PREFERRED_PROVIDER_virtual/kernel = "linux-linaro-aarch64" to site.conf,, and add perf and kernel-vmlinux to the lamp images, we get somewhat working perf:

# perf --version
perf version 3.15.0-rc8
# perf stat true
          3.522720      task-clock (msec)         #    0.444 CPUs utilized          
                 0      context-switches          #    0.000 K/sec                  
                 0      cpu-migrations            #    0.000 K/sec                  
                35      page-faults               #    0.010 M/sec                  
            350132      cycles                    #    0.099 GHz                    
   <not supported>      stalled-cycles-frontend  
   <not supported>      stalled-cycles-backend   
            350132      instructions              #    1.00  insns per cycle        
   <not supported>      branches                 
                 0      branch-misses             #    0.00% of all branches        

       0.007927360 seconds time elapsed
 perf test
[   64.043275] random: nonblocking pool is initialized
 1: vmlinux symtab matches kallsyms                        : FAILED!
 2: detect open syscall event                              : FAILED!
 3: detect open syscall event on all cpus                  : FAILED!
 4: read samples using the mmap interface                  : FAILED!
 5: parse events tests                                     :Can't open event dir: No such file or directory
Can't open event dir: No such file or directory
 FAILED!
 6: Validate PERF_RECORD_* events & perf_sample fields     :[   71.466116] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=93, cpu=1)
[   71.466219] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=94, cpu=2)
[   71.466323] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=95, cpu=3)
 FAILED!
 7: Test perf pmu format parsing                           : Ok
 8: Test dso data interface                                : Ok
 9: roundtrip evsel->name check                            : Ok
10: Check parsing of sched tracepoints fields              : Ok
11: Generate and check syscalls:sys_enter_open event fields: FAILED!
12: struct perf_event_attr setup                           :sh: /data/oe/build-armv8/tmp-eglibc/sysroots/x86_64-linux/usr/bin/python-native/python: No such file or directory
 FAILED!
13: Test matching and linking multiple hists               : Ok
14: Try 'use perf' in python, checking link problems       : FAILED!
15: Test breakpoint overflow signal handler                : FAILED!
16: Test breakpoint overflow sampling                      : FAILED!
17: Test number of exit event of a simple workload         :[   73.809814] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=93, cpu=1)
[   73.809918] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=94, cpu=2)
[   73.810021] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=95, cpu=3)
 Ok
18: Test software clock events have valid period values    : Ok
19: Test object code reading                               :[   76.683921] hw perfevents: unable to set irq affinity (irq=93, cpu=1)
 FAILED!
20: Test sample parsing                                    : Ok
21: Test using a dummy software event to keep tracking     : Ok
22: Test parsing with no sample_id_all bit set             : Ok