I am very much into this years Roskilde-lineup, and I've tried to get a hold of which acts I want to catch. I had originally planned to wait doing all this 'till the band schedule has been released, however rumour has it that isn't going to happen until perhaps a few days before warm-up. Treat this as a guide, or as a hype machine, or whatever floats. But these are my Roskilde-priorities 2009:
Kicking it off, there are only a few acts this year that I more or less must see. Chiefly, those are Röyksopp, Friendly Fires and Trentemøller. The latter does not need much introduction, and being as he's going to be playing Thursday night at Orange, when there's supposedly nothing else going on, I doubt that there'll be many missing out on it. I missed his concert two years ago, and really regretted it, but this time around should be even better. Röyksopp is probably known to most people too, and that's really gonna be a blast. Be sure to check out UK indiepoppers Friendly Fires though, their album is really cool, and i thing it's going to be a hell of a party. Preferably at Odeon.
Two big DJ'ing names make it to the top of my list as well. Canadian house producer Deadmau5 (pronounced 'deadmouse') will probably fill up Arena late one night, and really make people dance like crazy. I hope to catch him. Likewise, Belgian late-additions 2ManyDJs surely will rev it up with remixes and mashup-stuff. In the more melancholic direction there's Fever Ray, perhaps better known as the female half of Swedish electroklash-minimalists The Knife, will surely be a intense and opaque experience.
Then there's Coldplay, further presentation unnecessary. I am a bit divided as to whether i'm going to see them at Roskilde or not, considering that i rather foolishly bought a ticket for their show in Herning in August, before they were announced for Roskilde. I should have seen that coming. However, they are a brilliant bunch, and it's probably gonna take something big to keep me from hearing them.
This brings me around to commenting on some of the, as far as I'm concerned pretty weak, headliners at this years festival. Besides Coldplay and Trentemøller, I'm probably gonna disregard the big ones this year. Oasis have never really floated my boat, and they never play my favourite tune of theirs (Stop Crying Your Heart Out) live anyway, so chances are slim that i'm gonna catch them. I generally don't like being at Orange unless i'm watching an act i really know, but if nothing else is going on, I'd like to catch at least part of Pet Shop Boys' and/or Nine Inch Nails' concerts. Neither are particularly high on my agenda though. Same goes for Kanye West. He supposedly did a great show in 2006, and I might catch him, might not.
Let's go now to my 'home court', the indie/rock/pop acts. There are five acts here that i particularly hope to catch, but everything depends on them not clashing with eachother or something more important. Swedish pop-darling Håkan Hellström guarantees a fresh and happy show, probably at Arena, and if the weather's good it could be a nice gig to catch in the afternoon sun. Same goes for Lily Allen, whom I think will bring out quite a large crowd, despite critics pointing out that she's not exactly a typical Roskilde-name. I think Roskilde fathoms every genre, and ms. Allen has really made a lot of nice pop tunes (plus I'm a sucker for cockney, that might be why I like her), and she's definitely high on my list.
Two indie bands have really shot up my priority-list through the last few weeks, and they're now both around my top 10. Newzealanders Cut Off Your Hands are really cool. Slightly reminiscent of more acclaimed powerpoppers Phoenix, they are really promising. White Lies are supposedly a great live act, and their single Farewell To The Fairgrounds is getting massive airplay on Danish benchmark radio P3 these days, and while some of their stuff reminds me slightly of this years hate-object Glasvegas, I think it'll be good. I just ordered their album, and by Roskilde, I'll either have disregarded them as being mediocre, og I'll like them enough to be on a sing-along level. The fifth important act in this category is Yeah Yeah Yeahs, however, to my surprise, I've run tired of them quite rapidly. There's still a good chance I'll check them out though, as they're pretty unique, and frontwoman Karen O. is supposedly quite kicking live.
On a side note, there are a few acts in this category I might check out if i have the time, however they're not important to me. That goes for Little Boots, although i don't think it's real dappy live. The Whitest Boy Alive, however critically acclaimed, have never really entered my listening habits, however there must be something to the hype.
I'm always very ambivalent as to whether i should take time out to catch Danish acts (excluding Trentemøller), being as they're easily catchable throughout the year at other venues. This year however, there are a few very noticeable names that I'd really like to catch, if they do not clash with any of the international names high on my agenda. Of course Malk de Koijn has to be considered this year. There's a chance it might be a concert that goes down in history, and Malk de Koijns sublime lyrical universe unites Danes from indie-rockers to hiphoppers and house-clubbers. For me however, it's gonna depend a lot on what else is playing at the same time.
Analogik put on a great show at Pavillion Junior two years ago, but this time they're playing at the festival proper, which makes it likely that they will clash with something else. They're still high on my list though. Mew will play a lot of their new stuff, probably at Arena, but there's a slight chance they will be given Orange. I don't think so though, as it is of the utmost importance that they are playing during night-time, as they do a lot of visual stuff. I might catch them, because even though i haven't been listening a lot to them lately, their new stuff might be interesting, and some of their old stuff rocks live. Oh No Ono are generally a terrific live act, and part of their new album is really cool, however they are from Aalborg, and play there at least once a year, so they're not musts. Same goes for Balstyrko, although a very exciting act, I really doubt that i'll get around to catching them.
Benchmark Danish turntablists Den Sorte Skole are definitely worth a listen, however in my opinion, they're only as good as the crowd and their alcohol consumption make them, and i saw them with RJD2 this February. I might still catch them though, if I'm sufficiently drunk. I've actually never seen Tim Christensen live, but he's playing Grøn Koncert this year alongside Kashmir, so I'm pretty sure I'll skip him at Roskilde.
I haven't really done a lot of research on this years Pavillion Junior-names, however there's one act I'm most definitely checking out. That's Ginger Ninja, and they're the only real dance-punk act making it big in Denmark right now. I find them one of the most promising upcoming names i Denmark right now, and we had the pleasure of playing alongside them at Studenterhuset this February. Check them out!
Finally, Pharfar's Rub'a'Dub Sunday is probably going to be a blast, and i'd really like to check it out. However it just might be late Sunday night/Monday morning, at a time when i might have left Roskilde.
I always have an ambition for checking out some experimental and international acts at Roskilde, as it's really the only place in Denmark where these acts play. Most of these acts however suffer from the fact that they're outshined by bigger acts, and that I'm rarely able to find someone willing to join me for this stuff. Top of my list in this category is Black Dice, which is a really cool experimental/IDM outfit from New York. I really hope i'm gonna be able to check them out. Amadou & Mariam are supposedly really something special, however my prime world-music inducer Peter is skipping Roskilde this year, which might mean I won't be pressured enough to check out A&M anyway. 2562 is the only real dubstep act this year, but he doesn't really float my boat, so I'm probably leaving him out of consideration. He deserves mention here though. Same goes for Deichkind, an early riser on my list, but they're really been dwarfed by the sheer width of this years lineup, and they're probably out of consideration too. I do have a tough time coping with people singing in German anyway.
Gang Gang Dance are very critically acclaimed, and might be worth a listen. Zizek Club will probably be wild as fuck, Bomba Estéreo could satisfy my hispanophile tendencies, and this might be the year where i finally catch the obligatory congotronics-act, this year Kasai Allstars, although these acts are very often more congo than tronics.
Phew!
So the list goes down like this!
1) Friendly Fires (UK)
2) Trentemøller (DK)
3) Röyksopp (N)
4) Fever Ray (S)
5) 2ManyDJs (BE)
6) Coldplay (UK)
7) White Lies (UK)
8) Deadmau5 (CAN)
9) Yeah Yeah Yeahs (US)
10) Black Dice (US)
11) Cut Off Your Hands (NZ)
12) Pet Shop Boys (UK)
13) Lily Allen (UK)
14) Oh No Ono (DK)
15) Mew (DK)
16) Malk De Koijn (DK)
17) Analogik (DK)
18) Håkan Hellström (S)
19) Kanye West (US)
20) Ginger Ninja (DK)
21) Little Boots (UK)
22) Nine Inch Nails (US)
23) Tim Christensen (DK)
24) Gang Gang Dance (US)
25) Den Sorte Skole (DK)
26) Deichkind (DE)
27) The Whitest Boy Alive (DE)
28) Bomba Estéreo (COL)
29) Balstyrko (DK)
30) Zizek Club (RA)
31) Amadou & Mariam (MAL)
32) 2562 (NL)
33) Kasai Allstars (CD)
Everything else is rubbish. And if I catch half of these acts, I'm glad.
Bring on the band schedule!
