This year it was my pleasure to represent Good because Danish at Roskilde Festival 2018. As always it yields an ambitious line-up of a lot of good international and Danish artists. Unfortunately, I could only join from Wednesday as my other job got in the way.
Despite all the good Danish artists I was able to experience, I really missed a lot of performances and talks the first three days. Because of that, I have to admit with tears in my eyes that the list of “things I missed” is long. Most of the people and especially non-Danish attendees come Wednesday to see all the amazing international and well established Danish artists. But guys, you are really missing out on discovering your future Danish favourite band. Just to mention Luster, FOOL, and Iris Gold. I do not want to go into detail just read my two posts of this year’s recommendations. There is actually still a lot I have to tell you guys about! I scribbled a note to myself to remember experiencing the full festival next year no matter what.
THE ATMOSPHERE – THE ORANGE FEELING
For some Danes, it is a tradition to come here every year. For some, it has been the 15th time in a row. I have never experienced that at any other festival (especially in Germany, where I’m from). Roskilde Festival is a space where people are able to create their own orange experience. You can find families, colleagues, old school friends, a group of politicians, young grown-ups, not so grown-ups… creating a very inclusive atmosphere.
A special shout-out to all the fans that gush not only at their idols but the atmosphere around the concert is invigorating. My Danish isn’t that good and I do understand that it might be challenging to enjoy Danish music if you do not get a word. But you should go and check them out as I did with C.V. Jørgensen who had his 11th performance at Roskilde. What an atmosphere! It is great to see that artists are able to bring such a diverse crowd together. Arena, the second biggest stage was definitely too small.
At VETO‘s concert, I was lucky to find one of the best spots to see the concert. Not because I had the best view but because I was standing in between two fans who devoted themselves entirely to the music. They gave the concert a very special note!
THE MUSIC – MY TOP EXPERIENCES
Eminem (USA)… and my teenage dream came true. Expectations and euphoria were high, especially because he ruled the charts and my playlist in my teenage years. He is still an absolute rap legend, having still tremendous fun and energy on stage. Also, Sampha (UK) belongs to the artists, whose sovereign powerful and moving performance clearly turned his whole concert into an experience. Another amazing performace was certainly Gorillaz who had to stop abruptly while playing the last song as Dell, one of the band members, fell off the stage. No worries, he is feeling much better now!
When it comes down to having energy and fun on stage you should take the following Danish power band in mind: Nelson Can. In very simple terms: These three girls rock! Astonishing how they rip through their material.
Massive Attack (UK) left me with a somehow weird feeling. While easily swaying to their stunning electronic melodies and rolling and booming bus the political visuals, Facebook posts and affecting images in the background churned me up. A truly impressive show!
Another band that convinced me is Maribou State (UK) with their electronic beats. Especially when Holly Walker steps on stage supporting the duo with her powerful vocals and intense stage presence. By coincident I discovered another female artist, Kelly Lee Owens (UK), an impressive and surprising electronic female power tech pop. I was also really impressed by a Danish singer, composer and songwriter Lydmor. The venue gave me a Stranger Things feeling and her show was certainly a blurring line between live performance and art.
Last but not least, did I experience something bad? There wasn’t any bad music this year at Roskilde Festival or I just chose the right concerts to see ;) I can’t even complain about the weather which by the way was incredibly good…. Ahhhh yes, the garbage…Wow, I have never seen tent areas at festivals with so much garbage everywhere. It all got cleaned up already, but maybe there is a way to combine the I can do what I feel like attitude during the event with some environmental rules.
Good because Danish loves Roskilde Festival and we already marked next year’s festival in our calendar- this time the full orange feeling. We hope to see you there!
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ROSKILDE FESTIVAL 2019
29.06- 06.07.2019 Roskilde (DK): festival area – Event on Facebook
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