Vesterbro Festival

I guess this is the way every festival should be? Brilliant weather (it was a very beautiful summer day/evening), plenty of cold beers, several stages (all of them within 3 minutes walking distance), lots of music, not too many people, and still a great atmosphere. Finally; no entrance fee (not really that important, but leaves you with more money for beers!).

We (a friend and I) came just in time to take a quick look around the festival area and grab a beer, before heading to the rock stage to see The Seven Mile Journey. At times the post rockers seemed to be uninterested, but still delivered a pretty fine performance. Maybe it's the lack of a microphone (the music is purely instrumental) that makes it difficult communicating with the audience? Thus making them look uninterested?

After half an hour we headed to the indie stage to see the quartet Hazey Jane (Bad Wine - mp3). I mentioned the band last week and after listening to a few songs, I hoped that the band's acoustic folk inspired music would be perfect on a small stage. We weren't disappointed and the band gave the audience a great concert. A couple of hours later I talked briefly to the lead singer, but I seriously doubt that he can remember our small conversation at all, because he was, ahem, quite drunk :-)

New Lost World played on the outdoor stage and was prior to the festival described as a "must-see", but we only heard a couple of songs, before deciding to hear Song To The Siren (Hail Mary - mp3) playing on the rock stage instead. The lead singer gave one of the most energetic performances I've ever (!) seen, but the band failed to convince me of their musical qualities. However the audience seemed to be loving every second of the show, so I should probably give these guys another close look.

It was time to get something to eat, but unfortunately this was (probably) the only thing not well organized at the festival, so we had to leave the area to pick up a kebab.

Still chewing we were back in time to hear Sidste Ambulance being announced on the outdoor stage. More people had arrived at the area now and this fast rising band didn't disappoint the fairly large audience. The band gave a great and surprisingly humble performance, and I really wish that these guys will make it big. The debut album Vandrer Hjem will be released in August and is definitely a "must-buy".

Next on the big outdoor stage was The Alpine; another fast rising band, which already has gained some popularity abroad. The band is quite popular in Denmark as well, so this was probably the concert at the festival with the largest audience. The band is self-confident (some might say arrogant), but I have to admit that I have some difficulties getting into the music. So when the band began talking about brotherly love etc., we decide to head for the indie stage instead.

At this point everything was delayed over there, so we were lucky enough to catch the last song of The Ondt and The Gracehopper. The band sounded brilliant, so we probably should have decided to watch this band instead?

Our last band of the day was The Holiday Show (snookerstar - mp3) and judging by the number of people trying to get a spot close to the stage, the band has already a rather huge fan base. My friend was a bit disappointed by the performance (I think he hoped they would sound a bit more like Depeche Mode), but I thought the concert was really fine, even though there were a few problems with the microphone. This is another bunch of humble guys (a least it looked like that) and I actually think that the band would gain a lot, if the lead singer acted a bit more self-confident on the stage.

Summed up this was quite an amazing experience and hopefully the program for next years festival will be equally interesting! If so - see you there!