Many people going to festivals don't seem to be very interested in the music, but they were guaranteed to have a great time: the weather was sunny and hot, there were plenty of entertainment possibilities, and there was plenty of (expensive) beer.
The lineup looked less attractive to me than in previous years, and it seemed like I wasn't the only one. Only 45,000 people came, the organizers had expected up to 70,000 or more. With 30 acts I can obviously only give a very short account on each one. There was a lot of blues rock, but I'll just focus on a few of the artists with whom I was more familiar. Friday, July 7 Belly: Little known here, so not too many people assembled in front of the stage, and only very few were fans (like me). They only got to play a very short set (40 minutes), but it was excellent. Tanya looks very tiny in reality, but she sings even better than on record. As expected, the sound is harder live. The Beautiful South: The melodic style with the soulful vocals that we know from the Housemartins. Nice, but not really live music. Paul Weller: It's nice to see a legend and long-time favorite alive and in good shape. He was smiling a lot and looked happy. His current music is solid and very well performed (excellent band, too) but it doesn't do as much to me as the old Jam and especially Style Council stuff, which he didn't play unfortunately. Some British girls beside me kept shouting "Paul, take your trousers off" between songs, which was cute. Sheryl Crow: I don't know, her music is basically good and nice, but it just doesn't touch me. The live performance bored me, too. Oasis: Unlike the people that see the new Beatles in them, I think that they're a good, but overrated band. The live performance even lost the bit of characteristic profile that they have on record, everything was just a wall of guitar noise. So I managed to get my opinion confirmed and retreated. R.E.M.: I knew that they would mostly play new stuff. But while most bands play harder live, it was surprising that the songs from Monster sounded tamer and less energetic than on album. Stipe also seemed to be a bit bored, he just said "hello" a few dozen times, and announced most songs with "here's another song". There were a few highlights, like a wonderful version of "Everybody Hurts", and emotional moments when he mentioned the event in Lausanne and thanked the doctors (who were in the audience) having operated on Berry's head. They played one new (post-Monster) song that didn't impress me very much. All in all a good, but not outstanding concert. Saturday, July 8 Inner Circle: I love to see reggae concerts, also for the great atmosphere, and open air festivals are the perfect place for reggae. So there was a lot of dancing and singing along. A La La La La Long... Shane MacGowan + The Popes: The big question about MacGowan is always: how drunk will he be? The answer was (as always): very drunk. It looks like being kicked out of the Pogues didn't impress him much, the whiskey level was so high that he could hardly talk. But most surprisingly, this didn't result in a lousy concert this time. His singing was brilliant, and backed up by an excellent band his set was a full success musical-wise. He scored especially high with some Pogues classics like "Sally MacLennane". It's just questionable how long he will be able to continue this way, it's a real pity to see such a talent drowning. The Kelly Family: A year ago they were nobodies, and now probably the biggest selling band on the continent. I had only heard about how bad they are, so I wanted to see for myself. It was even worse than expected, this is an insult for the ear of every music lover. But who cares? The kids love them, some older people like them, and they milk the cash cow as long as they can. The Neville Brothers: What a contrast! A stage full of highly skilled musicians, every note and every beat perfectly at its place. And this Aaron Neville looks like a heavy weight champion, but sings like an angel. His performance of "Like A Bird" is certainly one of the most impressive vocal performances I ever heard, breathtaking. Elton John: I didn't expect much, but I wondered how he would do. Strong start with "Made In England", "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" (my favorite of his songs), and "Sacrifice". He even makes a nice impression in his weird way. "Honky Cat" starts good, but he makes it much too long, until if falls apart. And that's the end of it for me. He plays some new songs, proving that he lost it many years ago, and it's time to escape. The Nathan Cavaleri Band: 13 year old blues guitarist from Australia. Sounds like a "big one", certainly an outstanding talent. Sunday, July 9 The Dubliners: Nice, almost traditional, Irish music. Almost too quiet for my taste, I like it more with a blend of rock a la Pogues. Chuck Berry: Still plays his songs quite well, but I heard too much about his questionable personality to appreciate it. I think it's time to let the history be history and leave the field. George Thorogood and The Destroyers: Lived up to their reputation as a live band, powerful and full of energy. Slash's Snakepit: I had promised to cheer for a friend who's his biggest fan, so I was close to the stage. It's not really my thing, but I enjoyed it more than expected. Slash uses "fuck" as every second word, but that seems to be part of the required hard rock image. Not much response from the audience, though, nobody wanted an encore. Status Quo: They're still fun, but not as good as they used to be. Or maybe I've just seen them too often. Vanessa Mae: Strongly hyped, the "Violin Player" from England. But the audience is excited. I'm not sure what makes it work so well. It's certainly great to see something completely different. And the fact that she's cuter than allowed by any law certainly plays a role, too. Last but not least, she can really play that violin extremely well, and the program goes from "Cotton Eye Joe" over Michael Jackson to classical pieces. We're furiously trying to get an encore, and people throw (of course empty) beer cans and (of course PET) bottles at the roadies on stage. It doesn't help, time is over. Rod Stewart: Another big one that I like to listen to, but where I didn't expect much from a live performance. I give him a chance for a few songs, am not overly excited, and decide to head home avoiding a possible traffic jam. All in all the festival wasn't a really great event from a musical point of view, the real highlights (like Marillion in '87 or Midnight Oil in '93) were missing. My biggest disappointment was that Soul Asylum didn't come; I really wanted to see them, and the organizers didn't even give an explanation why they cancelled.
