Festival report: Roskilde 2009
Roskilde is undoubtedly the Holy Grail of Northern European summer festivals. It takes place close to the synonymous small Danish town, situated in the outskirts of Copenhagen. The festival opens its doors on the last Sunday in June with various warm-up gigs and events. The main programme kicks-off on Thursday and lasts until Sunday. More than 100,000 music lovers, volunteers, media, artists and merchants gather up in order to partake in this unique musical experience. The first-ever Roskilde took place in 1971 and was organized by two high school students and a promoter. Over the years it has grown so much it has become a point of reference in Scandinavia and one of the four largest festivals in the whole of Europe. Nowadays there are more than 170 bands playing on seven stages, of which the Orange Stage is the largest.
The weather this year was gorgeous, which had a direct impact on the mood of the hordes of aviator sunglasses-wearing, über-trendy Danes. Sun cream, Thai food and billions of liters of beer were consumed, while queuing up for attractions such as the "Human carwash"... The line-up consisted of names as big as Coldplay, Oasis, Pet Shop Boys, Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More and countless others. I am going to keep my lips sealed as far as these acts are concerned, since this is not the reason for which you are reading this website. Please look elsewhere if you really want to know about Chris Martin's improved Danish language skills!
Day One
Mew's gig at Arena, the second largest festival stage, is the one I was looking forward to the most at this festival. This is a great comeback after four years of silence since their critically acclaimed album "And the glass handed kites". Everybody is so eager and impatient to see them again on stage; there must be more than 15,000 people in the audience. And it is worth the wait. This is a smashing gig! They deliver glorious performances of "Am I wry? No", "Apocalypso", "156", "Circuitry of the wolf" and "White lips kissed" among others. They also give us a taste of what's yet to come with the new single "Introducing palace players". Magic atmosphere and gigantic sing-alongs, during the course of an easily won home game. The new album with the unusually long title – deep breath - "No more stories are told today, I'm sorry they washed away. No more stories, the world is grey, I'm tired, let's wash away", is out on August 25th and should be one of the most promising releases of the year.
Later on, DJ/producer Trentemøller is headlining the Orange Stage. This undisputed national hero successfully manages to please the masses with a longer-than-two-hour set. His performance is ranging from blatant mainstream to more peculiar sounds and mixed up tunes by Soft Cell, The Cure, Bruce Springsteen, Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream, Britney Spears and, in the spirit of times, Michael Jackson. His onstage guests include Steen Jørgensen formerly from veteran Danish rockers Sort Sol, blues starlet Marie Fisker and most notably, Mikael Simpson. A crowd of 50,000 engages in a massive techno dance on an unforgettable summer evening.
Day Two
The morning after I head down to Astoria to listen to Faroese Orka, drawn by the hype that has been created since their recent collaboration with French "Amélie" movie soundtrack composer Yann Tiersen. They are a very interesting offering indeed, since they construct their own instruments entirely out of power tools and farm equipment and subsequently channel the sound through samplers and effect pedals. Their music is imposing, enigmatic and lifting at the same time.
Young Swedish sisters First Aid Kit are next on the bill in Astoria. Their mix of folk/country melodies with perfectly pitched harmonies recently attracted international attention. Plain orchestration creates a very intimate atmosphere and proximity. Apart from their own numbers, they even do two covers: Fleet Foxes' "Tiger mountain peasant song" and unexpectedly Kiss' "I was made for lovin' you", dedicated to their younger brother. Generally they do OK, but I think their music would work much better in a smaller venue.
Tromsø duo Röyksopp easily rule the Arena on Friday night. The venue had simply exceeded its capacity before Torbjørn Bruntland and Svein Berge appeared onstage. The crowd is very familiar with all their experimental dance-pop material. The most defining moment of the set by far is Robyn performing "The girl and the robot". The crowd simply goes mad! "Happy up here" and "Eple" are well received too. Fellow Norwegian Anneli Drecker appears wearing a mysterious owl costume. Apart from her own "You don't have a clue", she is charged with delivering "What else is there?", "Tricky tricky" and "This must be it", sung on record by Karin Dreijer, who is appearing also at the festival as Fever Ray. Partly because of a no-show and partly because of the actual performances the results on these three songs are slightly disappointing.
Day Three
A big number of Swedes in their early twenties (maximum!) are gathered in front of the Orange Stage to see Gothenburg's drama king Håkan Hellström. His 60's influenced pop works well under a blazing afternoon sun. Restless and exceedingly expressive, he is roaming across the stage while conducting his one-man-show. A charmer, Håkan doesn't miss an opportunity to flirt with the crowd and embrace their love in a very Swedish Robbie Williams way. Every word of "Klubbland", "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" and "För en lång lång tid" is sung religiously while confetti is thrown in the air.
The final Scandinavian act for me on Saturday evening and this Roskilde festival are Swedish jazz/fusion/acid/progsters Dungen playing on the Odeon stage. It's the music that counts here and not the show. They play a lot of stuff from their internationally well-received album "4". Tambourines, flutes, acoustic guitars and electric solos combined with brilliant basslines from Mattias Gustavsson are purifying for a tired and sleepless festival crowd. "Maleras finest" and "Det tar tid" are the best memories to take home with me. Thanks Roskilde.
Words and pictures by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos