Roskilde Festival 2013

author TL date 12/07/13


What's so special about Roskilde?


Come this time next year, bar some cataclysmic chain of events, I will be celebrating my 10th year (in a row) at Roskilde Festival, and it seems to me that each year I've gone has taught me a new perspective on the festival - Something new to appreciate it for. I remember my mom driving me and a friend in from the country in 2005, being utterly overwhelmed by the simple fact that I was going to see Audioslave, Green Day, Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World, one of my life-changing bands, all in the same week. At the time I had seen less than five shows in my life, so even though Jimmy Eat World had a pretty rough set, the sheer musical side of the festival, and very specifically those four bands, was enough to blow my mind.

That festival taught me to love beer, and since then I've learnt to love Roskilde Festival for many things. I learnt to appreciate the musical diversity more. For a few years, it was the almost tribal togetherness of the camp-life of the warm-up days. Then gradually I started to appreciate the wealth of experiences you can have just wandering the camping grounds by yourself or with a friend or two.

This year, having become a nine-to-five office slave for a living, what I really got to re-discover, was the sheer escapism of the whole thing. One. Hundred. Thousand people collectively leave their worries and their boundaries at home to come and live in the moment. This creates an alternate reality, and the festival's organisers know this and do their best to cater to it. I used to think that it was pretentious for Roskilde goers to boast of how 'unique' the festival is compared to other festivals, but now, I've been to Rock Am Ring, I've been to Groezrock, I've been to West Coast Riot, I've been to other festivals, and while each of those have been great in their own way - While each of those will drown you in excellent bands from a genre of your preference - They just don't have what Roskilde has: The much-romanticised Orange feeling.

The Orange feeling is this: Everybody will talk to you if you talk to them. No matter the hour of the day there will always be three to four more or less spontaneous dance parties happening within sight. If you go for a walk for ten minutes, you will see at least two or three things you never thought you'd see in your life. It seems that removing people from regular society and giving them nine days to do as they please will foster some creativity and fun that you will stare at open-mouthed and wonder "How did they come up with this!?".

So to any Roskilde virgins out there: If you haven't gone, then you haven't lived. You've missed people skiing down grass hills in golden spandex. You've missed pillow-fights with over a hundred combatants. You've missed people in animal suits having break dance competitions beneath a stereo shaped like the tower of Mordor. You've missed out on singing karaoke under a tent roof backed by a classical string orchestra. More importantly, you missed the inexplicable sense of existential distortion you experience coming home from the festival and trying to remember who you are - the one that lets you know that even after nine years, Roskilde Festival still turns you upside down.

All pictures courtesy of Peter Troest, Charlotte Mai Jacobsen or Rune Bøgelund

+ Find even more pictures of Roskilde awesomeness at http://philipbh.wordpress.com/


What's new?


The Good!

One of the great things about Roskilde is that the organisers are always trying to develop the festival experience, to make everything easier and more fun, and here's a section to talk about some of the new initiatives this year:

Dream City

Among the most noticeable changes this year was the so called 'Dream City'. Prior to the festival, the organisers had put a call out to people to come up with more elaborate ideas for 'theme camps'. The best would then be chosen to be allowed into the camping grounds ahead of the festival to actually construct camps out of more than ordinary camping equipment. This resulted in a dozen or so strange constructions in the central camping area, among which was for instance our colleagues' in blastbeast.dk's pentagram-shaped metal camp. In honest though, while I walked through Dream City loads of times, I never actually visited any of the camps there, so I'll leave it up to you readers to wonder in the comments whether it was a good idea or not.

Volt Mobile Charging

One thing that was a ridiculously good idea was the Volt Charging booths. In previous years, festival goers had to expect at least 3-4 stretches of leaving their phones in for charging at the wardrobe buildings. This year, a solution was offered to purchace a USB charger for 400 DKK, which could be swapped twice a day free of charge, and which could be exchanged for 200 DKK back if returned before the end of the festival. The result: Infinite smart-phone power for this writer. I don't know what to say about this other than it was a stroke of genius and should become a staple of all festivals as soon as possible.

Luxury toilets

While Roskilde has always put in an good effort to clean and maintain the servicability of the porta potties, this year they had also decided to place proper mobile toilets at various locations, offering festival goers a much more comfortable experience for the diminituive price of 5 DKK, should one have a moment of squirmishness. Again, we could find no downside to this, so thumbs up for this as well.

Nicer Pant Collectors

Each year Roskilde allows thousands of foreigners into the festival for the sole purpose of collecting returnable cans and bottles for money. Previously, these have been of the slightly bitter and angry type, but this year, it felt like everybody had been given a pep-talk about manners, with almost everybody asking nicely before invading camps or parties, and saying thank you afterwards. It feels like a first world problem to expect this of people that are cleaning up after you, but really it just made for a much better mood between the pant collectors and ordinary festival guests, so again, if the festival had something to do with this, good work!

Beer pre-order

While beer is always easily available at the festival, it is a tad on the expensive side, even considering that it's at a festival. That's why it was a cool (yet unfortunately limited) option to pre-order beer crates before the festival at cheaper prices, which could then be picked up when needed at various locations in the camp site. From what we heard, this worked amazingly, and we genuinely hope that this format gets its capacity expanded next year, so us having to break our backs carrying piles of cheap peer in from the outside becomes a thing of the past!

Less drinks control

Previously, it was forbidden to take pretty much any alcohol into the main festival area (where all the concerts are), and the control of people entering caused annoying lines. This year, Roskilde had called this off, and while there were people controlling that each person carried a maximum one half litre drink, things were much less anal and moved much faster - Which, from what we've heard, only resulted in people buying even more drinks from the festival's own bars than earlier. Win-win!

Still needs improvement

Queueing system

This year, Roskilde had opted do away with the traditional metal fences surrounding the five queueing areas, and instead tested an 'invisible line' system, threatening false starters with fines of up to 3500 DKK. From what we've heard, this worked surprisingly well at Entrance South, but in West 1 and 2, a lot more people had somehow been allowed to book entry than either entry could fit, causing massive traffic jams for most of the queueing day. People were supposedly denied access to the entrance they had booked, and this is of course completely unacceptable, leaving Roskilde with a persistent problem that still needs more tweaking between now and next year.


The booking discussion


Each and every year there are people whining cats and dogs about the line-up of Roskilde. For one, it's not genre-specific, so one sub-culture or other will always end up feeling under-appreciated. Two; the Danish music climate has long been shifting away from rock, which means that acts like Rihanna and Chase And Status are being brought in to cater to the Sunny Beach segment. Three; It's quite clear that Roskilde splashes on a few HUGE acts to fire up the monumental field in front of the Orange main stage, and then goes trend-spotting-aka-bargain-hunting for a lot of its remaining acts.

The effect, if you ask me, is that every single festival goer will almost always have at least heard of all the headliners, while most will feel that only a handful of so of the remaining names ring a bell, because these artists just aren't big enough to have a bigger name yet. If PP was writing this article, there would be complaining about this, but as you will see from the reviews (which I'm getting to imminently, I promise) I managed to find a solid number of memorable experiences despite this being the line-up I had been least excited for in a long while. So while each year of Roskilde will likely only treat you to a few of those unifying shows where you feel like you're joining loads of like-minded fans in celebration of a band you've been waiting to see, it will instead offer you dozens of experiences where you see something that you might find yourself a fan of next year.

So, if you ask me, the more I learn about the music scene, the more I'm coming around to the thinking that Roskilde's bookers are actually doing a pretty respectable job with the resources they have available, especially considering the outlandish challenge it is to book a name that can carry the weight of the Orange Stage. That being said however, they still have the prevailing problem of puzzling bands into the right slots. This year for instance, it was near impossible to get near Jake Bugg and The Lumineers' shows at the Odeon stage, while Iceage played to barely anybody on the much larger Arena. It is of course incredibly hard to predict the pull of a band, especially considering how far in advance the bookings likely take place, but still, when you're a festival goer, these inconsistencies are annoying, and you can't but wish that something could be done about it.


Review section


Alright, here's where we get to the reviews, so let's stop looking at the festival in the past tense and instead allow ourselves to be flashed back to the very first afternoon of music, shall we?

Warm-up days

Overthrow @ Sunday, 17:30 on Pavilion Junior,

At this the first day of the warm-up, Roskilde Festival 2013 invited all of us to a punk n’ roll party in the company of the Norwegian band Overthrow. Right from the start the Stavanger based band shows excitement while they enter the stage and start to play. All around the atmosphere is quite good in the small tent and people quickly start “dancing” to the rather catchy music. However, Overthrow never really seems to throw themselves over the edge of the stage and the sound is not as clear as it should be. Yet the rumbling sound never really bothers the crowd and the party continues in best metal manner. [6½] SC

Mother Lewinsky @ Tuesday, 17:30 on Pavilion Junior,

Normally I don't plan to watch much during Roskilde's warm-up days, simply because there's too many people to see and too much partying to check out. Still, Mother Lewinsky caught my attention promoting themselves each afternoon by lending their complete string ensemble to karaoke sessions near the festival's beach, which was cool enough to lure me to their set at Pavilion Junior. The entire orchestra isn't part of the band's default setup on stage however. Instead they rock the conventional bass/drum/guitar/singer constellation, complimented by just a couple of string instruments.

They help conjure up a sound that's surprisingly less centered around extended harmonic melodies (which is what I expect from an orchestra) and more around needlepoints of quick, rhythmic notes from the various instruments, to support the sharp, energetic singing of the band's frontman. It's pretty cool, but things take a clear jump up when the rest of the orchestra is brought on for the song "Some Kind Of Fight", which also stirs up the audience. Overall though, I get the impression that both the songs and the showmanship lacks a bit in personality, as contrasted by the band's unusual setup, so admittedly, I take in the latter half of it laying on my back outside of the tent. [7] TL

Go Go Berlin @ Tuesday, 19:00 on Pavilion Junior

Since we're already hanging out at Pavilion, I let our provisional photographer Charlotte Mai convince me to stay and watch Go Go Berlin. I have no knowledge of them other than seeing their name around, but she insists that they blew their tops off playing Fredericia Ungdomshus in front of almost no people, and hence deserve to be watched. Yet while I doubt the band can consistenly replicate what is about to happen at Pavilion, "deserve to be watched" does not even begin to cover it. The quintet struts on with Rolling Stones swagger, classic rock attire and 70's haircuts in front of an organ and backline that have been customised with a white/black colour scheme and then, the clichées start rolling off their repertoire with a potency that you'll hear all too rarely.

From under his brows and his blond lion mane, frontman Christian Vium eyes the crowd with the kind of charismatic stare that is both an encouragement and a challenge, as he leads the band into a march through all the best classic rock influences - 'Stones, Doors, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC - recognisable elements from all of them find their way into Go Go Berlin's carefully constructed crowd-pleasers, each of which are delivered with the timing and dynamics that commands a full Pavilion to learn the choruses and sing along as we go. With a raspy Steven Tyler-ish croon and a bravado that reminds me of Razorlight's Johnny Borrell, Vium prances the stage with elegance while his mates play with elated smiles and instruments brandished high, and if the show was set up as a battle between a band and a curious crowd, you can just feel how each song turns it increasingly into a rout, to the point when the band ends with the brazen shoutalong "I'm a bad motherfucker, you can see it in my eyes! A bad motherfucker, a devil in disguise!".

Much will be said about the Airbourne concert that happens at this festival later, but two bands do more with rock'n'roll's classic building blocks before them: One of them is going to be Kvelertak (whom I would rate higher than PP does further down), but the first - the first was Go Go Berlin. Hot fuckin' damn! [8½] TL

Lower @ Wednesday, 16:00 on Pavilion Junior,

Small suburban Danish band Lower enters the stage one after one without really noticing the rather large crowd cheering them welcome. This is my first acquaintance with the band so I did not know what was in store this sunny afternoon. The musicians in the band never show any sign of enjoyment while playing though, and especially the bassist stands almost completely still the entire show. We do get a “Thank you” once in a while from the lead singer but never anything more than that. At first I didn't think that they wanted to play but as the show progresses I realise that they create this negative atmosphere on purpose which actually opens their noisy post-punk universe more up to me. However, I do not think that more than a few others interpreted the performance the same way as I did which leaves most with a kind of confused state of mind when leaving the tent. [5½] SC

The Woken Trees @ Wednesday, 17:30 on Pavilion Junior

A friend of mine is working near Pavilion Junior around the time The Woken Trees are playing, so since I've been seeing their name around as well, I decide that I might as well check them out while I'm here. Being another band loosely connected to the trendy post-punk revival, I'm not surprised to find the band assaulting me with waves of gloomy, noisy riffs, nor that their singer booms with a dark voice that travels off tune on occasion. I do not stay for the entire set, but as the portion I see progresses, I am increasingly impressed by the weight and groove of especially the band's heavier parts, which depart from the predictable Joy Division worship into an area of comparability to fellow Danish darkness-dwellers Kellermensch. So while I don't see the whole thing, I must admit that I leave a lot more intrigued than I was when I first came in. [7] TL

Thursday

Suicidal Tendencies @ 18:00 on Arena

My personal Roskilde Festival musical experience starts with the legendary punk/crossover band Suicidal Tendencies on early Thursday evening, who last played this festival twenty years ago. Predictably, vocalist Mike Muir comes on stage dressed in basketball shorts, a Suicidal Tendencies t-shirt and a bandana, much like the rest of the band, who live up to pretty much every stereotype in the hardcore subculture throughout the show. One, their set is one of the most energetic of the festival, with Muir splitting time looking like a rapper and like a kickboxer while he angrily storms from one side of the stage to the other. Two, the mid-song banter consists of two things: chants to themselves ("Suicidal. Tendencies. Suicidal. Tendencies" and "S....T....S....T") as well as stories from the past twenty years, with the most memorable one being a historical reference to how skateboarding started when there were no cameras, and so people used to try tricks not possible until they became possible in a thinly veiled inspirational speech for all would-be musicians. Based on that logic, though, I wonder what he thinks about Attack Attack!? In either case, it's a decent hardcore/punk set which ends up feeling a tad too long because of the monotonous nature of their songs. Let's be honest here: they're no Sick Of It All. [7] PP

Drenge @ 18:30 on Pavilion

I've always liked it when I saw the bandname Husker Dü, so when I see that there's a British rock band called Drenge, something in me triggers and compels me to check them out. Word has it the band heard the word while playing soccer against Danes shouting our phrase for "cmon boys!" and settled on it for a bandname. A pair of brothers from Sheffield, Eoin and Rory Loveless form the 'Japandroids' drummer/guitarist constellation and greet me with a badass concoction of riff-based grungepunk'n'roll. Singer/guitarist Eoin reminds me of White Lies singer Harry McVeigh with a dark British croon, which he occasionally slides up into attempts at Kurt Cobain-ish screaming. Still, with only vocals and two instruments, it goes without saying that some wizardry is needed to keep things interesting.

It's amazing then, just how good it sounds when Eoin plants well-timed stomps on his effect pedal and make his instrument roar from a subdued rumble to an unhinged roar that - aided by a consistently terrific mix at Pavilion - sounds exactly like a noisy punk-rock guitar should. Add then that for the handful of songs I watch, one asskicking riff and chord-progression after another comes churning through the speakers, while Eoin and Rory both beat the shit out of their instruments, contorting their bodies on stage. Overall, they make me very sad that I can't stay and watch the whole thing. [8] TL

What makes leaving Drenge even more sad, is that the next item on my agenda is The Lumineers, and when I close in on their show at Odeon, it is clear that there's no way I'm getting even near the tent. This happens every year on at least a few occasions at Odeon, and I've learnt to give up when I see it, because there's no way I will get to enjoy the show or get any good impressions for a review. And every year it makes you wonder if somebody shouldn't have thought of switching some bands around, especially considering what's going to happen at the Iceage show described further down.

Savages @ 20:00 on Pavilion

Ah well, skipping Lumineers means I have good time to beat the crowd to the show with Savages, whom I understand are getting quite trendy these days. I'm hoping for an eye-opener then, but when the all female cast arrives on stage dressed and groomed to appropriately invoke their image as post-punk revivalists, I quickly have to question what all the fuzz is about. To begin with, the band arrives without Ayse Hassan, and the others initially look puzzled as to where the bassist is. She comes on though, after which the band jumps loosely into a song which casts their music as amplified and distorted to the point where all signs of melody, groove or understandable lyrics are lost in a blinding, deafening noise.

Fair enough, I guess the genre is supposed to be like this in a way, so I stick it out for a few songs. More annoyingly however, the band seems completely unprepared for the opportunity. Breaks between songs take 1-1½ minutes where frontwoman Jehnny Beth does little to flash any sort of personality, and after only two or three songs, one break is followed by the singer flat out forgetting the vocals, prompting another lengthy break. Despite this, the crowd is growing suffocatingly thick with people supposedly also drawn here by the hype, which only makes my temper flare faster, to the point where I soon decide to just leave. There's good attitude and movement during the band's songs, but still post-punk or no post-punk, at least be prepared to play your set, otherwise what is this? Amateur-hour? [4] TL

.. Okay, so it's a bit weird reviewing a rapper for Rockfreaks.net, but since there weren't that many good rock bands this year, why not check out Kendrick Lamar at Arena. I'll keep it short. A ridiculous amount of people are waving their hands up-and-down in a show that would've been better suited on Orange Stage this year based on the size of the crowd stretching far outside the Arena limits, while Kendrick sings a lot of songs you've heard while clubbing anywhere in the world in the last year or two. Interesting beats, but not at all my cup of tea. PP

.. Finding myself with time to spare again, I let myself be convinced to check out Chinese Man, marking my first ever visit (amazingly, through nine years) at the Cosmopol stage. This place is pretty huge, and the band's DJs that line-up the stage are laying down some pretty sweet beats, getting a massive party rocking as they bring on a rapper and a trombonist during my stay to pep up the live-show, while nightmare-inducing animations adorn a huge screen behind them. We don't stay for long though, so it would be unfair to base a review on such limited observations, but if I didn't have to be elsewhere, this seemed like an early evening blast.

.. Sadly (again) the reason I leave Chinese Man is to go see Jake Bugg, but when I get there, the 'Lumineers scenario (also known as the "Death Cab For Cutie"-problem or the "Florence And The Machine"-conondrum) is laid out in front of me once again. People are watching this from the treeline and bars surrounding the stage, standing like fish in a barrell, and no matter how interested I am to check out new artists, shows like this suck, so once again, I throw in the towel and head to see about the room in the pits for: TL

Slipknot @ 22:00 on Orange

Say what you want about Slipknot's music on record, but live, they are a spectacle that must be seen whenever it's nearby. Immediately upon start Orange Stage explodes in huge fireworks. Lead by Corey Taylor kneeling down screaming in front of the hooligan crew, the band puts on the kind of metal show that shakes the living foundations of the most famous stage in Denmark, with headbanging observed throughout the crowd all the way down to the back where I was standing. The pyrotechnics continue throughout the set in almost every song, with "Before I Forget" experiencing a huge sing along synchronized with the explosions of fire and incredible stage show taking place right in front of us. The side barrel-drums elevate high, they are torn apart and thrown around the stage violently. Fake snow/confetti is blasted across the stage. More pyrotechnics. Sing alongs to "Psychosocial" and "The Heretic Anthem". "Duality" is dedicated to their late bassist Paul Gray with everyone in the crowd screaming the chorus "I Push My Fingers Into My Eyes". "I wanna hear every...voice...out there", Corey shouts before "Dead Memories", and people comply.

When we get to "Spit It Out", he's got so much control of the crowd that when he says "you guys all know what's up... you know what's up!", and before he even continues, 70% of the stage has sat down in preparation to what happens at every single Slipknot show. Moments later, literally everyone at Orange Stage is sitting down, only to erupt into an enormous mosh pit featuring everyone on the entire field. It's absolutely insane at this point, and I haven't even mentioned that one of the band member simply took out a security guard who was pulling him back from crowd surfing - I guess it's not very normal for anyone to come down from the heights of Orange to do just that. The intensity in the crowd is at one of the highest levels I've seen it on this stage - that is, since 2009 when Slipknot last dominated this stage. So when "People = Shit" results in yet another massive shout along, enormous pyrotechnics, and real fireworks shooting in all directions at the end of it, I have to, once again, admit that even though I don't like Slipknot on record particularly, God damn they put on an amazing show every single time, and arguably one of the very best at this year's festival. Bookers: this is how an epic Orange stage show looks like. [9] PP

Friday

Synd Og Skam @ 12:00 on Pavilion

After having capitulated early in the face of Slipknot's in my opinion completely musically irrelevant circus act last night, I've slept an unrageous amount of hours and am hence fresh to check out Synd Og Skam (which translates directly to "Sin And Shame", but really means something more like "What a pity"). The band has been recommended to me at the festival as another post-punk band, just with Danish lyrics, yet in honest, that description could not in any way prepare me for the madness I am about to see: Five lads whose looks can best be described as "weirdos" come on and man two drum kits, two guitars, a bass and a trombone, and the set starts with one singer/guitarist yelling out a monologue of cryptic Danish poetry reminiscent of 60's troubadour Poul Dissing. At his first pause all hell breaks loose, with all instruments being hammered in abrasive, chaotic math-core fashion, and four of the band members screaming off-key and in canon. Virtually the entire audience has "WHAT THE FUCK!?" painted across the face in this blatant display of borderline "non-music".

Over the course of the show, people leave in reaction to these eruptions, but the more I watch, the more i notice that this chaos seems carefully arranged, and that Synd Og Skam aren't so much trying to burn the song writing manual as they're trying to ignore it in favour of writing their own rules entirely. Moreover, while the chaotic explosions give insight into minds that are confused and frustrated with their roles in society, tranquil, melodic interludes of something that sounds almost like midwest emo/postrock - especially courtesy of the horn and noodling guitar - conjure up intoxicating little pauses from life, when happiness is found in moments of loving recognition or sexual fascination with another person.

Like some french art-house movie, Synd Og Skam clearly aren't for everybody, and admittedly, what they do don't work all of the time (there are stretches of the show when I'm more occupied admiring a pretty girl in front of me who has Waldo tattooed behind her right ear) and things get really weird when a sixth bandmember comes on, kicks his shoes into the audience and acts so randomly it makes everyone else in the band look conventional. I'm not sure I liked his contributions very much, visually or vocally, and overall I understand if some of you left this show. But something about the remaining band's passion and experimentation brings me to think elated thoughts not just about what it means to write music, but to also wonder about what it means to be alive. Not a 10 show maybe, but an experience I'm glad I didn't miss nonetheless. [7½] TL

Henry Rollins @ 13:00 on Odeon

Considering the man's history, I think Henry Rollins must be considered a guy to be seen at one point or other, so while he's scheduled to talk on four days in a row here, I jump at the opportunity early, catching the last half of his slot at Odeon after a stop to pick up some early drinks. And it doesn't take long to understand while his appearances are popular. The man understands how to tell a story and how to make his point in entertaining and disarming ways. The shots at Presiden Bush and jokes about America being more dangerous than other countries due to the amount of guns are predictable, but still command laughs even from the skeptics. Similarly the calls for tolerance and open-mindedness are a bit preachy, but still, hard to argue with. Where Rollins really shine though, is in the more immediate stories he tells about travelling the world and talking to strangers, in which his ideals are often shown so clearly that he doesn't need to explain them. The man is charismatic, funny and encouraging, so while I don't feel like he unveils some new secrets of the universe to me, I still find myself considering seeing him again on both of the two following days. [7½] TL

Dead Can Dance @ 15:30 on Arena

On a Friday that really doesn't cater to me at all, I continue my voyage of discovery by looking up Dead Can Dance at Arena, after hearing a few friends mentioning them in various connections. Not knowing what to expect, I observe the band start a show in which the main members, Lisa Gerrard and Brian Perry, play the primary elements of the music on a variety of medieval instruments whose names I have to look up on wikipedia (A yangqin? A dulcimer? A bouzouki? No?). They conjure up a many-facetted, seemingly archaic soundscape - at least to begin with - characterised by elegantly layered backing instrumentation from their band and delicate vocal performances from both members, each sounding like they're calling to prayer from some strange ancient towers. As a performance of music, the precision is extragavant, but as a show, I must admit that this is completely over my humble head. It sounds more like soundtrack music than anything directly engaging, and while I can see some taking it in with closed eyes and a smile, others are confused as to how to react. Meanwhile, the main duo looks disconnected on stage, with Gerrard sporting a colourful robe and Perry looking rather real world in his suit. I'm clearly on deep water here, but the supposed immersiveness of this stuff eludes me, and I'm not sure I could even deduce my way to the point of moving this sort of music from record and out into the live setting. [5] TL

Turbonegro @ 17:00 on Orange

The tones of Turbonegro and their crude and politically incorrect humurous rock and roll would awake the masses from the hibernation. The opening track ”All My Friends Are Dead” revealed the famous Norwegians, with lead singer Tony Sylvester sporting a sailor costume, drag-queen make up and a painted eye patch. These guys thrive on vulgar humour, but luckily their music isn't half bad. ”Fuck The World” is a fine example of how Turbonegro take the dark tones of heavyweights like Black Sabbath and combine it with their own theatrics, the marching drums finally wake the entire audience up. The final number ”I Got Erection” is a classic Turbonegro track that demands a sing-a-long of the title, an amusing moment when watching an entire audience talking about phalluses. I finally realized why there were so many Norwegians amidst us, Turbonegro are their heroes. [7] MN

Metz @ 18:00 on Pavilion

After watching the Turbonegro show I decided to give the progressive post punk band Metz a chance knowing that I would only catch a few songs. But “Boy” I was glad that I did. Metz performs really energetically which the rather small crowd responds happily to by rocking along and cheering. The young lads on the stage throws their guitars furiously around while dancing crooked and screaming their lungs out as if this was their last gig. Pavilion has not been impressive this year when it comes to the sound mix, however, in this situation I can not complain because everything sounds pretty good, from the guitars to the vocals, and it was among the loudest performances on this year’s Roskilde Festival. [8] SC

Of Monsters And Men @ 18:30 on Arena

Icelandic folk ensemble Of Monsters And Men are radio-trendy these days, and that coupled with the fact that they're comparable to Mumford And Sons in sound should apparently make them horrifically uncool - But they sound good and friendly and write good songs, so I'm of the "don't over think it" disposition, heading to their show in time to take the whole thing in from the right pit. From the looks of it, lots of people are in agreement, helping me fill up Arena and greeting the band with friendly applauses. As well as I know the band however, and as much as I like their songs, I can't help but to notice that things only really heat up when they play a hit like "Little Talks". I wonder what it would take to make their considerable fanbase take interest in the rest of their solid catalogue, so we can have more of a party going. At this show in particular, maybe a little more charm between songs, maybe a bit more of the warmth the bass lends their soundscape on album and maybe a slightly clearer position for the male/female vocal exchanges that compliments each other so well. Still, much like when I saw these guys in Store Vega, there's something missing before they realise their full potential. [7½] TL

Devin Townsend Project @ 21:00 on Odeon

I was initially skeptical about Devin Townsend replacing the insanity of The Dillinger Escape Plan at this year's festival. It turns out we were in for different type of insanity what can best be described as the metal version of NOFX. Devin starts the show with funny banter instead of a song, proclaiming that their guitarist is feeling ill and he is here in spirit, pointing at an inflatable pig head that apparently serves as his replacement. "You guys at the back, eat a dick", he says. Apparently, they are incredibly awkward socially, and this is his forum to let that side out to thousands of people. I would probably instead call him insane, considering behind him there's a crazy animated muppet having spasms to the tunes on the video screen. "Hey, let's see how gay you guys are tonight", he proclaims, waving his hands left to the right like at a pop rock show. "COME ON YOU METAL POSEURS", and at this point I am cracking up like there's no tomorrow. Like Devin later admits, they are metal jokers that play corny pop songs dressed in progressive melodies, which in themselves are very cool and, in an unusual trait to the genre, not drawn out and requiring a nuclear physics PhD to understand. It's a refreshing change to hear a metal band that doesn't take themselves so fucking seriously, and combined with great songs, I leave their show incredibly impressed. [8½] PP

.. There's nothing else relevant on at the same time, so why not check out Rihanna despite my prejudices of her music being inconsequential pop music lacking of integrity and character beforehand. Apparently, my prejudices are spot on, because not only is the show plagued with playback sections where you can hear Rihanna singing but not see her anywhere near the microphone, but also that her songs are pretty terrible until the few hits at the very end that save the show from absolute disaster. Still, she's dressed in a weird white, almost arabic outfit which, to her credit, she never threw away to show as much skin as possible contrary to my expectations, and she's shaking her booty to every nearest camera as a fellow Danish reviewer mentioned a couple of days ago. How anyone can think this is interesting compared to, say, the Metallica or the Slipknot shows this year, baffles my mind, and I hope Roskilde Festival learned a lesson here: it's okay to book pop (think Robbie Williams back in the day), but don't book this commercial bullshit that reeks fake from a mile away. PP

Kreator @ 23:00 on Arena

After a couple of semi-playback songs in the company of Rihanna I decided that Kreator might be a more humanistic experience than the one I had just left. This turned out to be partly correct as the thrash veterans enter the Arena stage, which surprisingly is almost crowded. Kreator puts on a good afford with Mike Petrozza in front on lead vocals and guitar. His voice goes clean through the speakers, as the band plays really loud and rather enthusiastically. However, as the show progresses the band members’ locations on stage start to seem either rehearsed or just standardized which in my perspective affects the performance in a negative manor. When this is said Kreator plays really tight and clear and seem like they enjoy playing and are grateful for the support. [7] SC

Volbeat @ 01:00 on Orange

Volbeat has become an acrimonious subject in the danish metal scene, despite being the biggest music export since Aqua, Danes maintain a love/hate relationship for the metal band that are known for their trademark sound of combining groove metal, rock'n'roll and rockabilly. Billed as a headliner this year on Orange and set to play the last show on Friday night, Volbeat had finally arisen to the throne of metal in Denmark, that is if you base it on sales count and popularity. Opening with ”Hallelujah Goat” the massive sound of Volbeat was thrown upon the audience accompanied by a black/white themed light show that complimented the music very well. A humourous introduction was also in order, where singer Michael Poulsen excused their tardiness on the basis of an earlier performer having trouble setting up their backtrack (Rihanna). By the third song ”Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood” I was not sceptical at all of Volbeats popularity. Michael Poulsen has an immense vocal and their professionalism is very apparent. The sound was technically perfect and I could not sense a misstep in their execution. Songs like ”The Gardens Tale” and ”Sad Man's Tongue” also provided moments of nostalgic sing-a-longs. A very good show from the seasoned-rockers. [8] MN

Crystal Castles @ 01:30 on Arena

Having heard Crystal Castles praised from many sources for a number of years, and having skipped Rihanna in response to her lack of punctuality, I have built a solid buzz and arrive once again in the pit, ready to party. The same goes for a solid portion of my fellow festival-goers it seems, because a packed Arena is off its feet from the instance the Canadian electronica duo airs its first note. All is well then you'd think, as Alice Glass steps up to the front of the stage and screeches out her heavily distorted vocals with a strong presence. It soon becomes apparent however, that what's keeping the party going is more of a combination of loudness and the crowd's own anticipation, than any connection being made between them and the band. Glass's vocals are piercing, yet completely unintelligible, and after having checked out a few of the more modern electronic bands at the festivals, dare I say that Crystal Castles melodies and rhythms seem a bit simple and dated in comparison? Or is there something in the mix preventing me from hearing their nuances? It's clearly not a disaster, because there's a massive tent full of people jumping up and down all around me, having a solid party here, but for me, the truly immersive rave stays absent, and I leave slightly disappointed after a half-hour, thinking that maybe I should rather have stayed to review during quick visits in the dancing crowds of earlier acts like Nonsens, Carly or even Chinese Man. [6½] TL

Saturday

Hatebreed @ 14:00 on Arena

Heavy music in general isn't suitable for an early afternoon slot; hardcore even less so. Hatebreed are notorious for their intense live shows, though, so if anyone is going to pull it off it was going to be them. It starts pretty good with echoing shouts "BORN TO BLEED, FIGHTING TO SUCCEED" of "In The Ashes They Shall Reap" coming on early to wake up the crowd, and Jamey Jasta being in a talkative mood, appearing genuinely thankful to be playing here. The crowd isn't nearly as enthusiastic though aside for the front pits of course, and quickly the band's muscular and testosterone driven form of hardcore grows kind of old. There's a few big circle pits - especially to closing song "Destroy Everything", but overall the show feels a little bit monotonous today because of it's early timing, where people aren't pumped enough yet to, as the band says, destroy everything. [6½] PP

Efterklang @ 16:00 on Arena

Back when I started getting into music some ten years ago, I remember reading a good review of Efterklang in what I then thought was a respectable publication, yet for some reason - despite thinking about it numerous times - I never checked them out. Their name has stuck with me though, so I venture to Arena once again to make Saturday the day I find out what this talk of them as one of Denmark's finest bands is about. Their carefully composed progressions soon give me the impression that what's up is something similar to what's up with the likes of Mew or Elbow, namely some really elegant and unusual songwriting, being delivered by some sharply dressed gentlemen on stage. Unfortunately, while I can appreciate the delicateness of it all, Efterklang strikes me as short on two things that my references have. Firstly, singer Casper Clausen, while certainly tuneful, does not have as great melodies, nor as charismatic a voice as either Elbow's Guy Garvey or Mew's Jonas Bjerre. Secondly, Efterklang are restrained in their compositions, often breaking off after having successfully built a good run-up where you'd expect a climax or a deliverance of sort. Could be it's me being stuck in my taste for explosive rock and that this is just a bit too refined for me, but looking around me, the immersive experience isn't found here, so halfway into the set, I decide to be on my way towards my next destination. [6] TL

Goatwhore @ 17:00 on Odeon

Due to my incredibly late arrival at the Odeon stage I regrettably only manage to see the last three songs of the Goatwhore set. As I enter the moderately full tent I discover that the crowd is not pleased, as it acts as if it’s waiting for something and the mosh pit consists of approximately four people. Despite that, the band seems to be putting a lot of effort into playing their blackened death metal. The front man acts friendly and smiling while the rest of the band seems more aggressive and uncomfortable, yet struggling while being on stage. This mixed presence affects the audience as well as me leaving us with an empty feeling. [4½] SC

Kris Kristofferson @ 17:00 on Orange

I'm sure most of the Roskilde audience knows Kris Kristofferson mostly from his role in the movie "Blade", nevermind the fact that he's a legendary country musician. Booking him for a slot on Orange should give them a clue however, and I join them because hell, it's Kris Kristofferson and I'll be damned if I don't want to mark him off on my mental list of artists seen. A bold booking quickly becomes comical however, as Kristofferson steps on stage all by himself, with just his acoustic guitar and his harmonica for company. No bandmembers, no props, no lights, no nothing - just a man, his guitar, an orange tent and a field that suits 70.000 people when it's full... And the sound of Goatwhore's black metal roaring over from the Odeon stage to overlap the country tunes awkwardly.

Now if Kristofferson was a man of great energy and intense charisma, this could have been the beginning of a legendary performance, but from where I'm sitting - admittedly very far back - he just strikes me as a strong, yet old dude, who stubbornly performs the country-music of a century ago on a stage that is several hundred times too large for it. I'm sure there are people up front who are orgasmic just getting to see him sing these songs on Orange, but for anybody else, this is just a little awkward. The best you can say about the set is that it's probably cosy background music if you're just sitting in front of Orange enjoying the sun and some drinks with your mates, but engaging in any way? I just don't see that it could be, so after the first handful of tunes, I take my sunburnt and weary festival-body off in search of some shade. [4] TL

Iceage @ 18:00 on Arena

I'll be honest: If there's one thing I love, it's getting the hype around a band that everybody else is failing to get into - Which is why I am ignoring the warnings from several friends and making my way to Iceage in good time to hit the right pit and get a good vantage point. Turns out I needn't have bothered, because despite the band being mentioned everywhere, the tent is empty to the point of near-embarrasment (anybody remember the Enter Shikari show in 2007?). Ah well, maybe the lads truly are awesomely misunderstood. It would make sense, considering the challenging antipathy they show their audience, coming onto a stage that has been adorned with loads of white lilys, and starting the show with roughly eight minutes of white noise delivered from nothing but one finger holding down one key on a keyboard. Clearly, no fucks are given, which only fits with the band's image, and which would be perfectly alright should we be in for a following cathartic experience of sort.

But we aren't.

When the show eventually starts for real, what we are treated to is not noisy melodies or grooves or explosions. Rather it's just noise. Dead, crashing noise with only few changes, forming the backdrop for frontman Elias Rønnenfelt pacing the stage, acting like he's fronting some legend in the making and yelling hysterically and, surprise surprise, indecipherably. I'm disappointed, because I remember checking out a song from the band's recent album and thinking that they weren't as bad as I'd heard, but despite stubbornly probing the soundscape from every direction, my hearing cannot possibly penetrate it to a point where I pick up anything of even remote musical merit. So as the show moves on and Rønnenfelt keeps wailing like a child while his bandmates do their best statue impressions, I get the increasing feeling that I'm being hoaxed - Like these guys have rich parents that have somehow paid for enough hype for their talentless kids to get to feel like succesful artists. After the show, another reviewer is going to reference "The Emperor's New Clothes" when addressing the people who argue that Iceage have a must-see live show, and there's nothing I can say that's more accurate than that. So here's one point for the poses and one for drawing so few people that I can take a straight line out of here. [2] TL

Anaal Nathrakh @ 19:00 on Pavilion

British extreme metal band Anaal Nathrakh is set to play the small and dark Pavilion stage, which is probably a good decision due to the two-thirds filled tent. But those who did not turn up to support the band missed a great performance. Lead singer Dave Hunt starts the show in the audience and his clean vocals, growls and screams are clear and he, just like the rest of the band, really seems to enjoy being here. The crowd returns the energy allowing the brutal assault to expand and it makes the concert a really exciting experience. Unfortunately, a stressful festival schedule forces me to leave after a good handful of songs, but nevertheless, this was one of the few concerts that made me think “Wow! I have to discover more of this when I come home”. [8] SC

The National @ 19:30 on Orange

It is not without concern that I venture towards The National's show at Orange Stage, heading for the pit accompanied only by a box of white wine. After all, as much as I have come to love The National, I doubt their music will ever be the stuff to fully envelop the vast plain before Orange and I've previously seen the heroes of mine in Jimmy Eat World become disenchanted on this very stage. As the sun starts to set behind the canopy however, and the big screen at the back of the stage follows the band's trip from the backstage area, the excitement you can see in their faces and movements as they go on quickly spreads in the pits at least. And from here, The National show progresses exactly as I've come to expect. Matt Berninger and friends launch into their songs in business-like manner, yet soon show cracks of emotion, with Berninger pacing the width of the stage, beating his chest at the audience while Aaron and Bryce Dessner raise their guitars high to salute the large crowd.

It's hard to review an Orange show accurately from the pit, but PP informs me that before he leaves for Kvelertak, The National's songs are reaching him in convincing fashion further back, despite his near-total unfamiliarity with the band. Meanwhile Berninger continues to give more and more of himself to ensure that at least the people in the pits are feeling like he's there to have a show with them, waving his arms to intensify the singalongs to some of the band's many powerful refrains. We get a good hour and a half worth of the band's stellar material, before things climax with Berninger taking the microphone down the length of the walkway between the left and right pits, and all the way to the end of the right arm between the front and back pits. His microphone cord is hence extended over our heads in the front right, as he steps all the way up on the fence and - steadied by security members - leans out over us at various places, clearly doing the most one man can possibly do to bridge the gap between band and audience. The spectacle commands high pitched response and dropped jaws and provides a heart-warming ending to an unusually gimmick-free show on Orange stage. [8] TL

Kvelertak @ 20:30 on Arena,

Norwegian black'n'roll sensation Kvelertak is one band Roskilde pegged right for a breakthrough before they had even released their debut EP, because here they are a few years later, playing at the second biggest stage of the festival. Much like their music, their performance also contains a little bit of humour with their vocalist Erlend Hjelvik coming on stage wearing an owl head or something, which he ditches after the first song. Of course, he is wearing no shirt in the best Miguel fashion, and displays some of his legendary charisma by essentially hitting the front of the stage like a wave back and forth. The rest of the band are incredibly groovy and melodic for what is essentially a black metal band at heart, but with an infamous love affair with rock'n'roll. So it comes as no surprise to see Erlend crowd surfing during many an occasion, as the band alternate between epic beautiful sections and more direct, rock'n'roll grooves. The whole set feels like it is one of the tightest all festival with an epic finish that has the whole band crowd surfing at the end. [8] PP

Metallica @ 22:30 on Orange

I was lucky to bear witness to Metallica 10 years ago at the Roskilde Festival 2003, where they performed an astounding 2 and a half hour show with flare. As I stood awaiting the very anticpated return of the kings of metal, I was feeling a surge of adrenaline as the introduction to the western flick ”The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” embraces the entire audience of Orange Stage. The opening riffs of ”Blackened eventually cue Metallicas entrance, followed by crowd pleaser ”For Whom The Bell Tolls”. As the concert commences I am pleased to see that Metallica are not just throwing the ”hits” out there, they are waiting until the 8th track to drop the bombastic ”Sad But True”, the anticipation rises, and climaxing at ”One” with a well-constructed fireworks show. Stage visuals are also impressive under ”Battery” which give Rammstein a run for their money.

To finish off the initial set, I was not suprised to hear ”Nothing Else Matters”, to which the curious onlookers surrounding me awoke from their slumber and sang along. This was followed by ”Enter Sandman” which probably is one of the most recognizable riffs in history and had the entire field before orange rumbling like a tectonic plate. The encore was a triplet of fast paced Metallica classics ”Fuel”, ”Creeping Death” and the final number ”Seek and Destroy”. Metallica never dissapoints, despite their growing age, they still play with a precision and punch that even some of the younger promising bands can't hit. James Hetfield still sounds as raucous and empowering as ever. Lars Ulrich was on homegrounds so his enthusiasm was as fantastic as his curious hairstyle. Trujillo supplied the thunderous bass, and Kirk Hammet played his seamless squealing solos. This was in my opinion the best larger show of the year. Metallica, I bid you, don't wait 10 years to return to the Orange Stage again. [9½] MN

Sunday

Ensiferum @ 12:30 on Odeon

First show on Sunday morning is always a tough one for any band to play. The crowd is usually very hungover and sleep-deprived from the unbearable heat in the sauna-like tents of the early morning. As the crowd slowly crawled towards the Odeon stage, the finnish folk metallers Ensiferum (Latin for sword-bearer) approach the audience with insistency to play their signature ”battle metal” with double-pedals a plenty and melodious tones supplied by both guitar and synthesizers. The opening track ”In My Sword I Trust” displays elements of fellow-finns Children of Bodom and Finntroll in a heartwarming combination that brings your heart straight into fantasy. ”Stone Cold Metal” finally gets the crowd moving in unison and ”Lai Lai Hei” has the crowd doing some strange version of the river dance. Both bassist Sami Hinkka and vocalist Petri Lindroos tried with all their might to stir up a significant moshpit but to no avail, it simply was too early in the morning for that. I enjoyed Ensiferum and I would like to see them again, but perhaps this time in more darkness than light. [7½] MN

The Sword @ 14:30 on Odeon

PP and I were actually planning to check out the Ensiferum show to start Sunday, but by now our weariness demanded that we had a few drinks just to conjure up the strength to leave camp. So instead it's The Sword's show at Odeon that's well underway as we make it to the main festival area. A healthy crowd of rockers and metallers have gathered and are headbanging appreciatively to the excellent guitar licks the band is sending through the speakers, and there is indeed a plastic sword being waved back and forth near the barrier. On stage the four band members stand and deliver, with bassist Bryan Richie doing his best to show us a badass facial expression while guitarist Kyle Shutt grimaces like a kid who's excitedly playing his air guitar in his bedroom. They look excited to be here, but apart from that impression, there's not too much movement or interaction between songs, just the tight and simple execution of the band's songs. It makes for the sort of solid show that should please any previous fan of the band's music, but also one that it soon feels safe to leave for a reviewer with a busy schedule. [7] TL

James Blake @ 14:30 on Orange

Fragile youngster James Blake is my first act on this the last day of Roskilde 2013. The sun is at its highest as he tenderly sings to his electronica-pop in front of the drowsy audience who let him take care what almost all of us has in common: the hangover. However, the electronic bass sound on his post-dubstep serenades is so loud that we are shaking involuntarily, almost deteriorating the condition. But at then at the same time it woke everybody up. Blake constantly complains about the fantastic weather and asks the audience to imagine nighttime because his musical melancholic universe, rightly, fits a dark enclosed room. Blake’s voice is so tender that it sucks you in into his world and despite his complaining he really seems grateful forthe rather large audience and the opportunity. [7½] SC

FIDLAR @ 15:30 on Pavilion

Leaving The Sword, the next rock stop on my schedule is FIDLAR's show on Pavilion, though all I really know about them is that their name is an acronym for "Fuck It Dog, Life's A Risk" and that our photographer Peter looked at me with a mix of surprise and disappointment when I told him earlier that I didn't initially have plans to see them. Arriving at Pavilion I quickly decide that I'm glad I came anyway, because the band is already in the midst of an energetic show, hammering out frenzied chords and riffs while a good group of people are dancing, pushing and shoving up front. There's good dynamics in the music, making you feel like moving straight away, and FIDLAR deliver idiot yet contagious humor between songs, saying "thank you" in Mickey Mouse voice after each song, prefacing most songs with a brief explanation that tends to lead to the revelation that a song is either about skating, surfing, drinking, taking drugs or some combination of these. It's a fun show with plenty of fuzzy riffage to lend the whole thing a weight that makes you want to throw your weary body around, marking yet another positive surprise coming from Pavilion's mostly underground schedule. [7½] TL

Airbourne @ 16:00 on Arena

From what I could hear from Airbourne is that they strive to be as ”rock and roll” as possible in their execution and look. The stage production hints at the same as a solid 12 large marshall speakers stand on the stage with a massive banner of ”Airbourne” above. Sing-a-long ”Whoas” bring the Melbourne-based Australians on stage with the party anthem ”Ready to Rock”, this followed by ”Chewin' the Fat” which is so AC/DC-esque that I start to raise my eyebrows. It's tough to conclude what it is Airbourne are trying to do, they sound insanely like AC/DC, but I must admit they do it brilliantly. Joel O'Keeffe has a fantastic vocal with both deeps and falset howls, and his showmanship is one of the best I've seen in a long time. One of his prime entertainment acts is smashing a beer can on his head along to the music, incredibly stupid but very amusing. Their finishing song ”Runnin' Wild” rung in my ears for long after the show, a catchy song echoing both their Australian inspiration and The Darkness. This was a solid rock show with the all the shenanigans that it entails. When AC/DC retire, we will always have Airbourne that will bear the rock'n'roll torch onward with a solid grip. [8] MN

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ 16:45 on Orange

The second band on the Orange stage today is American trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club who come on stage to a rather big round of applause. For a start the band wakes up the field as they start to play their bluesy and noisy garage rock while dressed in true rock n’ roll black and leather. Those in the pit area seem to have a ball, but as the concert moves on the audience outside becomes settle down, which affects the bands attitude to be a bit more posh and tight-lipped. They play really tight all the way through the concert and as they delivers various hits along the way the crowd slowly starts to wake up again and rocks along. The band therefore plays more eagerly and regains some energy which lacked somewhat in the middle of the concert. [7] SC

Blood Command @ 18:30 on Odeon

By six o'clock, the early buzz PP and I worked up early in the day is dying out, and I am struggling just to stay on my feet for Queens Of The Stone Age as fatigue and "last day of Roskilde" sadness is setting in (a mission I will fail at imminently). So while I've had my reservations about previous Blood Command shows, I head over to Odeon to see if they can't at least electrify me with a bit of energy. To begin with though, things look dim, because there aren't a lot of people left here at this point. Still, when Blood Command come on and kick into their ambitiously melodic, Scandinavian hardcore punk, you get the feeling from frontwoman Silje Tombre's angry gestures that she's considerably more on fire today than at prior shows I've seen. And with her mates rocking out as enthusiastically as I've become accustomed to, things actually look better than ever for Blood Command.

But then they get to one of Tombre's clean passages, and disappointingly, the band still hasn't figured out what to do here, because the mic volume clearly isn't adjusted to properly account for the drop in power from the woman's piercing screams, and more importantly, Tombre doesn't seem like she knows what to do with herself while singing cleanly. When screaming she has all the gestures and postures of the furious hardcore frontman, but when singing she just stands back and looks a little awkward, and in my opinion, this is still the one handicap for the passages of Blood Command's music that should be their catchiest. Otherwise though, I leave slightly more encouraged about the band than I have been for some time. [7] TL

Queens Of The Stone Age @ 19:00 on Orange

Last time Queens Of The Stone Age visited the Roskilde Festival was back in 2007 when they delivered a semi-acceptable gig in pouring rain. This time however the scene is completely the opposite, lit up by bright sunshine. Lead singer Josh Homme & co. walk on stage and play with great enthusiasm while the frontman himself does his characteristic hips-dance like Elvis Presley would have done. A few times there seems to be severe technical problems as some of the mainstream hits are almost unrecognizable and Homme is not pleased. However, the problems are quickly fixed and the band delivers the goods. Overall the vibe around the concert is rocking and in the front pit area people seem to have the time of their lives. In the last breakdown in “Songs For The Deaf” Mr. Homme puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs to get a final reaction from the crowd before he band plays the final part of the song and then leaves the stage after bidding us goodbye, which leaves us with a rather mixed feelings. [7] SC

Kraftwerk @ 22:00 on Orange

The closing act of Roskilde 2013 on the Orange stage is the German electronica grandfathers Kraftwerk who have brought and handed out approximately 60.000 pairs of 3D-glasses to their show and about just as many have decided to turn up. The four old men stand so still behind their illuminated keyboards that one could suspect them of being asleep but I choose to think that it is just a part of the act which lets the pictorial and partly 3D-show be in focus. Their heavy and crooked electronica plays more crisp and clear than anything else I have experienced this year and even though everybody here looks like completely fools with the glasses on, the mystical and artistic expression ensures that the show never gets boring or ridiculous, even though at least some interaction and emotion from the band could still have made this an even more fantastic show. [8½] SC

Dubioza Kolektiv @ 00:00 on Arena

Personally, this was one of the shows I had looked forward to the most. Being a big fan of reggae and ska music, along with the more chaotic sounds of the Balkan Peninsula, Dubioza Kolektiv is just my cup of tea. The 7-piece Bosnian outfit plays an amalgamation of the aforementioned genres with a socio-critical motive, executed in a humorous and hedonistic manner. Dubioza were billed, along with Voodoo Glow Skulls, to perform the final party at the massive Arena stage. As expected the crowd was tiny a mere 15 minutes before their slotted time. I nervously moved up to the front fence, hoping for the crowd to eventually increase in size. As the headlights were shut, a robot announcement introduced Dubioza Kolektiv in one of the most original ways, with a clinical and futuristic approach, the crowd was encouraged to party it up, and weed smoking was recommended. The sparse crowd roared with enthusiasm as the septet entered the stage sporting yellow/black football shirts. Dubioza Kolektiv played a solid hour of Balkan tunes meticulously combined with reggae/dub jammers, highlighted by the political ”USA” and ”Kokuz” which had the crowd collectively dancing around the massive confines of Arena. [8] MN

Voodoo Glow Skulls @ 01:30 on Arena

Following a set by DJ Fuks De Lux, Californian Voodoo Glow Skulls are to take the stage of a now more filled Arena Stage, the clock is reaching 1:30 AM Sunday night, and only the hardcore Roskilde crowd remains to give the party one last shot before returning to the lukewarm progressions of everyday life. As the American ska champs entered the stage, the crowd roared despite the coarse voices accumulated during the week. Voodoo Glow Skulls could not have been better booked, the seasoned ska-punkers supplied a sumptuous dosage of energetic music that had the audience commence in one last hurrah, especially during ”El Coo Cooi” where everyone was skanking in trance. The words ”Thank You Roskilde Festival” seal an awesome Ska-punk show and a phenomenal festival. [8] MN

That's it for this time! See you all at Roskilde 2014!

Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.