A few last rays of late summer sunshine are reminding Copenhagen these days of what a long, pleasant season the whole Danish country had been spoiled with during the passing months. Some first hints of the upcoming autumn weather already showed that the cozy indoor seasons are just around the corner. Reason enough to take a short look back on the slowly ending time of the year mostly spent out of doors – meaning for most music lovers like us, on open-air concerts and festivals!
Little did we know about what a (Good because) Danish music summer 2014 would bring us, when we set up our small guide about Danish Spring and Summer events you shouldn’t miss earlier this year.
While the visit to Aarhus during SPOT Festival 2014 was already of rather traditional character, our calendar got unexpectedly filled with more music-related dates, most of them turning out to be real gems – like the wonderful one-day festival PB43 præsenterer or Pumpehuset’s magical backyard concerts.
June started with a dance on Copenhagen’s streets as the annual DISTORTION turned the city upside down and the month ended in the middle of the fields at one of Good because Danish’s biggest dreams, finally coming true this year: ROSKILDE FESTIVAL cast a spell over us with its warm-up days, its music and its atmosphere.
After experiencing two different events, beautiful Trailerpark Festival and lovely New Note Festival – both unique in their very own ways, we eventually finished off this year’s musical summer season with UHØRT, an initiative dedicated to the newest, “uhørt” (=”unheard”) Danish music.
Extended to a two-day festival on 8. and 9. August, and true to its name, UHØRT 2014 served as great platform for upcoming bands worth discovering; to us personally, it more turned into an appropriate closure of the passing season, featuring a line-up with names that had already turned into some of Good because Danish’s young favourites such as The Great Dictators, Nelson Can, Get Your Gun, Heimatt, The Attic Sleepers or Quick Quick Obey.
While each of these bands poured their unique charm on the audience, it was especially the last-named four-piece, who provided us with our personal UHØRT-highlight when playing a divine final on Friday night. A concert, that reached its perfect peak by the time Quick Quick Obey’s obviously amazed singer Esben Halkier pointed to the full moon, that was shining like an epicly suiting visualisation of the band’s own lyrics (“All we know is today – we fly from the moon…” ) over the many, many heads who had stayed to witness their showcase.
Photos by Nick McKinlay