My trip to the Heinken Open'er Festival didn't get off to the best start. From the minute our plane landed in Gdansk, the rain got heavier and heavier. Totally covered in mud within an hour of being on site, the prospect of 4 nights seemed a little daunting. However a quick power nap later, and with a Heinken in hand, the sun was shining (temporarily) on the festival ground.
Wednesday nights highlights saw Yeasayer rock the Tent stage with a brilliant laser show, and they really got the crowd going with their upbeat tunes.
Bjork came next, literally taking over the stage sporting her now usual huge bright orange hairdo, incredible blue dress, and army of backing dancing pulling off some intriguing moves, in a twitching like fashion. New Order ended the night, to a dwindling crowd, with a supreme rendition of their greatest hits, including the Joy Division classics Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart.
The awful weather on Thursday night led us to explore some of the disused hangers, which neatly housed DJs and a Silent Disco. The rain finally stopped at midnight just in time for an epic set from Justice. The French duo pulled a massive crowd to the main stage with a spectacular show through the fog. Starting their set with Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fuge in D Minor’, they pumped out their classic tunes, and the crowd just kept dancing. The night ended with 'On'n'On', a cover of soulwax 'NY Excuse' and finally 'Phantom, Part 2' - which left everyone wanting more and heading back to the hangers to dance until the sun came up.
More rain, more Heinkein and Friday was off to a great start with Bloc Party followed by Franz Ferdinand who played an upbeat set, including 'Can't Stop Feeling' starting with a snippet from 'I Feel Love', Donna Summer. M83 came next, which for me was the highlight of the weekend. The band treated us to classics such as Teen Aganst and a great remix of A Guitar and a Heart. Mid way through a cover of Daft Punk 'Fall' sent the crowd crazy, despite the wellies and tired legs, before launching into 'Midnight City'. Couleurs ended the set, after which the headliner for the night, The Cardigans, seemed like a real anticlimax. Playing their 1998 album ‘Gran Turismo’ to an almost empty field, the band seemed an odd choice to bring the night to an end.
Making my way back to the tent in the early hours of Friday morning I spotted a sign which stated 'Hail strike incoming - ensure your tents are secured'. A reminder that the festival appears to have it's own microclimate. The festival ground itself is a huge disused airfield. The stages and tents are set to one side, leaving a huge open space in the middle making it easy to get between the acts (although it's quite some distance and there's the occasional pot hole to fall down), and there is heaps of space to sit, dance or get away from the crowds.
The friendly crowd were mainly 20 to 30 somethings, and with the music starting late in the day few families were to be seen, but the vibe was still very relaxed. Food options are more limited than the typical fare in the UK, but cabbage, sausage, kebabs and dumplings are available in abundance. Even more limited was the choice of alcohol - Heiniken, Heiniken, or Heiniken - but at about £1.20 a pint you can't really complain. Fashion, cinema and theatre are also on the bill during the 4 days and seemed just as popular as the music (in the case of the fashion tent, this might have had something to do with the scantily clad, beautiful Polish models strutting their stuff down the catwalk).
The line up on Saturday began with Mumford & Sons, playing a mix of new and old to a small crowd who braved the weather, followed by some upbeat tunes from the Friendly Fires. A slower, more sombre set from The XX, who took to the stage dressed all in black, closed the main stage and could have been an odd end to the 4 days, however the Tent stage had one last treat in a euphoric set from SBTRKT, which sent the dancing, happy crowds back to the rather muddy campsite.
Review:Laura Herrod
