As pessoas, o espaço, o ambiente. O calor, a descontração, a cerveja fresca entre as pontas dos dedos. A música, os rostos, os gestos, os movimentos. A companhia, os beijos e os abraços, o dançar e as conversas.

Foi tão bom, tão bom, tão bom o Laneway Festival. E eu estou feliz daqui até ao infinito, não só pelo presente que me calhou no Natal e que me proporcionou um dia para lá de espetacular, mas pelo presente que é ter a pessoa que mo deu na minha vida. Sou muito grata. 

Feliz, feliz da vida. Feliz porque curti muito, ouvi boa música, cantei muito, dancei ainda mais, chorei ao som de música, sujei-me de pó da cabeça aos pés. E feliz, feliz da vida porque calha ter em casa a melhor companhia do mundo para isto tudo. 

São estes dias em que sei que estou a fazer por mim exatamente aquilo que gosto e que corresponde ao meu EU que equilibram a minha vida e me fazem ter força para trabalhar arduamente e para lidar com todas as adversidades. 

(acabou-se a mariquice, vamos ao que importa!)

Saímos de casa a meio da manhã de sábado rumo a Sydney. No College of the Arts, as portas do Laneway Festival abriam as 11:00h mas decidimos chegar ligeiramente mais tarde para conseguir aguentar o dia debaixo de 35 graus até ao fim. Às 14:00h estávamos a picar os bilhetes e a atravessar as portas do nosso primeiro festival de música na Austrália. 

Assim que entrámos percebemos que a coisa ia ser bem diferente do que estávamos habituados em Portugal ou do que já tínhamos visto no Primavera Sound de Barcelona. 

O recinto do festival era pequeno e feito de colinas com os palcos ao fundo, ao estilo Rock in Rio Lisboa, mas numa versão muito mais pequena e acolhedora. Pelo meio, espalhavam-se os edifícios imponentes do College of the Arts. E gente, gente por todo o lado que esgotou a lotação do Laneway. Ainda temi que a coisa se tornasse num Alive em dia cheio, em que não dá para respirar ou para transitar, mas não. Nunca vi um festival tão cheio de gente e tão, mas tão fluido. Nunca demorei mais de cinco minutos na fila para a casa de banho ou para comprar uma cerveja. 

Os palcos eram pequenos e permitiram uma proximidade excecional entre os artistas e o público, e o som era do caraças. Ainda hoje, três dias depois, consigo ficar arrepiada só de pensar. 

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The people, the space, the environment. The heat, the relaxation, the cold beer between the fingertips so the body would not warm it. The music, the faces, the gestures, the movements. The company, the kisses and the hugs, the dancing and the conversations.

Laneway Festival was so good, so good, so good. And I'm happy from here to infinity, not only because of the present that has been given to me at Christmas and that gave me a spectacular day, but because of the gift that is to have every day in my life with me the person who gave it to me. I'm very grateful.

I’m so, so happy. Happy because I enjoyed so much, I heard good music, I sang a lot, I danced even more, I cried to the sound of music, I got dust from head to toe. And happy, happy because I have the best company in the world for all this. Thank you!

These days when I know that I am doing for myself exactly what I like and that corresponds to my truth self, balance my life and make me have the strength to work hard and to deal with all adversities.

(Now, let’s stop the lame talk, and let’s go down to business)

We left home at about midmorning on Saturday for Sydney. At the College of the Arts, the doors to the Laneway Festival opened at 11:00 but we decided to arrive slightly later to get through the day under 35° to the end. At 14:00 we were going through the doors of our first music festival in Australia.

As soon as we entered we realized that it was going to be very different from what we were used to in Portugal or what we had already seen in the Primavera Sound of Barcelona.

The venue of the festival was small and made of little hills with the stages in the background, just like Rock in Rio Lisbon, but in a much smaller and cozy version. In the middle, the imposing buildings of the College of the Arts were spreading. And people, people all over the place who sold out the Laneway tickets. I still feared that the thing would become an Alive (a Portuguese popular festival) in a full day, in which it is not possible to breathe or to transit, but it didn’t. I've never seen a festival so crowded and so, but so fluid. It never took me more than five minutes in line for the bathroom or to buy a beer.

The stages were small and allowed an exceptional proximity between the artists and the audience, and the sound was awesome. Even today, three days later, I can feel the shivers of thinking.

Não houve banda que não tivesse gostado de ver ali. Ainda assim, não há forma de não bater na mesma tecla e acabar a falar novamente sobre Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker, o moço que me levou ali e que me mostrou que, de facto, valeu a pena ter lá ido para o ver pela terceira ou quarta vez. Foi tão bom, tão bonito, tão feliz. 

Para o ver, impus ao homem que ficássemos perto do palco, pensando eu que iria ser uma batalha lá ficar. Não foi. Conseguimos facilmente colocarmo-nos num lugar a uns simpáticos 10 metros do palco, ainda com pessoas à minha frente e com espaço para respirar e para dançar. Mas, melhor do que isso, foi perceber que o palco era suficientemente pequeno e baixo para conseguir ver a cara de Nick Murphy – acho que nunca tinha visto um concerto em que conseguia ver a cara do artista, nem que estivesse mesmo colada às grades. 

Nick Murphy entrou em palco, começou a fazer o que só ele sabe fazer e eu fui tão mas tão feliz! Nunca o tinha visto assim, tão perto, tão descontraído e tão, também ele, feliz. Vi-o cantar, dançar, saltar para o meio do público e, vá lá, partir um ou outro instrumento musical, tal a excitação. 

Chet Faker é bom, é sempre bom e nunca cansa uma pessoa de o ouvir mas Nick Murphy não fica nada, nada atrás. É ligeiro e agressivo ao mesmo tempo, é profundo mas põe-nos a dançar, é maturo e rebelde. É bom. 

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There was no band that I did not like to see there. Still, there is no to avoid talking about about Nick Murphy aka Chet Faker again, the guy who took me there and who showed me that it was indeed worth it, to see him for the third our fourth time. It was so good, so beautiful, so happy.

For Nick Murphy, I forced the man to stand close to the stage, thinking it would be a battle to survive there. It was not. We were able to easily put ourselves in a nice place 10 meters from the stage, still with people in front of me and with room to breathe and to dance. But better than that, he realized that the stage was small enough and low enough to be able to see Nick Murphy's face - I do not think I'd ever seen a concert where I could see the artist's face, even if he was really stuck on the bars.

Nick Murphy came on stage, started doing what only he knows how to do and I was so but so happy! I had never seen him like this, so close, so relaxed and so, he too, happy. I saw him sing, dance, jump into the middle of the audience, and, come on, go from one musical instrument to another, such excitement.

Chet Faker is good, is always good and never tires of a person to hear but Nick Murphy is nothing, nothing behind. It is light and aggressive at the same time, it is deep but it makes us dance, it is mature and rebellious. It's good.

Tame Impala foi outro concerto incrível! Embora o festival faça questão de não anunciar ‘cabeça de cartaz’ tratando todas as bandas por igual, acho que os Tame foram os grandes protagonistas da noite, com milhares e milhares de pessoas à volta do público e gente a dançar por todo o lado. 

Tame Impala was another amazing concert! Although the festival makes a point of not announcing 'headliner' treating all bands alike, I think the Tame were the big stars of the night, with thousands and thousands of people around the audience and people dancing everywhere.

Tash Sultana, Glass Animals, Jagwar Ma and Tycho were other great shows capable of putting the guys in the hairline.

CURIOSITIES ABOUT THE LANEWAY FESTIVAL 

(just in case you wake up one day and want to travel to Australia to a music festival)

• Each can beer, is 10$, something like 7,12 euros (sorry, I'm with the Australian keyboard and I do not know where the Euro symbol is);
• In addition to not being able to carry bottles into the enclosure, you can’t take any type of food. Tip: eat well before you enter and spend money on only one meal there;
• At the entrance of the festival there is staff to distribute sun protector to everyone. The sun protector is for the festivals guys in Australia as the gifts are for the festival guys in Portugal: everybody looks, everyone wants;
• The doors are open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. No need to drink tons of coffee or red bull to handle it. It goes well, it's almost like going to the Book Fair in Parque Eduardo Sétimo, in Lisbon;
• To return to Sydney centre, the organization provides free transports that work beautifully. 10 minutes in line and we're dispatched;
• Free water;

A festival that thinks about the audience and in giving you not a great day, but a good day. No stresses, no worries. Without pretensions, full of honesty and love.

Já disse que fui feliz e que todo o festival foi feliz? Bem me parecia...
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Have I told you already that I was very happy there and that all the festival was happy? 

love,

C.