Thursday, February 28th 2013

Festivals:  St Jerome's Laneway Festival

Australia’s St Jerome’s Laneway Festival Coming to America

By Albert Santos

Australia’s own “boutique” festival brand, the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, is coming to America.

In an official statement posted on their website, festival organisers Danny Rogers and Jerome Borazio have said that, “Bringing Laneway to America is something we knew we had to do and we couldn’t have chosen a more quintessentially American city to have it in. Everyone will be just as excited as we are when they hear about the incredible line-up and unique location.” More details as to the lineup and location are set to be announced during their 4th annual SXSW party.

Established in 2004 and named after a now-defunct Melbourne bar, the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival is known down under as much for its unique locales (including art school courtyards and industrial community centres) as it’s zeitgeist-heavy line-up not unlike the Pitchfork Festival or London’s Field Day. While you can expect a lot of overhyped fare, to their credit they’ve brought out the likes of Feist, Mumford and Sons, Gotye, Florence and the Machine and the XX all before they were household names. This year the touring festival featured performances from the likes of Bat For Lashes, Alt-J and Japandroids.

This year’s Laneway SXSW party will feature showcase performances by Vance Joy, Alpine and Flume, a previously-unknown Australian producer who recently beat One Direction on the iTunes charts, proving that anything can happen.