So Singapore finally happened, lah! What felt like forever commenced last weekend and it was such an awesome trip. It wasn't my first time in Singapore, but I don't think my first trip there 15 years ago counts. I did go to Sentosa, though, and Haw Par Villa, where I cried. I can barely remember anything, too. Anyway, this ~cultural pursuit~ is my favorite trip to date.
We arrived in Singapore last Sunday at past midnight. Their airport is awesome.
Erwin and Shine had to stay in the airport until the morning, no thanks to the reservation mishap at Drop Inn. Z and I proceeded to buy booze for Kelvin, who was waiting for us at his cousin's apartment, where we stayed. We bought a bottle of Absolut and a pack of beer each. We didn't finish any of them.
We met up with my cousins for brunch, and we got there an hour late, lol. I'm used to waking up early when travelling, but apparently, Kelvin and Z aren't. Anyway, it was nice of them to treat us in spite of it. Ate Donna and Ate Kat are among the few relatives of mine I actually enjoy being with, and I miss seeing them during family gatherings here, so it was nice to catch up.
Met up with the hipster imports then headed down Coleman St. to catch the free Doc Martens shuttle up to Fort Canning!
We got free prints from them to commemorate our first music festival attendance, yay.
The queue was insane when we got there, and we missed Cults, boo. But when we got inside, we had the perfect spot for the next act: right up front for Yuck!
YUCK WERE AWESOME, of course. Great way to start our Laneway experience!
I can still remember the overwhelming joy that enveloped me right before Yuck took the stage. I quote Kristen Bell, "It's here, it's close, it's gonna happen." And it did. And it went on for another nine hours. And it was amazing.
After Yuck, we took an hour-long break in the shade away from the sweltering heat of the sun (and of thousands of bodies). We weren't keen on catching Chairlift and Austra. Bumped into Miggy, the returning Jedi slash festival whore slash nice shirt. Briefly got to hang with him and Toni.
The drinks at Laneway cost 4 SGD for a bottle of water or a glass of soda, and 8 SGD for a glass of beer. Spent about 32 SGD that day on drinks alone. That shit's expensive, lah.
While I was in line to get drinks, Girls took the stage. The lovely Chris Owens kicked off with a version of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and it was unexpected and amazing.
Basically, the entire Girls set was amazing. Very emotional and I wasn't singing along because I knew that Chris Owens would break my heart.
Love you, band.
It could only get better from there, because next up were THE DRUMS! But before that, hi, frans and boyfran.
THE DRUMS! Favorite band, favorite set, favorite dancing, etc. etc. They sang all the songs I wanted to hear from their s/t album and Portamento, and it was really fun and I really love them.
Love you, band. And I can't believe all these happened before dinner time. How surreal.
Funniest thing: hordes of people left Fort Canning after The Drums played, because Anna Calvi was up next. Miggy told me she played a short set. She must've been pissed! Really couldn't care less, though. Caught only a bit of Laura Marling's set when we got back. She's divine. Way to relax after dinner, which was mostly cheese fries from KFC, nom.
Hello, bb Laura.
Then The Pains of Being Pure at Heart! Yay! They encountered a lot of technical difficulties and although they kind of bored me (I was already very tired), I still thought they were good.
Of course, Peggy was such a cutie. :3
And then, jizaz creys, I was definitely not prepared for the awesomeness of Toro y Moi. I didn't bring extra undies for when I jizzed in my pants, which thankfully I did not. They're amazing live! I really wish I could've gone to their show here, too! They're really that good. Also, Chaz, in his pambahay couture glory, is tha sexx. Chaz, please come back home.
Look at dis qtpie. Can I have your babies, please.
The last set we caught for the night was Feist's. It was kind of annoying how her minions were doing their sound check on the stage near us while Toro y Moi were still playing on the other stage. What's up with that? Her back-up singers were too powerful, too, and her set was kind of a letdown. She was really good, though; I just wish she stuck to the original version of Mushaboom, and played more from her previous albums and not Metals! I really wanted to hear Brandy Alexander. Anyway, she's gorgeous.
Had to leave after Feist's set because I saw how Kelvin and Z were so tired, and we were staying all the way in Sengkang and had to catch the train. I really regret not being there for M83's set, because that's M83. Why did The Horrors have to play before him? Couldn't care less about those guys. Anyway, Laneway was so surreal. My favorite sets would have to be the ones from Yuck, Girls, The Drums, and Toro y Moi. I'm still hungover from the experience and it's going to be my favorite day for quite a while. I hope next year's line-up will be as stellar as this year's, and I hope to be there again! Every drop of sweat was worth it.
