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Pohoda Festival 2008 in Trencin, Slowakei
In Kürze: The Festival trail is a pretty well trodden path these days, however there’s a whole wealth (and world) of celebrations of summer and music out there and searching them out is part of the magic.
Vollständig: WHAT: POHODA FESTIVAL
WHERE: TRENCIN, SLOVAKIA (1 HOUR SOUTH OF THE CAPITAL BRATISLAVA)
WHEN: JULY 18TH-19TH 2008
WHO: Gossip, Fatboy Slim, The Streets, Editors, Blood Red Shoes, Richard Müller, Audio Bullys, Unkle (Live), Miss Kittin and the Hacker Live, The Cribs, Matthew Herbert Big Band (all 25 members!), Royal Choral Society, Slovak National Theatre, Joan Baez and many more…
The Festival trail is a pretty well trodden path these days, however there’s a whole wealth (and world) of celebrations of summer and music out there and searching them out is part of the magic. An event that has been building over the last 12 years in Slovakia and now making waves in the UK and across Europe – The Pohoda festival takes place over 2 days every July. So, like any self respecting festival goer - off we go in search of some new festival highs…
MEET ME IN THE SKY (bar)
Flying into Bratislava, the Slovakian capital then heading south for an hour by road, we cut through beautiful scenery including the biggest field of sun flowers known to man, before arriving arrive in Trencin, where Pohoda (pronounced PO-Hoda) is held. Trencin is in the central Váh River valley near the Czech border, it has a population of more than 56,000 and an impressive medieval castle, that holds court perched high up over-looking the festival site.
The line ups are awesome of course, but what made this different to the other great festivals world wide? Where are the “quirks” going on that the locals said we “have to check out”? Looking up and then to the side, there were little pockets of stuff going on everywhere, stuff we wanted to get involved in - 165 feet in the air there was a bar, with a giant board room table and swivel chairs, all sounds pretty average – that is apart from the fact it was just that, just the bar, tables and chairs, its not actually a building and its suspended by a crane, rotating 360 degrees giving its brave sitters a birds eye view of the impressive site, historic castle and surrounding mountains. Strapped in roller coaster seat style sitting around a boardroom table suspended in the air, simply taking in the view and drinking a beer was surreal to say the least.
In honour to the Fat Boy Slim appearance, there was a ‘Praise you’ dance off, inspired by the genius Spike Jonze music video. The dance off consisted of a giant marquee and the ‘Praise you’ video repeating on giant screens, dance instructors went through the dance moves and everyone got involved following the instructions. Watching so many people do that dance is as hilarious as it is infectious, you could see people standing around the edges not sure if they wanted to get involved, but after a couple of minutes seeing how much fun people were having the temptation proved too much and everyone joined in (yes us included, so I hope there aren’t any photos!)
Check out what Virtual festivals called “the most surreal moment in festival history “here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw1w9ObxsAM
LET THE MUSIC DO THE TALKING
It’s almost a festival ritual that you don’t actually see that much music, you walk around trying to find lost friends or get stuck in a muddy traffic jam of people. But well thought out programming and a site that isn’t as vast as a small county, gorgeous weather and absolutely no mud meant this wasn’t a problem.
Beth Ditto’s Gossip were their usual impressive selves, punk rock attire and even more punk rock attitude as Beth stormed her way through crowd pleasers ‘Yr Mangled Heart’ and ‘Standing in the way of Control’. Bravely the band also did previewed 4 brand new songs from material they are currently working on, Beth commented “some of them aren’t even fully finished yet but we wanted to try out something fresh”; half way through the set she stops to check on a member of the audience after noticing something out front, calling out to him “please just let us know you are ok sir” ahhh she’s a softy really. While The Cribs – had a very rock n roll play fight on stage with their soundtech guy mid set. Sending bodies and mic stands flying.
As the sun rose at 5am a 30 strong choir welcomed the second and last day of the festival with a breathtaking 30 minute performance. Watching the sun come up over the mountains and flood the castle in orange hues, while the choir sang was quite a moving moment.
The traditional art of crowd surfing gets massive respect in Slovakia with the braver punters getting involved at every opportunity; as well as Mike Skinner of The streets and Billy Lunn from The Subways. Both jumped off stage and crowd surfed,while Mike also got the entire crowd of roughly 10,000 people to crouch on the floor and divide down the middle, it went quiet then the music kicked back in and the entire audience erupted, jumping, leaving Mike to surf the crowd. He urges everyone to look in the eyes of a person in the crowd they don’t know, to hug them and dance with them; everyone does it despite the language difference. Some kind of alchemy between the band and the audience happened and it was one of those special moments that everyone took part in - an amazing way to close the main stage on the final night.
WHY GO…?
Travelling internationally for a festival fix is surely the next step for the well versed festival goer, combining exploring new destinations with a great music event. At Pohoda you can see the type of acts you’d hope to see in England, plus open your ears to something new. From the sunrise choir, to crowd surfing with the bands, taking part in a 5,000 strong dance off and much more Pohoda really provided some special moments.
ESSENTIAL DETAILS:
TICKETS: 28 Euros for 2 day pass
FLIGHTS FROM: £29 one way from Luton with Sky Europe
Dazed Digital / UK… “Situated on an airbase in the middle of the Slovakian countryside, Pohoda is like no other festival. With bands plucked from all corners of the world, it really is a wonderful clash of cultures.”
Beat Magazine / Italy …"Pohoda is a widely different experience of festival, It's a kind of big party with entertainment for everyone.”
James Lavelle / Unkle “Good times in the wild wild east”
Kevin Mark Trail / The Streets “Great crowd, good energy, and the best hotel I've ever stayed in…”
Billy Lunn / The Subways “Great festival and the sun was shining! So were all the beautiful faces in the crowd! Can't wait for the chance to play there again!".
Dieser Bericht wurde am 21.08.2008 durch Kim Smith
publiziert.
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