LANEWAY FESTIVAL KICKS OFF IN AUCKLAND | CHAPPELL ROAN HEADLINES A STANDOUT DAY OF LIVE MUSIC
LIVE REVIEW | LANEWAY FESTIVAL | AUCKLAND WESTERN SPRINGS by Amanda MacEachen
One of New Zealands largest festivals Laneway returned to Auckland’s Western Springs on 5th February 2026. Its major lineup included Chappell Roan, PinkPantheress, Wet Leg, Role Model, Mt Joy, Wolf Alice, Lucy Dacus, Geese, The Dare, and a long list of artists who filled out a stacked bill. The one day festival marked the opening show of Laneway’s multi-date run across Australia and New Zealand, with further stops on the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. The Auckland date also gave proper space to New Zealand artists, who were woven naturally into the lineup. Acts included BENEE, Lontalius, MOKOTRON, Womb, Ringlets and more. The NZ leg set the tone for Laneway’s 2026 tour – a tightly scheduled, high energy, outdoor live music centred day, all under the stretch of scorching but blissful summer sun.
From the moment the gates opened, Laneway felt impressively well organised. Clear signage directed crowds where to queue, along with multiple staff outside to answer any questions and help with directions. Nearby roads were closed for festival goers to walk over safely, and there were many spread out entry queues to prevent build up. Outside the grounds, pink cowboy hats and feather boas were being snapped up by excited Chappell Roan fans, with flashes of pink and glitter quickly becoming a defining feature of the Laneway Crowd. Despite the early rush, entry was swift and we were in the grounds within 5 minutes, security conducted thorough bag checks and searches which felt efficient and ensured the safety of the festival.
Western Springs itself proved an ideal setting for the large event, especially given its proximity to central Auckland. The site was cleanly divided across four different stages – the Harikoa stage, Everything Ecstatic stage, Never Let it Rest stage, and Good Better Best stage. The smaller stages were located at opposite ends of the festival site, however a real standout of the stage arrangements was the placement of the two main stages directly beside each other. Throughout the day, sets alternated seamlessly between them, eliminating the usual downtime during set changes that crowds have to endure. This meant that as one act finished, the next act was already launching into their set just metres away. Its a setup that I’ve never seen at a festival before, and it definitely paid off, keeping the main stage area alive the entire day with no loss of momentum. Even for eager fans holding spots for specific artists, you could still watch another artist performing on the adjacent stage, so there was no missing out.
The first act of the day we saw was Cavetown who kicked off the Good Better Best stage. He dragged in an impressive crowd that were already invested from early doors, their performance eased the festival into motion and set a feel good tone for the rest of the day.
Later in the afternoon Gigi Perez delivered one of the more emotionally focused sets of the festival. On the back of her debut album release ‘At The Beach, In Every Life’ last year, she delivered a remarkable set of album tracks and older releases with powerful vocals. A great moment in the set was when Gigi covered Belanova’s hit ‘Rosa Pastel’ and the crowd immediately bursted with energy and danced with the sun shining down on them. She closed with hit ’Sailor Song’ and the crowd sang with such emotion it was a great sentiment to live music and the togetherness of Gigi’s fans.
The set swiftly changed to the adjacent stage for Philadelphia band Mt. Joy. Their set was perfectly suited to the feel good vibes of the day in the heat and wide open space, theres an ease and enlightening aura to Mt. joy live that felt incredibly euphoric yet natural to endure. One of my stand out moments from the festival was definitely when they performed one of their much loved hits ’Strangers’, all while a crowd of strangers danced and sang their hearts out alongside. It was coincidently well timed to have Mt. Joy’s and Gigi Perez’s set one after another as the two artists have a song together, Gigi therefore made an appearance to sing their collab song ‘In the Middle’, a grungy track that perfectly suited and complimented both their voices.
After a wander around the festival site, we made our way back to the main stage in time for Lucy Dacus. She drew an impressively large crowd and delivered one of the most quietly powerful performances of the day. Her onstage presence, alongside her band, was completely commanding and her lyrics cut through the noise of the chaotic festival environment. ‘Hot and Heavy’ proved a standout moment, with fans shown on the big screens visibly emotional and some even in tears, highlighting the genuine connection her songwriting has forged with her audience. The set closed on a high, ending with boygenius track ‘True Blue’ before launching into‘Night Shift’ which saw the entire crowd singing along in the warm evening air.
As the sun began to dip lower, energy across the main stage shifted with the arrival of a line up favourite, Role Model. His set felt like a turning point in the day, bridging emotional weight of the afternoon main stage sets with the full scale excitement of the evening. As soon as he entered the stage Role Model had the crowd in the palm of his hands as they screamed with the loudest roars I had heard all day. His confidence and upbeat natured performance felt perfectly tailored for a festival setting, all crowd members seemed to be having the time of their lives. One of the biggest moments of his set came during ’Sally, When the Wine Runs Out’ where during every show he brings out usually a celebrity to be ‘Sally’, something that has been a staple to Role Model shows and has become a very popular feature to fans. This gig, he surprised the audience by bringing out BENEE, the collaboration was met with immediate roar from the crowd, adding a distinctly New Zealand touch to an already electric set.
That momentum carried straight into Wet Leg, whose set was one of the most chaotic of the day in the best way possible. Lead singer Rhian Teasdale is an absolute monumental frontwoman with stage presence and vocals that solidified an entire crowd to all eyes on her. Giving that, the entire bands chemistry was amazing and you could tell they are all genuinely having fun together on stage. They maintained intensity throughout the whole set barely giving the crowd a chance to catch their breath, they ended their slot with hit ‘mangetout’ which was the perfect exit to Wet Leg’s stunning performance making the entire crowd jump up and down one final time.
Closing out the festival was highly anticipated Chappell Roan, whose headline set felt like a cultural moment as much as a performance, considering it being her first time ever playing in New Zealand. By this point, the sea of pink cowboy hats, glammed sunglasses, and feather boas had only grown denser and hugely noticeable. As soon as she came out on stage the atmosphere was immediately charged, with an incredibly impressive backdrop that was almost theatrical. From start to finish her performance was bold and unapologetically expressive, everything that Chappell stands for. As expected, song after song was met with deafening singalongs, particularly ‘Casual’, ‘Love Me Anyway’, ‘Red Wine Supernova, and ‘Good Luck, Babe!’. A staple to Chappell’s performance is her famous ‘HOT TO GO!’ dance, which in Chappell history is the first time she didn’t give the crowd a tutorial of the dance. This clearly worked in her favour and saved time, because the whole crowd knew it anyway, tens of thousands of people doing one dance in unison was an incredible watch and something someone only as iconic as Chappell could pull off. ‘Pink Pony Club’ was a commanding, joyous finish, and the entire performance cemented her status as one of the most magnetic live performers on the lineup.
By the end of the night, Laneway Auckland 2026 felt like a collection of electrifying yet emotional experiences. From its seamless stage layout and thoughtful site design to a lineup that balanced international heavyweights with local talent, the festival ran with what seemed like such an ease. It was a long, sun soaked day (thank you to the festival organisers for giving out free sun screen and water all over the site), delivering constant highs from the early afternoon to the night. Laneway proved why it remains one of New Zealands most reliably well executed festivals, a day where great music, strong organisation, and a fully engaged crowd came together effortlessly.
