Great Danes and Nordic talent shine at Roskilde, Northern Europe’s biggest music festival

A festival review I wrote in summer 2017 for The Line of Best Fit. See it on their website here.

All photography by Kimberley Ross

The 47th edition of the non-profit festival showcased a host of Nordic acts alongside global big-hitters. We give you the lowdown on how we survived and who we caught this year.

Roskilde's lineup is typically very diverse, proven yet again this year with 183 acts of countless genres appearing across 9 stages all-in-all. Foo Fighters, Arcade Fire, Royal Blood and Father John Misty gave crowds at the iconic Orange Stage their fundamental arm-swaying mass festival sing-a-longs. Lorde, The Weeknd and Solange injected some polished pop into the weekend while Young M.A, Gucci Mane, Princess Nokia and Ice Cube represented intergenerational rap. As would be expected, Roskilde always has a strong showcase of Nordic acts (almost 40% of all acts, in fact), with Sigrid and Icona Pop drawing huge crowds, as well as home-grown Danish talent in the form of Emil Stabil and Trentemøller.

How does Roskilde Festival work?

Early every summer, the small harbour city of Roskilde plays host to a non-profit, carbon-conscious, community-focused festival. The population of the festival - 130,000 - would make it the fourth largest city in Denmark for the eight day event. The 'core' festival events take place across the latter part of the week from Wednesday evening to Saturday night, with the first half of the festival showcasing rising stars, newcomers and DJ sets across three of its smaller stages. Acts start from midday and last until past 3am.

Getting around at Roskilde

The festival site is a huge 80 hectares - think a slightly smaller Glastonbury - so don your wellies and get ready for a fair bit of walking. It's just south of the centre of the harbour city of Roskilde, so shops, museums, public transport and general civilisation are close by. Not that you'll need to leave the festival site: it's essentially a small city with a pharmacy, library, supermarket, laundromat and pretty much everything else you'll need. The official Roskilde Festival app means you'll always have a map and showtimes at hand, and notifies you of any last-minute stage or time changes.
Being a tourist in Denmark

You'll no doubt be travelling through Copenhagen on your route to and from Roskilde, which offers the perfect opportunity to explore the city's world-renowned new Nordic cuisine, stunning royal palaces, Lego-esque Nyhavn port, freetown Christiania and Danish design boutiques. If you're in a fragile post-festival haze and just need some good hygge, you can still low-key immerse yourself in Copenhagen's culture by weighing in on various smørrebrød toppings and some innovative hair-of-the-dog Mikkeller beers. Oh, and the Little Mermaid statue is possibly one of the most overrated tourist attractions in Europe.

The food at Roskilde

This year, the 145 food stalls on site used over 90% organic produce. While this is quite amazing to us Brits, Copenhageners are slightly more accustomed to organic food as the norm, as it makes up three quarters of the food served in the city's public institutions. The buzz of the festival's food scene this year was the Crick'it stand: the brainchild of Danish food entrepreneurs who see high-protein, near-carbon-neutral bugs as the future of eco-friendly nutrition. Cricket pesto, moth larvae mayo and 15 cricket lemonade (does what it says on the tin) were on the menu for the festival's notoriously open-minded punters. Gorm's freshly baked gourmet pizza, burritos, Thai street food, falafel plates and so many other world cuisines were on offer for those who prefer their food fly-free.

Our tips for surviving at Roskilde in 2018

The campsites are the best places to find a party after the live music stops (or any time really!), and Dream City encapsulates the festival's renowned 'orange feeling'. It's where festival-goers create themed camp communities and neighbourhoods with unique activities such as Quidditch tournaments at Camp Harry Potter, glitter wrestling at the LGBTQ Unicorny Camp, and a hog roast at the Amish camp. There's also the hugely popular annual naked race around Dream City on Saturday every year which is absolutely worth a watch. Elsewhere, the Art Zone is where international artists create and display their work, Rising City hosts engaging talks and events, the new KlubRÅ area holds secret DJ sets, and you can watch or partake in some basketball, skateboarding or BMXing at Street City. Oh, and the Danish are among the tallest people in the world, so if you're vertically challenged, make sure you make it early to your favourite sets to secure a good spot.

Is Denmark expensive?

There's no beating about the bush - Denmark is pricey. It isn't on the euro, but the krone (crown). Roskilde Festival was cashless this year, with all stalls instead accepting plastic or the festival's cash card system, where cash is loaded onto a contactless card and topped up when needed. This is an absolute blessing if you get a fee every time you use your bank card in a foreign country, and means no waiting in ATM queues or coins weighing you down for the whole festival. It's possible to eat for cheap at Roskilde too: some food stands offer filling meals for 50 krone (about £6), but if you're on a tight budget it's a good idea to bring some of your own snacks and booze. Volunteering at Roskilde is a sociable and cost-effective way to go on a shoestring. The 32,000 volunteers each year are hugely valued and are at the heart of the whole festival's operation, and get a free ticket in return for a few shifts.

How do I get to Roskilde Festival?

Roskilde is handily just 20 miles west of Copenhagen, which is unsurprisingly really easy and quite cheap to fly to from many cities around the UK and around the world. From the airport it's just a quick train to the centre of Copenhagen, another to the city of Roskilde, then you have a choice of either the frequent shuttlebuses or a train to take you straight to the site. There'll be plenty of orange-clad volunteers around at Roskilde station to ask for help. In general, if you get lost or you're unsure, the festival and its location is really well-known around Copenhagen. Pretty much everyone in Denmark speaks incredibly good English and typically are really nice people, so ask away.

Where can I stay at Roskilde Festival?

The festival has a lot of space for campers, and camping is included in the full ticket. You can choose where you lay your tent depending on the vibe you want: from 'silent and clean' camping for a good night's sleep, to the party epicentre of Dream City. Roskilde also offers pre-pitched tents for an extra fee if you're travelling far and don't want the faff of bringing a tent.

Who we saw this year...

Angel Olsen

Topping everyone's list of must-sees at Roskilde, Olsen brought her sarcastic wit and Dolly Parton vibrato to a huge crowd at Roskilde. Her stunning warbling vocals have been lent to Bonnie "Prince" Billy records - but with two solo albums under her belt released through Jagjaguwar and with her suited-up band and chic mini-dress, her festival sets this year are proving how much she's settling into her distinct style and persona.

Alex Cameron

If you heard that Alex Cameron's high-concept stage persona is that of a failing entertainer, it's hard not to think up some sort of Alan Partridge-esque character. When you see that the whole band is sporting high-waisted '90s jeans, it's even more of a stubborn preconception to bust. But his aesthetic and awkward dance moves work in a symbiotic way with his effortless breathy vocals and endearing conversation between songs ("It's important to keep hydrated. Make sure you drink lots of water, guys"). Signed to Secretly Canadian, the Australian's live set is steeped in dejection and defeat with a vein of facetiousness running throughout ('there's this woman on the internet/even if she's just some Nigerian guy'). The dark and arty Gloria stage suited his set perfectly, and his performance of the gloomy, minimal "She Takes Care of Business" was goosebump-inducing.

Jagwar Ma

It was a seriously tough set time for Jagwar Ma, clashing with both Foo Fighters and Lorde, but the rag-tag bunch who showed up at the intimate Avalon tent were treated to the Aussie trio's woozy vibes, synth loops and jangly guitars. The Brian Wilson-esque vocals of "Come Save Me" brought the sing-a-long that was made for uplifting the moods of a tent full of damp, cold Danes. The set delved through their contemporary psychedelia and Madchester-influenced electro, at one point morphing into a beat that was so Underworld, I thought singer Gabriel Winterfield would burst into 'lager lager lager.'

Princess Nokia

“I’m a shape-shifting bitch,” Princess Nokia snarls in "Brujas", proving this as she bounced between rapping and singing skilfully: rap-goddess one moment and rock star stage presence the next as she crowdsurfed and spurred an unexpected mosh pit at the Apollo stage. 25-year-old Destiny Frasqueri, AKA Princess Nokia is establishing herself as a champion of the NYC underground rap scene, independently self-releasing her EP and mixtapes.

Solange

Without doubt the slickest set to materialise in Roskilde, Solange and her band were placed there on a velvet cushion by the same angelic being that created the celestial four-part harmonies in "Cranes in the Sky". The sleek yet subtle full-band dance routines, matching pillar-box red outfits and minimal, polished pop tunes soothed away any delicate heads from the night before.

Sigrid

Despite her early set time, Sigrid drew the crowds for her sprightly Scandi-pop ditties, and wins the title of looking the most genuinely chuffed to play Roskilde. At the tender age of 20, the Norwegian has already had huge success with "Don’t Kill My Vibe", and with her endearingly youthful pop and pure voice, there’s a lot more to come from Sigrid.

Icona Pop

Roskilde has seen them through since the beginning, hosting the peppy Swedish twosome on the up-and-coming talent stage back in 2012 before their huge breakthrough hit with Charli XCX on "I Love It", and support slots with pop giants such as Katy Perry and One Direction. Icona Pop injected the perfect amount of energy into a tricky 2am slot, with the crowds singing along to what was basically the story of a lot of their Roskilde experiences (treating weekdays like the weekend, drunken nights, blurred memories and cracked phone screens, likely from the one million litres of beer consumed at the festival).

Mammút

The Icelandic five-piece’s chilling art-rock soundscape suited the Danish weather on Friday at the Pavilion stage. They were showcasing a change in pace with their first English-speaking album, Kinder Versions. With her strong-yet-breathy vocals, it’s no surprise that Mammút's lead singer Kata is the daughter of a former Björk-bandmate, but she took surprising turns to more animalistic and guttural sounds on songs like "Walls".

Priests

Walking onto the Pavilion stage looking like Dolly Parton in an all-white ensemble involving cowboy boots and a fringed jacket doesn’t seem very DC punk, but as soon as lead singer Katie Alice Greer shouted the politically-charged opening bars alongside prickly rockabilly guitar riffs, it became clear the playful all-American aesthetic has much darker and more topical undertones. Priests are true to their DIY ethic, having released their debut LP Nothing Feels Natural on their self-run label Sister Polygon Records.

Roskilde 2018 will take place from 30 June - 7 July 2018 and tickets will be on sale in the Autumn from roskilde-festival.dk

Review: Glass Animals for Amazing Radio

Live Review: Glass Animals

http://amazingradio.com/home/live-review-glass-animals

Amazing Radio favourites Glass Animals swung by Newcastle last week on the Northern leg of their headline tour, but not before popping into Amazing Towers to speak to Amazing Afternoons with Greg Porter. As one of the first bands to be signed to Grammy award-winning producer Paul Epworth’s Wolf Tone label, we’ll go out on a limb and pre-empt that Glass Animals‘ debut album Zaba will reap the benefits of Epworth’s midas touch before festival season is up. He’s previously cast his spell on records by Adele, Florence and The Machine and Paul McCartney to name a few.

The album’s primitive sounds are delicately translated onstage by Glass Animals‘ four members: the warming ripples of clunky synth and chilling lilt of Dave Bayley‘s breathy vocals paint a tropical forest ambience. Dave’s leafy t-shirt even subtly echoed Zaba‘s Henri Rousseau like artwork. The jungle-esque sound bites and ultrasonic whistles during Exxus could have the potential to be gimmicky, but whether it’s the result of Epworth’s production or the evident creativity of the band, the other-worldly sound is perfect for live performances.

Andy Sheppard – Getty Images

The band’s stage presence is without fuss: there are no charming anecdotes or insincere compliments about the city. Dave transforms from his polite and unassuming interview manner a few hours previous to a self-possessed and utterly pitch-perfect frontman, with a voice I’d wrongly assumed was the result of layers of production. Drummer Joe’s use of the loop pedal to create the tribal multi-layered percussion on the Amazing Radio playlisted track Pools was stunning, an upbeat contrast to the hypnotic harmonies of the chilling Psylla, leading into the nonsensical ditties and groovy squeaks of this year’s earlier single Gooey.

Glass Animals have drawn fairly universal comparisons to Wild Beasts, Alt-J and earlyRadiohead, (they played their first gig at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford, the same place asRadiohead did in ’86) presumably owing to their inventive synth-backed arrangements. It’s the enticing early noughties RnB sound of Black Mambo which unveils yet more diverse influence, weaving a seductive undertone throughout.

The only disappointment was that the setlist didn’t include their Kanye West cover of Love Lockdown, which they treated the BBC Introducing stage to at Glastonbury Festival last week. With Zaba under their belts and some incredibly strong singles and EPs, they’ll be creeping up towards the main stages by this time next year. Catch them at Bestival,Latitude, Beacons and Knee Deep as well as on an extensive North American tour. Full details can be found on their website.

Review: Communion New Faces Tour

Communion New Faces Tour: Luke Sital-Singh, Eliza and The Bear, Farewell J.R, Annie Eve

03/03/14 @ Cluny 2, Newcastle
NARC. May 2014

The fresh-faced offerings from the London-based Communion label graced the Cluny 2 as part of their national tour as four fledgling beacons for new music. The evening peaked early with Annie Eve's silky smooth tones and Farewell J.R's weave of ethereal layers and folky vocals before the commercially-friendly Eliza and The Bear hopped, skipped and jumped into Lumineers-esque fist-pumping choruses fated for festival singalongs. The sprightly fivesome will undoubtedly be appearing on the soundtrack of every festival montage VT this summer.

Having been longlisted for BBC's Sound of 2014 accolade, my expectations of Luke Sital-Singh as headliner were high. His faultless vocal ability seemed almost mismatched to the predictable, repetitive lyrics of his self-penned anthems. I couldn't help but compare the overly sentimental choruses of 'Greatest Lovers' and 'Nothing Stays The Same' to something which could easily be scattered in gold confetti and revealed as the American Idol winner's song. The well-spoken young singer-songwriter had perfected the inter-song audience patter, and with his closed-eyed catchy ballads I have no doubt he'll be the next Ben Howard or Benjamin Francis Leftwich, but his candid tunes are bordering on cheesy pop which needs to make like a cheddar and mature.

Review: NME Awards Tour 2013

NARC. Issue #82, March 2013

NME Awards Tour: Django Django, Miles Kane, Palma Violets, Peace
@ O2 Academy, Newcastle (07.02.13)

With a mixed offering of the hyped, the blogged and Miles Kane, the good folk at NME kicked off their annual showcase in Newcastle once more back in early February. In previous years the tour has helped to launch artists such as Coldplay, Florence and The Machine and Arctic Monkeys to (arguably) legendary status, and with guitar bands taking the forefront this year without a token dash of Magnetic Man or Azealia Banks of yore, perhaps we'll be seeing 2013 as a year for the indie rock set-up.

Opening the tour was Peace, a Birmingham four-piece with vivacious summery anthems undoubtedly set to become a vital soundtrack for any dreamy montage this festival season. South London's Palma Violets followed, making up with their energy and catchy riffs what they lacked in originality, taking more than a hint of inspiration from The Clash and The Libertines in their sound and stage presence.

A sea of primarily Paul Weller haircuts muscled their way to the front for Miles Kane: Last Shadow Puppet and lad-rock hero. Resembling a double-leather-wearing excitable baby monkey, he sailed through crowd-pleasing hits 'Inhaler' and 'Rearrange' with more of an endearing charm than his usual likenesses of the Gallaghers and pal Alex Turner.

The anticipated act of the night was the Mercury Prize-nominated headliners Django Django, emerging to a Kraftwerk-reminiscent stage set-up in self-designed matching shirts. Their stunningly tight dweeb-barbershop harmonies complemented beachy guitar riffs and dramatic African inspired synth effects, 'Default' stepping up as the song of the night.

Everything Everything: Not just another indie band

Palatinate Issue #727

indigo chats to the lead singer and guitarist of the genre-defying four-piece at the Newcastle leg of the NME Awards Tour

       Art rock? Convoluted indie? Math pop? You decide. This toe-tappingly jittery and anti-conventional four piece became sick of recycled and stagnant indie, so decided to do something about it.


        After being scouted by Radio 1’s Zane Lowe in their unsigned beginnings, the Manchester-based band site being tipped on BBC’s Sound of 2010 list as their biggest boost to success, despite at the the time having only a handful of singles in their blossoming discography.


        “It was so early on when we got it, it felt like we were the youngest there. Everyone else had albums ready to go!” guitarist Alex Robertshaw tells me as I make myself at home amongst the PS3 controllers and coffee cups in their haven of a tour bus. “Although I think in the UK you can still succeed if you’re not on that list. It’s important abroad, people seem to look at it first to see what’s new over here,” lead singer Jonathan Higgs explains. His suprisingly low-pitched speaking voice only highlights his extensive vocal range, a talent which plays a prominent part in the band’s sound.


        Having been described as ‘genre-defying’ and similar terms in the media since they formed in 2007, their jaunty sound seems fresh and new in comparison with a lot of recent indie bands due to their irregular song structures and fusion of diverse influences. But how do they go about maintaining this different approach? “You gotta keep writing and listening to a lot of music and trying to find new things. If something we write or a demo doesn’t excite us then we change it, and that’s the way we’ve always worked. It’s hard to define how you try and make things “new”... It’s not really as conscious as you might think!” Jonathan tells me modestly.


        Could this be the beginning of some sort of post-indie movement in NME’s history? The magazine itself had refreshingly branched out from the expectations of a line-up awash with guitar bands on this year’s Awards Tour, with Magnetic Man and Crystal Castles unusually starring on the same bill as The Vaccines and Everything Everything for the tour.


        “It’s really good that it’s this diverse. I was in two minds when I first saw the line-up!” Alex admits. “It certainly divides crowds, there’ll be people who will come to see The Vaccines who just will never ‘get’ Magnetic Man. But I think we’re quite lucky as we straddle quite a lot of audiences. But those same people who came along thinking “I want guitars!” may come away thinking “that was actually really good... I never would’ve gone to that!"


        “Indie’s had to develop, it’s not really holding the torch anymore which is good. It means there’ll be more of a variety of music from now on,” says Jonathan. “When indie decides to become fashionable again it’ll have to change itself a little bit which is always good. Stagnation is just so boring. No one enjoys that.

Photo: Dan Jeffries

        Whilst being helped along their way by Chew Lips and Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten, the band take pride in the amount of artistic freedom they have had on their debut album Man Alive. On the transition from their few 7” releases in their emerging days to being signed by Universal-owned record label Geffen, Alex explains “You can create a story as you’re going from standalone singles to creating a whole album. It’s a good cross-section of what we sound like.”


        The availability of technology is a key aspect of their chirpy and at times Nintendo-reminiscent tunes (see Photoshop Handsome and Qwerty Finger) “The way we write, it tends to start on a laptop, which for a so-called indie band might not be that normal. But there’s nothing to hold you back, you don’t have to think “oh I can’t make that sound on a guitar”. With a laptop you have free reign, you can even have an oboe!” Jonathan optimistically desribes. “To be defined by what your musical abilities are is sad."


        So with their quirky lyrics and upbeat ditties, will Everything Everything ever turn into a serious band? “A misconception that we’re trying to avoid is that we are this chipper band. There is a lot of serious stuff on the album and the next single will be much more serious. Although it won’t get half as much airtime because it’s not as radio friendly.” Jonathan tells me, somewhat wisened to the ways of mass media. Although with their catchy songs still having an edge with harmonising and perfectly unexpected breaks, this band is anything but a take two of The Hoosiers.


        “Funnily enough both of the re-releases are the most politically-minded on the album,” says Jonathan, “I like that some teenager could listen to MY KZ UR BF and be all “oh your boyfriend, what’s all that about?” and then think about the lyrics and realise that something interesting’s going on... Sneaking in there..."


        His theory seemed to prove true, as the general ‘first-time drunk’ swarm at the O2 Academy that evening showed, exciteably moshing to even Leave The Engine Room- by far the slowest song of the album.


Man Alive is out now on Geffen.

Photo: Dan Jeffries

If you know me at all, you'll know

I'm a sucker for a female-fronted band... But as I got sick of Florence a long time ago, having appeared as the soundtrack to every single TV advert for the past year, and with probably having to wait quite a while for the next Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The Kills albums, I've kindly scoured for/fallen upon some not-too-effeminate bands that you really should listen to!

Peggy Sue
I saw them supporting Local Natives a couple of months ago, and looking back I think it should've been the other way around. I thought, as I watched them swap ukulele after accordion after percussion between songs, it's only a matter of time before they're snapped up by Radio 1, and ahoy they've recently done a live set for Rob Da Bank. I'm glad- the whole “London folk scene” was sorely missing some feminine action. Although they class themselves different from the usual Noah and The Whale sort of new-folk as they listened to a lot of 80s and 90s hip hop growing up, citing Lauryn Hill as one of their main influences. This echoes through their soul-filled two-part harmonies running throughout. They're the sort of band I really want to join... I could play ukulele not very well..?




She Keeps Bees
Her voice has all the soul of Janis Joplin and her stage presence encompasses the thoughts of shock in the late 70s when people heard The Pretenders for the first time and witnessed a woman sounding bloody good with a guitar. She does actually have a drummer, and a pro video. But I prefer just her and her Mustang.




Your Kid Sister
What could possibly ever be wrong about a cute girl with an even cuter voice in a Where The Wild Things Are-esque furry hat doing a Rancid cover on a beach with an accordion? Actually nothing. She does some pretty good short films as well if you check out her YouTube channel.