Chappell Roan, Geese and a crowd of true believers prove Australia's most beloved indie festival hasn't lost its touch with Laneway 2026
From the Chappell Roan fans in pink medieval princess-cum-lolita outfits complete with a hennin on top, to the more traditionally understated Alex G fans with tousled hair in band T-shirts and jeans, it was obvious from the get-go that the Laneway festival crowd was populated with not just punters, but with fans.
What began as a 1,400-person crowd in Melbourne’s Caledonian Lane in 2005 has now grown to a festival that draws crowds of up to 50,000 people in six cities across Australia and New Zealand.
At a time when festivals appear to be struggling more than ever, Laneway has evolved into one of Australia’s most beloved music events.
And though the only thing physically resembling the festival’s beginnings in an actual laneway are the queues of people filing into Flemington Park, the fact that it is now held on the sprawling site of Flemington Park is a testament to its success.
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Laneway’s strength has always been in its finger-on-the-pulse calibration: picking that sweet spot when an artist tips from being an online obsession to an unavoidable cultural presence, and letting that moment play out in real time, outdoors, surrounded by people who already know the words.
And of course, having an exclusive performance by a big-draw star.
Last year it was Charli XCX; this year it was Chappell Roan (and, I would argue, Yung Lean and Bladee).
Laneway 2026 leant into that instinct hard, and it paid off.
Those who got in early were in for a treat, with more intimate sets by local favourites Armlock and the Belair Lip Bombs, before the intensity built a little more with Shady Nasty’s tense post-punk and cult-favourite shoegaze act Wisp to follow.
Fans grew more fervent as the afternoon went on.
Oklou’s whimsical electro-pop on the Everything Ecstatic stage received as many screams of love as it had the night before at her Northcote Theatre sideshow, and over on the other side of the park Alex G fans were doing the same.
Whipping all the way back to the Everything Ecstatic stage again, the Dare – with his brand of dance-punk hedonism and genuinely funny lyrics – was the first artist of the day who really made me want to dance, and for me it definitely felt like a level up in the day’s energy.
Look, when bands have the level of hype around them labelling them “the next Strokes” or “a generational talent” – as Geese do – I normally have a healthy dose of scepticism and intrigue when approaching their music.
As someone who was exposed to the hype around Geese before their actual music, I obviously had to see their set for myself to find out how it stacked up.
And I have to say: I get it.
“Wow, OK, so Geese,” I text two of my friends while squished and rocking in the bouncing crowd.
The friends on either side of me lock eyes while grinning and nod their heads with their eyebrows raised in a mutual acknowledgment that yeah, Geese kind of are that good.
The crowd scurried en masse to the Good Better Best stage to catch the high-energy, seductive indie rock of Wet Leg.
And while the British band delivered, it was the atmosphere of the crowd at this stage that fell flat, fractured by the Chappell Roan fans breaking up the Wet Leg crowd by sitting cross-legged on the grass in droves, staking their turf for the pop star’s set which was still two hours away.
Last year, the crowd at the main stage was separated into sections dividing the AA group and the drinkers, and to get front-section access punters had to queue for their favourite acts before being quickly cleared out each time an artist finished.
The festival appeared to have scrapped that arrangement this year, probably for ease of event planning, but it seemed to have come at the cost of the main-stage vibe for those artists preceding the festival’s biggest headliner.
Wolf Alice delivered their expectedly dynamic set with Ellie Rowsell’s vocals oscillating between snarls and angelic falsetto, but as we wound our way out of the crowd with the hopes of making it to Yung Lean and Bladee, two short alarming yelps came from behind me – my friend had been stopped and mistaken for Role Model.
“[inaudible] Sally! [inaudible],” I heard as I waited for my friend’s Australian accent to inevitably give away that he was in fact not Role Model.
The moment was a reminder that the success of Laneway is partly due to the devotion that most punters feel for at least one of the acts.
And Chappell.
Chappell Roan has to be one of the most respected, proactive and refreshingly outspoken artists working right now, entering the stage fresh off news that she had sacked her talent agency due to its CEO’s affiliation with the Epstein files.
And that’s not even mentioning her impressive set – straight hits delivered in a theatrical yet sincere way.
The fans who had been sitting cross-legged were up now, compacting the dirt below them as they danced to Hot to Go! in a way not dissimilar to previous generations doing the YMCA.
The vibes were at an all-time high.
Laneway 2026 didn’t reinvent the formula – it didn’t need to.
With another carefully calibrated (and epic) line-up, it simply reinforced its position as one of Australia’s most beloved and enduring music festivals, one that seamlessly caters to youth culture and critics’ tastes alike.
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