Arctic Monkeys @ VOLT

When I finally go to see Pulp, The Stones Roses and Blur on Sziget a good decade or two after their heyday, I could not help feeling just a bit left out- they were a generation or so older than mine, and when I finally got around to listening to Blur's first albums with a serious ear, they already felt like history. Great music, undoubtedly, but something that reached me with nostalgic delay. It then quickly dawned on me that if I searched for the band that would relevantly chart my musical coming of age, I could only come up with one answer- the Arctic Monkeys. 

I clearly remember the first articles I read about them in the British Council library's NME copies and my modem slowly coming to life to buffer their first tracks on MySpace. When I first lovingly sported the band T-shirt for which I had to move smallish mountains, the questions mirrored their first EP: Who the fuck are Arctic Monkeys? I grinned and said, I think one day you'll know. 

The day is now- last Sunday at VOLT every second kid was wearing a band T-shirt (But only two people had the old design, like mine, and we duly smiled in recognition at each other.) They love the band, but seemed slightly taken aback by some of the older tracks- this is their Blur and Pulp, the band they discover at the height of their glory and fall in love with that one album that is a synthesis of all that came before.

The concert was hardly flawless, Alex Turner might have been a bit too Elvis high on something for the general taste but for me, they're the one band that still sends giant butterflies to my stomach when I see them live- bands come and go, genres become popular and fade away, but in 50 years' time, if I make it, I can see myself feeling that rush of being 22, and finding the band that can be forever 22 with you. The Arctic Monkyes, they r mine.

Those Magnificent People of VOLT and their Amazing Accessories- The Sunday Edition

Cool Sounds of VOLT

Every festival has a concert where you end up accidentally and have a hell of a time. This time around it was Irie Maffia.

Irie Maffia

Irie Maffia.

And there's also a concert where you end up and you wish you hadn't. No doubt I Am Legion are good at what they do, but they're just not my shot of brandy.

I Am Legion

And of course the band you see at every festival until they grow on you like an ad jingle (like so: Constanza ) Intim Torna Illegál

Intim Torna Illegál

And the band you finally see after missing all their club concerts for preposterous reasons. Pegazusok Nem Léteznek.

Pegazusok Nem Léteznek.

  Mary PopKids, the winners of the Nagyszínpad competition, to band to whom you should have paid more attention. Because they're pretty awesome.

Mary PopKids

Mary PopKids

The Merry and The Mindless- 30 Seconds to Mars and Steve Aoki at VOLT

If you don't have one half decent song, worry not. Give them some balloons, their festival going arses love themselves some balloons.

Oh my Gaaawd, JARED! I mean JESUS. 

And here comes JESUS with the Hungarian flag.  So touching. Why do I have an eerie feeling he'll be playing at least one Hungarian festival next summer too? Hell. All of them. For he is JESUS. I may let him off the hook a little if he turns Soproni into Pilsner Urquell. Or liquid gold.

And then here comes JESUS with a HALO.

JESUS is gone, only to be replaced by Steve Aoki, ready to mash your brains into pulp with some repetitive thumps and oinks. No picture of Steve himself, he's a bore with a laptop. (He does also try a bit of a Jesus look, but that is sadly less efficient when you're Asian.)This young man seems to enjoy him just fine though. The follies of youth.

And this young lady got caked. Yes, Steve made her crawl her way up to the stage then smashed a giant whipped cream cake into her face. Her Warholian fifteen seconds. Steve also squirted some champagne onto the audience. Now that's Freud.

We won't be hard on her liking Steve, good accessories go a long way.

Flower crowns are a bit yesterday, but you're forgiven if you do it well.

We love VOLT. Not even JESUS and Steve can spoil it.