Written by Putra Muskita

So we went to Laneway Festival 2012 last Sunday at Fort Canning Park, and let me just say this: it was a weekend well spent. First of all, we’d like to thank Mother Nature because despite some light drizzles at around 5pm, it didn’t rain at all! (Although the heat was unbearable at the start.) Kudos to the organizers for the great lineup and some epic performances! M83 was beyond awesome, it was otherworldly. Feist, though, was pretty disappointing.

Anyway, read on if you:

1) Weren’t there but would have liked to
2) Were there but would like a dose of recent nostalgia
3) Were there but left after Feist, which meant you missed M83 (this applies to me, unfortunately)

Without further ado, our five most memorable things about this year’s Laneway, in no particular order.

1. We saw Erlend Øye. (!!!)

The guy who is in Kings of Convenience/Whitest Boy Alive/Feist’s social circle? You know, that Erlend Øye? Yup, he was there at Laneway, along with the alt Singaporeans, Indonesian hipsters (there were a lot of them), and random bules obviously looking for a Singaporean Coachella (some were content with just beer and blankets, without a care for the performing bands, while some others are a bunch of neo-hippies). At first we weren’t too sure why he was there. I mean, none of his bands are performing, was he part of Feist’s entourage? Apparently, it was the latter, because Feist tweeted that Øye was opening her Jakarta concert! Well, good for all of you back home. Too bad we didn’t snap a photo; he seems to be a very chill guy, so we needn’t have worried about being stalker-ish. (And if you’re questioning whether we’re just hallucinating or whatever, well, other people have testified that they saw Øye as well, so there.) Nina Nikicio was there too, by the way. Saw anyone else? Write it down in the comments.

2. The performances in general were pretty decent, actually.

Frankly, I didn’t know most of the artists in the lineup (am a little too mainstream, thank you), but when I watched them live, it was pretty decent. I mean, not all of them made me want to rush home and torrent their albums to my heart’s content, but they definitely left an impression. Some are cult favorites, like Cults and The Drums (one of the day’s more memorable performances), and some are a bit cuckoo in the head, like Austra’s don’t-know-what onstage Wiccan ritual, and Anna Calvi’s Imogen-esque theatrics. Laura Marling did surprise me by having a decent amount of fans in the audience; I hadn’t even heard of her before! (Although that was probably me being ignorant.)

3. Girls performed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”.

Whitney Houston died the morning before Laneway, but you kind of know that the Laneway audience don’t really listen to her (yes, I’m stereotyping), but I’m sure everyone knows “I Will Always Love You”. I mean, it’s, like, her signature song. It didn’t matter if you were into indie rock or a recent Whitney fan, everyone knows ”I Will Always Love You”! So the band Girls actually performed it while they were onstage, as a tribute for the fallen superstar. No one can really repeat what Houston has done with the song, much less Christopher Owens (the lead singer of Girls), but it was a pretty decent effort, and many in the audience sang along. Admit it, if you were there, you probably teared up a bit. (I wasn’t there, so I didn’t.)

4. Feist was…polarizing.

I mean, some of my friends told me that she was great, and a lot of people were singing along during her performance, but I just can’t. I. Just. Can’t. I thought it was horrible, and it has definitely decreased my chances of watching future Feist concerts. (No, I’m not overreacting.) You see, I like Feist because of her first two albums, which were great, and I was looking forward to hearing songs like “One Evening” and “1234″ and other favorites. And I kind of like Feist’s latest album, “Metals”, especially when I’m feeling all dark and gloomy at night in my room, and I want to listen to things that can make me feel even more dark and gloomy. But herein lies the problem: you’re not supposed to feel all dark and gloomy when you’re at a concert. Right, Leslie? You don’t! And you practically killed the mood (at least mine) with songs like “Graveyard”. I tried, Leslie, I tried: I loudly commented to my friends that you definitely should have played songs from your first two albums, and you didn’t hear me. Even your little remix of “Mushaboom” made it all gloomy and sad. (How is that even possible!) I think this one will definitely incite arguments; what do y’all think?

5. They saved the best for last: M83.

Not only do they make awesome music to begin with, their stage theatrics, their lighting, everything, was out of this world. Seriously. It’s like they’ve reached Neptune or something. It’s only fitting that “Midnight City” was their closing song. Our very own Prima Aulia Gusta was so wowed by the performance, he would have asked Laneway for a refund if it weren’t for M83. They’re that good.

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That’s it from us folks. See you next year!