Laneway Singapore 2012 – Twin Shadow

Photo courtesy of Chugg Entertainment

While it’s only been my second time at any real festival, I’ve come to a conclusion that there are two phases in any all-day festival – day and night. While there’s sunlight, there’s a warm, positive vibe in the atmosphere; everybody relaxes, and you start getting to know new people. Come the night, the artificial lights spin out of control, and the culmination of all that pent up fun unleashes itself in a full blown frenzy.

Then we have Twin Shadow, taking the stage just as the sun was setting, bleeding out the horizon, and finishing it off as a glorious welcome to the night. It was rather special to be treated to their 80’s influenced synth pop while the entire festival ground chased light and ushered in the last leg of Twin Shadow’s Laneway tour.

Perhaps it was because of such inevitability that George Lewis Jr gave a most urgent and intense performance that night. Despite the machinations of future sounding synths and rhythm parts, his lead guitar lines were beautifully organic and lush on lead moments like “Forget”, or shimmering through sparkly syncopations as on “Shooting Holes”.

Like his namesake, two shadows seemed cast that magical evening, born from sunlight and moonbeams. It was special and I loved it – a perfect moment for any transition between phases. – Brian.

mp3: Twin Shadow – Shooting Holes