A Summer of Music

_Jacqueline Bowerman gives us a first-hand round up of Europe’s bustling summer festival season._

The journey begins in sleepy Somerset, and the summer kicked off with perhaps the biggest bang of them all Glastonbury.

**Glastonbury, UK – 23/07 – 27/07**

Stewarding was the name of the game at this festival. But despite spending a considerable amount of time at Glastonbury 30 ft up a guard tower paying back my free ticket, either desperately hiding from the boiling hot sun with a tiny umbrella, or wrapped up in a XXL coat in the dark of the night telling myself it was all worth it if I got to see Jack White for free. You know what? It totally was, Glastonbury proved yet again to be the best of the best.

Highlights included Grizzly Bear, who in the bright sunlight of Sunday afternoon proved to be as magical and ethereal as ever. Gang of Four brought their distinctive post-punk guitar sound and proved to be as entertaining as they were danceable, with singer Jon King smashing up a microwave with a baseball bat midway through their set.

Other particular highlights included Julian Casablancas, with a set heavy with Strokes songs and a mid-summer rendition of ‘I Wish It Was Christmas Today,’ at which point I ended lofted up in the air on someone’s shoulders, hip-flask in hand, hands in the air.

It was Vampire Weekend who proved to be the most exhausting (yet exhilarating) band, largely due to being kept late on guard tower duty and thus resulting in a manic sprint to catch them burst into a rendition of ‘Giving up the Gun’ at the end of their set.

MGMT also stood out, with singer Andrew VanWyngarden sporting a half chequered, half floral suit that could rival Karen O’s feathered concoction
last year. ‘Flash Delirium’ and ‘Brian Eno’ were particular highlights, standing out in the balmy haze of the late afternoon sunshine. A stage invasion ensued for ‘Time to Pretend,’ reminding the crowd, in the words of VanWyngarden, of ‘back
when [they] were a popular band.’

But it was the Flaming Lips who certainly had the most visually impressive set of the festival, with Wayne Coyne rolling out into the crowd in a womb-like transparent ball against a backdrop of epilepsy-inducing phallic imagery, to the magnificent space-rocking pop magic they do so well.

Despite being up a far off guard tower during the Dead Weather’s set, they sounded excellent, with Jack White’s drumming rocking Glastonbury like gunfire.

**The Best of Times:** The relaxed alcohol policy, vegetarian food, the line-up.

**Worst of times:** Missing The National, The Dead Weather (though I had a good dance to them on my tower) Wild Beasts, Devendra Banhart, Beach House and about a million other bands on an incredible line-up.

**Hove Festival, (Hovefestivalen) Norway – 29/06 – 02/07**

So whilst my fellow Glastonbury goers were stuck in traffic on their way back to their respective homes in the UK, I was on my £3 Ryanair flight to Oslo, from there I took a 5 hour train down to Hove Festival, which was located on the idyllic island of Tromøy, just a short boat ride away from the city of Arendal.

The site was small, but hugely appealing; with shady poplars lining the paths and the deep blue Norwegian sea only a short way away. Hove proved to be a tranquil alternative to the fast-paced action of Glastonbury. As such I spent much of the time lazing on the beaches and making my way slowly to the bands in the evening. Unfortunately, having got almost no sleep at Glastonbury, and wrongly setting my alarm, I slept through my first band, Beach House, waking up just in time for ‘10 Mile Stereo’ and then immediately running through the trees in the half light to see them waving goodbye and jubilantly thanking the crowd set against a breathtaking woodland amphitheatre. Not a great start.

However, the next day The Antlers more than made up for my error. As testament to the Norwegian crowd, they even managed to induce some crowd surfing- which was no mean feat with lyrics such as, ‘but now it’s not a cancer ward, we’re sleeping in the morgue.’

Later on leather clad Julian Casablancas took to the stage, inevitably meaning another ride on some guy’s shoulders, though this happy moment was cut short by an overzealous bouncer pushing me to the floor. Not cool!

The final day saw an amazing line-up which included The Drums, whose Morrissey- style dancing put a cheery grin on everyone’s faces. Vampire Weekend followed after with singer Ezra Koenig and co. putting on a foot-
stompingly good show before the even more exhilarating Arcade Fire arrived on stage. Their arrival was a momentous one. Arcade Fire were the reason I had trekked all the way to Norway again as it was their last show in Europe for a while. They certainly did not disappoint, though the Norwegian crowd did; as it seemed all of them were yet to listen to newly released songs ‘The Suburbs’, ‘Month of May’, and ‘We Used to Wait’, meaning that they were a little sloth-like in their enthusiasm for the newer songs. However, it was the perfect end to my two weeks of festivals, and having saved the last of my energy for manic jumping at Arcade Fire, I came home for a well needed sleep, and shower.

**Best of Times:** Arcade Fire, hanging out with Florence and the Machines truck driver who dubiously offered myself and a friend a lift to their next festival in Denmark, working backstage.

**Worst of Times:** The Beach House debacle and missing Arcade Fire warm up with Rococo and No Cars.

**Secret Garden Party, UK – 22/07 – 25/07**

SGP is a great festival with a heady, eclectic atmosphere. Costumes are worn religiously by most festival goers for the first few days, though this year the heat mostly put an end to the all-in-one costumes by the end of the weekend. However a few remained dedicated in their desire to sweat it out in their respective dinosaur suits.

The main focal point of the festival was a massive blimp situated (and then blown up) in a huge lake, which gave home to many rowing boats (and displaced ducks) during the daytime.

Art installations dotted around the festival were a particular highlight that really added to the unique atmosphere: tiny clocks hung from trees, strange bird-like paper constructions littered streams and a huge Trojan horse to name just a few of the surreal mood pieces.

SGP boast many stages, often extremely tiny ones, my personal favourite was the Where the Wild Things Are stage, which, in its design, took on a boat-like shape, with a mermaid at its prow. In case it wasn’t elaborate enough, it was draped in sea-blue curtains and various brightly painted characters from the film adorned its sides. Darwin Deez were one of the few bands I saw on this particular stage, and they drew huge crowds in the course of their set thanks to their unique synchronised dance moves in between songs.

**Best of Times:** Spending all afternoon on one of the festivals rowing boats,

**Worst of Times:** Stewarding on the wobbly bridge from 1am to 7am getting slowly more hung-over, and listening to people exclaim gleefully/drunkenly every five minutes, ‘Ahhhh the wobbly bridge!’

**Haldern Pop, Germany – 12/08 – 14/08**

A little known festival, Haldern Pop only opens to 5000 guests, yet it bore one of the most inviting line-ups of the year, playing host to bands such as; The National, Beirut, Beach House, Yeasayer, Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Frightened Rabbit, The Low Anthem, Bear in Heaven, Fanfarlo, Villagers, Stornoway, The Tallest Man on Earth, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Everything Everything, Seabear and The Black Atlantic. At only 60 Euros it’s unmissable.

However, due to the ridiculous one in one out policy on the only tent open on the first night 5000 people were left queuing to get inside a 400 person venue. Meaning I, like many others missed a lot of bands, including half of Beach House’s set.

However, Haldern was pretty much the perfect festival; perfect weather meant more bathing in the nearby lake, and seeing bands play in a beautiful stained glass tent was a real treat. Villagers were especially good; with Irish singer Conor J O’Brien receiving cries for an encore long after their set had finished. Chapel Club were also highly commendable with the singer’s authoritative baritone helping them stand out as one of the most memorable bands of the festival. Beirut were another highlight and the crowd went crazy for the Balkan sounds of the US band.

But the title of band of the festival has to be reserved for The National. Despite difficulties with the bass due to Yeasayer’s set beforehand (In singer Matt Berningers words; ‘Damn you Yeasayer!’) caused long gaps between songs in a desperate attempt to fix the issues. However Berninger made the best of it, asking the crowd in the National’s typically morbid fashion ‘Are you going to the lake later?’ ‘I’ll be at the lake- at the bottom of it.’ This was after a rather awkward moment, when a heckler demanded that that he ‘should warm the crowd up a bit.’

Recovering, the band brough out a wonderful variety of from their ever increasing discography, ranging from newer songs off latest album ‘High Violet’ and old favourites such as ‘Abel,’ at which instant and incensed Berninger jumped into the crowd with his microphone shouting ‘my mind’s not right, my mind’s not right’. Excellent times!

**Best of Times:** Late night set from The National, ending at 2.15 am, spotting Yeasayer wandering around, lake swimming with the dragonflies, late-night lake visits

**Worst of Times:** Pesto festival diet beginning to take its toll, missing Beach House, the absolute trek back to the Ryanair airport in Weeze which was much further away than anticipated.

**Green Man Festival, UK – 20/08 – 22/08**

Just a week later I was in Wales, and true to Welsh tradition Green Man proved to be the most rainy and muddy festival of the summer. The atmosphere at Green Man is completely different to any other festival- less zany than some other festivals, catering for a wide variety of ages. There were as many people watching bands from collapsing chairs as there were ravers in the front rows.

The all-star line-up was the main draw, but the festival served up some unkown gems, such as Race Horses, who appealed immediately with their Beatles-esque psychedelic rock leanings.

Beirut appeared once again were again excellent and the crowd all sang determinedly whilst the driving rain powered down onto their eager faces.

As ‘Lust for Life’ had become my most addicting tracks of the past few months, Girls were high on my list of bands to watch, and they met all expectations, made even better by dancing alongside Darwin Deez in the crowd. The main draw for me though was recent Warwick University conquerors Wild Beasts, and though I had to see them on my own due poor judgment on my friends’ part they were simply enthralling. In the same way that Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles
seem to make music that sounds so unearthly, Wild Beasts were indeed ethereal, with ‘Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants’ evoked the most joyous reaction from the audience during their set.

**Best of Times:** Meeting Wild Beasts, seeing Wayne Coyne around, Beirut in the rain, Metronomy.

**Worst of Times:** Missing out on the ukuleles offered by Beirut, realising the Tallest Man on Earth isn’t that tall after all, accidentally offending Darwin Deez.

**Rock en Seine, France – 27/09 – 29/09**

For my last festival of the summer, I took the channel tunnel to Paris to attend the final day of Rock en Seine, as a cheap, seemingly sunny alternative to the unaffordable Reading/ Leeds Festivals held on the same weekend. Being a city festival, and having only booked for one day, it was immensely satisfying to see bands having had the novelty of being able to shower the night before in a proper apartment! After a few tube rides and a stop off to buy an obligatory brie baguette, we arrived at the festival, which was, as the name suggests, next to the River Seine.

The festival area itself proved to be rather picturesque; original posters of each band appearing at the festival were affixed to the plane trees lining the main pathway, and dainty lights were hung from each tree. The afternoon was fairly relaxed, Temper Trap were admired from afar, enjoying the ridiculous lengthiness of certain songs, with two (very expensive) Desperados in hand. Beirut again came later; though this time I was almost wishing the time away in anticipation for Arcade Fire later that night. However in the mean time I had to endure the Ting Tings for what seemed like five hours before Arcade Fire finally arrived on stage.

The crowd was packed, with people trying to persuade others to see Crystal Castles on the other stage. The squish was large in part to a huge barrier that parted the left and right side of the crowd, a seemingly common feature in many mainland Europe music venues. Opening with ‘Ready to Start’ the crowd erupted, my friend and I lost our shoes immediately but carried on jumping merrily all the same (I still have the bruises today). An extra highlight came during ‘Ocean of Noise’, when Zach Condon of Beirut joined them on stage, trumpet in hand. However, after watching singer Win Butler nearly strangle himself with his microphone cable during his usual walkabout in ‘We Used to Wait,’ torrential rain appeared as if from nowhere, and the band scarpered from the stage almost immediately. Bearing in mind I had watched Beirut the week before in pouring rain, I remained fairly upbeat about their return. And they did return, but only for an acoustic version of ‘Wake Up.’ The lyrics were certainly more literal than I wanted them to be. The words, ‘we’re just a million little gods causin’ rain storms turnin’ every good thing to rust. I guess we’ll just have to adjust’, proved to be startlingly accurate

Then the Frenchman on the tannoy told us to all go away. Soaking wet and miserable (though at the same time jubilant about the songs we did see performed) we drank the rest of our whiskey and took a taxi home, to end an incredible festival season.

**Best of Times:** Arcade Fire

**Worst of Times:** Arcade Fire cut short by torrential rain, the Ting Tings.

Aside from Glastonbury – Hove, Haldern and Green Man are the festivals I’d recommend; for the wonderful atmospheres and excellent line-ups. Next year though I’m going to look for a nice beach to lie on for a month!