Echo & The Bunnymen at Laneway Festival

English post –punk, alternative art-pop (how’s that for a list of genres?) band Echo & The Bunnymen heads the line-up for the 2010 Laneway Festival.

St Jerome’s Laneway Festival kicks off on January 29 in Brisbane and then makes a journey around Australia and New Zealand.

Echo & The Bunnymen have been responsible for some  hits (The Killing Moon, Silver, Nothing Lasts Forever etc) and some songs that weren’t hits but were even more impressive than the ones that were.

Albums such as 1980′s classics Crocodiles and Ocean Rain, led them to exert a major influence on contemporary music.  The likes of Suede, Elbow and Interpol owe much to the Bunnymen’s brooding soundscapes, pulsating guitars and subversive attitude.

Plus, they were featured in the opening sequence of Donnie Darko. They come armed with material from their brand new record The Palace (right up there with their best work) and they’re set to win over a whole new generation of fans

As well as Echo & The Bunnymen, the 2010 shows will also feature Florence and The Machine, Black Lips, The XX, Daniel Johnston, Sarah Blasko, N.AS.A, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Hockey, Dappled Cities, Mumford and Sons, Radio Clit, The Very Best, Wild Beasts, Whitely, The Middle East, Kid Sam and Dirty Three.

Did you read right? Dirty Three?

In Melbourne only  the Dirty Three will be performing at your Laneway Festival in their only festival appearance in Australia this summer.  With an unparalleled reputation as one of Australia’s most enthralling live acts, Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White are exceptional in many respects: an instrumental, violin-led trio who are lauded by the music intelligentsia but who also embody the primitive appeal of rock’n'roll unlike any other band.

Since they formed in Melbourne in 1991, Dirty Three have released seven studio albums, one soundtrack, and several collaborations to worldwide acclaim, as well as individual projects with the likes of Nick Cave and Grinderman, Smog, Cat Power and Bonnie Prince Billy.   Warren Ellis reckons they are in ‘showroom condition’ following a recent US tour and ATP New York appearance and we welcome them back to their hometown for a very special performance

Dates are:

January 29, Brisbane
January 30, Melbourne
January 31, Sydney
February 1, Auckland
February 5, Adelaide
February 6, Perth