Concert date: 21.08.2006
Attendance: 1708
Ticket price: 30,000
Written by: Živa Viviana Doria
Great weather, awesome gigs on two stages, 30,000 people a day, the obligatory food stalls serving food that was more “meh” than tasty, and of course the no-compromises sharing of our temporary home (read: tent) with the local residents like earwigs, little witches, gnats…all of that was part of this year’s FM4 Freqeuency Festival, which heated up the Salzburgring racetrack.
Sadly, thanks to lousy transport connections between Ljubljana and Salzburg, my first FQ day got off to a pretty late start.
When we finally rolled into Salzburg half an hour behind schedule, we piled onto a shuttle bus that was obviously busted…and we later had to bail out of it in the middle of the road, hauling a whole lot of not-so-light luggage, and wait for a replacement.
In the end we reached our expected destination: the festival grounds. Next up was pitching the tent on a hill, which gave my friend and me a late-night workout as well as an early-morning one every time we climbed up to it. Then, since it was already almost 6:30 PM, we went full steam ahead toward the festival vibe, which was already in full bloom.
Our path first led us to the ˝small˝ stage (I should add that the main stage wasn’t exactly huge either), where the clearly slightly underfed guys from the American band Lostprophets were already limbering up. Their typical pop-rock set was nearing its end (of course the stages have clocks showing the time down to the minute) and it was high time to check out the main stage.
Let me also mention that earlier that day the stages had hosted Sugarplum Fairy, Broken Social Scene, Mohair, Gods Of Blitz, Kaizers Orchestra, my beloved Coheed & Cambria, 3 Feet Smaller, Kettcar, Paolo Nutini, Eagles Of Deathmetal with Josh Homme behind the drums, Less Than Jake and Blumfeld. Unfortunately, my late arrival is to blame for missing all of these bands.
The day was slowly building toward its peak, and on the main stage we got to greet the German band Wir Sind Helden, fronted by their very pregnant singer Judith. As the name suggests, they’re an energetic rock band that’s obviously pretty well known in German-speaking countries. Despite the sound cutting out on the left side of the stage for a few minutes, they delivered an excellent set.
Next up was the legendary Mr. Morrisey. A British perfectionist with lyrics full of crime and violence, which he delivers with such drama and gravity (helped along by a picture of Oscar Wilde in the background during the first song) that you’re pulled deep into his music without even realizing it. Of course, hits like First Of The Gang To Die and You Have Killed Me were on the menu.
With his backing band, the self-satisfied Englishman did a great job setting the mood for the night’s peak, which was still to come.
Morrisey setlist:
1. How Soon Is Now?
2. First Of The Gang To Die
3. You Have Killed Me
4. The Youngest Was The Most Loved
5. Let Me Kiss You
6. Girlfriend In A Coma
7. In The Future When All’s Well
8. Don’t Make Fun Of Daddy’s Voice
9. To Me You Are A Work Of Art
10. Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before
11. Life Is A Pigsty
12. We’ll Let You Know
13. I Will See You In Far-Off Places
14. Irish Blood, English Heart
15. At Last I Am Born
16. I Just Want To See The Boy Happy
–encore–
17.Panic
At 11:20 PM, the first day’s headliners took the stage: Muse. The English alternative rock band made up of Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme is touring their latest album, Black Holes and Revelations, this year.
The combination of Matthew’s soft vocals, heavy guitar riffs, organ samples and a superb light show conjured up a magical atmosphere. The renditions of hits like New Born, Bliss, Supermassive Black Hole and the rest drove the crowd wild… A top-notch performance, pure perfection. It definitely pushed me to catch one of their own headline shows near Slovenia this year, no matter what.
Muse setlist:
1. Map Of The Problematique
2. Hysteria
3. Supermassive Black Hole
4. Butterflies & Hurricanes
5. Starlight
6. Forced In
7. Bliss
8. Feeling Good
9. Invincible
10. New Born
11. Plug In Baby
12. Stockholm Sydrome
–encore–
13. Take A Bow
14. Time Is Running Out
15. Knights Of Cydonia
Timetable
THURSDAY, 17.8.2006
˝Mainstage˝:
12.40: Mohair
13.25: Gods Of Blitz
14:20: Paolo Nutini
15.15: Morningwood
16.10: The Futureheads
17.10: Blumfeld
18.30: Nada Surf
19.50: Wir Sind Helden
21.20: Morrissey
23:20: Muse
˝2. Open Air-Bühne˝:
12.10: Sugarplum Fairy
13.05: Broken Social Scene
14.00: Kaizers Orchestra
14.55: Coheed And Cambria
15.50: Kettcar
16.45: Eagles Of Death Metal
17.45: Less Than Jake
19.05: Lostprophets
20.25: Bodycount feat. Ice T.
21.55: Soulwax Nightversions Live
23.40: Scissor Sisters
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