Jack Ladder was the first full set we got to early in the day and it was a nice relief from the early afternoon sun to descend into the Basement venue to check out his indie rock ‘n’ soul sound. Ladder finally got going after some guitar issues and proceeded to play a set from his recent Love is Gone album. With the Pivot rhythm section (who played on the record) backing him, the songs were true to the CD versions and after a tentative start he gradually got warmed up and relaxed into a great 40 minutes of music, highlights of which included ‘Best Kept Secret’ and ‘Mother (Bird Is The Word)’.

Wandering between stages to get our bearings we came across Yves Klein Blue. Sporting a rather pretentious moniker they came across as a fairly down to earth rock band with touches of ska and polka that brought to mind comparisons to the Clash, especially in frontman Michael Tomlinson’s mannerisms and look. Confident and engaging, they caught attention and injected some early afternoon energy into the still arriving crowd.

A band trading on hype and not necessarily reputation is always going to struggle to win over skeptics and Tame Impala’s main stage set had a strong audience of curious onlookers. The sound on the stage didn’t do them any favours as it was frustratingly quiet, especially for a band that trades in pysch stoner rock that counts volume as ones of its key ingredients. By the end of their set their fans were still there but the attention of many others had wandered.

No Age are a couple of young gents from Los Angeles currently leading the charge for a small scene centred around a club called The Smell. They brought a refreshing pared down and deconstructed aesthetic to the festival in light of the number of acts keen to project an image or style as part of their musical act. No Age operate with drums, guitar, their voices and some effects pedals and they lived up to their two albums with a set high on short sharp outbursts and some nice melodically abrasive riffs that stuck in the brain.

One man that was bound to be a personality of the day was Jay Reatard. He hit the stage with the other two members of the band, suitably big haired and loud in both volume and colour in his pink screaming t-shirt and the even hotter pink pants of the bass player. Telling the large crowd that “All the other bands on the bill think they are so special, this shit is easy!” he launched into song after song of his trademark punk pop with its melodic hooks and buzzing guitars. Reatard energised the crowd with his Dinosaur Jr meets Ramones meets Kiwi pop sound. It was raw and primitive and it was like a blast of fresh air.

Time constraints meant that a time share was needed between Four Tet and Stereolab. Outdoors and at a festival Four Tet seemed to take a while to warm to the crowd who, at the Red Bull Academy Stage, had been used to harder and more danceable beats through the day. His style is more for listening to and nodding one’s head and it took a good 15 minutes for everyone to settle into his vibe and hook into his wavelength. Just as they started to it was for us to head to Stereolab. They were well into their set on the main stage and were hitting that sweet spot of the indie krautrock sound that has become their trademark. Laetitia Sadier is the focal point of the band live and her sweet sing-song vocals were endearing. It was a nice break from the noise and the crush of bodies at the other more crowded stages.

The biggest response of the day was quite possibly for The Drones and their swaggering, staggering indie rock. The reality of what was happening with the bush fires down in VIC was brought home when Gareth Liddiard mentioned that Havilah, the place where they recorded the album of the same name, was most likely burnt to the ground. They seemed to take this as motivation to deliver a ragged and brutal performance of howling vocals and twisted, screeching guitars that encompassed all corners of their career from ‘Shark Fin Blues’ to the stomping ‘The Minotaur’. They were for my mind the most dynamic and invigorating band of the day.

Finishing up the main stage was Minnesota’s (and now New York’s) The Hold Steady. Perhaps viewed by some as the outsiders of the festival with their more rockist tendencies they quickly dispelled the myth before a small yet enthusiastic crowd. Craig Finn’s frontman quirks were amusing and entertaining in the way he comes over as the eternal nerd living out his rock dreams. The endearing thing is how convincing he is in the role, strutting like a Jagger librarian, pouting and gesturing wildly. It was an infectious performance with tracks like ‘Sequestered in Memphis’, ‘Party Pit’, ‘Chips Ahoy’ and ‘Stay Positive’ all creating an arms aloft party atmosphere and an almost perfect end to the day compared to the softer and lighter Feist performance that finished the festival in 2008.

Meanwhile, Girl Talk was over on the other main band stage. He had drawn a huge crowd, mainly of the younger and noticeably more drunken attendees that online forums have been blaming for the perceived change in mood of this year’s festival. There was a noticeably different atmosphere with many people seeming to care more about their look and getting drunk than appreciating the music which is, after all, what the Laneway Festival is or should be about.