From humble beginnings in a literal laneway, to sold-out shows and crowds of 10,000+, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival has well and truly secured its place as one of the greatest festivals of the season, and is consistently a “who’s who” of The Next Big Thing.

Whilst the 2015 line-up didn’t have any enormous names, and arguably had fewer chart toppers than previous years, there were more acts than ever before, spanning genres from ultra-indie to hip-hop and electronica. Set amongst the maze of buildings that make up the Sydney College of the Arts, four stages competed for the attention of the twelve thousand strong crowd, as punters drank, rubbed sweaty shoulders and danced the day and night away.

The crowd was the usual eclectic mix that Laneway brings – girls in crop tops and flower crowns, blokes in Forever New shorts and singlets that might be their girlfriends’ dresses; as well as overalls and caps with neckflaps, and of course those few brave/weirdo souls who embrace the heat and don onesies for the day. Spotted were a group of cows, several Pokemons, and a few Disney characters who probably can’t be named for legal reasons.

Opening the day to the keenest early arrivals, Triple J Unearthed winners and local act I Know Leopard played through their cutesy pop numbers, and set the precedent for a fun and joy-filled day.

A little later young Hannah Karydas aka Eves the Behavior took to the aptly named Future Classic Stage and rocked out, heaping praise upon her audience and generally loving life. This stage proved to be the site of many of the best acts of the day, which was awkward given its position, with crowds having to stack way back instead of being able to spread out to the sides a little.

One of the greatest can’t-miss moments of the day came courtesy of Canada’s Mac
Demarco on the Park Stage, who played a truly awesome set featuring a semi-nude on stage posse, and a full minute make-out session with Connan Mockasin after finishing up his own set a little earlier. Demarco won the audience with his jovial personality and easy guitar hooks that had the crowds moving immediately.

Up and comer Raury played back over on the Red Bull/Future Classic stage in seriously stunning Native American getup. Unfortunately for anybody more than a couple of metres back from the stage, the mix was seriously awful, and his mix of folk-rock-hip-hop was basically unintelligible for a good chunk of the crowd. Only a few of his numbers managed to make their way to the back, though his hit ‘God’s Whisper’ shone as his crowd pleaser with arms raised front to back as they chanted along to “I am the saviour”.

Perth psych rockers Pond played out their biggest hits, and announced that the audience was being treated to the “best festival line-up around” – and frontman Nick Allbrook has some fairly decent authority on that one, playing his sixth Laneway in a row – an impressive record by any standards. Meanwhile in another annoying clash, Swedish electronic stars Little Dragon played their classic sound on the other side of the venue at the Garden Stage.

Another star of the Future Classics stage was Adelaide wondergirl Tkay Maidza who played to a huge crowd after just scraping into Triple J’s Hottest 100. The 18-year-old legend bopped around with a huge grin and had a few laughs with the crowd, definitely an act to watch who’ll likely be gracing bigger stages in the next year.

Occasionally acts were simply so electrifying you couldn’t tear yourself away, and America’s songstress St Vincent was a perfect example of this, completely captivating from opening note right to her spectacular close.

One of the last acts of the night, and another star of the Hottest 100, Canadian musical genius Caribou played the Milestone Stage at max capacity – the crowd moved as one, in part from his delicious sounds coming mostly from his latest record Our Love, but also thanks to the fact there was barely room to exhale, and he had the masses in the palm of his hand for his entire 45 minute set.

Finally closing out the night was Flying Lotus, with massive projections and an even bigger sound, the American rapper and musical God was the perfect end to the incredible line-up that was Laneway 2015.

With his wicked beats and the awesome 3D images he blasted out into the night sky, punters left the grounds still grooving and in high spirits.

Whilst the Sydney College of the Arts is a cool and quirky location, and it’s fun to explore the warren of buildings and relax on the sprawling greenery, the volume  (perhaps abiding by council by-laws in the middle of a residential area) proved to be a bit of a problem during the otherwise incredible day.

Check out the full gallery from the festival here.

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Laneway Festival 2015 Dates & Tickets

ADELAIDE: FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY
HARTS MILL, PORT ADELAIDE (16+)

MELBOURNE: SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY
FOOTSCRAY COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE (FCAC) AND THE RIVER’S EDGE

FREMANTLE: SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY
ESPLANADE RESERVE AND WEST END

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