St. Jerome's Laneway Festival

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN have pulled out due to unforeseen circumstances. DIRTY THREE will be there replacement for the Brisbane leg of the tour.

The idea:

The Laneway Festival is about leading new and revered seminal music. The festival has always been interested in finding what's fresh and great and bringing it to unique settings and surrounds to be appreciated by music lovers. The size of the festivals, the locations and the way we encourage community all form part of the way in which the Laneway team strive to present an urban music experience like no other.

St Jerome's Laneway Festival began in 2004 when Jerome Borazio and Danny Rogers decided that summers in Melbourne would be far better with more live music in unique settings. In a true example of actions speaking louder than words, they started to put great bands into St Jerome's Bar (RIP) in Melbourne's Calendonian lane. First came the St Jerome's Summer Series each Sunday afternoon featuring "new" bands of the time like the presets and architecture in helsinki, then it extended to include a monthly Saturday night called Brains (which was actually a residency for the Avalanches who turned the little bar inside out). Still not satisfied that they were doing enough, one night Danny and Jerome convinced The Avalanches that they could close the lane, remove the bins and throw a proper laneway party. There mate Monkey quickly made up a poster, they asked a few friends to play and so began the annual St Jerome's Laneway Festival. The first laneway festival had 1400 people attend. it was packed, smelly and full to the brim with great local music and the vibe was awesome, utterly awesome....

Since that first, fateful day in a back alley, the festival has quickly developed into a national touring event and a favourite summer festival for many great, music loving humans.

After the first couple of Melbourne events, sites were set in Sydney. Teaming up with Chugg Entertainment, St Jerome's Laneway Festival found itself nestled into The Rocks, taking a liberal reading of the term laneway but staying very true to the recipe of great music, unique spaces and boutique size. Sydney (and Melbourne) in 2006 hosted artists such as Broken Social Scene, Les Savy Fav, The Gossip, Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Avalanches, The Posies, The Hold Steady, The Raveonettes and The Drones, and Sydneysiders loved it. One respectable journo hailing it the most important counter cultural idea to happen for Sydney music in 10 years....

Just as Sydney Laneway was becoming established, Brisbane venue The Zoo took the lead in luring the festival north. Brisbane, long known for it's thriving indie music scene, grabbed Laneway with both hands and made it their own. The combination of street party and great music (including Midnight Juggernauts, Yo La Tengo, Peter, Bjorn and John, The Walkmen, Camera Obscura, The Sleepy Jackson and Gersey) proved to be a huge success and set the tone for years to come.

In 2008 Laneway found a home at Fowlers Live in Adelaide and, not even the Indie cars (sic ... actually bigger sic since it was actually Clipsal 500) was a match for the indie music, atmosphere and the great crowd that made 2008's Adelaide Laneway so great. Specifically, we must pay tribute to Feist, Gotye, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Presets, Kevin Drew, Dan Deacon, The Panics, Okkervil River, Little Red, Devastations, The Brunettes, Via Tania, Bridezilla and everyone who played that year because Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide were all fantastic!

A review of last year's inaugural Perth Laneway Festival sums up the general feelings towards Laneway's move west: "The promoter’s move to bring the festival to Perth is the best decision taken since Howard’s rejection from parliament. The awesome turnout attested to the West Australian respect for great music which rivals that of our purportedly more urbane eastern counterparts. Jerome is truly a saint for Perth music lovers who no doubt pray for a heavenly reincarnation in 2010, despite the flagrant obstacle of the Nullabor. Just about flawless in its execution, the event’s venue was a perfect example of musical harmony, with each stage placed as though the cultural precinct was designed from its very inception for Laneway to one day grace its paths. The festival was sparkling, exhilarating and packed almost to the brim. Bring on the announcements for Laneway Perth 2010!"(FasterLouder). Not much more to add there really, except to say thanks to the following people - amongst others - for contributing so massively to the 2009 events: Girl Talk, Stereolab, Architecture In Helsinki, The Hold Steady, The Drones, Cut Off Your Hands, Four Tet, Tame Impala, El Guincho, Jay Reatard, Buraka Som Sistema, The Temper Trap and No Age.