The first full day of music was heralded by increasingly hot temperatures as Roskilde edged towards the 30c barrier on day six.
For the international community of festival goers (who increase the population of the small Danish town two fold during festival week) it meant the arrival of the water van to keep everyone cool. With its amazing soundtrack that sounds something John Baker most probably did back in the BBC’s Radiophonics lab, it is a welcome arrival to any part of the festival site as thousands of people descend upon its rehydrating goodness.
Aside from radiophonics, day six brought a huge number of quality independent bands into the arena. To kick things off, emerging Malian guitar fusion superstar and son of the sadly departed Ali Farka Touré, Vieux Farka Touré took to the Odeon stage.
Fabulously reminiscent of his late father’s work, TourĂ© puts on a show that, despite slipping into the familiar and repetitious, ends with a flourish and sends the tired crowd into raptures. We may talk about him being his father’s son, but 27-year-old TourĂ© has the talent and the time to continue bringing African music to the western world and forge a name for himself.
But to swing across on the accessibility spectrum a tad, Sunburned Hand of the Man dazzled and distorted the crowd in a rollercoaster ride that came in on the electronica reference scale somewhere between Pram and Murcof. Illustrated by a short film that looks like something a vampire might make if it dropped acid and became a hippy, incidentally, the whole experience is like the most welcome, most controlled acid trip of your life.
For two artists Bearded had no expectations from to amaze, the twisted psych-folk of CocoRosie would surely come close to festival highlights wouldn’t it? Well no, actually. The Casady sisters served up what has to rank amongst the laziest live performances I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. What the packed Odeon stage got instead of a live performance was two almost invisible people doing karaoke to a backing tape. It could be acceptable if you’re a solo hip-hop artist who entertains and gets the crowd going, but playing the music live would have made this show memorable rather than hiding in the shadows so your time runs out and you can get back to France.
To almost illustrate the point that live music performances are something to enjoy as opposed to a chore, Holy Fuck absolutely decimate the pavilion and then Battles do to the Odeon crowd what CocoRosie should have done two hours before. A good day, probably only to be bettered by Neil Young’s headline slot on day seven.
Bearded picks, day 7
1230 - Wildbirds & Peacedrums (The Leaf Label)
1600 - Efterklang (The Leaf Label)
2000 - The Notwist (City Slang)
Major label picks: Solomon Burke, Neil Young