Radar Festival 2008.
Best. Day. Ever!
I went to Radar Festival 2008. in Varazdin yesterday with dreamer1104.
There were few Croatian groups playing.
And:
Manic Street Preachers
AND:
Bob Dylan!!!
It's no secret that Bob Dylan is my favourite artist ever!
The man is a living legend, a bloody genius and the best songwriter/poet ever in my opinion.
He changed his style so many times, and every time he sounds excellent and pulls it off.
I've been a fan of his for the last 10 years, and seeing him live was one of the biggest things on my "must do before I die" list.
So needless to say, yesterday was a big day for me. :)
The day started like a true Friday the 13th for me, with lots of little problems.
But dreamer1104 and I finally got on the bus at 2:45 PM and after two hours we were in Varazdin.
The rain was threatening to start falling from the moment we left Zagreb, and the sucky weather continued in Varazdin. We pretty much froze, because it didn't get any warmer, it just got worse when the wind started.
We snooped around town for a bit because neither of us got to see it before, and it's a pretty, baroque small town. But basically it comes down to: church, church, church. Bank. Church...church, church. Bank. Church. Bank. And so on. lol
We managed to find McDonalds and grab something to eat, and got to the festival when the second Croatian bend was playing (Majke).
I had to leave my umbrella at the entrance to the stadium where the festival was held. WTF?! Did they think I'd stab someone or something?! Anyway, I got lucky and found it on our way out.
Majke weren't that bad. Though I couldn't look at them because the frontman (Bare) was on stage half naked. He was wearing just his jeans and a scarf, and he kept dancing with the scarf. It was bloody freezing, I was cold just looking at him!
Before Manic Street Preachers got on stage we tried to find some Dylan t-shirts to buy, but there weren't any. Fail!
Organization sucked big time all around.
But the music made up for it.
Now, I'm not a die hard Manic Street Preachers fan. I like them and know some of their songs.
I thought they were really good, and energetic. And you could tell they were enjoying themselves.
They even complimented our football team, and congratulated us on winning the day before. That, needless to say, pleased the audience. ;)
Setlist:
Motorcycle Emptiness
You Stole The Sun
Masses Against The Classes
Umbrella *LOL*
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Kevin Carter
Little Baby Nothing
Send Away The Tigers
From Despair To Where
Ocean Spray
Penny Royal Tea
You Love Us
A Design For Life
The Everlasting
Found That Soul
Autumn Song
Motown Junk
If You Tolerate...
All in all I enjoyed their performance!
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This:
After MSP we went to go grab something to drink. Darn Coke was cold so my fingers froze even more!
We managed to meet up with one of my friends. The other one was glued in front of the stage, in the third row, refusing to leave because Dylan was up next. And the others still didn't show up by then, because their ride was running a lot bit late.
So, armed with ice cold Coke and determination, we went to push our way back into the crowd and as close to the stage as we can get.
Best part about so many people? You're surrounded and you can't feel the wind blowing. It's actually kinda nice and cozy. Definitely warmer! lol
Worst part about crowd? Everyone is taller than me! Now I'm no midget, I'm 5'6'', but everyone was taller!! So I'm standing there complaining to dreamer1104 how "I feel like a dwarf! Everyone is taller. I can't see anything. :(" when one of the tall Tower people turns around, looks down at me, and laughs "Sorry." lol So much for me being subtle with my whining. :)
But as we really didn't see much, when the concert started we kept migrating towards middle of the field and straight to the stage, so we ended up some 20 meters from the stage by the end. It was really good, I could even see Dylan at moments when the crowd parted. \o/
So, Dylan.
What to say? He was brilliant! Everything I expected and more.
He sounds so different live! The man changed every single song he performed, they did not sound like album covers at all. Luckily I knew all the lyrics so I recognized them all right away. *g*
But it's brilliant how he does that! It keeps thing interesting, keeps you guessing, and him and his bend are so well synchronized! The bend is fantastic! You can tell they've been playing together for years, they just sound SO GOOD!
Dylan was on keyboard during all songs, and he didn't really interact a lot with the audience. As usual, from what I heard. But I think it was obvious he was enjoying himself. He seemed to be picking songs to go with the mood of the audience, and they played for more than two hours!! More than I dared to hope for!
Setlist:
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3. Lonesome Day Blues
4. Just Like A Woman
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Things Have Changed
8. Honest With Me
9. Love Sick
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Desolation Row
12. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
13. Ain't Talkin'
14. Summer Days
15. Ballad Of A Thin Man
(encore)
16. Thunder On The Mountain
17. Like A Rolling Stone
Obviously a great mix of old hits and newer songs. Not surprising, as this was Dylan's first time in Croatia.
There wasn't a single song I didn't enjoy. It all sounded so professional, so well played and energetic.
I cracked up when he opened with Rainy Day Women, because the rain was really just about to fall at that point, few drops fell but luckily it stopped.
I think the first one that really got to me was Tangled Up In Blue. I also couldn't stop my squeeing when Desolation Row started.
I danced my little heart out (as much as it was possible in the little space we had lol). Summer Days especially has wicked instrumental for dancing.
Instrumental parts were to die for on all songs!! I just wanted them to keep on playing and never stop!
And for encore we got Thunder On The Mountain and Like A Rolling Stone. The crowd went wild during Like A Rolling Stone. What an experience. ♥
It was so perfect I couldn't stop squeeing and swooning and jumping around all the way home, and even today I'm still high on adrenaline.
I just hope I'll get a chance to go and see Dylan live again.
Bob Dylan - Thunder on the Mountain & start of Like a Rolling Stone:
Notice "Thank you friends" to the audience after Thunder on the Mountain, before he introduces the bend. ♥ \o/
I went to Radar Festival 2008. in Varazdin yesterday with dreamer1104.
There were few Croatian groups playing.
And:
Manic Street Preachers
AND:
Bob Dylan!!!
It's no secret that Bob Dylan is my favourite artist ever!
The man is a living legend, a bloody genius and the best songwriter/poet ever in my opinion.
He changed his style so many times, and every time he sounds excellent and pulls it off.
I've been a fan of his for the last 10 years, and seeing him live was one of the biggest things on my "must do before I die" list.
So needless to say, yesterday was a big day for me. :)
The day started like a true Friday the 13th for me, with lots of little problems.
But dreamer1104 and I finally got on the bus at 2:45 PM and after two hours we were in Varazdin.
The rain was threatening to start falling from the moment we left Zagreb, and the sucky weather continued in Varazdin. We pretty much froze, because it didn't get any warmer, it just got worse when the wind started.
We snooped around town for a bit because neither of us got to see it before, and it's a pretty, baroque small town. But basically it comes down to: church, church, church. Bank. Church...church, church. Bank. Church. Bank. And so on. lol
We managed to find McDonalds and grab something to eat, and got to the festival when the second Croatian bend was playing (Majke).
I had to leave my umbrella at the entrance to the stadium where the festival was held. WTF?! Did they think I'd stab someone or something?! Anyway, I got lucky and found it on our way out.
Majke weren't that bad. Though I couldn't look at them because the frontman (Bare) was on stage half naked. He was wearing just his jeans and a scarf, and he kept dancing with the scarf. It was bloody freezing, I was cold just looking at him!
Before Manic Street Preachers got on stage we tried to find some Dylan t-shirts to buy, but there weren't any. Fail!
Organization sucked big time all around.
But the music made up for it.
Now, I'm not a die hard Manic Street Preachers fan. I like them and know some of their songs.
I thought they were really good, and energetic. And you could tell they were enjoying themselves.
They even complimented our football team, and congratulated us on winning the day before. That, needless to say, pleased the audience. ;)
Setlist:
Motorcycle Emptiness
You Stole The Sun
Masses Against The Classes
Umbrella *LOL*
Your Love Alone Is Not Enough
Kevin Carter
Little Baby Nothing
Send Away The Tigers
From Despair To Where
Ocean Spray
Penny Royal Tea
You Love Us
A Design For Life
The Everlasting
Found That Soul
Autumn Song
Motown Junk
If You Tolerate...
All in all I enjoyed their performance!
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This:
Click to viewAfter MSP we went to go grab something to drink. Darn Coke was cold so my fingers froze even more!
We managed to meet up with one of my friends. The other one was glued in front of the stage, in the third row, refusing to leave because Dylan was up next. And the others still didn't show up by then, because their ride was running a lot bit late.
So, armed with ice cold Coke and determination, we went to push our way back into the crowd and as close to the stage as we can get.
Best part about so many people? You're surrounded and you can't feel the wind blowing. It's actually kinda nice and cozy. Definitely warmer! lol
Worst part about crowd? Everyone is taller than me! Now I'm no midget, I'm 5'6'', but everyone was taller!! So I'm standing there complaining to dreamer1104 how "I feel like a dwarf! Everyone is taller. I can't see anything. :(" when one of the tall Tower people turns around, looks down at me, and laughs "Sorry." lol So much for me being subtle with my whining. :)
But as we really didn't see much, when the concert started we kept migrating towards middle of the field and straight to the stage, so we ended up some 20 meters from the stage by the end. It was really good, I could even see Dylan at moments when the crowd parted. \o/
So, Dylan.
What to say? He was brilliant! Everything I expected and more.
He sounds so different live! The man changed every single song he performed, they did not sound like album covers at all. Luckily I knew all the lyrics so I recognized them all right away. *g*
But it's brilliant how he does that! It keeps thing interesting, keeps you guessing, and him and his bend are so well synchronized! The bend is fantastic! You can tell they've been playing together for years, they just sound SO GOOD!
Dylan was on keyboard during all songs, and he didn't really interact a lot with the audience. As usual, from what I heard. But I think it was obvious he was enjoying himself. He seemed to be picking songs to go with the mood of the audience, and they played for more than two hours!! More than I dared to hope for!
Setlist:
1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3. Lonesome Day Blues
4. Just Like A Woman
5. Rollin' And Tumblin'
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Things Have Changed
8. Honest With Me
9. Love Sick
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Desolation Row
12. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
13. Ain't Talkin'
14. Summer Days
15. Ballad Of A Thin Man
(encore)
16. Thunder On The Mountain
17. Like A Rolling Stone
Obviously a great mix of old hits and newer songs. Not surprising, as this was Dylan's first time in Croatia.
There wasn't a single song I didn't enjoy. It all sounded so professional, so well played and energetic.
I cracked up when he opened with Rainy Day Women, because the rain was really just about to fall at that point, few drops fell but luckily it stopped.
I think the first one that really got to me was Tangled Up In Blue. I also couldn't stop my squeeing when Desolation Row started.
I danced my little heart out (as much as it was possible in the little space we had lol). Summer Days especially has wicked instrumental for dancing.
Instrumental parts were to die for on all songs!! I just wanted them to keep on playing and never stop!
And for encore we got Thunder On The Mountain and Like A Rolling Stone. The crowd went wild during Like A Rolling Stone. What an experience. ♥
It was so perfect I couldn't stop squeeing and swooning and jumping around all the way home, and even today I'm still high on adrenaline.
I just hope I'll get a chance to go and see Dylan live again.
Bob Dylan - Thunder on the Mountain & start of Like a Rolling Stone:
Notice "Thank you friends" to the audience after Thunder on the Mountain, before he introduces the bend. ♥ \o/