lets get the introductions aside shall we?
smeared frost is a brisbane/sunny coast based blog giving you the music news, gig and album reviews and upcoming events on both the sunshine coast, brisbane and occasionally the gold coast. ray ray, the creator spends far too much time and money on music when really she should be studying. and to make more procrastinations she has started a blog of the latest music news she believes everyone should discover. smeared frost is pretty much the excitement you feel in the pit of your belly before seeing your favourite band or going to a festival. or the goosebumps that come up everytime you remember the best day of your life with all your friends singing and dancing to that band. for all the sods which havent felt this, keep your eyes on this page for the latest news and gig guides. time to get frosty
heres a Brisbane St. Jeromes Laneway Festival review:
after aquiring a ticket at 8am that same day from an amazing stranger off the laneway forum, i was pumped for one of those amazing laneway experiences id been hanging out for for 2 years.
having not seen the new venue at the RNA showgrounds, i was extremely pleased with the set up. queues were never an issue aside from the toilets after mumford and sons, which was to be expected really; the crowd was there for the music and not to get off their faces like the majority of the festivals nowadays.
first up - local favourites last dinosaurs. unfortunantly i only got to see the last few songs but as always 'honolulu' puts a massive smile on your dial and 'as far as you're concerned' which has been copping a fair few plays on triple j, shows these lads will be making a name for themselves outside of bris. delicious boys. check out their freshly produced take on honolulu on their myspace http://www.myspace.com/wearelastdinosaurs they release their ep in the not too distant future and are playing the lost weekend early march so keep your prehistoric eyes peeled for these boys.
those provocotive boys from hockey were up next. with the frontman wearing one earring and the drummer sporting a divine moustache they had dived into their set. i had higher expectations with these boys, i think their shows will pick up once they have more live experience but regardless they had the crowd dancing and as an added bonus the lead singer can play some mad drums.
the time of day came when corn on the cob was a priority and the rain decided it could hold off no longer. the ony decision i regret was not staying at the wild beasts and seeing middle east. the first two songs from wild beasts were incredible, if it were not for the peer pressure to see middle east, i would have stayed quite happily for the entire set. middle east played an average set and the rain on the tin roof would not have helped. the energy they showed at sunset sounds was missing and although their voices are undoubtedly amazing this set was below par.
the half hour intervals which have been complained about (?!) i found were the best part of the laneway experience. there was no running around, it is the only festival i bought drinks because there was no fear of missing the next act. the relaxed line ups showed this was the case for everyone. no pushing in, no disgruntled looks in the line. instead of disgruntled i did manage a rat-tailed encounter which proclaimed he had spotted me at bdo dancing with 'some poof' at kasabian with detailed descriptions of both what him and myself were wearing. this story was entirely false. i was then told my florence and the machine bag was rubbish and that eddy current are all time, much to the pleasure of my mate who is the worlds biggest eddy current fan.
next up were mumford and sons. no matter your perspective on their hottest 100 win, there was no denying the majority of the crowd (especially the oldies!) were here to see these boys perform their first Australian set. and perform they did. the whole band was spot on, so tight and their humble folk nature elated the entire crowd. one older crowd member suggested to her husband they should come out to maleny so she can make a bonfire for them to play around and then invite them in for a cuppa - very fitting. 'little lion man' and 'the cave' were the sing-a-long favourites which had the whole crowd yelling profanties about effing up this time. one of the highlights of the day.
after catching 10 minutes of the xx and being sorely disappointed in both the sound and the crowd surrounding me, i had to run off to see blasko in an environment built for her. sarah blasko is an australian creature like no other. her sweet personality and amazing vocals make her a crowd favourite. her new album 'as day follows night' has some pure gems i was yet to see live, she sings them to perfection. since following her from 2005, my only complaint is her improvement in dancing! her old groove used to put the biggest smile on my face. that being said i cant compliment her enough on her latest release, she is truly epic on all accounts.
by this time of night the crowd was oozing with love and were all a little tipsy.
in one of my better decisions i decided to see the very best. i walked in to hear a cover of M.I.A 'paper planes' with everyone pointing thier guns and 'taking ya monaayy'. these guys know how to work a crowd, regardless if the crowd actually understands what they were saying. nothing could top off their set except for the presence of ezra from vampire weekend. they also did a cover of architecture in helsinki which may i say was bullshit good.
and then there was florence and the machine... ahh florence. could i frost anymore over this lady? would explain the recent cold snap. she is amaaaaaazing. no wonder her album is called lungs, her voice is the strongest most amazing thing i have ever seen live. this may not seem much to people who don't know me, but i have seen a shightload of bands and artists in my time and nothing has compared to her voice except maybe cedric from mars volta. the range, the intensity and just how much she was enjoying herself haha i sound like a dick. ah i cant stress enough how much she needs to be seen live.
her red locks and the smoke billowed around her in her one-piece. magic. if the xx came out to play one of the best remixes of 2009, 'you've got the love' it would have made the best evening of my life. but they didnt.
all in all florence and mumford and sons reigned the stages. florence showed up at the afterparty at the empire where she was goggled at by everyone and even hugged by one of my friends - the poor amazing lass.
first post complete :)
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