As I write, I wear my Roskilde Festival wristband: I had an impromptu walkabout on the first warmup day to get my bearings and a bit of a tan on my upper arms. Let’s talk about Northside Festival in Aarhus though, which took place the weekend before last.
It was a few degrees cooler up there than in Copenhagen and it was immediately obvious to me that I hadn’t worn enough clothes. A chunky knit would have really hit the spot but an organic vegan hotdog came close (there was organic produce all over the place).
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Sigur Ros: This was my first gig. They started off behind a metal grid, which was happily lifted after a couple of songs. The Icelandic lilting brought euphoria almost as great as that of the 10% of the island’s population that is currently in France supporting their boys.
Beach House: I came and went during this one but made sure to be there for Master of None. Victoria gushed about the almost full moon peeking over some clouds and about how happy the band was to be there.
Jamie XX: I’d wanted to see Jamie for a while, but timing previously did not allow. It being a DJ set, I was skeptical about how impressive it would be, but he killed it! The beats were potent and the vibrations rippled through the crowd. He has a bunch of vinyls with him and Donna Summer even made an appearance (not live)!
I stayed at Helena’s, a friend of a friend, in the centre and had a homemade brunch before hitting the final festival day. The journey to the supermarket that morning took longer than expected since there was another event going on in the city – a marathon no less (Aarhus is pumping!). We cycled over to where the action was happening, and the sun meant that my sweater stayed in my bag until the evening.
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Damien Rice: Only caught the tail end of him, but got some of his wailing and banging of a drum. I would have loved to hear him cry 9 Crimes into the microphone.
Velvet Volume: Some noisy rock chics from Aarhus. Apparently one of them was a volunteer the previous year.
Bloc Party: ‘I like to fuck and get high’ – quote from Kele (of whom I’m a BIG fan- his solo EPs definitely inspired my own music) – . Amen.
Flume: The Danes got their mosh on for this one. It would have been nice if Harley himself has jumped down from behind his console.
Caribou: The festival stand-out for me! I got pretty inspired by the mix of electronic and real instruments and the all-white get-ups minus shoes. If you’re reading Caribou, I’d like to work with you 😉
Duran Duran: Also got the white pants out (luckily it wasn’t a muddy one), plus the leather biker jackets which their swaying female backing singers also sported.
Beck: Quote -‘I might come up here and stay for a while’. I’m not sure if he meant this or if it was just to humour us, but people appreciated it. His little mini renditions of Work were amusing and Donna Summer popped up once again! I kind of wish she had jumped on the 2016 festival bandwagon and been there too.
The grounds were brand-spanking clean and very few people looked like they’d been dragged through a bush (there’s Roskilde for that). This is a well-run festival, where the stages are only a few minutes walk away from one another. Cigar and gin bars are a luxury stamp on the Danish festival’s rump, and I would recommend that you too get a Northside stamp on yours next year!
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