Melbourne, Sydney
A chance meeting with seasoned promoter Michael Chugg led to a new partnership, and the festival expanded to Sydney.
Jerome Borazio (Laneway co-founder): “I bumped into Michael Chugg at a health retreat and said to him, ‘We have this festival in Melbourne - check it out, see what you think. He called the next day and got us up to Sydney.”
With the experienced Chugg coming on board to help ease the newcomers’ passage, the festival took place among the office towers of Circular Quay, utilising Macquarie Square, Reiby Place and The Basement.
Matthew Lazarus Hall (Chugg Entertainment CEO & Laneway co-promoter): “Everyone questioned us: ‘How are you going to do a festival there? It’s in the middle of the Sydney CBD?’ It was a cosy site and rainy, but we had an amazing day.”
Danny Rogers (Laneway co-founder): “That was the first year we had some real international acts. That was definitely the beginning of what would come. The Avalanches came up to Sydney to play as a bit of a ‘We’re endorsing this’ and it was special.
Line-up: Art of Fighting, Augie March, Broken Social Scene, Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set, Cut Copy, Dane Tucquet, Darren Hanlon, Decoder Ring, Faker, Gersey, Jens Lekman, Les Savy Fav, Mercy Arms, Mountains in the Sky, New Buffalo, Pivot, Pretty Girls Make Graves,The Avalanches, The Gossip, The Hold Steady, The Pop Frenzy Sound Unit, The Posies, The Raveonettes, The Temper Trap, Wolf & Cub, Youth Group
(Melbourne only: Augie March, Cut Copy, Dane Tucquet, Mountains in the Sky, The Temper Trap)
(Sydney only: Art of Fighting, Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set, Darren Hanlon, Decoder Ring, Gersey, Jens Lekman, Pivot, Mercy Arms, The Gossip, The Pop Frenzy Sound Unit, The Raveonettes)
