when: 11-13 august 2011
where: rees-haldern, germany
line-up: over 50 bands from germany, uk, usa, iceland, denmark etc.
once again, i have to thank stornoway. why? because they were the reason i got to know this nice little festival in the first place. brian, the lead singer of stornoway, asked the audience at their gig in cologne in april if anyone saw them last year in haldern. i had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, so when i got back home, i did some research and found out that stornoway played in the mirrortent at the haldern pop festival 2010. i checked the haldern pop website and took a look at the line-up for this year´s festival. i was thrilled but of course my good mood didn´t last long once i found out that the festival was sold out since january. thank god for my friend christina. somehow she found out that i was looking for a ticket. we started talking about the festival and christina told me that she actually went last year and was totally amazed by it. she had a spare ticket and asked me if i wanted to come along. of course i said yes. i was absolutely thrilled to go, plus i´d finally have the chance to meet christina, jo and jen.
august 11th was finally here and we all went to duisburg central station where christina picked us up. we enjoyed some nice daytrotter sessions by the avett brothes and okkervil river on the way to haldern which is a rather nice little village near the german-dutch border. (we walked through the village on friday and saturday to catch some acts at the haldern pop bar. judging by what i saw, people seemed to be really friendly and certainly enjoyed themselves.) we were driving around the campsite two (or maybe three) times and then found a great space to set up our tents. after meeting bettina and ariane at the campsite as well, we officially started our haldern weekend with a nice barbecue.
welcome to the haldern pop festival 2011!
this is yvonne by the way...
then we went to the festival site to collect our wristbands and some "poptaler". the sun was shining like crazy (yes, my nose got sunburned on the very first day!) when we started to queue. after the festival site finally opened the gates, we immediately started to queue again to get into the mirrortent. we actually managed to get in and found a great spot on the left side in front of the stage. we met three very nice lads who christina and jo recognized from last year and they apparently remembered the girls as well. they were really friendly and always up for some smalltalk (see you guys next year!). but enough rambling about the great non-music stuff. let´s have a closer look at the awesome musicians at the festival...
our lovely wristbands
of course we didn´t get to see all of the acts since there were two (well, actually four) different "venues" at the festival - the mirrortent and the main stage (plus the haldern pop bar and the haldern church). we spent thursday and friday in the tent and saturday in front of the main stage.
besides the performances i saw, the line-up included many more acts, such as...
coma, brandt brauer frick ensemble, emanuel & the fear, paul thomas saunders, toy horses, isbells, springer parker, moddi, golden kanine, the antlers, selah sue, gisbert zu knyphausen, miss li, the wombats, tim isford & john grant, erased tape special (including anne müller and nils frahm), josh t. pearson, moss, josephine, the black atlantic, steve cradock, destroyer, timber timbre, dan mangan, my brightest diamond, hauschka, warpaint, suuns, agnes obel and explosions in the sky.
i only knew what wild beasts, wir sind helden, the wombats, james blake and fleet foxes sound like. other than that i pretty much had no clue what kind of music the other bands make. i heard of dry the river, anna calvi, the avett brothers and the low anthem before, so i was quite anxious to check them out live.
here´s some sort of rating or description of all the acts i saw...
starting with german punk-rock band 206 and london based indie-rock band yuck. sorry folks but it was just not my cup of tea. the boys from 206 seemed to be nice lads nevertheless. their music was just too loud though and i still don´t know what they were singing about, even though the lyrics were in german. haven´t heard of yuck before and to be honest, it´s no surprise i haven´t.
icelandic band retro stefson (definitely the best dance act at haldern) opened the mirrortent on thursday. one good looking girl accompanied by six young boys entered the stage, ready to entertain. i´ve read so much about the haldern pop festival and usually the festival was described as the perfect opportunity to discover new indie-folk/pop bands. but retro stefson certainly did not fit in this category. their music got the crowd dancing the second they started playing. they played some sort of jazz-grease-dance-caribbean-latin mix that no one in the tent could resist. check them out but don´t get blind-sided by the official video to their new single "kimba". the video doesn´t do justice to their live performance at all. if you can, put your dancing shoes on and try to catch them live. they were the perfect act to open the stage in the mirrortent. well done.
retro stefson
when it comes to really good music, it doesn´t matter what the artist looks like, so i´m always wondering what some musicians are trying to cover up by wearing some incredibly horrendous outfits - like julia marcell who should definitely get a prize for the worst outfit. she is signed to haldern pop recordings but was actually the last confirmed act for the line-up. i checked out her new single "matriozska" and really liked what i heard but her set at the festival was disappointing. the terrible outfit didn´t help either.
julia marcell´s curtain like outfit
ben howard - probably the most recommended act prior to the festival. bettina was so thrilled to see him and i had absolutely no clue why. after his performance was over, i totally knew where bettina was coming from. ben was joined on stage by india bourne and chris bond. a mesmerising voice paired with even more talent - there´s not much else you could ask for. the crowd seemed to be very pleased and asked for more. ben was obviously quite surprised because he said "wow, i really didn´t expect this!" from all the acts who played an encore, ben and band definitely delivered the best one. they came out afterwards to sign ben´s "old pine" ep. all three seemed to be really nice. ben´s debut album "every kingdom" is due on october 3rd. i already got myself a ticket to see them all in manchester in october. can´t wait for it.
india bourne on bass, chris bond on drums and ben howard on guitar
the first act we saw at the haldern pop bar was matthew & the atlas - another communion act. one band member was wearing wellies, the most appropriate festival allrounder per se. not my favourite act of the festival but they were quite good. i´d recommend their daytrotter session any time.
"anna calvi and mumford&sons invented folk music!" - that´s what some guy on facebook once said to me. i still think he was kidding (at least i hope so), especially after seeing anna calvi live. i´m absolutely no mumford&sons fan and i really don´t know what the fuss is all about. i didn´t know what kind of music anna calvi makes until i saw her at the festival. her set was ok and she certainly can sing but her music is anything but folk. no friggin way her music should be described as folk music. but i have to admit that her shoes were absolutely ace.
anna calvi
i can´t say much about james vincent mcmorrow and alexi murdoch. we only managed to catch the end of alexi murdoch´s set and i only saw the first three songs of james vincent mcmorrow´s set (including the famous quote "somebody should ask the wombats to keep their shit down!"). thanks again to dad for the unnecessary phone call at 11.45 pm on friday night. anyway, i was quite impressed by what i saw/heard nevertheless. i´ll definitely check out more of their stuff.
three piece dance band bodi bill from berlin delivered the most unusual performance by all means. they demonstrated their love for stones, "vogelvieh" made out of rubber gloves, big bones and animal masks. i´m usually not really into dance-techno music but i enjoyed their set very much. especially the fact that they used a violin made their performance even more special. one of only a few german bands i´d recommend.
bodi bill
the best pop act for me was american singer-songwriter alex winston. she performed on the main stage in bright daylight on saturday afternoon. haven´t checked out much of her music yet but "choice notes" is definitely quite a catchy tune. check out the "watch listen tell" version of this song.
alex winston
it´s always disappointing when a band sounds great on record but sucks live. that was the case with okkervil river. we were listening to their daytrotter session from 2007 (i think) in the car and they sounded quite nice, so we were really looking forward to seeing them. but their live sound was so different. it´s not that they were not good or anything, it was just soooo different to what we expected. i don´t know if they jsut changed the genre since 2007 or if they simply vary their live sound.
james blake was one of the few acts i knew before i went to haldern. i checked him out a while ago when he was touring in germany but i didn´t get the chance to see him back then, so i couldn´t wait for his set in haldern. i don´t think i´ve ever heard so much bass coming from the speakers. it felt like my ears were bleeding but it was so worth it. he´s a great musician and his set was really good. i´m sure the lights would´ve made an even bigger impression at night but nevertheless, james blake is a musician everyone should be familiar with.
james blake
we were pretty much standing right in front of the stage in the mirrortent on friday which means we got a few chances to peak backstage since the door on the left side of the stage was constantly open during the breaks. there was this one crazy looking guy walking past the door a few times and i always wondered who he was. i was sure that he definitely did not belong to one of the acts that would perform on stage. little did i know how wrong i could be... this guy came on stage accompanied by three other guys and one lady. the music socalled play is indescribable. their sound is so unique, i wouldn´t even dare to try and describe it. they were the most surprising act ever, soooo not what i expected at all (in a good way). give socalled a listen and check them out live if you can. you won´t regret it.
socalled
johnny flynn, another young british lad i´d recommend. although i gotta admit that his set did not totally convince me. he wasn´t able to win me over completely. he was missing his band, so he performed all by himself. his songs started to sound too similiar at the end of the set. i had people tell me that is sound is slightly different when he´s playing with his band. he certainly has a really nice voice.
johnny flynn
the avett brothers - only one word: amazing. besides the fact that they used a cello, a double bass and a banjo (which already makes them quite perfect), i have to admit that they pretty much delivered a brilliant set. i don´t think any other band at the festival had this much energy on stage (except for labrassbanda perhaps). if anyone in the tent did not at least tap their feet, they have only themselves to blame.
the avett brothers
seth avett on guitar, scott avett on banjo
wir sind helden from germany played on the main stage on saturday evening. i´m no fan of their music at all but they do have some songs that you just can´t get rid of. therefore it was no surprise that the entire audience seemed to sing along to one of their biggest hits "denkmal" - even i knew the lyircs.
the most disappointing set came from the low anthem. my friends know that i´m always looking for a banjo, a double bass, a cello (see the avett brothers) and a trumpet on stage, so they told me that i´d enjoy the low anthem because the use some of these instruments. i was looking forward to their set but it was probably the most disappointing one ever. first of all, they only played for like 20 minutes (still don´t know why) and second of all, the whole set was simply too quiet. i think their sound would´ve been much more effective in the tent with a more intimate setting.
the low anthem
the most fun act for sure was labrassbanda. they totally rocked the main stage on saturday afternoon. their sound is based on trumpet, tuba and trombone and completed with bass and drums. i´ve never heard anything like labrassbanda before. people were dancing like the morning would never come. no one cared about the rain at all. the band even came down and played in the audience. it was amazing! i never thought a band from bavaria would deliver such a great show. highly recommended!
labrassbanda
"helplessness blues" is already one of my favourite albums of 2011. i got the first (self-titled) fleet foxes album in manchester in 2009. it´s safe to say that i´m addicted to them ever since which means that i seriously couldn´t wait to see them live. and they totally fulfilled all my expectations. no surprise they were headlining the festival on saturday night. their set was the perfect one for me to end three amazing days in haldern. next time they´re in the uk, i´ll be there for sure.
fleet foxes
oklahoma based quintet other lives played the most beautiful set at the haldern pop bar on saturday. sadly we got there even later that we did for matthew & the atlas, so we were only able to peak through the window from time to time but actually it wasn´t as bad as i first thought because that way we could fully concentrate on the music. and we absolutely fell in love with what we heard - i did at least though. their set was stunning. of course we decided to get the album after the show. we got the entire band to sign the album too. it´s mostly about the music but it sure doesn´t hurt when the band members are really nice guys as well.
dry the river are probably the most talked about band that recently emerged from the depth of london town. and i totally know why everyone says they´re going to be the next big thing. i didn´t know what to expect but they blew me away. not only is peter liddle´s voice simply amazing, they also have a classical trained violinist in their band (and that´s always a plus as i mentioned before). i´d advice everyone to check out the gospel oak session of their song "history book" - one of the most amazing songs ever. jo and i managed to get a drumstick from the band after the gig, so we were waiting for them to come back out because we wanted to ask them if they´d sign the sticks for us. matthew, who plays guitar in dry the river, came out and signed the drumsticks. i honestly would´ve been happy with that already but he actually invited us to go backstage to get the other guys to sign the drumsticks as well. he took us back to jon (drums) and will (violin) who seemed to be more than happy about all the compliments. will then took us to their little trailer, so that peter (lead singer & guitar) and scott (bass) could finish signing the drumsticks. we, jo actually, chatted to peter a little who also seemed to genuinly appreciate the support. i guess i was way too excited to get out any words. all i could think was "oh my god, i´m backstage with dry the river!" (although i gotta admit that i was a little distracted as well because tom fleming from wild beasts walked past us when we were talking to peter.) it was crazy. needless to say that meeting dry the river and getting our drumsticks signed was the most exciting thing that happened to me during the festival. jo and i got tickets to see them in london in two weeks and i´m sure that´s gonna be a blast too.
dry the river: will (violin), matt (left guitar), jon (drums) and peter (right guitar)
...and scott on bass.
the biggest highlight of the entire festival was without a doubt the performance by wild beasts! they were actually the main reason (line-up wise) why i wanted to go to haldern in the frist place. by the time they entered the stage in the mirrortent, i even managed to get a front row spot right in the middle. it was f**king brilliant! i got a ticket to see them in manchester in november, before i went to see them in haldern and their performance there got me even more excited for the uk tour. their set was simply amazing. they played the perfect mix of all three albums including my favourites "the devil´s crayon" and "reach a bit further". i know i´ve said this many times before but tom fleming´s voice is just unbelievable (no doubt that hayden´s voice is quite special as well!). seriously, i pretty much stop thinking when i listen to wild beasts. not many bands have this kind of effect on me. make sure to check out their black cab session, the live performance of "all the king´s men" on later with jools holland and especially the basement live session by télérama - pure brilliance! now i got me a ticket to see them in bristol as well. bring on november! i couldn´t be more excited... and special thanks to jo (again) for getting me benny´s and tom´s setlists! they were brought home in one piece and are now framed (along other stuff) up on my wall. thank you.
wild beasts (from left to right): benny, tom, chris and hayden
tom fleming
after three wonderful days filled with lots of amazing performances and some new great friends, we were packing up our stuff on sunday morning but not before we enjoyed our third delicious homemade breakfast. we were all on a high buzz from the weekend that not even the heavy rain really bothered anyone.
a big thank you to everyone at haldern pop who made this festival so special and made sure that everything flew so smoothly! we´ll be back next august for sure. and if i´m allowed to make some suggestions for next year´s line-up, i´d be more than grateful if goldtrip, natalie mccool, the travelling band and tina dico would appear on the list. oh, and of course i wouldn´t mind to see wild beasts and stornoway on there again either.
and special thanks to christina, jen, jo and bettina - simply for being amazing...
see you 2012, haldern!
* photo of the wristbands taken by bettina
* photo of retro stefson, ben howard + band and dry the river (1st pic) taken by christina
* all other photos taken by me
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