Most festivals simply encourage you to ‘live in the moment’ – but most festivals aren’t Roskilde. In the midst of the community-built rave cities thumping long into the night, wayward nudists sprinting for glee on the annual Naked Run, and the general air of euphoria, a sobering awareness of the future is ever present.
It’s written in the sky-high art instillation highlighting the spike in fast-fashion landfill, the walls of vibrant graffiti mourning the ever-worsening climate disaster, the old tents and banners upcycled into tote bags and bucket hats.
While Roskilde certainly parties hard, it also cares deeply. It’s a sentiment the non-profit festival has preached for years, bolstered more recently by their involvement in the Music & Music Festivals as Change Drivers initiative – and it’s something the community echoes in return.
It’s also the reason why artists love this festival. Unlike some stages, there’s an awareness that stepping out to a Roskilde audience is a platform – and it’s something Fontaines D.C. kickstart on the very first day of music.
On the mainstage, the Irish post-punks unleash a slew of swaggering anthems, blasting a ‘free Palestine’ message on the screens while performing ‘I Love You’ – before going the extra mile and handing over their mics to a Palestinian group, allowing a moment for Palestine to speak up on the festival main stage.
“There is a genocide going on right now, and festivals like this are the one place we can bypass the censorship of the media,” one activist announces. When the Fontaines lads take back to the stage, guitarist Carlos O’Connell re-iterates the band’s support of Palestine, as well as groups like Kneecap and Bob Vylan who have also utilised their platform to speak out.
The support for such issues even comes from the smallest of acts, like the budding magic of Danish art and post-rockers Big Fan. Named after the fact the pair are, rather endearingly, “big fans of each other!”, their Friday set is like a warm embrace. In the shadows of the Gloria stage, the pair reminiscent of forest nymphs as they gently pluck guitar strings and dance across piano keys in a haze of golden light and on-stage shrubbery.
The graceful pair eventually knock out ‘Wall Of Mine’, their own Palestinian protest song, an almost Phil Collins-like flurry of soft instrumentation that sees their gentle voices harmonising together, a testament of unity and strength.
Ecological grief is also addressed by Denmark’s own electropop queen MØ, who balances out the technicolour celebration of cuts like Leon On and Final Song with an appearance form the Nordic Climate Justice Coalition – fronted by Greta Thunberg. The young activist decries the Israeli government and CO2 emissions, declaring: “WE ARE WATCHING AS THE WORLD FUCKING BURNS!”
It’s a similar testament shared by soulful chamber pop ensemble Anohni and the Johnsons. Their Saturday set in the arena centres on the bleaching of the Australian coral reefs, interspersed with clips of scientists discussing the ever-worsening conditions. Throughout, Anonhi’s quivering, emotive performance paints her as a mourning mother nature, amplified by evocative cuts like ‘4 Degrees’ and ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child’.
Of course, the political moments are balanced out by equally as vital performances. As alt-pop-rocker Rachel Chinouriri proclaims during her life-affirming Saturday set in the arena, sometimes you need to “dance through the traumas” – and she does so with delight, waving to her fans with an air of whimsy and utter glee.
Throughout, there’s an undeniable charm to the Brit’s earnest onstage persona, balancing a cheeky rockstar bite, falling to her knees to rock out, before practically skipping across the stage with a dazzling, Disney princess grin. From the eye-rolling ‘Dumb Bitch Juice’ to the heartfelt, to the love-addled confession of ‘So My Darling’, the crowd is putty in her hands.
“How fragile but beautiful life is,” Chinouriri says at one point. “Love is the one currency you can never spend, never run out of. Tell someone you love them.” And, instantly, everyone in the crowd feels the need to tell this angelic figure onstage that they absolutely love her – something that makes her erupt into another picture-perfect grin.
Another British superstar comes in the form of Charli XCX. Following on from last year’s magnificent set in the Arena stage, Charli has upgraded to headlining the main Orange Scene stage – and it’s well deserved. Her arrival causes the heavens to open – and, as ‘365’ drowns the festival field in noise, all inhibitions are out the window.
The downpour amps up the ferality, the Brat star commanding the crowd and urging them into a frenzy throughout cuts like ‘Von Dutch’, ‘Girl, so confusing’ and ‘Guess’ as lightning flashes across the sky. The party is balanced out with some hilarious auto-tune-distorted snippets of reflection; “its an era of growth and development motherfucker, cuz we all did therapy!” the hyperpop queen declares at one point, to a howl of approval.
The chaotic display of floor humping, ‘Club Classics’ and strip-tease-like dancing comes to a climax with ‘I Love It’. It’s a track that makes even the most stone-faced of Danish lads embrace the partygirl frivolities, booming baritone calls of “I LOVE IT” totally out-trumping the voices of anyone else in the crowd. And Charli closes it all off with screens explaining how she wants “Brat summer to last forever”… judging by the response, it seems like everybody else does, too.
Speaking of chaotic, adrenaline-fuelled sets, Doechii knocks out another killer set on Friday. Despite headlining a stage at this year’s Glastonbury, she’s on at 6pm – but she delivers a set well-worthy of a headline slot. With a boombox set up on stage, the tongue-in-cheek rapper educates the masses on the 101 of Hip Hop, moving from lessons on Bars, Genre, Wordplay and more.
While Doechii’s School of Hip Hop has more vigorous ass-shaking than one might expect from a typical class, it’s a total masterclass in how to stun a crowd – from Bullfrog to Boiled Peanuts, Doechii truly is the Swamp Ruler, the all-singing, all-twerking Trap Grace Jones.
When she knocks out an umbrella to mock her Met Gala video, followed by a dance using the umbrella as a cane, it’s evident why she’s a Grammy-winning superstar. The charm, the attitude, the self-deprecating sarcasm – and the final burst of Boom Bap after her mega-hit Denial Is A River just because “well, they asked me to rap!” goes down a treat.
Elsewhere, FKA Twigs knocks out another energetic performance – balancing out her gorgeous, pixie-like vocals with sultry pole-dancing in killer platform heels. Meanwhile, off-kilter Floridian pop duo Magdalena Bay knock out their own take on an energetic set, with singer Mica Tenenbaum parading around in a whole slew of different outfits. From prancing around dressed as a sunflower, living in a daydream for ‘Vampire In The Corner’, before swapping to a terrifying monster mask, the set is a sugary-sweet fever dream of Windows XP clipart and daydreamy synths.
That’s not to mention the mass of talent from across the globe; Roskilde’s efforts to drag in acts from everywhere has resulted in around 45 countries being represented this year. The Kwashibu Area Band unleash a colourful, gleeful a love letter to Ghanaian music over on the Eos stage.
Elsewhere, Shatta queen Maureen knocks out slick, sassy French rap and Caribbean rhythms on the Gaia stage. But there’s also Tennssee goddess Tanner Adell’s cowboy-hungry lust, the rootin-tootin’ country gal running through a commendable set of singalongs.
Japanese popstar Fujii Kaze drenches the Avalon stage in his poppy groove, his almost Jack Sparrow-like mannerisms mesmerising as he wafts his hands to-and-fro and wiggles along to his own tunes – before knocking out a saxophone and sunnies for extra cool points. Sparkling gospel crooner Florence Adooni also graces the same stage, with her own unique sound from Ghana. The Damon Albarn-approved Africa Express’ exuberant, dynamic display of diverse African textures.
As the weekend rounds off to a close, headliners Nine Inch Nails having unleashed a thick onslaught of nihilistic horniness and industrial carnage on the Arena stage crowds, followed by a shot of Tyla’s South African ‘popiano’ swing, punters begin to file their way out of the site. Some, however, will find themselves lured in by the riot grrrl duo Lambrini Girls, their sound emanating far beyond the confines of the Gaia tent.
The blonde bombshells ramble through every buzz topic the festival stands for – from toxic masculinity, to Palestine, to transphobia, to the police corruption. It’s an unrefined, messy clamour of rage… and it’s perfect. The tent is rammed, everyone keen to soak up one final hurrah of undiluted fury before having to leave the safe bubble of community that Roskilde offers.
And, as the brazen punk frontwoman Phoebe Lunny barks and howls her way through the set, occasionally throwing herself into the thick of the crowd, it’s the perfect way to close off a marvellous weekend. Everyone is left with that ‘Orange Feeling’ glow of unity, and it’s something they’ll carry with them long after the festival ends.
Editors’ Picks
Keep up to date with the best in UK music by following us on Instagram: @whynowworld and on Twitter/X: @whynowworld
