This Programme belongs to Me

 The restricted media camp was quite full when I got there. I set up my tent however in record time (or at least what I think would be record time for a first timer). I was suppose to meet with these 2 American people (Colleen & Mark from Texas) I met at the train station but they wouldn’t let me out through to the regular camp sites before actual start time at 5 p.m. I spent some solo time walking around, sitting around and in general, mucking around….. up until I had to do a phone cross over with Navsta @ Traxx FM – Travel N’ Music….the station’s new tagline is what my life is all about right now. 

My Tent - aka a freaking oven during the day

Thursday’s line-up had about 18 performers performing on 6 different stages. I only managed to catch 3 acts:- Clutch, the Gossip and last but definitely not least, Radiohead. I did try to see MGMT but word of advice for vertically challenged Asians while going to western based music festivals – be prepared to see nothing. Unless of course you’re a professional stilt walker, or can fly. Thank goodness for big screens at the larger stages.

Click on thumbnails below to see some pictures from Day 1 of the Roskilde Festival 08 

Unfortunately the Odeon stage (where Clutch, MGMT and the Gossip played last night) did NOT have a screen. Getting to the stage early is your best bet… and when I took my own advice – I was upfront during the Gossip and got some pretty good shots of Beth Ditto prancing around in a silk mumu, flashing her wonderfully thick – cellulite legs every so often. 20 minutes into their set I had to dash off to the Orange stage where Radiohead was about to start.

   

Writing about Radiohead deserves its own paragraph (and probably because it’s not grammatically correct or something like that.) Anyway, they took stage right at 10 p.m. – initiated by the Greenwood brothers licks and chops (?) and of course Thom Yorke’s lingering croon. They played a great deal off their In Rainbows album and towards the middle-end of their set, through in some older tracks like Karma Police, Paranoid Android, My Iron Lung and a few others I can’t quite think of now. I was waiting for them to play JUST though as I had heard they played it during their other festival appearances this summer. Nearly 1.5 hours and Just was just missing. In all though, a magnificent performance with little chit chat in between songs…. Just perhaps Thom Yorke dedicating their next song to everyone at the festival who had done bad drugs…..

Picture of the Big Screen next to the stage during Radiohead

Only non-screen view I could see of anyone from the band

  

 In all, I trekked back to my campsite in the cold with a smile on my face – a combination of relief after using the toilet and finally seeing Radiohead – 15 years after I missed a club gig of theirs in Mexico…. I learned my lesson and made sure I was not intoxicated this time around…

Today there will be performances by Kate Nash, Gnarls Barkley, Band of Horses, Santogold, Mogwai, Cocorosie, Grinderman, Goldfrapp, the Streets…just to name a few….where do I begin?