Photo: Reinaldo Coddou
In the last years the Melt! Festival has been mostly lucky in terms of weather. So we were really optimistic although we had heard that it might be raining this time. But when I unpacked my tent in the pouring rain I felt terribly naïve for not bringing any boots or raincoats. During the concerts it was mostly dry, but on our way to the festival area we were caught in the rain several times and soaked to the bone when we arrived at the stage. Read on to find out how we had a great time with our girlfriends Robyn, Roisin and Björk and a bad time with mudd, drunks and terrible coffee.
Friday
When the rain came down I didn’t understand the world anymore. In the last three years of Melt! It was always sunny and hot and we could dance in shorts and shirts all night and swim and sunbathe at the lake during the day. But it didn’t quite look like that this time.
But the rain wasn’t the only thing that discouraged me a little. When we waited for the bus to the campsite I was already annoyed by the many drunks that were standing around us yelling and talking shit. Guys, it’s the first day and it’s not even ten. Many of them didn’t even make it to the festival grounds. I saw one guy pissing into the bushes and then falling right into it. Does it make me a bad person when I say that I laughed really hard about it?
Miss Kittin
The first act we were interested in seeing was Kate Nash, but we only caught the last three songs and stood really far away. We then went over to see Miss Kittin and The Hacker. So far I had only seen her as a DJ, so I was surprised to see this performance that I would describe as Scooter for sophisticated people. It was fun, though. Later we went to see Robyn who we never quite managed to see here in Berlin. She had a great energy on stage and her crazy moves had us cheering through the whole concert. Konichiwa bitches!!
Roisin Murphy
Saturday
What can you do in a place like Graefenhainichen during the day when it’s pouring and you can’t go swimming or chilling at the lake? We tried out a restaurant named Hollywood. Bad idea. Worst coffee ever. I hate it when they put filter coffee into their espresso machines.
Roisin Murphy, Photo: Stephan Flad
In the evening we noticed that the rain took its toll on the festival grounds. Several areas were blocked by pools of water and mudd you couldn’t get through without rubber boots. So we were mostly stuck with the two main stages and couldn’t see all the smaller acts and DJs that we enjoyed so much in the last years. But the concert of Roisin Murphy made all this worthwhile. She is such an amazing performer. And as we already learned she likes to do all sorts of crazy stuff in her shows. This time she jumped onto her bassist until he fell to the floor. Good job, girl! We’re overpowered!
Björk, Photo: Geert Schäfer
Sunday
We were so bored in our tents waiting for the rain to stop that we almost considered driving home already. But then again we didn’t want to miss out on Björk. And we were glad we didn’t because her show was amazing. She played so many of my favorite songs that I couldn’t stop hollering and waving like a crazy person. Even the people that don’t like her music gave her show a thumbs-up. I was just sad that they already wasted their fireworks on Franz Ferdinand. At least she raised her flags in the end!
Text: Frank
Björk, Photo: Geert Schäfer
