Last week our Melbourne friends told us that the Laneway Festival is one of the least respected festivals in Australia, we were surprised, but it meant we entered the first Auckland Laneway festival with a hint of scepticism. We’d been told stories of forty minute-queues to see bands, poor facilities and an even poorer location, but on first inspection of the Britomart Square set-up it seemed to be very well laid out. There was plenty of room for fans to access both stages; the toilets seemed aplenty and food stalls appeared to be well situated through the area. It all seemed very different from the description we’d been told of the Melbourne event.
Dumfries boy Calvin Harris was one of the first on the Saturday mainstage, as the sunshine began to burst out from behind the clouds that had been looming overhead. I’ve seen a lot of Calvin around festivals and gigs, and sadly it wasn’t all that interesting. Maybe it was the lack of lights, or the lack of drive that was there in the early performances – at the cusp of success that came with ‘Acceptable in the eighties’, but the crowd ended up being far more interesting to look at than what was on stage.
Does Lady Gaga count as an artrocker? Either way, I have an unashamed liking for the New York oddity. It might just be ‘pop rubbish’, but at least it’s interesting pop rubbish. I hope she sticks around for a while. There was a definite irony in opening with paparazzi, with the scrum of photographers that was in the photo-pit. Done on purpose perhaps?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O
photo by Kirstie Shanley
May I take this opportunity to introduce to you a band from New York that you only think you know of…
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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