Sziget
Wow, did I completely forget to post about my third day or what? Well, remedying that right now.
So, I arrived around 8:30 PM on the third day, to be able to watch the performance at the Street Theatre. However, because of the weather, it was delayed so much that now it clashed with the Sex Pistols concert that I did not want to miss. I wandered around a bit and I met up with my father at the Jazz stage, which is a very nice place. It's on the spot where the HammerWorld stage has been in the previous years, which is basically a small festival of its own. It's surrounded by a fence, it has several pubs and food vendors, the Kinetic Statue Park is there and basically, one can stay there during the entire festival if one so wishes. We rested there for a bit then I went to the Main Stage for Sex Pistols. The concert was good and I managed to secure a spot next to the railing around the technicians' booth, so I had something to lean on if standing became too tiresome. And since I'm not the dancing type, standing in one spot during a 90 minute concert can get a bit painful. I also drank a bit more than a pint of wine in a relatively short time, so I was a little unsteady on my feet. I had a good time though and I screamed along to God Save The Queen, the only Sex Pistols song I know the lyrics to from heart. There was a funny part, when the band first left the stage and the singer said, I quote, "We'll be backstage having a cigarette and if you're loud enough, we'll come back." Well, he was honest, wasn't he? Most bands make an act of actually leaving before they come back for an encore performance. Not that they fool anyone. Oh, and of course the head on a stick was in the crowd. I'm seriously starting to suspect that I'm fated to run into it throughout Sziget. I might just find its bearer in the crowd today and ask them how they came up with the idea.
After the concert ended, I headed for the HammerWorld stage for the Apocalyptica concert. It took a long time to get there because much of the crowd was moving in the same direction, but in the end, I got there just as they started. I must say, the sound was as bad as I feared, the technicians just decided to turn everything up to the max again and I couldn't even hear the cellos. I mean, in an Apocalyptica performance, the cellos should dominate! That's the main point of their music! Whatever. Anyway, I stayed for their first song and I almost decided to leave, but they started playing Somewhere Around Nothing, and since that's my favourite song by them, I stayed for it and left. I decided to go to the Jazz stage to wind down a bit, but stopped at the Wan2 stage on the way, because Danko Jones was playing there and while I've never heard of them before, their music was good. Just as I got there, my father called me to say that he was at the HammerWorld stage and the sound has been fixed somewhat, so after listening to a few songs, I headed back. The sound was better, but it was still hard to hear the cellos at times and the crowd was horrible. The head on a stick was there, of course, right at the front of the crowd, near the stage. We stayed there for a bit, then decided to head to the Jazz stage because we couldn't really enjoy the music. We rested at the Jazz stage for a while, then headed home.
Well, yesterday didn't exactly go as planned. I wanted to head out at around 5 PM so I could arrive in time for the Róisín Murphy concert, but my sister called that there was such a long line on the bridge leading to the island that I couldn't possibly get in. So I decided to go by boat, which was fun, but very slow. I arrived more than an hour late. Then I decided to head to the Main Stage so I could find a good spot for the Serj Tankian concert. System of a Down was one of my favourite metal bands and I've heard some songs of Tankian before and it seems that he carried on their style, if in a different genre. But I made the mistake of stopping at the Hilltop Winery for some wine with soda so I'd have something to drink at the concert. It took one bloody hour to get served, because the woman at the counter was so damn incompetent. She screwed up orders, knocked the bottles over several times and couldn't understand what was said to her. It was extremely frustrating, especially because I missed a good chunk of the concert because of it. And of course, I couldn't find any place where I could see the stage after that.
Well, the music was still enjoyable anyway. During the concert, I received a text message from my sister asking where I was so I told her. I didn't receive a reply to that until after the end of the concert, when I was already at the Blues stage, waiting for the Mystery Gang Trio to start playing. They're a Hungarian trio who play rockabilly, jungle, surf, garage and any other style of old rock and roll. They always perform at Sziget and I've never missed one performance. It's the only performance where even I'm compelled to dance. Anyway, my sister was telling me that she had something very important to tell me and I should go back immediately. I told her no, but she persisted, so in the end I gave in. When she asks like that, it's usually either some sort of trivial childishness or she wants to introduce me to one of her friends, neither of which are important in my book. But whatever. When I finally managed to force my way through the crowd back to the Main Stage, I couldn't find her anywhere and so I sent her a message asking where she was. No answer. After about five minutes, I sent her another message, saying that if she doesn't answer, I would go back because I don't have time for this. Still no answer. So I went back. Then, when I was back at the Blues stage again, she calls saying where she is. Well, too bad because I won't be going through that crowd again. And then she got angry at me! As if my plans were inherently subordinate to hers. In the end, she came to the Blues stage, angry at me, because she wanted to give me a Nessie beanie that she bought. Well, I do admit that it was actually important, but I'm still saying that based on past performance, I couldn't know.
Mystery Gang was as awesome as expected, though, so it was a good ending to a not so good day. And then I went home.
So, I arrived around 8:30 PM on the third day, to be able to watch the performance at the Street Theatre. However, because of the weather, it was delayed so much that now it clashed with the Sex Pistols concert that I did not want to miss. I wandered around a bit and I met up with my father at the Jazz stage, which is a very nice place. It's on the spot where the HammerWorld stage has been in the previous years, which is basically a small festival of its own. It's surrounded by a fence, it has several pubs and food vendors, the Kinetic Statue Park is there and basically, one can stay there during the entire festival if one so wishes. We rested there for a bit then I went to the Main Stage for Sex Pistols. The concert was good and I managed to secure a spot next to the railing around the technicians' booth, so I had something to lean on if standing became too tiresome. And since I'm not the dancing type, standing in one spot during a 90 minute concert can get a bit painful. I also drank a bit more than a pint of wine in a relatively short time, so I was a little unsteady on my feet. I had a good time though and I screamed along to God Save The Queen, the only Sex Pistols song I know the lyrics to from heart. There was a funny part, when the band first left the stage and the singer said, I quote, "We'll be backstage having a cigarette and if you're loud enough, we'll come back." Well, he was honest, wasn't he? Most bands make an act of actually leaving before they come back for an encore performance. Not that they fool anyone. Oh, and of course the head on a stick was in the crowd. I'm seriously starting to suspect that I'm fated to run into it throughout Sziget. I might just find its bearer in the crowd today and ask them how they came up with the idea.
After the concert ended, I headed for the HammerWorld stage for the Apocalyptica concert. It took a long time to get there because much of the crowd was moving in the same direction, but in the end, I got there just as they started. I must say, the sound was as bad as I feared, the technicians just decided to turn everything up to the max again and I couldn't even hear the cellos. I mean, in an Apocalyptica performance, the cellos should dominate! That's the main point of their music! Whatever. Anyway, I stayed for their first song and I almost decided to leave, but they started playing Somewhere Around Nothing, and since that's my favourite song by them, I stayed for it and left. I decided to go to the Jazz stage to wind down a bit, but stopped at the Wan2 stage on the way, because Danko Jones was playing there and while I've never heard of them before, their music was good. Just as I got there, my father called me to say that he was at the HammerWorld stage and the sound has been fixed somewhat, so after listening to a few songs, I headed back. The sound was better, but it was still hard to hear the cellos at times and the crowd was horrible. The head on a stick was there, of course, right at the front of the crowd, near the stage. We stayed there for a bit, then decided to head to the Jazz stage because we couldn't really enjoy the music. We rested at the Jazz stage for a while, then headed home.
Well, yesterday didn't exactly go as planned. I wanted to head out at around 5 PM so I could arrive in time for the Róisín Murphy concert, but my sister called that there was such a long line on the bridge leading to the island that I couldn't possibly get in. So I decided to go by boat, which was fun, but very slow. I arrived more than an hour late. Then I decided to head to the Main Stage so I could find a good spot for the Serj Tankian concert. System of a Down was one of my favourite metal bands and I've heard some songs of Tankian before and it seems that he carried on their style, if in a different genre. But I made the mistake of stopping at the Hilltop Winery for some wine with soda so I'd have something to drink at the concert. It took one bloody hour to get served, because the woman at the counter was so damn incompetent. She screwed up orders, knocked the bottles over several times and couldn't understand what was said to her. It was extremely frustrating, especially because I missed a good chunk of the concert because of it. And of course, I couldn't find any place where I could see the stage after that.
Well, the music was still enjoyable anyway. During the concert, I received a text message from my sister asking where I was so I told her. I didn't receive a reply to that until after the end of the concert, when I was already at the Blues stage, waiting for the Mystery Gang Trio to start playing. They're a Hungarian trio who play rockabilly, jungle, surf, garage and any other style of old rock and roll. They always perform at Sziget and I've never missed one performance. It's the only performance where even I'm compelled to dance. Anyway, my sister was telling me that she had something very important to tell me and I should go back immediately. I told her no, but she persisted, so in the end I gave in. When she asks like that, it's usually either some sort of trivial childishness or she wants to introduce me to one of her friends, neither of which are important in my book. But whatever. When I finally managed to force my way through the crowd back to the Main Stage, I couldn't find her anywhere and so I sent her a message asking where she was. No answer. After about five minutes, I sent her another message, saying that if she doesn't answer, I would go back because I don't have time for this. Still no answer. So I went back. Then, when I was back at the Blues stage again, she calls saying where she is. Well, too bad because I won't be going through that crowd again. And then she got angry at me! As if my plans were inherently subordinate to hers. In the end, she came to the Blues stage, angry at me, because she wanted to give me a Nessie beanie that she bought. Well, I do admit that it was actually important, but I'm still saying that based on past performance, I couldn't know.
Mystery Gang was as awesome as expected, though, so it was a good ending to a not so good day. And then I went home.