Changing Lanes 2011

Last year's inaugural Changing Lanes felt like a proper festival. Which is kinda weird because there were no tents, no fields and not a naked wasted hippy anywhere in sight. Instead, there was a street, a stage and a pub. Doesn't sound much like a festival, you may think. But that's where you'd be wrong, Changing Lanes 2010 was an incredible festival experience. A labour of love for its founders (they had to bend over backwards to convince the local council to give them the green light) the Sydney-based, one-day event was made up of brilliant Aussie bands, DJs, food stalls, artists, and had simply the most organic, home-grown feel to it. In 2011, the festival moved to a new venue. Goodbye grungy Newtown, hello hipster haven Surry Hills. A bigger event, a new location, more punters, would Changing Lanes 2011 retain its charm?

Thankfully, the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it rule was strictly adhered to. Sure, everything was a little magnified this time round, but this was still the same Changing Lanes that we swooned over last year.

As the sun beat down relentlessly, Sydney's best new band, Cameras (above) were a lunchtime treat, even though a 1.30pm slot wasn't really ideal. While their atmospheric sound is best suited to playing in the dark, they still gave one of the performances - if not the performance - of the day. We've gushed plenty about Cameras on these pages over the past couple of years (and, trust us, there is more to follow when their debut album drops next month) so we won't rave for too long this time. Suffice to say, they won't be playing this early at festivals for long.



Elsewhere, DJs on the FBi stage belted out some crowd faves and The Gaelic hosted a bunch more acts, such as the divine Lanie Lane and the brilliant and bizarre 'country surf' of Mikelangelo and the Tin Star. As we have often seen at Brighton's Great Escape, the problem with having a festival that utilises indoor venues is that, once they're full, they're full. So there were eternal lines snaking from the three clubs/bars that hosted stages. Simply, it's the nature of such a beast. If you weren't organised and didn't arrive early to whatever you wanted to see, you probably missed out. No point grumbling about it. Besides, the quality on the main stage was so high that there was always an outstanding option to fall back on. Like Aussie legend Gareth Lilliard (below) of The Drones, who played a devilishly downbeat acoustic set, introducing each song with a funny-as-fuck preamble.

Just like last year though, the music was only half of what was going down at Changing Lanes. For instance, after the street artists had done their thing with spray cans, there were fashion installations to enjoy, most notably from the ever-interesting Jesse Willesee (check out the pics below). There were also market stalls from the likes of Dear Pluto and, of course, no festival would be complete without a spinach and cheese gozleme. And the band(s) played on too. Bleeding Knees Club started a little on the ropey side, but by the end of their set, their perky indie pop had even the most sun-drunk of punters dancing.

As night continued to fall, Devonshire Street grew more atmospheric. While Gay Paris and The Snowdroppers did their thing in The Gaelic, Papa Versus Pretty rocked the life out of the main stage, before headliners PVT (below) ended proceedings. As always seems to be the case with PVT, their instrumental offerings were comfortably their strongest and most visceral. That is what we fell in love with them for in the first place, after all.

And once PVT had ripped the crowd apart with their shuddering math rock, that was it. Another year done, and another big thumbs up from Bobbysix.com. Will the festival move on again next year, or has it found its home? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure, it has laid some pretty amazing foundations over these past two years.

Changing Lanes map and playing times

We're getting hugely excited about this Saturday's Changing Lanes in Sydney. It's probably our fave festival of the year. Tickets are cheeeeeap, the line up is always bursting with local talent, the atmos is chilled (you won't find pilled-up shirtless oiks with the Aussie flag draped around their necks here), there are market stalls from super awesome local businesses and the whole thing feels organic. It's very clear that the organisers really put a lot of care and love into it, you know?

There are still a few tickets left, so grab yours before they run out. Also, if you click the above picture, you'll get a bigger version of the map and playing times. We would recommend arriving in time to see Cameras at 1.20pm and don't even think about leaving before PVT have blown your ears off with their headline set. There's so much good stuff going on... sets from Big Scary, Bleeding Knees Club and MUM DJs will be awesome, while you can also check out the fashion displays, street art and market stalls.

We'll be there with our camera in one hand and some kind of yummy vegetarian food in the other, so if you spot us, come say hi and give us a hug. We like hugs.

Changing Lanes first release sold out. Second round of artists added

Sydney's most organic, charming festival, Changing Lanes, is back on the 17th of September for its second consecutive year, taking over the lower end of Devonshire St, its surrounding laneways and venues to raise funds for FBi Radio. MAPS Entertainment and FBi Radio are transforming that part of Surry HIlls into a cultural wonderland featuring a melting pot of music, street art, fashion, photography and food. So awesome is the festival and so cheap are the tickets, that the first release has already sold out in a heartbeat, so, if you wanna be there, you'd best get your act together and grab one from the second release before they all go too. Check out www.changinglanesfestival.com for more ticketing details.

Changing Lanes made its debut in Newtown last year and was an overwhelming success. The event combined music, art and fashion and included acts such as Tame Impala and Itch-e & Scratch-e, resulting in tickets selling out in only a week. Festival Director, Danae Goiser said “We are pretty blown away by the creative concepts some of the artists have come up with for this year’s event. It’s an inspiring time to be involved in Sydney’s creative communities and we’re so proud to be able to provide a platform for artists to showcase their talents.”

This year will see the likes of PVT, The Vasco Era, Gareth Liddiard, The Snowdroppers, Papa Vs Pretty,  Bleeding Knees and Megastick Fanfare joined by heaps of other acts. And a second announcement of artists includes Big Scary, Canyons DJs, Domeyko / Gonzalez and, most excitingly of all, Cameras. Visit www.changinglanesfestival.com for the full line up.

Buy your tickets today. If you don't take our advice then don't come crying to us when you miss out.

The Temper Trap - Conditions Remixed

The Temper Trap are busy fellows. Having created a monster in Conditions, the likeable Melbourne band has spent the last 18 months touring the world. Dashing from continent to continent, it is little wonder they haven’t had time to put a record out since their debut first landed in June 2009.

Instead, we are being offered the same ten songs reworked. While the cynical might suggest a cash-in on the back of the recent Aria Awards, there can be no denying that these remixes from the likes of Fools Gold and Alan Wilkis are the result of a lot of hard work and love. This isn’t something that has been lazily thrown together. Often there is a high energy, house/techno vibe, such as Penguin Prison’s remix of Resurrection, which takes the original directly to the dancefloor. Some mixes - Peter, Bjorn and John’s Fools, for instance - don’t stray too far from their roots, while others, like PVT’s industrial reworking of Fader, might be a bit too abstract for some. The real highlight, and most interestingly altered track, is saved for the end. Drum Song is reinvented by BretonLabs who drags the original kicking and screaming into the grimy streets of South London, courtesy of the rapping talents of Kate Tempest. It’s fantastic.

Conditions Remixed is certainly a worthwhile project in that it breathes life into these played-to-death songs, but its release is frustrating because it signals the fact that a new record is probably still a long way off. And, as enjoyable as this album is, what we’re really hanging out for are some new songs.