The father of Britain’s music festivals, Michael Eavis, reminisced about
Glastonbury’s early atmosphere recently. In those days, artists such as T
Rex, Hawkwind and the dimly remembered Amazing Blondel would roll up to play
to a small but eager crowd of hippies ankle-deep in cow dung. Despite
mushrooming, Glastonbury retains some of its original character, but other
British festivals, though well known and hugely successful, now seem more
about business than passion.
Cue the new wave of international festivals, such as Exit in Serbia, Detroit’s
Electronic Music Festival, Movement, the Big Chill Goa and the Dubai Desert
Rock Fest, which are fuelling a new form of tourism for British fans. These
gatherings have sprung up not just to serve the musical tastes of the
region, but to reflect social movements, just as, on a more mainstream
level, Al Gore’s Live Earth concerts aim to highlight climate change.
Serbia’s Exit, now in its seventh year, began as a youthful political
protest against Milosevic. A festival regular, Sanja Milosevic (no
relation), says that its appeal still goes beyond the headline acts: “It’s a
chance to show solidarity — if not in politics, then in simply being young,
human and independent.”
Other festivals are about asserting identity by maintaining a smaller size and
a defined musical focus. Derrick May, the godfather of techno, is one of
those behind Movement. He says that key to this once-underground festival’s
appeal is its urban setting, wedged between City Hall and the monolith that
is the General Motors HQ in Detroit. “Detroit has an industrial heritage,
but right now it is on the cusp of something new, like Berlin,” says May.
“Youget great music, parties and people,but also the vibe of the city.”
Sonar, in Barcelona, also has an electronic speciality, but bills itself as a
multimedia event, attracting the sort who board flights to go clubbing. This
year’s gala night brings the Beastie Boys out of cold storage. “Technology
drives the times — music and art and dance can merge to reflect this,” says
Georgia Taglietti, an organiser. “Ours is a festival for people with an
interest in going forward.”
Some festivals take the extreme beauty of the landscape as their backdrop. The
Dubai Desert Rock Fest, set in the shifting dunes of the desert of the UAE,
is a haven for secret rock lovers: big tunes, air-guitar marathons, big hair
and, despite their utter impracticality, lots of safety pins and black. But
the gigs aren’t just for the UAE’s western expatriates. Last year, the
Indian Junkyard Groove won the Shamal Battle of the Bands and opened for
Iron Maiden.
This pride in their own identity is integral to these festivals. “It’s about
participating in the spirit of the event,” says May. “You are the event —
you get your own experience.”
It was precisely this spirit of involvement and local participation that
inspired the Big Chill founders, Pete Lawrence and Katrina Larkin, to put on
their first festival in Goa, India. “We wanted to create something that was
culturally fused,” says Lawrence.
Identity is not aligned to geography in the way it once was. These festivals,
whether home-grown or a “brand extension” of an existing one, draw together
communities from around the world (as the Spanish Womad events do), and by
keeping the numbers down, they have reignited a lost sense of community,
purpose and, well, celebration. “Every year, I see people surprise
themselves by being all they imagined they could be just for a few days. I
don’t think it is going too far to say that some small piece of human
potential is being realised,” says Tony Balogh, one of the Sweden Rock
organisers. Call it hippieish if you like, but it was just this attitude
that inspired a boyish farmer to stage the first Glastonbury festival back
in 1970.
Glastonbury is a continuing triumph of character amid characterless,
corporate-saturated swill. While Virgin establishes itself as the Starbucks
of live music, syndi-cating the corporate festival experience globally, this
lot might raise the right kind of expectations. And, even having added in
the cost of a flight, these festivals can cost less to attend or can become
part of a longer trip. As May says: “What it needs is a heart in the right
place. Then you might be able to say, ‘I was part of something. I was
there.’”
MOVEMENT: electric eclectic
Detroit, home of techno, Motown and the Chevy truck, celebrates the electronic
genre. Kevin Saunderson and other “Detroit heroes” join forces with
international DJ stars for three nights of downtown electro partying.
Aftershow allnighters carry festival-goers through until sunrise. May 26-28; www.demf.com
SWEDEN ROCK: mellow gold
This intimate festival boasts a contrary blend of rock music, pastoral idyll
and people from more than 30 countries behaving courteously around the camp
site. The organisers are passionate about who they schedule. “It is not
about getting the biggest act we can — it is about making it right,” says
Balogh. “Sometimes, a big, big band can destroy an event. They attract their
own fan base and this can skew the vibe.”
Aerosmith, Meat Loaf and REO Speedwagon are up, plus other Scandinavian
talent. June 6-9; www.swedenrock.com
SONAR: partying in Barcelona
Expect cutting-edge mixed-media installations, art shows and dance in
city-centre venues, plus the Beastie Boys, 1980s synth-pop heroes Devo,
Narod Niki and the cult Japanese superstar Cornelius. June 14-16; www.sonar.es
EXIT: agitpop
This highly charged Slavic festival is set by the Danube, in the Petrovaradin
Fortress of Novi Sad. Pose as a revolutionary while watching Wu-Tang Clan
and Robert Plant, and enjoy allnighter DJ sets from John Digweed, Eric Prydz
et al. July 12-15; www.exitfest.org
FUJI ROCK: the ‘it’ fest
Set halfway up a glorious mountain, Fuji is stuffed with every conceivable
“now” band, plus the best cult artists of yore. Kaiser Chiefs, Clap Your
Hands Say Yeah, G Love & Special Sauce, plus Iggy & the Stooges and
the Cure are all appearing this year. July 27-29; www.fujirockfestival.com
ROCK WERCHTER: lowland indie heaven
Expanded to four days, this Belgian classic has one of the greatest of all
festival atmospheres. Expect Belgian bands to nestle on the bill next to the
Arctic Monkeys, Razor-light, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, the Killers and
Muse. June 28-July 1; www.rockwerchter.be
OXEGEN: craicing soundtrack
This four-year-old Co Kildare event offers Irish hospitality with fine backing
tracks, on the site of a racetrack. See Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters and Amy
Winehouse, drink beer, and take your chances on the Big Drop rollercoaster.
July 7-8; www.oxegen.ie
BIG DAY OUT: Oz ecofest
This series of live-music days across antipodean cities has one over on Al
Gore: it qualifies as the world’s first carbon-neutral festival. See bands
from around the world proving there’s culture down under. December 2007/
January 2008; www.bigdayout.com
DUBAI DESERT ROCK FEST: guilty pleasures in the sand
Twenty minutes from the centre of the city dubbed “Manhattan on speed”, the
famed golden dunes are capped off to make a spectacular venue. Expect
stunning light shows and a 20,000 crowd drawn from across the Middle East.
Chill-out tents offer Arabian hospitality. Robert Plant, the Prodigy and
Iron Maiden played this year. Book early for next March 7-8; www.desertrockfestival.com
