Pink Pop festival

The festival season is upon us. A time when thousands of people indulge in nefarious activities, drinking far too much expensive beer, smoking fields worth of weed, and oh yes, watch some bands.

And so it was in Holland where a record 94,000 people convened on this small town near Maastricht. European festivals have a very different atmosphere in general to their English equivalents. People turn up to have a good time and enjoy themselves, regardless of the bands that are playing. But, as an English person, it was the line-up, or at least the headliners, that attracted immediate attention: a triple-whammy of three of the greatest live rock acts around today, namely Metallica, Foo Fighters and the reformed Rage Against the Machine, along with a decent supporting cast, was enough to attract people from all over Europe.

At every English festival, the time you arrive decides where you pitch your tent and that can be absolutely crucial. However here it didn’t matter what time we arrived; we would still have had a 3km walk to the festival site itself. This, following on from a two and a half hour train journey from Amsterdam, meant that fatigue was high on the first day, and it showed in a large number of those in attendance.
Of course, the walk also meant missing the first few bands, but the first band of interest were Animal Alpha, a group of Norwegian rockers whose lead singer is reminiscent of Queen Adreena’s Katy Jane Garside. A late addition to the bill following Chris Cornell pulling out, they were good fun, and despite the crowd not really knowing much about them, there was lots of jumping around to their deranged and highly original style.
Moving to the mainstage, perhaps the strangest choice of the weekend was having Incubus as the warm up act for Metallica. Their spacey, funky rock/metal crossover works well in a certain environment, but coming on before one of thrash metal’s 'Big Four’, it sounded tepid, and the crowd reaction really didn’t help at all, although that may be explained by the heavy fog of spliff smoke.
And so to the main event of the day. Metallica have been doing this for over 20 years, and have been playing stadiums for nearly as long, which may explain why despite a greatest hits set, including rarely played tracks from debut album 'Kill 'Em All’ and follow up 'Ride the Lightning’, they never really got going until the end. Still, the classics, including 'One’, 'Master of Puppets’, 'Sad But True’ and of course, 'Enter Sandman’, showed why they are still one of the biggest draws in the world today.

Day two, and the emphasis was all about having fun - not that the whole festival wasn’t about having fun, but with a line-up like Saturdays, nobody could fail to have a smile on their face). Following the Dutch indie-rock of Moke was Scotland’s own KT Tunstall, who tried as hard as possible to get the crowd going with a set littered with hit singles. Unfortunately for her, there seemed to be a communal hangover, with people politely applauding her efforts.
Over to the second stage, it was the Eagles of Death Metal who really got the party started. Even without their celebrity drummer Josh Homme (who would appear the next day with Queens of the Stone Age), their mix of bluegrass, country and good ole’ Southern rawk got everybody pumped, inciting the most enthusiastic applause of the weekend throughout their set. Jesse Hughes truly is one of the most exciting frontmen to grace a stage, connecting with the crowd all the way through the performance with his drunken Southern banter.
Back to the main stage, and The Editors are making the most of the sunshine to get the crowd jumping with their British indie stylings. Perhaps surprisingly for a band that sounds like a cross between Joy Division and Interpol, they get one of the biggest crowd jump-alongs of the weekend, 'Munich’ and 'Blood’ from first album 'The Back Room’ really getting the crowd going.
The British Invasion continued on the second stage with the Stereophonics, who never really got going. The songs were played well; 'Mr. Writer’ getting a decent singalong, but the lack of onstage banter, and a general lack of energy provided a workmanlike performance at best.
Back to the main stage, and the Kaiser Chiefs played an excellent set, comprising all the hits and more. Despite a very uninvolved crowd, the Kaisers really put on a great show, full of energy, with Ricky Wilson climbing the stage lighting rig at one point, acknowledging the fact that it was perhaps not the best idea, but he just felt like doing it. A real triumph against adversity.
This set up nicely for the headliners for the day. Foo Fighters have been honing their performance skills for years, and have gradually been building their way up to stadium band status (as highlighted by their recent two day stint at Wembley Stadium). The thing that makes the band great is the fact that they are music fans first, and musicians second, and as such really know what it is that the fans want. Blasting out of the blocks with 'The Pretender’, the show had something for everyone. From 'For All The Cows’ from the first album, mass singalongs 'Monkey Wrench’ and 'My Hero’ from 'The Colour And The Shape’, 'Learn To Fly’ and more, culminating in a closing salvo of 'Everlong’ and 'All My Life’, there wasn’t a face in the crowd that wasn’t beaming from ear to ear. Once again, the Foo Fighters, and Dave Grohl as ringleader, showed why they are one of the biggest acts in the world at the moment, and long may it last.

And so to the last day, the rock day, the day that everyone was waiting for. The recently reformed Rage Against The Machine was the name on everybody’s lips all day long, but before that, a decent slab of rock and metal. Cavalera Conspiracy, featuring Max and Igor Cavalera, both formerly of Sepultura, played a HEAVY set, inciting the first real circle pit of the weekend. With the sun shining, it was a perfect way to start the day. The highlight of the set was 'Roots Bloody Roots’ by the aforementioned Sepultura, which saw crowd surfers galore, a massive circle pit, and everyone leaving that little bit more sore and ready for more.
Following on from that riproaring set were The Hives, who brought their own brand of rock and roll to the proceedings. Full of energy, if a little bit samey, they are a great festival band, with something that everyone will know.
Next up the madness that is Serj Tankian. Sadly, due to stage time clashes, it wasn’t possible to see all the of the System of a Down’s vocalist’s set, but what we did see was madcap fun. With his band the Flying Cunts of Chaos, he has managed to equal, at least on an artistic level, the triumphs of his former band.
Then it was quickly over to the mainstage for Queens of the Stone Age. Sadly, the rush wasn’t worth it. Having seen the band numerous times over the past 6 years, I was looking forward to this set a lot, but the band seemed laboured, playing because they had to rather than they wanted to. It may have been the anticipation building to see RATM, but considering the rest of the day’s performances, it was just a normal day at the office, and that’s not what we’ve come to expect from a band as good as QOTSA.
And then came the wait, as gradually 90,000 people made their way over to the main stage to witness the reformed Rage Against The Machine. The prison sirens started blaring out, and four hooded figures made their way to the centre of the stage and just stood there, with hands behind their backs. After 4 minutes, roadies brought along a bass guitar and electric guitar and placed them in the hands of Tim Commerford and Tom Morello respectively. The opening bars of 'Bombtrack’ were played, and the place went NUTS. From front of the stage to right at the back, circle pits opened up everywhere, bodies flying over the massive crowd. The set was everything that a fan could have hoped for, with 'Bulls On Parade’, 'People Of The Sun’, 'Testify’ and the awesome 'Bullet In The Head’ following soon after. Halfway through a particularly powerful 'Wake Up’, Zac de la Rocha gave a particularly impassioned speech thanking the people of Europe for challenging Bush over Iraq. It is also very hard to think of a better way to close a festival than to have 94,000 people yelling 'Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me’' at the top of their lungs. Rage are back, and long may it last.


So, a weekend spent dreading going to the toilet, walking at least 6km a day, and seeing some great bands came to an end. It was a fun time, not the best festival experience, some of the performances simply good rather than great, but an enjoyable way to lose yourself for three days in the fields.