Being the proud owner of a blog, I can of course not go to a festival without making a short review of my favorites. So here’s my list of last weekend’s Melt!
In general
This was my first long festival in a long time, and my first German one. Melt is different than what I knew. First of all, people dress fashionable. Maybe it is because of the trendy, partly electro oriented line-up, but I’ve seen more disco tops than the black shirts you normally see on festivals. For the Maastricht people: think café Zondag or Ipanema to get a feel for the Melt audience.
Also, what happened to daytime programming. Part of the festival charm to me was sitting in the sun listening to some relaxed live music in the afternoon. But at Melt, the bands only start around 5 PM. During the day, people sleep. Or swim in the lake. Which of course was a big pro. (And a good alternative for the long lines at the few showers.)
The location was great. The old cranes and factories of Ferropolis provided a great decor for a festival, and I also liked the arena around the main stage.
Disappointments
The first disappointment was the long queue on Friday evening trying to get into the festival. It was so bad, that many people started climbing over fences. After two hours, we finally got in. Only to find out that the Club Melt, a stage into an old factory building, would have queues the whole weekend long. Anyway, this all made us miss The Teenagers. We also missed Los Campesinos! on Sunday since we fell asleep. (We adepted too well to the festival times I criticised above.)
Big disappointments were Miss Kittin and the Hacker (very monotonous) and Róisín Murphy (maybe not really my thing, but come on, what’s with all the outfit changes every song, and the silly Endemol show?)
Also a disappointment was MEN, the DJ set of two-third of Le Tigre. We waited long for this act, starting only at four in the morning, but they didn’t live up to it. The song selection was still okay, although nothing special, but the mixing was horrible. DJ Ximen could give them a little crash course.
Unfortunately, Hercules And Love Affair cancelled. I would have liked to see them.
In between
Still pretty good, but not as good as expected, were Editors, The Notwist and The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Maybe because I arrived too late for all of these, and never really got into the flow of the gig.
I only heard a little bit of Alter Ego and Mr. Oizo. I wish I could have seen more of that. Also, I wish I could have seen Booka Shade and Boys Noize, but the schedule didn’t allow me.
Favorites
Still, I also saw many great shows. Here’s my ranking of favorites.
7-4 (in random order)
PeterLicht. Great songs to listen to, but not as energetic as the rest of the acts, making the show a bit pale. Still, beautiful songs.
Björk. Just like Róisín Murphy, Björk is not really my thing, although some of her old songs are great. But the show she put up here, as the festival’s closing act on the main stage, was amazing. I’m very impressed.
The Whitest Boy Alive. A great show, that was way more energetic than their layed-back studio sound. But I don’t really get the hype around this band in Germany. The crowd went crazy. Erlend and his band were good, but not thát good.
Hot Chip. I didn’t know them, but despite technical problems, their show on the main stage really convinced me. Kraftwerk and The Notwist came to mind, but this London band also has a nice own sound.
3
Fujiya & Miyagi. I only saw them for half an hour, but they were great. The last time I saw them, at a festival in Tongeren, they were the opening act, causing the crowd to respond a bit passive to them. This time, they opened the Gemini Stage on Saturday, but they did great and this crowd seem to love them. The fact that they are now a four-man band, with a real drummer, also added to the energy.
2
Berlin Battery Allstars. The perfect ending of the festival. A group of djs, playing great catchy and hip-moving songs. (I want to know who did the house remix of Nevermind they played!) And they mixed great, giving you samples to make you excited for a song they would only really start in two minutes later. Maybe MEN could have come to learn from this. Anyway, the crowd seemed very sad when they finally had to stop, Monday morning at 2 AM. Forget the Dewaele Brothers, go for Berlin Battery now!
1
Does It Offend You, Yeah? Without a doubt my favorite of the festival. It lasted only for an hour, but their stuff is even more exciting live than on record. They will be big. Bigger than they already are. They are rockstars!
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