LANEWAY DELIVERS AN EPIC SLICE OF SIDESHOWS

Vasili Papathanasopoulos
6 days ago
3 min read

Image: Caity Krone.

With Sydney and Melbourne tickets selling in under an hour, it's clear Laneway Festival continues to thrill Australian festival goers. For those that missed out on tickets, there is still a chance to catch some of your favourite acts playing with the announcement of a string of sideshows to catch some of the most vital names in music right now.

These headline gigs - intimate, electric, and wildly diverse - are more than just spillover events; they’re curated experiences that capture artists at pivotal moments in their careers.

Take BENEE, for example. She’s returning to Australian shores six years after her Laneway debut, and this time she’s armed with a fearless new album that promises to push her alt-pop instincts into uncharted territory. Or look at Cavetown, whose bedroom pop beginnings have evolved into an emotionally rich sound that’s resonating across generations.

There’s a sense of artistic rebirth running through this sideshow series. Geese, with their feverish third record, will finally land on Australian soil, ready to rip through genre boundaries. Gigi Perez arrives with global hits under her belt and the kind of raw emotional presence that only comes from lived experience. Jensen McRae, meanwhile, is making her first trip down under, bringing her engaging songwriting to the stage

Then there’s Malcolm Todd, fresh from viral fame and aiming to prove there’s more to his music than internet moments. And Mt. Joy (who we interviewed earlier this year), with four albums behind them, are ready to convert their cult following into a full-blown movement on their first Australian run. Don’t overlook Oklou, a French producer blurring the line between the synthetic and the emotional, or Wisp, who’s turned shoegaze into something that feels startlingly personal.

Together, these sideshows sketch a portrait of where music is heading. Not just what’s popular, but what’s important. They give fans the kind of access you just don’t get at a festival; the intimacy, the tension in the room, the sense that this moment might be one the artist remembers just as much as the audience.

So while the Laneway main stages will undoubtedly deliver, the sideshows are where the edges fray and magic leaks in. If you’re lucky enough to grab a ticket, don’t treat it like a warm-up act. These are the shows you’ll talk about years from now; when that band who played to smaller capacities in some of the countries most revered venues are suddenly selling out stadiums.