Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Vaz / St. Poelten / Austria
Concert date: 08/20/2009
Attendance: 70
The seventh FreQuency festival in a row is one of Europe’s bigger festivals, and over its history it has hosted plenty of big names from the international rock scene, like Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, Morrisey, Franz Ferdinand, Travis and Kaiser Chiefs. An alt-rock lineup with a good dose of MTV flavor, it brought The Prodigy, Radiohead, Grace Jones and Ska-P to this year’s FreQuency as the bigger names! Mix that with German-language acts that rule the pop scene of the German-speaking countries exclusively, like Peter Fox, Farin Urlaub Racing Team or Mia., and this year’s FreQuency was once again a sure bet that fills the coffers! The festival is especially interesting for foreign visitors like us Slovenians, thanks to all the Radiohead and The Prodigy fans, as well as lovers of mid-sized bands that get heavy rotation on the airwaves, like Jet, Kasabian, Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Mando Diao, Eagles Of Death Metal, Volbeat, The Sounds, The Editors, The Subways,… This year’s FreQuency got some extra spice from two legendary punks, Jello Biafra (ex-Dead Kennedyes) and C.J. Ramone (ex-Ramones)!
For the first time in its history, the festival moved from the former Formula 1 racetrack at the Salzburgring to St. Polten and the VAZ (Veranstaltungszentrum) grounds there. Readers and the RockLine crew know this party spot all too well from visiting the Lovely Days festival, which now takes place near the town of Wiesen.
At such a massively attended event, it’s worth showing up the day before the official start. That’s your guarantee of grabbing a decent spot to pitch your tent and charge your batteries for an assault on three days of partying, packed to the brim with acts spread across a whopping 7 different stages this year! Most of the highlights of this year’s FreQuency once again went to the two dominant stages: Race Stage (the bigger one) and Green Stage (the smaller one). They got their names at the original location, where Race Stage literally stood on a stretch of the racetrack near Salzburg, while the “green” stage, a 15-minute walk away, got its nickname because it was set up in a spot surrounded by forest.
This year the two stages were even closer together. Getting from one to the other took less than ten minutes on foot. The difference was that the main stage, Race Stage, stood exactly where the stage at Lovely Days has always stood, while the green stage took a spot east of the football stadium, so once again completely within an idyllic evergreen setting, which of course makes the name most fitting. They didn’t face each other, though, but stood almost parallel.
| RACE STAGE |
C.J. RAMONE: 14.30 – 14.55
Who doesn’t know the legendary Ramones, the first punk band, swarming across stages from the early seventies all the way to the mid-nineties? One of the troublemakers whose music has been part of every young rebel’s daily life for over three decades was C. J. Ramone, in the band between 1989 and 1996. The man, whose real name is Christopher Joseph Ward, was the one who on this day stripped the “racetrack” stage of its virginal glow and dirtied it up with a proper little punk party that unfolded under the blazing sun and on scorched sand, with dust rising meters and meters high. Even before the gentleman and his backing band stepped onstage, you could hear “Anarchy in the U.K.” by their English fellow tradesmen Sex Pistols, who were back then in Great Britain what the Ramones were in the Promised Land, as an overture to his set. In the measly twenty-five minutes C. J. had at his disposal, he wove together all the major hits of the legendary band from their rich discography of fourteen full-length records. So under his strings we got anthems like “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”, “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, “Teenage Lobotomy”, “It`s A Long Way Back”, and a few others. The legendary punk didn’t forget the recently departed King of Pop, Michael Jackson, either, dedicating a song with a slightly satirical title (and content) to him, “Glad To See You Go”. Not that it matters much, since most of the crowd was down front to party, not to moralize. C.J. Ramone proved there’s still plenty of youthful rebel spirit in him. Definitely one of the best “tribute to” shows I’ve seen in a while.
GLASVEGAS: 15.25 – 15.50
Scottish alternative rockers Glasvegas can boast plenty of strengths despite their relatively short existence (they’ve only been around since 2003), first and foremost an excellent live performance and a very listenable self-titled debut record that came out last September. The four-piece, already well established on the British Isles, is made up of hyperactive James Allan (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rab Allan (lead guitar, backing vocals), Paul Donoghue (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Caroline McKay (drums), who replaced Ryan Ross in 2005. Columbia Records lent an ear to their music, and alongside the debut album they also put out a mini record with an exclusively Christmas theme, “A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss). The success the four-piece is reaping is rounded out by numerous nominations (NME Awards, Mercury Prizes, Q Awards, MOJO Awards …) and awards (NME Awards). The crowd gathered here got to hear their quality with their own ears, and it’s hard to imagine anyone staying indifferent after their set. Every member of the band radiates incredible energy and charisma, and their music is a balm for the ears. Even if the stage didn’t look like much at first glance, it gained its charm from a huge glowing “Glasvegas” sign, whose lights switched on several times along the way. Songs like “Flowers And Football Tops”, “Geraldine”, “It`s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry”, “Go Square Go” and “Daddy`s Gone” from the debut were joined by “Fuck You, It`s Over” and “Please Come Back Home” from the mini album, plus a cover of “Everybody`s Got To Learn Sometime” by the British pop outfit The Korgis, who have been active, with breaks in between, since 1978. Their performance was polished and finished to perfection both visually and sonically, and the crowd was thrilled. Glasvegas are definitely one of those bands whose headline show I warmly recommend catching.
JET: 16.20 – 16.50
If Eagles Of Death Metal are America’s garage rock stars, then JET are their younger Australian cousins. The four-piece, whose roots don’t reach all that far back into the Millennium, grabbed attention with their debut album “Get Born” in 2003, when the guys decided to storm the scene full force. The decision clearly paid off. Their first single “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” charted on all the major music charts around the world right after release, got used in several films, TV shows, video games and commercials, and has already been covered by quite a few other artists. Although many compare the band to the legendary The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who or even Motown acts, JET firmly fend off those comparisons. They name their fellow countrymen You Am I as their biggest and most influential role model, especially their record “Hi Fi Way”, which shows on all of their releases so far. The debut “Get Born” was joined by “Shine On” in 2006, and that was followed last week by the third-born, “Shaka Rock”. The brothers Nic (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano) and Chris Cester (drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitar), Cameron Muncey (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Wilson (bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica) walked through all three records in a good thirty minutes and blew everyone away. More than many had expected. Starting with “Cold Hard Bitch”, the first song to debut on Billboard’s Hot 100, the partying flowed into “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” from the second record, and the opening trio was wrapped up with “She`s A Genious” from the brand-new album. For all the successes racked up by the songs played that day, none can compare to the aforementioned “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”, which is in a class of its own anyway. If the crowd had until then been hesitantly shifting from one foot to the other, that changed completely with this song. The multi-thousand-strong crowd set off a fanatical wave of cheering, clapping and jumping, which visibly put smiles on the four’s faces. Just like the first half, the second part of their set featured the remaining older hits: “Get What You Need” from the debut, “Holiday” and “Rip It Up” from the second full-length, and the newest “Beat On Repeat” and “Black Hearts (On Fire)”. Even though the latest songs couldn’t be heard all that often before the release, they’re already racking up success, because, like the older hits, they’re incredibly catchy and listenable. Even though this time the producer’s baton over the record was waved by Chris “Frenchie” Smith, and not their old acquaintance Dave Sardy, who worked with JET on the first two albums. Whatever the case, Frenchie did an excellent job, and just how excellent, the charts and the impartial critics, the audience, will show. The band deserves credit for their performance alone, never mind the music! Bravo, boys!
THE TING TINGS: 17.20 – 18.10
Last year’s biggest breakthrough on the music scene belonged to the British duo The Ting Tings, whose smash hit “That`s Not My Name” drove the world crazy in an instant and hit the very top of the UK singles chart. The same went for the album “We Started Nothing”, produced by none other than Jules De Martino, the male half of the duo. The gentler half is Katie White, an energetic blonde young lady with an unusual, at times slightly annoying voice, an interesting look and stage presence. What gives this unusual duo extra charm is that they do everything on stage by themselves. De Martino tames the drums, guitars and keyboards, and also contributes vocals. White acts as lead vocalist and guitarist, occasionally patting the bass drum and the synthesizer. If all this sounds like total chaos, it’s nothing of the sort. It’s a perfect symphony, of both instruments and voice. The Ting Tings, despite their tender age as a band, come across as incredibly tight and professional, which they proved again during their set at the Frequency festival. They got the crowd going with the very first song, the latest single “We Walk”, and heated them up even more with “Great DJ”, the opening theme from the Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire”. “Fruit Machine” then treated us to a short guitar solo from the young lady and a drum solo from De Martino. A definitely welcome bit of variety for an already rocking tune. One of the rare songs from the debut that wasn’t released as a single is “Keep Your Head”, where the initial enthusiasm eased off a little, but a few minutes later “Shut Up And Let Me Go” lit it up again. That’s the duo’s first song to successfully climb to the very top of Billboard’s Hot 100 shortly after its release and stay there for over six weeks. Then came a slightly odd moment, when White asked the assembled crowd, all those present and still of sound mind, to stick their hands in the air and say hi to her friends in England. “Impacilla Carpisung” is the second song played that day that didn’t achieve any notable success, but it still didn’t leave the crowd indifferent for a moment. The perfect finale to The Ting Tings’ set went to “That`s Not My Name”, their big hit, with which they carried the crowd to the peak for a second and final time. The duo isn’t resting on its laurels, though. A second studio record is already in the works, still without a title, not even a working one. Let’s just hope it’s as successful as its predecessor!
AFI: 18.40 – 19.30
After a flood of young and promising bands that had already played the “race” stage that day, it was finally time for something a bit older, or more established. The Americans A Fire Inside, or AFI for short, who started making music in the early nineties, have put out seven studio albums to date, the latest, “Decemberunderground”, in 2006 on Interscope Records, the same label that will release their new record in a little under thirty days, which the gentlemen have named “Crash Love”. Despite their long presence on the scene, they only had their bigger breakthrough in 2003 with the album “Sing The Sorrow” (DreamWorks). If Davey Havok (vocals), Jade Puget (guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals), Hunter Burgan (bass guitar, keyboards, programming, backing vocals) and Adam Carson (drums, percussion, backing vocals) swore by rawer hardcore until then, every record since has shown traces of commercialization and a hunger for success. Noticeably more than ever before. They turned from real HC maniacs into average moaners, which, besides the music and the look, is also proven by the crowd of emo girls and boys gathered under the stage. “Sing The Sorrow” was the pivotal record that still spoiled your ears with good old heavy rhythms, as in “Girl`s Not Grey” and “The Leaving Song Pt. II”, the two songs AFI opened their set with. “Summer Shudder” and “Kill Caustic” followed. Havok (in a light pink shirt and shiny silver Chucks !?!) showed his crazy moves for the first time that day. They continued in “Days Of The Phoenix” from the album “The Art Of Drowning” (Nitro, 2000), which flirts a bit more obviously with dark punk rhythms. The return to one of their most successful records was marked by “Silver And Cold”, but they couldn’t say goodbye to the album with that one either. A little later came “Dancing Through Sunday”, which again sparked the crowd. Then one of their older songs, “A Single Second”, settled into the ears like a balm, along with the moment when Havok finally growls the way a (former) hardcore guy should. To borrow the title of the record the track came out on: Shut Your Mouth And Open Your Eyes! Literally! Toward the end of the set AFI turned to the latest record, starting with “The Missing Frame”. That was followed by one of the rare covers the band has done. “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” was written by Paul Francis Webster and set to music by Sammy Fain. When? Way back in 1955. A classic in a new outfit. Almost like “Love Like Winter” or “Miss Murder” from that record, surely among AFI’s bigger hits. Between the two came “Totalimmortal” from the EP “All Hallow`s EP” (Nitro, 1999), which dispersed the electrified atmosphere between the last two a bit. Opinions are split on whether the gentlemen blew people away. AFI dedicated this playlist to everyone, older and slightly newer fans alike. Something for everybody. But not a single snippet of a song from the upcoming album for anyone. Looks like we’ll have to wait for the release for a first listen. Official date: September 29. So, soon!
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: 20.00 – 21.00
What would Eagles Of Death Metal be without Jesse Hughes, and what would Jesse Hughes be without girls? “Pigeons of shit metal”, as the mischievous Axl Rose labeled them in 2006. The steely lineup of Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes (vocals, guitar), Dave “Davey Jo” Catching (guitar), Brian “B.O.C.” O`Connor (bass guitar) and Joey “Sexy-Mexy” Castillo (drums), whom we had the chance to see again this March at Cvetličarna Mediapark in Ljubljana, are returning to Frequency festival, as their set on the “race” stage already went down in 2007, when the festival was still held at the racetrack in Salzburg. Hughes carried over the playfulness you could see as he wandered around the press center onto the stage, where it really came into its own in his flirting with the crowd. Noticeable but not pushy, even downright endearing. Especially at the moment a girl from the crowd handed him a comb onstage, which the gentleman used to tidy up his slightly cocky little mustache. The Eagles’ roughly hour-long set was marked by songs from all three records, “Peace, Love, Death Metal” (AntAcidAudio, 2004), “Death By Sexy” (Downtown, 2006) and “Heart On” (Downtown, 2008). The opening, as expected, went to “I Only Want You”, followed by “Don`t Speak (I Came to Make a Bang!)”, “Bad Dream Mama”, “Heart On” and “Cherry Cola”. The nearly ironclad repertoire, which also included “Secret Plans”, “Already Died”, “I Gotta Feelin (Just Nineteen)”, “Whorehoppin` (Shit, Goddamn)”, “I Want You So Hard (Boy`s Bad News)” and a few others, was livened up by a cover of “Stuck In A Metal” by Stealers Wheel, a Scottish folk rock band from the early seventies that came back to the scene last year after a long break. EoDM have a habit of putting a cover on their playlist, and this time it was that one. Once again they also justified their reputation as legends of American garage rock and proved they have no equal at what they do. Not just anyone can pull off the kind of charisma every single member of this band has.
KASABIAN: 21.30 – 23.00
The wait paid off. Kasabian were finally here. The multi-thousand-strong crowd greeted the band with one of the loudest cheers of the night, which isn’t surprising, since the band has been red hot lately. Mostly thanks to their latest, brand-new third studio record “West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum”, which came out at the start of this summer on RCA / Columbia. The four-piece, formed in 1999, waited a long five years for the release of their self-titled debut, then two years later (2006) hit again with the second full-length, “Empire”. The band, which comes from the mecca of indie rock, Great Britain, named itself after Linda Kasabian, a member of the Manson crime family. But they’re not the only ones connected to them in some way. Trent Reznor, body and soul of Nine Inch Nails, recorded his album “The Downward Spiral” in the house where, in 1969, members of the infamous quasi-commune led by Charles Milles Manson murdered the actress Sharon Tate. Naming a band after such a deviant person does sound chilling, but there’s nothing controversial about their music. The energy that carries from the stage to the crowd at times slightly recalls the kind you get at a Rage Against The Machine show, where even when you’re at the end of your strength, you still squeeze out the most you’ve got. Thanks, of course, to the music and the performers, who end up as drenched as if they were part of the crowd. Kasabian dedicated themselves to the third record right from the start and opened their set with “Vlad The Impaler”, followed by “Underdog”. Even though these are two completely fresh tracks, all it took was a few riffs for the crowd to launch into partying that only escalated with every following song. “Shoot The Runner”, the first song played from “Empire”, was rounded out by “Cutt Off” and “Processed Beast” from the debut. That last one climbed to number seventeen on the UK singles chart in 2004 as the third single, but sadly didn’t bring the band a breakthrough. “Empire” did, though, as the first single at the time, which stopped at number ten on that chart. “Where Did All Love Go” is another of the newest songs, during which the crowd calmed down a notch for the first time that evening and stayed at about the same level through “Take Aim” and “Fire”. “Fast Fuse” is also among the newer songs, but the crowd knows it a bit better from the little record that was only available in certain markets and not to the wider public. Although the “rest” was welcome, it didn’t last long. Kasabian played the rest of their set at full steam. “The Doberman” got the crowd back up to working temperature. The craziness was cranked up even further by “Club Foot”, a song the band dedicated to the Czech student Jan Palach, who committed suicide as a political protest. The four-piece of Tom Meighan (vocals), Sergio Pizzorno (guitar, backing vocals), Chris Edwards (bass guitar) and Ian Matthews (drums) brought their set to a close with “Stuntman” and “L. S. F. (Lost Souls Forever” from the second and first records respectively. Like many other acts, Kasabian couldn’t resist the temptation to play a cover. The gentlemen chose “You Got The Love” by the American soul and gospel singer Candi Staton, a lady whose real name is Canzetta Maria Staton. But that didn’t bother anyone. As long as Kasabian are on stage! Highly recommended!
PETER FOX: 23.30 –
As Austrians like to do, they once again picked a German-speaking act as the evening’s headliner, Peter Fox, better known as one of the vocalists of Seeed, whom the RockLine team caught live in 2007, also at the Frequency festival. That same year the mischievous fox also kicked off a solo career, and at the end of last September he released his debut “Stadtaffe”. Countless heads, thirsty for a bit of a local aperitif before the next festival day, gathered under the stage and greeted Fox with thunderous applause, whistles and shouts as the “race” stage was about to wrap up for the day. In just under two hours, he played them most of the songs from his debut (“Alles Neu”, “Schwarz Zu Blau”, “Haus Am See”, “Kopf verloren”, “Lok auf 2 Beinen”, “Der Letze Tag” …), a few Seeed hits (“Erykah”, “Timbaland Remix” …) and Miss Platinum covers (“She Moved In”, “Marry Me” …), to name just some. The fact is that no matter what Fox spun, the crowd would go wild. But sadly, in most cases that’s only the case with “local” acts.
| GREEN STAGE |
Even before Race Stage, the biggest of all the stages, came to life, the FreQuency festival actually got going around 2.00 in the afternoon!
| CUVEE: 14.05-14.40 |
The young Graz quintet Cuvee was honored this time with opening FreQuency 2009! With their eyes aimed straight at the sun, the Graz youngsters, led by singer Anni, got a thorough taste of what three meters of height and scorching heat feel like. Even though they’re new on the scene, the band has already played some 200 concerts around Austria. RockLine caught them on 06/10/2009 at the Orpheum in Graz, ahead of a set by the excellent singer and former member of the hard rock band Bad English, John Waite. The band didn’t really say anything new. This time too, they offered a melodic alt-rock riddle with dark connotations. No complications, building a backdrop of a riff curtain of smeared, fashionable crunch. The band played a concert without any notable mistakes, confidently, and above all Anni again showed she’s a singer with great talent. Maybe in the future it would be worth building on a more polished outward image, which goes especially for Anni, who will have to start working out the ratio of calories in to calories burned ASAP! The set list of course didn’t lack the band’s first single, called Out Of Habit!
| DUNE: 15.00-15.40 |
A full seven musicians took the stage when the Danes Dúné, from the town of Skive, played. We have to be careful not to confuse them with the German band Dune, whose origins go back to 1992. The words Dune and Dúné are pronounced completely differently. This is soft indie rock leaning on sonic sampling, courtesy of two keyboardists, Cecilie Dyrberg (the girl likes to grab a guitar too) and Ole Bjørn Sørensen, which brings electro-pop impulses into the expression. Most of the attention on stage goes to the curly-haired, androgynous-looking singer Mattias Kolstrup. The band, which releases its second studio album “Enter Metropolis” at the end of August, put into the set list, besides the brand-new Heat and the opener Time To Leave, also the songs Last Beat, 80 Years, the hit single Bloodlines and Dry Lips. The band, very well known to the Austrian audience, enjoyed all the attention it got from the crowd. The crowd paid no mind to the fierce heat and freely gave itself over to the pleasures of the band’s well-rehearsed performance. This is music that doesn’t require any special knowledge, all you need is to pay attention so you don’t make a critical mistake during the performance. The point, of course, is pleasing the crowd, which Mattias does with great confidence. Pretty little music, but nothing out of the ordinary!
ENTER SHIKARI: 16.05 – 16.45
The British “happy-core” four-piece Enter Shikari found themselves on Austrian soil again. Last year they tore up the “red” stage at Nova Rock festival, and this year the devastation continued at Frequency. But a lot can happen in a year. The guys still look mischievously endearing, but their discography is richer by a second record, “Common Dreads”, which came out at the start of this summer. And their music? Unchanged! The madness the lads put on onstage is hard to describe, the closest approximation would be a bouncing ball, since the trio of Roughton “Rou” Reynolds (vocals, electronics), Liam “Rory” Clewlow (guitar, backing vocals) and Chris Batten (bass guitar, backing vocals) never stop moving back and forth. So much so that you sometimes feel sorry for Rob Rolfe (drums, percussion), chained back there. But the crowd quickly realizes the guy has plenty of free rein and can stroll around the stage too. So in a good thirty-five minutes the four-piece presented songs from both studio records, starting with the latest, which features “Solidarity”, “No Sleep Tonight”, “Havoc B”, “Hectic”. From their 2007 debut “Take To The Skies” came “Mothership”, “Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour”, “Sorry, You`r Not A Winner”, “OK, Time For Plan B”, mostly already pretty worn-out hits that keep racking up success. A first-class hardcore party guaranteed!
| SELIG: 17.15-18.00 |
One of the bigger sensations of recent times is the reunion of one of the most important rock bands of the nineties! In the territory bounded by Germany and Austria, of course. The band, whose name on the rock planet Earth means less than the dirt under the fingernail of a ticket-punching conductor on a passenger train between Ljubljana and Kamnik, released three albums in the nineties, then broke up and got back together ten years later. That’s how the fourth album, “Und endlich unendlich” (2009), came out of the woodwork. In March this year the band was already happily promoting the reunion and the new album around Germany. At FreQuency they offered an interesting mix of songs, ranging from louder rock pop tunes with a grunge outline to a few semi-acoustic sophisticated numbers, where you wouldn’t be surprised if someone nearby lit up a tasty cannabis bud. A tight, polished, predictable show, in which singer Jan Plewka showed the most signs of life among those on stage, with his expressive singing!
ANTI-FLAG: 18.35 – 19.25
Anti-Flag are definitely one of the more interesting bands on the American music scene. These politically committed modern-day punks count 1988 as the start of their existence, although the lineup changed a few more times until 1993, when they started working seriously. The band, whose members are either vegan or vegetarian and fighters for animal rights and the organization PETA, released their ninth studio album “The People Or The Gun” this June, from which the guys played only two songs, “Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C. (Sheep In Shepherd’s Clothing)” and “The Gre(a)t Depression”. The four-piece wove most of their older hits into the cycle of songs played and walked through all their more notable records. First there’s “Mobilize” from 2002 with the song “Die For The Government”, followed by “The Terror State” from 2003 with the songs “Turncoat”, “Death Of A Nation”, “Mind The GATT”. In 2006 the guys released “For Blood And Empire”. The tracks that marked that record are “I`d Tell You But”, “This is the End (For You My Friend)”, “One Trillion Dollars”, “The Press Corpse”, “Cities Burn”, all heard at this year’s festival. They didn’t forget last year’s “The Bright Lights Of America” either, with the song “The Smartest Bomb”. Among their own tracks, Anti-Flag also slipped in a cover of “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” by the English rockers The Clash, who were active from the mid-seventies all the way to the mid-eighties. A full day of sweating it out under the scorching sun peaked with Anti-Flag, and nobody could stop the madness that started with the opening riff, no matter how hard they tried. Why would they? Bassist Chris Barker spiced it up even further by taking an incredible crowd surfing trip. A real feast for the eyes! And anyone who also missed them in Celje a few days before the festival has good reason to be sorry.
| VOLBEAT: 19.55-20.35 |
Volbeat are old acquaintances of ours. They have two studio records out, and the latest, “Guitar Gangsters And Cadillac Blood”, still holds all the relevance of the band’s massive promotion. After the March tour, the band is using the summer to appear at some European festivals. This is a really interesting Danish band that, among newer bands, offers a uniquely compatible head-on collision of heavy metal elements with traditional rockabilly levers. If Kerry King of Slayer, tattooed from head to toe, still had any hair on his head, he’d only have to slick it back with brilliantine in the style of Elvis’s most famous hairdo, and it would be Michael Poulsen standing on that stage. Luckily Poulsen still has a bit of hair to do that, and he dressed his forearms long ago in hefty tattoos. White shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off the tattoo art, a vest over the shirt in memory of the golden fifties. The band rages onstage mercilessly loud and scorching. Poulsen deliberately bellows with his voice in the style of a Presley and in places even sobs piercingly, following the example of the departed king of rock n’ roll. The band diligently clings to the sound of semi-acoustic Gibson guitars, heavily plugged into noisy distortion of course, as Guitar Gangster And Cadillac Blood rolls on, then Hallelujah Goat, Radio Girl, Sad Man’s Tongue, Mr. & Mrs. Ness,… Volbeat even included the Misfits cover Angelfuck in the set, since Poulsen is a big fan of that band. Sadly the band played at the same time as Eagles Of Death Metal on Race Stage, so the decision of which band to give my attention to was really tough this time, but Volbeat, as rising stars, are a touch more relevant, if only because you won’t find a single solitary band in rock today that sounds or looks even remotely like them. A mass of 30,000 wild stallions and mares partied under the stage with the band, direct proof that this is a hugely popular band among young people. And Volbeat are no cheap band. This is a band that throws an unforgettable party, after which the smell of burning lighter fluid from Zippo lighters stays sealed in your nostrils for a good while! With their polished, superbly tight and highly charismatic show, Volbeat threw down the gauntlet to teenage idols and punk rockers Rise Against and forced them to hold nothing back on their energy reserves as the next act on the green stage!
RISE AGAINST: 21.25 – 22.35
The set by the American melodic hardcore band Rise Against wasn’t significantly different from last year’s show at Nova Rock. All they had to do was take the crowd, already warmed up by Anti-Flag and Volbeat, to the heights. The band pulled it off, mostly thanks to an excellent performance and a repertoire made up largely of potential hits from the latest studio album, released last year, “Appeal To Reason”. In the bit under a year since its release and the exhausting tour, the songs fell on fertile ground and at the festival reaped a wave of cheering, singalongs, circle pits and similar goings-on that are part of a hardcore party. We’re talking about the songs “Collapse (Post-America)”, “Re-Education (Through Labour)”, “The Dirt Whispered”, “Audience Of One” and “Savior”, which were skillfully interwoven with older hits. That record is also the first Rise Against album to climb just below the top of the Billboard 200. Even so, Tim McIlrath (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Joe Principe (bass guitar, backing vocals), Brandon Barnes (drums, percussion) and Zach Blair (lead guitar, backing vocals) haven’t ventured into commercial waters and are sticking to their principles. Animal rights fighters and supporters of the organization PETA, they also paid tribute to somewhat older records, like “Siren Song of the Counter Culture” from 2004. “State Of The Union”, “Paper Wings”, “Blood To Bleed”, “Dancing For Rain” and “Give It All” are an unforgettable part of their repertoire. Their fourth full-length, “The Sufferer & the Witness” from 2006, also shone in the best light, featuring the equally excellent “Long Forgotten Sons”, “The Good Left Undone”, “Prayer Of The Refugee”, “Ready To Fall”, “Drones”, “Survive” and “Chamber The Cartridge”. The first two records, the debut “The Unraveling” (2001) and “Revolutions Per Minute”, stayed untouched this time, and McIlarth and company also skipped “Hero Of War”, otherwise a staple of their tour this year. An excellent repertoire was matched by an excellent performance. Both the crowd and the band were satisfied, and even though the guys aren’t exactly in the habit of giving thanks, that night they bowed to the gathered crowd several times and drove it onward with a fresh wave of energy. Till we meet again!
PENDULUM LIVE: 23.05 –
The Australian band Pendulum Live, formed in 2002, has over the years built its own genre, melodic chaos, a fusion of drum & bass, electronics and rock`n`roll, the brainchild of a six-piece that has been made up since the very beginning of Rob Swire (songwriter, producer, lead vocals, synthesizer, ztar), Gareth McGrillen (songwriter, producer, bass guitar, vocals, turntable), Peredur ap Gwynedd (guitar), Paul “El Hornet” Harding (songwriter, producer, turntable), Paul Kodish (drums) and Ben “The Verse” Mount (MC). Although already well known on home soil, a year later the band decided to move to the Old Continent, where it conquered the British music market in an instant. An even bigger breakthrough came with the debut album “Hold Your Color”, released in 2005, which became the best-selling D&B album of its time in the UK and Australia. Pendulum Live confirmed their success with their second, slightly harder studio record “In Silicio”, released last year, which broke into second place on the UK albums chart soon after release. So at Frequency festival the band presented most of their own songs, like “Slam”, “Tarantula”, “Hold Your Colour”, “Streamline”, “Another Planet” and “Still Grey” from the debut, and “Showdown”, “Propane Nightmares”, “Visions”, “The Other Side” and “Granite” from the second full-length. And it’s not just their music that’s special. Their live shows are further spiced up by incredible energy and excellent video projections, which are a real feast for the eyes! Another special thing about the band is that they mix some songs on the fly onstage, on as many as thirteen computers, which they also use to occasionally drive the projections. Which isn’t surprising, since the band has three producers whose ideas constantly bubble up, and who always have their tools within reach one way or another. And that last bit is usually what earns the wildest and loudest applause from the crowd. A party under the stars, with lots of their own songs and even more improvisation. A recipe for the perfect end to the night!
| words: Lea Lesar (C. J. Ramone, Glasvegas, JET, The Ting Things, AFI, Eagles of Death Metal, Kasabian, Peter Fox, Enter Shikari, Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Pendulum Live) |
| words: Aleš Podbrežnik (intro, Cuvée, Dúné, Selig, Volbeat) |
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photos: Aleš Podbrežnik |
Setlist
RACE STAGE: CJ Ramone Glasvegas Jet The Ting Tings AFI Eagles Of Death Metal Kasabian Peter Fox GREEN STAGE: Cuvee Dune Enter Shikari Selig Anti-Flag Volbeat Rise Against Pendulum Live DUNE set list: 1. Time To Leave 2. Heat 3. Let Go Of Your Love 4. Final Party Of 5. The 21st Century 6. Bloodlines 7. John Wayne vs. Mary Chain 8. Dry Lips 9. 80 Years JET set list: 1. Cold hard bitch 2. Put your money where your mouth is 3. She’s a genius 4. Are you gonna be my girl 5. Get what you need 6. Beat on repeat 7. Holiday 8. Black hearts (on fire) 9. Rip it up THE TING TINGS set list: 1.We Walk 2.Great DJ 3.Fruit Machine 4.Keep Your Head 5.Shut Up And Let Me Go 6.Impacilla Carpisung 7.That’s Not My Name AFI set list: 1.Girl’s Not Grey 2.The Leaving Song Pt. II 3.Summer Shudder 4.Kill Caustic 5.Days Of The Phoenix 6.Silver And Cold 7.A Single Second 8.The Missing Frame 9.Dancing Through Sunday 10.Love Is A Many Splendored Thing 11.Love Like Winter 12.Totalimmortal 13.Miss Murder ANTI-FLAG set list: 1.Turncoat 2.I’d tell you but… 3.Die For The Government 4.Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington D.C. (Sheep In Shepherd’s Clothing) 5.The Smartest Bomb 6. One Trillion Dollars 7.Death Of A Nation 8.Mind the GATT 9.The Press Corpse 10.This is the End (For You My Friend) 11.The Gre(A)t Depression 12.Should I Stay Or Should I Go (The Clash cover) 13.Cities Burn VOLBEAT set list: 1.Intro (End of the Road) 2.Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood 3.Hallelujah Goat 4.Radio Girl 5.Sad Man’s Tongue 6.Mr. & Mrs. Ness 7.Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza 8.Mary Ann’s Place 9.Angelfuck (Misfits cover) 10.The Human Instrument 11.The Garden’s Tale 12.Caroline #1 13.Still Counting 14.We RISE AGAINST set list: 1.Collapse (Post-Amerika) 2.State Of The Union 3.Re-Education (Through Labor) 4.Paper Wings 5.Long Forgotten Sons 6.The Good Left Undone 7.Chamber The Cartridge 8.Drones 9.The Dirt Whispered 10.Audience Of One 11.Blood To Bleed 12.Savior 13.Survive 14.Prayer Of The Refugee —encore— 15.Dancing For Rain 16.Give It All 17.Ready To Fall KASABIAN set list: 1. Vlad the Impaler 2. Underdog 3. Shoot the runner 4. Cut off 5. Processed beat 6. Empire 7. Where did all the love go 8. Take aim 9. Fire 10. Fast fuse 11. The doberman 12. Club foot 13. Stuntman 14. You got the love (Candi Staton Cover) 15. L.S.F.
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