Best Concerts of Sziget 2015: #8 Passenger and #7 Florence and the Machine

As I had already confessed in one of my pre-Sziget line up round ups, Passenger for me kept being the guy with that intensively radio friendly song. And before we blow things out of proportion: intensively radio friendly is not a derogatory term at all, it simply denominates a very catch tune I very much like. Apparently there is another very catchy song with a very similar title- namely Let It Be from the sound track of Frozen and it ruined poor Passenger’s life as people kept confusing them. If it offers any solace to Mike, Let It Be is intensively hateful as far as I am concerned and cannot be mentioned on the same day as the lovely Let Her Go.

Putting such technicalities aside I now again come to the point where I am running for my life from the claws of Martin Garrix’s vile onslaught of boring and annoying machine music. And get to Passenger’s tent and have faith in humanity restored. If there’s any gimmick to his show it’s that there aren’t any. He comes with a guitar, he plays great tunes, he even does good covers. (This being one important take away of this year’s Sziget- not everyone can cover songs graciously, and we should cherish those who do.) He links his songs with little introductory bits that are genuinely engaging and funny, something not all musicians can and/or want to do- won’t elaborate on the Death Star pun here, as it was already mentioned in the daily review, but that was one of those things that will etch the memory of this concert in my mind as a Sziget classic.

I now have to confess I often read bad reviews of concerts I liked just to pump up my adrenaline levels by getting worked up over pretty much nothing. So here it goes, to the guy who said Passenger was boring, you my friend have no soul left, because Avicii and the Garrix person burned it out of you with lasers and musical mediocrity, and are therefore utterly and irreversibly hopeless.

Now, I liked Florence and the Machine, I liked them a lot, I even sacrificed the superb insanity of a Future Islands concert so I could watch the entire show, because it was riveting and never lost my attention. I also thoroughly support the idea of many more female fronted, or why not all female, headliners. There was however something that kept on nagging at the back of my mind throughout, not quite taking a coherent shape. There was something slightly off with the performance, I just couldn’t put in into words.

As we have learned from any detective novel that’s at least half decent, such case solving illuminations always come when you least expect them, so the idea struck me in the dead of night, while pondering going out to the kitchen for a little something: her show is simply too structured for the outpour of emotion she would like to convey with it. You should not really plan emotion, but she does- it’s not that it isn’t really there, it’s just that it has, well, a machine built around it, that functions like clockwork ginger. It’s a bit like the flower wreaths she keeps popping on and off her head: pretty but ultimately plastic.

It is of course completely clear to me that the quirky Florence of Lungs could hardly have fronted the main stage, either on Sziget or at Glastonbury, so here comes the revolutionary observation of how one needs to make some compromises on the road to superstardom.  So the thing is, I somehow did not want her to become a superstar- yet I am somehow glad she did.

Better than Fireworks- Sziget Day Five

I must confess I started the last day with a slight feeling of lack- this had been a great week, no doubt about that, with the risk of sounding cliché- Sziget always is a great week, but something was missing from the experience and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The re-arranged stages unsettled me at first, but I found order in the madness later, many concerts had been great to exquisite, the weather was festival perfect (I know, some found it too hot during the day, but I always prefer overly hot days to sweater weather evenings.) And yet...

The answer and solution would soon be found, but not before we successfully navigated the logistical nightmare of getting drinks around the entrance area right when the daily programme gets in full swing. Yes, I know, we should have known better than to attempt the impossible, but José González was scheduled to start in A38, so we had no choice. As the gates opened it soon became obvious that José has a good many fans on the island- this was probably the highest attendance of the week for the 5 PM act, pretty much filling the entire tent. Sure enough, some people chose to sit in the back and relax- which is a perfect way to enjoy José González’s delicately crafted minimalist guitar music on a hot and humid Sunday afternoon- the storm was brewing, and this time for good.

As I was quietly enjoying the concert it dawned on me that this might be the first time ever in my long Sziget history when I am completely uninterested in any of the main stage acts- which doesn’t mean I was fully spared their onslaught, as I needed to refill my spritzers every now and then in the strategically placed Spritzer Garden (one of the best things on Sziget, and this coming from a staunch beer fanatic).

So here it comes: Rudimental- I can only quote one of my favourite 20th century philosophers, Winnie the Pooh: ’A huge big -- well, like a -- I don't know -- like an enormous big nothing.’ Limp Bizkit- sometime around the year 2000 this could have marginally worked, but today it felt like Fred Durst was still slightly tired after his meal in Hachapuri the previous night and tried to settle his digestion by doing everything halfheartedly- or as our more mathematically minded fellow photographer observed, they gave about 60%.  Martin Garrix- Winnie’s words do him no justice, he’s worse than nothing, worse than Avicii, worse than being sucked into a black hole. His music might be loud, but it’s so catastrophically monotonous, that between beats you can distinctly hear the screams of brain cells dying all around you.

Given these scary manifestations of human strangeness, we had no choice but to retreat to A38. And in A38 we found answers. Kwabs was not yet really the answer, but he’s very useful to make a point: while not an R&B and soul fan by definition, I could still perfectly enjoy his set, because he is a good musician and looks thoroughly like someone who knows what they are doing. Covering Arctic Monkeys didn’t hurt either and earned the man some well-deserved brownie points.

Fauve, on the other hand, were the first part of the answer. For those who don’t know them- most people outside the French speaking world, that is, they might be a bit hard to explain: a band and not only, they combine different artistic platforms to get their message, of social criticism mixed with hope,  through.

Needless to say, I fully get how art school bullshit this might sound, so it comes as a wonderful revelation that in concert they could not be further from that- they are every bit that type of freight train of amazing band who blast through their set prey to a higher form of passion for what they do, for what they are, for life in general. The crowd was mostly French, but not only, and as this was their first ever concert outside French speaking areas, the band were very evidently impressed to see such a large crowd turn out to their gig. So that’s it, that's what I missed,  Sziget magic: when something special happens, not just a good concert, but a concert with a feeling that will last beyond this day, this festival, this island. I was there that time in A38, screaming my lungs out to really fast French rapping, and for that hour or so I really couldn’t have been happier anywhere else.

Now Fauve I knew pretty well and expected them to be quite good but the next bit of Sziget magic was of the more unexpected kind. Holding on tight to my spritzer while trying to survive walking through the sonic crimes of Martin Garrix, I decided to go to A38 and give that Let Her Go Passenger bloke a chance.  And I can’t really remember the last time I took a better decision concert-wise. As I walk into the tent, in the middle of the stage there’s a slight man in very tight jeans, and he has a guitar. He is making friendly banter- and I realize it’s not just the usual so glad to be here talk, he is genuinely funny and engaging. In the background, as his songs come to a halt, you can hear the dark rumble of the Main Stage, so he casually puts into words what we’ve all been feeling a bit: they are the Death Star, and we’re the rebel forces. And when the fireworks explode over the island, only a handful of people run to the edge of the tent, everyone else is busy singing their hearts out together, the Death star exploded- and we have won.

The storm then arrived with the might only angry nature can muster, so our Sziget experience ended a bit abruptly, but in a very poignant manner: Sziget is wonderful for many reasons, but most of all because it teaches us that every now and then a man with a guitar can change the world, even if only a little. And that means the light is winning.

Look Who’s Coming To Sziget- Continued

This could very well be entitled the post I just had to come up with to shamelessly re-share our old Horrors pictures and be all smug about having guessed correctly they would join the line up as well.

I can also express my elation at this having happened, and my bafflement at them still being shoved into an afternoon slot- they were actually great on Sziget in the same slot last time, but they forever will be one of those bands better suited for the darker shades of life.

Since I touched on this subject, I can indulge a bit in the classic Sziget-goer sport of making the time slots a bigger deal than they actually are. Like Kasabian going on the Main Stage before Avicii, oh sweet blasphemy, and Interpol being exiled into A38 at midnight no less- okay, got it, someone actually realized they were dark matter as well, but midnight might be a tad extreme. Also, since when is Ellie Goulding a headliner?!

To be frank I just realized I haven’t really listened to her properly, so I am presently pressing a Youtube play button in a rather distressed state. Had to stop a NIN album for this so it better be good...nope, it isn’t, off for some beers it will be for me right after Foals. Since I had ventured out into the wilderness anyways, I investigated The Script as well and they are either Westlife for sad grown ups or U2 for very senile senior citizen. Or both rolled up into one bundle of Irish scary.

I also confess to having checked the line up to see whether MØ and Major Lazer are on the same day, to figure out if she’s gonna pop up during their set for my Thai lunch soundtrack song- I still can’t really figure out whether I hate or like Lean On, or whether my love of pad Thai makes all that irrelevant. But since they seem to be slotted for different days, they might as well both play it, how lovely.

My dream of having a blast in A38 during the shiny flame throwing main stage apocalypse seems to have been a vain dream after all, as both Passenger and Milky Chance are for me two blokes who wrote an insanely catchy song each- and both songs are perfect for advertising some hipsterish product that you could perfectly well live without- but won’t. I am of course open minded enough to give them the benefit of doubt, and I’ll make sure to let you know how it went.

My other fever dream was to spend Saturday evening at the World Music Stage instead of the main one, watching Goran Bregović for the umpteenth time, but this was dislodged as well, in a rather more positive way- although I never loved Kings of Leon quite as I did other indie rock bands, they were always a group I wanted to add to my ’seen live’ record, hoping this would be the test of whether they’re the real deal.

I will however definitely visit the World Music Stage at some point or other- most acts have already graced the island previously, which is great, because you know what to expect, and I was particularly delighted to see HK & Les Saltimbanks making aanother appearance, they were one of the most pleasant random discoveries of Sziget back in 2012. Yes, I am already excited about this year’s random discovery and I scan the programme feverishly to get an idea who it might be- which is of course the wrong way to go about it, because the random discovery must be unexpected.

When it comes to lessons (never) learned, I am hoping to avoid falling in love with an act right after Sziget and forever regretting not having seen them, so I’ve done some more successful youtube-ing than Ellie Goulding, and came to the conclusion that Foxes on the other hand is not bad at all- only to realize she sort of clashes with Kings of Leon, but A38 is just a really short dash from the Main Stage after all, so I might catch a bit of her as well. Because a crazy stage to stage dash is also compulsory for every Sziget, I can only hope that this year’s venue revamp won’t lead to getting catastrophically lost, as I so very often did in other years.