LIVE REVIEW + GALLERY: Laneway Festival – Sydney

Laneway Festival have cemented themselves as Australia’s leading festival by continuously having some of the strongest and most talked about line ups in our market. And their 2026 season is no exception with Chappell Roan, PinkPantheress, Wolf Alice, Role Model, Lucy Dacus, The Dare, and Geese heading a line up that sent so many into frenzy. The clashes were inevitable, but it made for a fun day of running around watching half sets and experiencing a wide range of artists, with a few special “one’s to watch” like last year when Olivia Dean played at 1pm in the afternoon before her global takeover.

This is the second year that the Sydney Laneway Festival date as been held at Centennial Park, and it truly is a blessing. That festival site works so well, and makes for really easy movement between stages, especially with clashes and tight turnarounds to see everyone. They also fixed the sound issues they had with Charli XCX’s headline set last year for Chappell Roan (thank god!!), but earlier in the day they did experience some sound issues for Role Model’s set instead which was disappointing as I couldn’t hear “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out” properly (I’m still upset about it).

While it was lightly raining and cloudy for the duration of the day, it didn’t prevent the energy being high from every artist and all of the punters. My Laneway Festival experience featured a lot of running around so I could see a little bit of everyone, so my review this year is going to be a little different as I explain my initial thoughts from what I saw.

Charli Lucas – This Sydney based indie-pop artist is a definite one-to-watch. Opening the Never Let It Rest Stage as the triple j unearthed winner, she brought the vibes immediately with her songs “money!”, “FKN EMBARRASSING”, “I Shouldn’t” and a cheeky cover of Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High)”. A genuine powerhouse performer, and you wouldn’t have guessed that this was her first ever Festival performance.

Armlock – My friend has proclaimed this as his favourite Australian band, and from the couple of songs I saw, I see it. This set was really strong, and the crowd was super into it for how early it was in the day. And even when they broke a string mid set they powered through.

Blusher – On the other hand this is MY favourite Australian band right now. Blusher are truly unstoppable, and with so much touring at the moment and having just released their “rage” remix EP, they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down. Bursting onto the stage with so much energy, choreographed dances, bubble guns, and chant ready hooks, they had the crowd immediately dancing and singing along. New single “rager” was a highlight in the set, along with “LAST MAN STANDING”, ‘DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT” and “Accelerator”. 30 minutes felt too short, and I truly wanted more Blusher by the end of it.

Gigi Perez – This was one of my absolute standout sets of the day. I went into this only knowing “Chemistry” and “Sailor Song”, and I ended up watching the whole set in absolute awe of her. She played the set straight through with only stopping for brief “Hello Sydney!” remarks, until the very end where she took a moment to talk about what is happening in the US right now politically and used her platform to educate in a really powerful and respectful way. It’s been one of those sets that has lived rent free in my head all week since.

Mt. Joy – This is a band who has been popping up continuously on my FYP, so I decided to watch a bit of them and went in pretty blind. What I witnessed was a joyful rock/folk set, which even saw them bringing out Gigi Perez for their song “In The Middle”.

Jensen McRae – We stopped by briefly for this set, and she had a smaller crowd than I expected. I wish I enjoyed it more than I did.

Alex G – This was one of my friends non-negotiable for the day, and everything about Alex’s set was genius, weird, artistic and kinda brilliant. Headbanging to his keyboard will be replaying in my brain for a while. The whole time I was unsure what I was watching, but in the best way possible.

Lucy Dacus – I really love Lucy Dacus’ storytelling and this set was so wholesome and exactly what I expected and wanted from her. We saw songs like “First Time”, “Hot & Heavy”, “Planting Tomatoes” and “Ankles”, but left to go watch The Dare out of protest when I realised she wasn’t going to sing “Modigliani”.

The Dare – We had a brief moment at The Dare in-between eating a early dinner before the clashes got even wilder. I witnessed The Dare at The Metro Theatre in 2024, and the was a WILD and unforgettable show. This set was really fun and had the same pulsating energy, but I don’t think anything will beat that intimate show for me.

Role Model – Okay so I’ve been wanting to see Role Model for years, and last year I got food poisoning the night before his show at Enmore Theatre so I missed him (and may have cried). So this was a set I was highly anticipating. But the sound let me down as you couldn’t hear anything at the back or on the side. We tried to stick it out during “Look At That Woman” and “Scumbag” but it was painful. So we left to watch Geese but then came back for “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out” which we couldn’t hear but we could see The Wiggles running around as his Sally’s for the night.

Geese – This was one of those rare special moments where you can say you saw a band play a small stage at a festival during an early slot before they will be back playing massive sold out shows and a bigger festival slot in years to come. The hype for Geese is real right now, and they didn’t disappoint. “Husbands”, “100 Horses”, “Cowboy Nudes” and “I See Myself” were early on in the set, and had the crowd jumping around and singing along so passionately. But none of that compared to the footage I saw from their headline show at The Metro Theatre, which looked super special.

Wet Leg – !!!!! I am in love with Rhian. That is all. Her stage presence is everything. The way she just struts up and down the catwalk and commands everyone’s attention is intoxicating. “Catch these fists” was a perfect opening song, while “Wet Dream” will never not be perfect in the live show. Also can we just talk about her transparent green guitar?! Obsessed.

Malcolm Todd – This was my non-negotiable set for the day with my friend, and I have struggled to get him into Malcolm over the past year, but I think this set changed his mind completely. Malcolm is a natural entertainer, and he walked onto the stage swigging on a bottle of gin and notable a little tipsy and it just made the set even more rockstar coded. Opening with “Earrings” was *chef kiss* especially with that chant in the bridge that set a great tone for his whole performance. “Bleed”, “Cheer Me On”, “Chest Pain (I Love)” and “Roommates” were anthemic, while a cover of the iCarly theme song was ridiculously perfect. Malcolm Todd is a star, and he’s about to be massive – mark my words!!

Wolf Alice – Running over to catch the last couple of songs of Wolf Alice, I immediately was blown away by the production. It just looked stunning. I was devastated I missed The Sofa, but “Smile” and “Don’t Delete The Kisses” made up for it.

Chappell Roan – I was one of the lucky people that got to witness Chappell Roan twice on her intimate 2023 Australian debut tour, but honestly nothing could have prepared me for how epic this Laneway Festival headline set was. I walked away feeling like I had just witnessed Lady Gaga live from the immense star power, to the insane production, to the calibre of pop bangers that filled out the setlist. It was an arena pop production show that just so happened to be a headline festival set. From the opening moments of “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl” and “Femininomenon” right through to the pyro filled closer “Pink Pony Club”, she delivered a masterclass in pop. Whilst majority of the set was high energy, she did have moments of tender vulnerability with songs like “Picture You”, “Love Me Anyway” and “Coffee” which highlighted her impressive vocals and songwriting chops. This felt like a special moment in pop history was being made, and I can’t wait to tell everyone in years to come that I witnessed that set.

Check out the full gallery captured by Ruby Boland BELOW: