 hour set for the MC’s and djs. Everything seemed to be laid down over tribal drums and it made for perfect dancing music, I feel sorry for the people who stayed for three hours of intense dancing! Although there were breaks, when the djs decided to do some spin backs and let the mc’s pump up the crowd into another frenzy, non-stop afrobeat party!

Finishing with N.A.S.A. was the perfect choice. The sound system was pushed to it’s max, from astronaut themed intro through electro, hip-hop, disco and house. The intergalactic dancers were a highlight, creepy oversized foam heads flying around on stage. Mash-ups of “We Will Rock You” and “Rock With You,” “We don’t need no education” and “Marz” and the best of all “Robot Rock” and “A Fifth of Beethoven!” Oh yeah that was good. At about 30 minutes, there was a quick break to tell Perth that they were going to need to through away their love of dance music for a minute as N.A.S.A. were ‘hip-hop heads.’ However it didn’t take long until I heard more dance music with “Satisfaction” (Rolling Stones) mashed up with Beni Benassi’s “Satisfaction.” I didn’t care though, it was a fast paced tour of great music, and worth every minute!

I will definitely be there next year!

Laneway Perth (Website)

BLACK GOLD

BLACK LIPS

BOYS BOYS BOYS!

BRIDEZILLA

CAT BLACK

DANIEL JOHNSTON

DAPPLED CITIES

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

HOCKEY

KID SAM

KILL TEEN ANGST

MUMFORD & SONS

N.A.S.A

POND

RADIOCLIT

SARAH BLASKO

THE MIDDLE EAST

THE VERY BEST

THE XX

TOMAS FORD

VOLTAIRE TWINS

WHITLEY

WILD BEASTS

YOUNG REVELRY