Fresh faces at Laneway

Fresh faces at Laneway

New multi-act indie music events might be sprouting in the local concert scene, but the St Jerome's Laneway Festival Singapore is set to prove itself as the premier indie event of the year with its fourth instalment coming up at Gardens by the Bay on Jan 25. Not only do music lovers have three stages to look forward to for the first time in the event's history, but the festival also has its strongest line-up yet.

This year's edition features three highly anticipated acts, all adorned with the most prestigious critical acclaim in the music world: Haim from Los Angeles in the United States, and James Blake and Savages from Britain.

They join 15 other heralded acts from around the world, including Singapore's The Observatory, Vandetta and Gema.

Mercury Prize-winner Blake, who is nominated for Best New Artist at the upcoming Grammy Awards, is also playing exclusively at the Singapore edition of Laneway, which originated in Melbourne and has editions in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

As Laneway co-founder and curator Danny Rogers tells Life!, one of the priorities for the festival is to bring in acts that have not played in Singapore before.

"It's the first time many of the artists are playing in South-east Asia. Having spent four years programming shows in Singapore and talking to locals, we've come up with a line-up that feels eclectic - it feels fresh."

In its first year, in 2011, the festival pulled in 6,000 people at Fort Canning Park. Last year at Gardens by the Bay, it attracted 10,000 fans.

The organisers are expecting a similar turnout this year and have already sold 8,000 tickets.

The artists themselves are stoked to be part of the line-up.

As Alana Haim from Haim tells Life!: "It's probably one of the most awesome line-ups I've seen in a really long time.

"Especially when there are so many ladies, it's like a Lady Tour 2014 and it's awesome. I love Chvrches and so many ladies on the tour.

"It's going to be the most epic girl-power kind of party but I think everyone can just expect really good vibes.

"We're going to play our a**es off and hopefully everyone just parties."

dinohadi@sph.com.sg

 

Set times at Laneway

Roscoe Stage

12.50pm: Vance Joy

2.30pm: The Jezabels (above)

4.20pm: Kurt Vile

6.10pm: The Observatory

8pm: Daughter

9.50pm: Chvrches

Derrick Stage

1.40pm: Youth Lagoon

3.25pm: Unknown Mortal Orchestra

5.15pm: Frightened Rabbit

7.05pm: Savages

8.55pm: Haim

10.45pm: James Blake

Cloud Stage

3.15pm: Vandetta

4.25pm: XXYYXX

5.35pm: Gema

6.50pm: Mount Kimbie

8.00pm: Jagwar Ma

9.10pm: Jamie xx

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