Ten Acts You Shouldn't Miss on Sziget

It took me a  few festivals to learn it (childish habits die hard), but the Main Stage is generally not the place to be if you want exciting things to happen to you.(Should you however think a somewhat unwashed and muddy Frenchman giving you a hug is exciting, please do linger around said stage right after a summmer storm.) Sure enough, there'll always be at least one great headliner and some fine acts in the earlier slots, but the real good stuff is very likely to pop up on one of the smaller stages, occasionally at ungodly hours.

So here is a run through of ten acts that might turn out to be the secret highlight of the festival- and might as well not, maybe that one show that will blow your mind is secretly tucked away in the programming and you'll just stumble on it because you have a hole in your planning, your buddy got lost at that particular stage or the sandwich bar you like happens to be nextdoor. 

Jake Bugg (Main Stage, Wednesday August 13, 4 PM)- a bit NME for some tastes, he's what they like to call a precocious singer songwriter, and sure enough, he has two records to his name at barely 20- at that age I had problems locating Massive Attack on the Main Stage, so I'll give the guy some credit.He IS playing at an ungodly hour- with a bit of (bad) luck he'll find out how silly British people are to call their nice summer days a heatwave- so the odds are in our favour when it comes to some not so ordinary Sziget entertainment. Jake Bugg- Lightning Bolt

Mary PopKids (Main Stage, Thursday August 14, 4 PM)- these people won a talent show, but before you stab yourself in the eye imagining Simon COwell-like horrors, take a deep breath, for they are awesome. They sound like all the warm summer songs you've already heard all wrapped into one- therefore sounding like none, and that much better. Mary PopKids- Runaway

Kavinsky (A38 Stage, Thursday August 14, 1 AM)- If you've seen Drive there are not many things one needs to add as to why you must be there for this concert. If you haven't seen Drive you're pretty much a bad person and should not be anywhere at all- no really, watch the movie and listen to some French electro. They do work wonders. Kavinsky-Nightcall

Palma Violets (A38 Stage, Friday August 15. 4:30 PM)- another NME band who might just become kind of big one day. If you don't trust their taste, think of VOLT's biggest headliner this year- no, not Tankcsapda. Another odd slot that might have a whiff of a sauna outing, but judging by Triggerfinger's show last year, it's simply a matter of who can rock, and who can't. Palma Violets- We Found Love

Angel Haze (A38 Stage, Friday August 15, 7:50 PM)- People rapping about this and that can become a bit tiring after a while,except when they're rapping about things that we'd rather keep quiet about, but shouldn't. So here's why you absolutely must listen to Angel Haze: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/31/rapper-angel-haze-religion-rape-survival. Angel Haze- New York

Kelis (A38 Stage, Friday August 15, 9:40 PM)- She'll probably never be able to escape her Milkshake girl image, the mixed curse-blessing of having had one hit that went truly global. This being said, that splendid pop artifact is actually not her best song by far- think in terms of the spiteful bile rain of I Hate You So Much Right Now, the cool vibes and zany visuals of Acapella or the sheer meanness of Bossy. Right, you don't want to miss any of that. Kelis- Acapella

Klaxons(A38 Stage, Friday August 15, 11:30 PM)- Yes, they are past their prime, yes, fluoro nu rave bands can and will hurt your eyes and ears and yes, they belong to a genre that produced such insipid monsters as Late of the Pier. And yes again, hard as they might try, they will never be able to either match or surpass their first album. This being said, Myths of the Near Future is a piece of modern music history and should therefore be listened to even if for documentary value. Also, you are noticing correctly, you are not to leave A38 on Friday, unless you want your brain to turn into moosh while listening to Korn on the Main Stage- which obviously you don't. Klaxons- Atlantis to Interzone

Jagwar Ma (A38 Stage,Saturday August 16, 7:50 PM)- They're everybody's darlings a bit, from the press to fellow musicians, and they should be yours too, if only for the fact that it sounds really sophisticated to drop their name in a casual conversation: "So hey, have you heard the new Jagwar Ma?!".Putting such shallowness behind us, they do sound pretty fine, and have some cool summery vibes to match the occasion too. Jagwar Ma- What Love

Yasmine Hamdan- (Vilagfalu Stage, Thursday August 14, 8 PM)- The World Music Stage might feel a bit subdued compared to previous years, but it is kind of hard bringing new names when you've had almost all of the greats of the genre playing there already. Yasmine Hamdan should be a treat though- if you've seen Only Lovers Left Alive there are not many things one needs to add as to why you must be there for this concert. If you haven't, you're pretty much a bad person and well, you know the rest. Yasmine Hamdan- Hal

Miles Kane- (A38 Stage, Thursday August 14, 9:40 PM)- Miles Kane should need no introduction, but if he does, it only means it's high time you went to A38 on Thursday and checked him out. He might be better known for his Last Shadow Puppets project, which he runs with some bloked called Alex Turner, but his solo material is also a feast for the ears willing to listen. Miles Kane- Don't Forget Who You Are

The Usual Suspects of Sziget

Every year when the Sziget line up starts taking shape there'll be a bunch of moaners complaining that oh, it's the same acts all over again. There's no pacifying them- pointing out that maybe these bands are liked by the majority of the audience doesn't work. 

Getting a bit more sophisticated and suggesting that major UK festivals also rotate pretty much the same headliners year after year doesn't do the job either. Hell, Glasto tried to break the mold and put on Beyonce and Metallica and that kind of backfired- just go for good old Kasabian instead and you'll be just fine (a hint to Sziget organizers here about whom to bring back next year from the usual lot). 

There's also the fact of some bands being better festival bands than others- there's a way of getting silly to Prodigy that won't really work with some newer, more groundbreaking acts. Other bands technically only work at festivals- I see no other use of Madness, to be frank. And then there's Korn. They'll always have the die hard fans to crowd the main stage area to the sounds of doom- which is quite lovely for those who want to breathe more freely at one of the smaller stages. 

So here we go with the list of bands I'll be delighted to have back this year.

Okay, delighted might be an overstatement for Lily Allen, though she definitely was just that when she actually got to headline in 2009, something no other major festival graced her with. Her new album might not be her best, but her older material is absolutely festival compatible.

One cannot be not excited by the Manics. No band that can open their set with Motorcycle Emptiness and close it with A Design for Life will ever get boring. And of course there's not resisting a Welsh flag with a fiery red dragon.

I remember the times when I actually spent the better part of a scorching hot day with my claws locked onto the front row fence to watch Placebo.  These days I'd rather lounge in the spritzer area and watch them from a safe distance. We're getting old, Brian's getting old too, but no one can deny that Pure Morning is one hell of a song and few tracks can beat the festival meanness of Infrared.

This here is Ruben Block. He is awesome. His band Triggerfinger are on the Main Stage Sunday afternoon. You have no excuse not to be there.

The new Wild Beasts album has constantly been selected into the best record lists of the year so far and they also graciously survived a frantic 5 PM heat last time around, so they sure deserve a headline spot on the A38 stage this year.

La Roux's debut album blasted onto the electro scene with the likes of the infectious Bulletproof- and then she promptly disappeared. She's back this year with some fine new tracks and shares the fate of Wild Beasts in getting a more adequate spot- her moody electro was not best fit for an afternoonish main stage, but should work wonders late in the evening on A38.