Concert date: 22.08.2006
Attendance: 1808
Ticket price: 30.000
Review by: Živa Viviana Doria
On day two we woke up to a cloudy morning with a longish downpour, which the sun thankfully chased away before the gigs kicked off.
At 12.10 the second stage was opened by New Zealand’s Goldenhorse- a kind of mellow pop rock band. They reminded me slightly of the better-known The Cardigans. They didn’t leave any surprising impression on me.
Next up on the main stage was the “electro rock” outfit Morningwood. Their utterly wild singer entertained the crowd with a provocative performance. During the song Take Off Your Clothes she invited a guy and a girl from the front of the stage up to join her. The sexually charged lyrics and her on-stage T-shirt stripping cranked up the temperature, mostly for the male half of the crowd.
After that came a stroll past the stalls and a bit of junk food, which, thanks to how tasteless it was, quickly ended up in the bin.
Back at the main stage, Germany’s Tomte were already wrapping up their set.
Toward the afternoon the band onslaught began, in this order: Editors, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Mando Diao…, who glued plenty of people to the front of the stage, and they surely didn’t budge until the end of the night.
At 16.10 the already-proven Brits Editors took the stage, one of the currently very popular modern rock bands from the Isles. In February I also caught their own headline show in Vienna. Sadly, this time they were limited to a measly 40 min, which flies by far too fast with music like this. With the hits Munich, Bullets, Blood they completely won everyone over.
The temperature in front of the stage kept climbing as everyone waited for this year’s (again British) big attraction, Arctic Monkeys, who, if I’m not mistaken, were visiting the Alpine country for the first time. The lads, literally shot into the musical elite overnight, first drove mostly the teenage crowd in Britain wild with their boyish charm and thoroughly quality music, and soon the rest of Europe too. They opened the set with View from The Afternoon, and also worked in I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, Fake Tales Of San Francisco and other songs from their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That´s What I´m Not. They closed with the super good song Certain Romance.
Arctic Monkeys setlist:
1. View From The Afternoon
2. Still Take You Home
3. You Probably Couldn´t See
4. Cigarette Smoker Fiona
5. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong
6. Dancing Shoes
7. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
8. From The Ritz To The Ruble
9. Leave Before The Light Come On
10. Fake Tales of SF
11. Mardy Bum
12. When The Sun Goes Down
13. Certain Romance
Next came Kaiser Chiefs, who label themselves a post punk/art rock outfit.
With Ricky Wilson as frontman they played a truly unbelievably energetic and excellent show, with the hits Na, Na, Na,Na, Oh My God, I Predict A Riot, Angry Mob…
Next to take the stage were Sweden’s Mando Diao. I’ve been hooked on their music ever since I first saw them as REM’s support act in Graz last year. Those unmistakable guitar riffs, Gibsons, skinny jeans, excellent vocals…you just can’t resist their charm. This time, though, the weaker sound probably had something to do with me feeling a bit indifferent about their set. They played Down In The Past, God Knows, Sheepdog, You Can´t Still My Love…in short, their ˝Must Hear˝ tracks, plus the latest single Long Before Rock ´n´ Roll, which heralds their new record, due out this fall.
Preparations began for the big marvel of this year’s Frequency – Prodigy.
The space in front of the stage started filling up, and at 21:20 pounding techno beats and some strange screams started blasting out of the speakers. What an incredible about-face from the mood before.
The former kings of rave have clearly returned in grand style this year. Keith Flint paraded around and showed off on stage with his over-the-top mugging, while Maxim spent most of the time yelling into the mic ˝Where The Fuck is Frequency!˝ It was wild and loud.
Prodigy setlist:
1. Intro
2. Wake The Fuck Up
3. Breathe
4. Their Law
5. Spitfire
6. No Good
7. Bak to Skool
8. Firestarter
9. Action Radar Link
10. Warning
11. Voodoo
–encore—
12. Poison
13. Diesel Power
14. Smak my Bitch Up
15. Out of Space
Being so close to the speakers, my eardrums couldn’t take that kind of battering anymore, so I left the show early and headed to the small stage, where Calexico were playing. I looked them up afterwards: they’re an indie rock band from Arizona with a touch of Mexico in their music. Another interesting band I’ll have to add to my list of gigs still to catch.
The festival was nearing its end. All that was left were the two Scottish headliners of the two stages, Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian. Since you can’t be at both shows at once, this time I went for Belle & Sebastian. The big band comes from Glasgow. Pretty much every member plays pretty much every instrument, since they kept swapping the whole time. I have to say the space in front of this stage was packed too, which says a lot about the group’s popularity. Singer Stuart built the atmosphere by chatting with the band and the fans. He danced on stage with a little girl from the crowd, said he wished he had make-up and an evening gown, and kept us laughing. In between there was plenty of excellent music and ear-friendly little songs about his more or less successful love affairs. Nonstop banter with the audience, a charming singer and a cozy mood on stage conjured up a really lovely show that, even with the encore, was over far too soon.
Belle & Sebastian setlist:
1. The State I Am In
2. Funny Little Frog
3. Like Dylan In The Movies
4. Sukie in the Graveyard.
5. To Be Myself Completely
6. Electronic Renaissance
7. The Loneliness Of A Middle-Distance Runner
8. We are the Sleepyheads
9. Lord Anthony
10. If You’re Feeling Sinister
11. Simple Things
12. The Blues Are Still Blue
13. Dog on wheels
14. I’m A Cuckoo
15. Jonathan David
16. White Collar Boy
17. Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying
—encore—
18. The Boy With The Arab Strap
19. Sleep The Clock Around
Wrap-up: perfect organization, great weather, great music. Unfortunately, with two stages you have to make compromises, since it’s physically impossible to be at both at once. Otherwise, a festival I’d recommend checking out next year!
Setlist
FRIDAY, 18.8.2006
˝Mainstage˝:
12.40: Brakes
13.25: 3 Feet Smaller
14:20: Cursive
15.15: Tomte
16.10: Editors
17.10: Arctic Monkeys
18.30: Kaiser Chiefs
19.50: Mando Diao
21.20: The Prodigy
23:20: Franz Ferdinand
˝2. Open Air-Bühne˝:
13.05: The Bishops
14.00: The Paddingtons
14.55: Robocop Kraus
15.50: We Are Scientist
16.45: Joy Denalane
17.45: Art Brut
19.05: Fettes Brot
20.25: Bauchklang
21.55: Calexico
23.40: Belle & Sebastian
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