Roskilde 2010!

Wednesday after work I biked into town to meet with Sarah and Pirita and we shopped for picnic food before heading to Kings Park to enjoy the afternoon sun. We did not have much luck with the grill which did not light but it was probably a good thing as you are apparently not allowed to grill in the park anyway. So we headed back to my place and grilled on my tiny stove top and had a lovely dinner on the roof terrace. We were going to go watch the Skt Hans bonfires but Germany was playing a World Cup game and Sarah got engrossed. It was quite late by the time this ended so the girls left and I went to sleep.

Friday UK Martin was arriving. After work I left my bike at home and walked to Tivoli. After we met up we went inside to trade our Roskilde tickets for wristbands. I was surprised how short the queue was after last year’s massive wait for some people and we soon had our wristbands. We then went back to my apartment so that Martin could dump his bag and seeing as our wristbands gave us entry to Tivoli we headed back so that Martin could have a look around. We got some beers and waited for the band to start but there were not many people which was very strange for a Friday Rock concert so we headed out to my old school for the graduation party. Morten met us there and soon Ana and Phong joined and it was really nice to catch up with school peeps. It soon turned into a very fun raging party and it was not till after 4am that we finally made it home and crash.

Saturday and now I needed to pack for Roskilde! I was soon all ready so we grabbed my bikes and headed out to Christiania for some shopping ;-) We had a beer but did not hang around too long as we needed to head out and we soon at the main station waiting for the train to take us to Roskilde. Once there is was a bit of a headache because the next train to the festival wasn’t coming for another hour so we went to wait for the bus. We could not fit on the first bus though and we ended up waiting a looong time in the hot sun to get the next one. It was quite funny watching everyone trying to hoard onto the bus with all their luggage and then frustrating as the bus drove straight past where we wanted to camp and drop us right at the back of the festival. We walked over to where the guys were camped but Malle and Michael were not around so we set up our tents on the opposite corner where some guys kindly said we could camp. It took longer than it should have to put up the tents but we were soon done and could go get beers and hang out.

Yeah we have arrived and the first awesome music box.. this one solar powered.

The next couple of days consisted of visiting the guys camp which was conveniently near ours for beers and to watch skateboarding or football on the giant screen they could see from their camp. Going visiting different random camps in the festival looking for parties and/or english/aussies/kiwis. Sitting in the bar also conveniently close to our camp to get some shade and cold drinks. Walking all the way to the cinema to watch a zombie movie only to not get in. Going to Gringos to eat the only decent food in the festival. Walking to the swimming lake and sitting in the shade drinking bloody marys. Watching England lose their game with a crowd mostly full of Germans.. It was in the beginning the most relaxing festival ever. The weather was beautiful and sunny and after I woke up in the morning, took all my clothes off, opened the door to the tent to let in what little breeze I could get, I actually slept in each morning. The toilets were pretty close and flushed! Flushing toilets at a festival.. wtf! There was never a queue for fresh cold water and life on the West side was pretty chilled.

Foam party in Van Damme Camp.

The travelling Coffin Camp party.

Coffin Camp party hits the Skyline Bar.

My UK buddy Martin.

View from camp.

Watching England vs Germany World Cup.

I got bored..

Why Steve Sanders Camp? Answer: Why not!!

Coffin Camp.

Girls five aside football tournament.

Loved the ball dresses.

Yeah 80's Glam Rock rules!

View from the guys camp at the skate park.

Wednesday and the day started out like most others. In the afternoon we were sitting having some beers in the guys camp and was feeling pretty good but Copenhagen was calling and as it couldn't come to me, I, for the first time, left the festival and headed back to the city. It felt really good to have a shower and then lounge on my couch watching movies. And sleeping in a real bed! But I was very happy to get back on Thursday and thought it was quite worth leaving for the feeling I got when the train station pulled up to the festival. I was back! I caught up with the guys for some drinks before the festival opened and Martin and we headed in to see Patti Smith's memorial for the people that died at Roskilde 2000. From there we headed to the Arena stage for Paramore. Martin went to listen to LCD Sound System and I stayed to see Sick of it All. We saw a bit of Valient Thorr before the big act of the day, the Gorillaz!!

Woohoo! Festival is open!

First look at the Orange stage.

Gorillaz.

Friday we had day passers coming =) It's lucky i got up earlyish as Morten arrived around 11am with beers. Thankfully he had also bought some food as the queues for the shops at camp were more hideous than normal and it was very warm. We sat in the now empty skate park area for awhile before heading over to the guys camp where Phong and Rasmus had turned up. Then it was into the festival area again this time to first see Meshuggah who weren't as good as I was hoping. We then watched a bit of this strange band Tinariwen and had a bit of a boogie before heading to the Orange stage for Dizzy Mizz Lizzy. There was a huge crowd for this Danish band but I did not think it was so great so Morten, Martin and I headed behind the stage to the Rum and Cigar bar for some well.. rum and cigars ;-) 7:30pm Morten and I headed up the front of the main stage for the mighty Alice in Chains. We had a very good spot and it was a really great concert. Then Martin joined us again for Them Crooked Vultures. I had to leave early though as I had been really looking forward to seeing NOFX for a loooooong time and headed over to the Arena. I bumped into Mik Mik and some others and thoroughly enjoyed this show. Was pretty tired after though so headed back to camp to sleep.

Yeah we have a day tripper..

Rum & Cigar bar.

Drinking lots of water at the Orange stage.

Alica in Chains!!

Them Crooked Vultures.

Morten was gone in the morning and we had a very slow start to the day. But I soon had a text from Pirita that she would be there in one hour so quickly raced to the showers. It was packed and had to queue in the steamy muggy building but felt good to be clean. As I was walking back to camp I bumped into her and Hans and we had some drinks in the bar joined by Martin before heading into the festival to see Patti Smith. She was amazing and sitting in the sun near the orange stage listening to her and her band we imagined we could have been at a festival 30 years ago. Martin and I headed over to Pavilian to chill out for awhile and bumped into Daniel who told us Phong and Rasmus had managed to get into the festival again. We were soon joined by them. Then we headed to the Arena stage to meet back up with Pirita and see Pendulum. They had been very good last year at the Big Day Out in Auckland and I was looking forward to a boogie. We then headed back to the orange stage for Muse. I wasn't too fussed to listen to this but it was pretty good stadium music and we bumped into Marle and Kaspar. Hans was very tired so he and Pirita left while Martin and I stayed to listen to Prodigy. Martin headed right up the front but being very tired I went for the second section of the pit. This too proved too close though when the guy next to me kicked me in the ancle. I went a bit further back to enjoy for awhile and then went on a mission to find a toilet. I soon wondered what was up though as I was seeing strange hallucinations until I realised that it was the after effects from the lights on the Prodigy stage.. wicked! Was absolutely exhausted by the time I met up with Martin again so we headed back to camp to crash.

The local.

We LOVE Mucho Machos!

Muse.

These guys couldn't contain their excitement.

Prodigy.

The crowd at Prodigy.

Sunday it was actually quite nice to have no visitors and have a real chill out day. The first band we went to see was Motorhead and we bumped into Christain and Peter at the memorial area which was a good place to watch from. After Motorhead it was over to the Arena for yet another band I was lucky enough to see twice in June, Killswitch Engage. Then I had nothing I wanted to see for awhile so I headed back to camp to chill for awhile before meeting back up with Martin for Pavement. We caught the last of the afternoon sun next to the Arena stage and relaxed before it was time to go to the Orange stage for Prince!! He was really good. I wish he would have played more of his own songs and not covers but his disco medly was fantastic =) We had thought of leaving Sunday but were pretty tired after the concerts so thought we would brave the camp destroyers and sleep a bit.

Roskilde art.

The memorial area is a great spot for bumping into people.

The Orange stage from the memorial.

The memorial stone, reminding people how fragile we are.

This guy had the best stuffed bird ever!

View from the memorial area.

Awesome graffiti next to the Arena stage.

The 'alien shagging the cow' is a loved sight every year.

Prince!!

As it turned out it was the most peaceful night in Roskilde. I woke up around 7am after a good nights sleep and finished packing up my bag. The trains weren't running very often so we walked to catch the bus to Roskilde station, then straight on the train and we were home. Then it was time for tea, toast and showers before walking Martin to the Metro for his journey back to the UK.