It’s now almost a month ago, but I finally get around to writing about the Frequency Festival of this year. [Here’s 2010. Here 2008.] My partner in crime was deadra, as usual.

Thursday

We started on Thursday, just like the festival. We had originally planned to stay at deadra’s uncle’s place to avoid the camping (what can I say, we’re suckers for showers and comfort). But her uncle thought that his cellar wasn’t good enough to us and wouldn’t listen when we said that, really, our alternative was sleeping in a tent in the mud, we’d take anything. He still wouldn’t be persuaded. Instead he got us a room in a small inn a few kilometers outside of St. Pölten, where the festival was. It was really sweet of him, even though the inn itself could have easily been used to shoot a horror film. Perpetually empty and there was a cross-stitched cat above the bed. Anyway. We had a warm room, an excellent shower and a bed – pure luxury.

After moving into our room, we headed straight to the festival. We were rather early, so we had enough time to re-acquaint ourselves with the area and starting to sweat in the delicious summer weather.

The first band that played was Cloud Control. They sounded really nice and made me want to listen more to them but I wasn’t really in a concert mood yet and not really ready to listen, so I decided that I would take a closer look once I got home.

Since by then it was really hot and there weren’t many people there yet, we took the opportunity and captured two hammocks in the “Chill Area” (or whatever it was called) next to the other stage, the Green Stage. So we lay around there and listened to Jamie Woon, who is not really my cup of tea usually, but who was perfectly suited for the mood, if rather bland.

When I felt that I had reached a good crisp from lying in the sun, we headed back to the bigger “Race Stage” and caught a bit of Scott Matthew who mostly stuck with me for his haircut, I have to admit. But if the haircut hadn’t been enough, he also proved his indie-musician-status by playing the ukulele, which is apparently the new must in certain music circles.

Then we headed back to the smaller “Green Stage” where the first band played I actually really knew before the festival and was looking forward to a whole lot: Two Door Cinema Club. And they were pretty awesome. Their music just lifts my mood no matter what and they were a great wake-up call. [The only drawback was that they played at the same time as the Bombay Bicycle Club, who I like too, but only in small doses.]

And since it was the day of walking back and forth, we went back to the Race Stage to see Clueso. His show was extremely relaxed and he as much as his music are very nice, but I only waited until he played my favorite song – Augen zu – which was around the halftime mark anyway.

Because then I had to run back to the other stage to catch Kele [deadra stayed with Clueso], who unfortunately had to play at the same time. If Clueso hadn’t been as nice, I would be very sorry now that I missed even a minute of Kele. His show was brilliant, he interacted perfectly with the audience and I just love his music (especially his lyrics which are just full of positivity). Fortunately I still got to hear most of my favorites, and he even played a bit Bloc Party like One More Chance. [I still regret missing Walk Tall though. Assuming he played it.]

After Kele’s show, I met up with * and her boyfriend J. and we hung around the Green Stage, half listening to Kaizers Orchestra, half talking with each other and to a couple of guys from Birmingham who came to Austria for the festival and were enjoying the insane festival beer prices as comparatively cheap. [In the meantime, deadra watched The National.] I have to admit that my heart wasn’t really in the show since I was slightly distracted, but I enjoyed myself a whole lot anyway. I was only really surprised when they introduced one of their songs as “if you know one Kaizers Orchestra song, it will be this one” and it wasn’t Ompa Til Du Dør, which I always thought of as the Kaizers Orchestra song. I was so surprised, I don’t even know which song they actually announced. [Could have been Kontroll På Kontinentet.]

Then it was time to get back to the Race Stage, catch up with deadra and watch Interpol. [At this point, we passed Guy Garvey which was our first real chance to get excited about seeing Elbow and being starstruck for a moment.] Their show consisted of surprisingly many older songs mixed in with their new ones. I do like their old songs as well, but it’s their newest album that really stole my heart. Despite that – and the fact that they barely acknowledge that there was an actual, you know, audience, their show was excellent – because their music is just fantastic. Still, I would have loved to hear Memory Serves.

Did I mention that this was the day of changing stages? Because it was time for another change to the Green Stage where the Kaiser Chiefs were playing. Since neither of the people I was with wanted to get into the crowd, I braved the masses on my own while they stayed at the back. And since I ended up having to wait 15 minutes on my own, I got out my book to read a couple of pages. Which fascinated two girls next to me so much that they took pictures, with the comment, “we were just talking about what we would do if we were bored at the festival. We never would have thought to bring a book.” You’re welcome for the inspiration, strange girls. Books are awesome. You can buy them.
Anyway, back to the concert. It’s around the fifth time that I have seen the Kaiser Chiefs play live and it’s always been awesome. This time was absolutely no exception. Perfect interaction with the people watching, having them sing along (to my own surprise I could sing all the lyrics to all the songs they played. It’s almost embarassing), making waves and Ricky Wilson entertaining everyone with climbing around on stuff as he usually does. Brilliance.

Finally, one last stage change for the day back to the Race Stage where Seeed were about to play. I saw them on the first ever Frequency I went to in 2003 (4?), which was not long after their first big hit and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, so my expectations for this show were extremely high. According to the program, they were set to play for two hours which is surprisingly long for a festival and was immediately rectified by them starting about half an hour later (without playing longer to make up for it). Even though they stole half an hour of show from us that way, it was an absolutely awesome concert. They played all my favorites and a beautiful cover version of Wonderful Life that was new to me, I danced the whole time through, the show was good, they had cool outfits and nice little choreographies for the songs and it just rocked. They also played two songs by Peter Fox, one of the singers who is a very successful solo artist. One of the songs they played during the encore, which I found a little weird, but since I like that song, I’m not actually complaining. They also had a special guest – a young rapper Peter Fox is supporting, Marteria. He was fine, but not my thing. And then there was this, which is all kinds of awesome:

Altogether a perfect ending to a great day and they are still one of the best live bands ever.

Friday

We started the day with Friska Viljor who make the best kind of bright pop music. They were an excellent beginning to the day and despite a slight awkwardness when talking to the audience, the mood was good, they made me smile and it was a good show. I wholeheartedly approve.

They played on the Green Stage and after the concert we wanted to head over to the bigger stage to catch The Kills. But on the way there we passed the Jack Daniels promo stage where Across the Delta were playing and we just got stuck there. I’m always particularly happy when I happen upon good Austrian music (because the music industry around here pretty much sucks) and those guys really were good. Definitely want to see and hear more of them.

That slight detour meant that we only saw the ending of The Kills’ show, but since I’m not really a huge fan, that was completely alright by me.

After The Kills, it was time for the Crystal Fighters. I like some of their songs, others not so much, so I didn’t really know what to expect from the show. And at first, all I could look at was singer Sebastian Pringle who just looked like he was completely on another planet. But pretty quickly, they drew me into their performance and it turned out to be a really excellent concert that made me like more songs (like Solar System which never held my interest before).

Then it was time for 3 Feet Smaller, but as they’re not my thing, we only listened to a couple of songs before we went back to the smaller stage to see Feeder. deadra knows their music pretty well, I only really started listening to them with their newest album (not that I didn’t know Feeling a Moment or Tumble and Fall). The concert was cool and made me want to listen to their old stuff more as well.

After Feeder we caught up with * and J. again but our paths quickly separated again as deadra and me had to go scream for Elbow who were finally playing in Austria. And everything started of just perfectly. Guy Garvey is excellent with the audience, their music is wonderful and everything was set for a great concert – if it hadn’t been for the crappy weather. Despite a quickly improvised “Cloud Fuck Off” song that merged perfectly into Grounds for Divorce, the thunderstorm hit us and it hit us hard.

It was so bad that they could barely finish Grounds for Divorce before they had to clear off stage because it was flooded. It only rained for 10 minutes or so, but it was enough to interrupt the concert, we were completely drenched and when they could resume after 20 minutes or so, they only had time for one more song. And since Grounds for Divorce was only their fourth or fifth song, it was a depressingly short show (through no fault of their own, of course, but still). That means they really have to come back very soon [prettyplease].

By the way, the song they played after the storm just proves their sense of humor:

After Elbow, it was Kasabian‘s turn. I knew exactly four songs by them (and I didn’t know they were Kasabian songs) – L.S.F., Fire, Underdog and Shoot the Runner – all of which they played and I enjoyed. But I didn’t feel the slightest urge to listen to more of their stuff and I plain didn’t like Tom Meighan. [Even though I heard an interview with him the next day where he sounded very nice. Maybe he switches personality when he gets on stage.] On the plus side, they have a song called Velociraptor!

The last show of the day was reserved for Deichkind, who I had been looking forward to seeing like a little child. The more those guys get away from their rapping start towards their electronic present, the more I like them. And their show has to be seen, imo. It’s crazy, with about a billion people on stage and neon-colored props, trampolins, wire work and flashing lights. I loved it. So much energy and just party feeling in its purest form. Also, for a couple of minutes they did a very nice cover of Power of Love that morphed into their version of The Internationale:

The show might not be for everyone – deadra had to give up about halfway through because of sheer overload (and probably because she just doesn’t like them as much as I do). But apart from the show, their music is really cool and fun and they played all their old hits as well as their last album pretty completely (their last album is already 3 years old, I’d love to get a new one).

Definitely another highlight of the Festival. Good that nothing else came after them that day – I don’t think a lot could have topped that.

Saturday

On Saturday, we pitched our tents in front of the Race Stage [figuratively speaking. The camping grounds are somewhere else. Also, we didn’t camp. ;)]. The day started with Anna Calvi who has one hell of a voice when she’s singing (to quote deadra: perfect for a Bond soundtrack) and a surprisingly little-girlish voice when she’s talking. Her music is nice and she had some excellent Elvis and Édith Piaf covers.

Next, with a slight change of pace, came Hadouken! who are kind of a bit like The Prodigy. I didn’t know them before, but their music pulled me right in. They had a very good interaction with the audience, though I was very glad that I wasn’t right in the middle of things, because within moments there were huge circle pits happening – and some of them got slightly moshy, as well. Can live perfectly without that. In any case, it is definitely a band to see live – at home their music just doesn’t have the same impact (still cool though).

Then another change of pace: K’s Choice were up next. It’s another one of those bands I didn’t know I knew a song from. They left me pretty cold, apart from their big hit Not An Addict:

I then decided to go check out Nneka on the Green Stage, while deadra remained to see the entirety of Panic! at the Disco. Unfortunately Nneka was 15 minutes late, so instead of just before P!atD, she started a little after and then P!atD were so loud that they just drowned her out, despite the distance. I stuck around for a couple of minutes, but then just gave up and went back to the bigger stage, where * and J. had joined deadra.

I had seen P!atD at a concert a few years ago. I went on my own (because nobody wanted to go with me) and stuck out like a sore thumb amid a sea of emo teenagers. Generally, I just didn’t get into the concert at all and was pretty disappointed. I’ve since grown out of their music somehow, but this time round their concert was really good. Brendon Urie makes surprisingly dirty jokes (that’s a compliment) and generally has a very good sense of humor. He still has to deal with screaming teenagers, though. [Seriously, there were girls holding signs with “Brendon, I’m 18!” or “My birthday is on Monday – Marry me?” which is all kinds of worrying.]

Then it was time for Jimmy Eat World. I have to say that I never really got into their music. Even at the time where everybody was listening to The Middle, I just thought “meh”. I didn’t understand then and I don’t understand now why I’m not more excited because theoretically, they’re right up my alley. The show changed nothing about that mehness though, other than that I thought, “Pain is a nice song, too.”

While half-listening, though, I had time to do some people watching and was promptly rewarded by a guy who was built like Thor. Unfortunately, he only passed me by, but better than nothing, right?
I later also saw a guy who looked like The Lion King’s Mufasa, only human. It was amazingly brilliant.

Anyway, up next where The Ting Tings. In short, they were awesome. Perfect lighting, great work with loopers and it is amazing how much energy Katie White has and how well that translates on stage. Absolutely loved it.

After they were done, deadra and me hurried to the smallest stage, the “Plingg Stage”, where only rather small bands and new comers play. The Mini Mansions were playing there and even though I hadn’t even heard of them before reading the program, I really wanted to check them out because I just really loved their name. Much to my surprise, I also really liked their music and decided I wanted more of it. Apart from their original stuff, they played a very nice cover of Blondie’s Heart of Glass.

When they were done, we headed over to the Green Stage to see a bit of the Stereo MCs. We arrived just in time for Connected. I was quite suprised that this was not the only song by them I knew (I also knew Step It Up), but I was much less surprised that I didn’t like them very much. Especially their collaboration with Jamie Cullum, Boy, just doesn’t work for me:

We were only there to pass our time until The Chemical Brothers started anyway. The way we had it planned was, we’d watch one hour of The Chems, then miss the last half hour of their show to see another hour of the Foo Fighters who would have begun to play in the meantime. Then The Chems started to play and had this awesome light show and perfect video wall with some beautiful and some scary moments [I definitely would not want to be high while going to one of their shows. I’d have a nervous breakdown within minutes] and just their music and the next time I looked at my watch, they only had 15 minute left to play anyway and we decided to just finish enjoying the concert. Because it was that perfect.

And since it was that awesome, I really can’t decide which video to post, so have another one.

The only bad thing I can say about this concert: They didn’t play The Salmon Dance.

When they were done, we hurried over to the Race Stage to catch the last half hour or so of the Foo Fights playing. Though I could have listened to more of the Foo Fighters, I don’t regret for a second seeing more of the Chems. We caught some of the most important songs and it was perfect that way. We got Best of You and Times Like These and All My Life (though during that song, Dave Grohl really started to slur his lyrics. It was like “It’s almost 2am, I’m tired and you know the song anyway, so mumble-mumble-YEAAAAH”). And I’ll end this post like they ended the night and another awesome Frequency: