Likes vs life: What Laneway reveals about Gen Z’s online-offline paradox
Amplify's strategy director, Lucinda O'Brien, shares a few observations - through a cultural strategy lens - on Australia's chronically online Gen Z and their craving for real-life music experiences, in relation to Laneway Festival.
Earlier this month, I joined 46,000 other Sydneysiders at Laneway Festival to finally experience our God-given right to a Brat Summer (and it’s the same but it’s down under so it’s not).
In a time when Aussie summer festivals continue to get cancelled, and the live music scene feels like it’s crumbling around us, Laneway managed to sell out key cities within hours. So, what does this festival reveal about Australia’s chronically online Gen Z and their craving for real-life music experiences?
Here are a few observations through a cultural strategy lens—examining how this Online-Offline Paradox shapes Aussie festival culture across content, fashion and music.
Bridging IRL and online
We know that Gen Z express themselves across online and offline spaces. So music festivals like Laneway become both a space to experience cultural moments like Brat Summer and a digital performance to show your experience. It was unsurprising that the phones came out when Charli took the stage. But for me, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it at this scale. When Charli prepared to pull down the Brat green curtain as she had done countless times before–what felt like 46,000 phones appeared to capture the moment. To exist online, is at times defined by this irony–trying to capture a moment only to miss it.
@warnermusicaustralia Tag us if you filmed it 👀 #charlixcx #laneway #lanewayfestival #brat #bratsummer ♬ original sound – Warner Music Australia
Credit: Warner Music Australia on TikTok
For brands, this shows the need to build a cohesive story between physical and digital channels. In cultural moments like Laneway, a brand’s audience, creators and media could be leveraged to extend the reach of an IRL experience.
Whether that’s through GRWM content prior to creating a brand experience that’s designed to be shared to defining a cultural hook to drive headlines. This year, Adidas Originals did exactly that with Laneway in Melbourne with Adidas Clubhouse–collaborating with their community, including Ashwarya, to curate shoppable Laneway Festival ‘Fits shared through social and on eCommerce as well as a physical activation on-site.
Today, it’s never just about the brand experience but rather about the broader narrative your brand is telling across channels, a story that’s co-created with talent and your audience.
The fashion of fandom
As Adidas knows, a big part of the festival experience is the fit check. In the lead-up to Laneway, feeds were flooded with “What are we wearing to Laneway?” discourse on crafting the perfect look. On the day, certain styles emerged as clear favourites: denim jorts, graphic baby tees, and soccer jerseys. But in Sydney, nothing reigned supreme like knee-high moto boots.
It’s interesting to see media outlets like Fashion Journal, News.com and even the New York Post label this ‘the boho moto’ trend–a term I believe introduced by Pinterest Predicts for 2025. Yet this is unmistakably the Brat aesthetic, the anti-fashion movement of 2024 that reflects Charli’s evolving style across Y2K nostalgia, edgy clubwear, and hyper-pop styles.
At her live shows, fans embrace this aesthetic with experimental looks that embody the Brat attitude: playful yet rebellious, hyper-feminine yet subversive. Fandom-driven fashion isn’t just about the clothes—it’s about identity, community, and cultural expression. To connect with these audiences, brands must observe, engage early, and act authentically.
The buying power and influence of TikTok
Right now, Gen Z’s collective music taste is ruled by the TikTok algorithm. It’s no secret the power of the platform to change the trajectory of an artist’s career–moving from relative obscurity to virility with one trending hook. Earlier in the year we saw the TikTok effect show up on Triple J’s hottest 100. Whereby the top ten spots were dominated by TikTok favourites like Royel Otis with ‘Murder on the Dance floor’, Lola Young with ‘Messy’ and Gracey Abrams with ‘That’s so true’.
Now it’s played its part in Laneway selling out Sydney and Melbourne the fastest it has in history. At Laneway, the TikTok effect was felt most at Djo’s set. Djo, is the moniker of Joe Keery (Stranger Things) who was a late, surprise addition to the lineup. At Laneway, the crowd came alive during the final song, End of Beginning, a song that came out in 2022 but found its audience two years later on TikTok.
Some may mourn that Laneway has lost its original charm as it’s transformed from humble beginnings with emerging, underground artists in a Melbourne laneway to a mainstream event catering to a largely digital-first audience. In the same way, they might mourn the Hottest 100.
But considering the Australian music scene is in a state flux, this evolution may be necessary to connect with Aussie Gen Z. This in a way is a lesson for brands today and the power of listening to your audience and looking for signals of change rather than following what’s worked before.
Finding the balance
Laneway served as a microcosm of the Offline-Online Paradox, where Gen Z’s desire for genuine IRL experiences collided with the relentless pull of digital performance. The outfits, the music, and the content show a generation trying to live authentically while simultaneously navigating the pressure to present that online.
Charli XCX’s Brat Summer is a perfect example of how cultural moments are now shaped by both the lived experience and its digital echo. One thing is clear: for brands, it’s no longer just about attending an experience—it’s about building a broader story across all channels and understanding what your audience is looking for.
Lucinda O’Brien is the strategy director of Amplify.
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All this says is that brands and brand strategists continue to feebly try to insert themselves into conversations and “cultural experiences” they were never invited into, and the result is the exact opposite of authenticity. Gen Z will continue to ignore these blatantly confected efforts.
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It’s not a certainty, given Laneway bucking the trend in previous years, but in a year when Gen Z decided to spend their money on big pop star shows (Taylor Swift, Billie Eillish, Olivia Rodrigo, Kid Laroi) over festivals, it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that Laneway’s strategy was to secure exclusive shows for Charli XCX, making them the only way to see her in Australia.
Then again, they could just be more in-touch than other festivals.
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