Motorhead @ B’estfest day 2

Yesterday was a great day at B’estfest. The first 2 big names at the festival – Motorhead and Moby – and the first day of the festival proper (the day before it was day 0. If you are confused by the festival days numbering, so am I).

The line-up was Les Elephants Bizarres, Grimus, Ayo, Polarkreis 18, Motorhead and Moby. The Silent Disco is not really a concert, although it is a good idea and a nice place to relax a bit after the last concert.

I arrived in time to catch the last part of Ayo. I am not a huge fan, but her voice was pretty nice. First minutes at the festival were as usual spent on searching for some friends, waiting for others and trying to coordinate between 3 or 4 groups. Of course I failed, and some of them I only saw at the beginning and then lost track of. I imagine the nice part for a concert were you stay the whole week is that you can socialize in the day (or in the pubs at night) and as for concerts…every fan for himself.

The big improvement from the day before was that the rain was completely gone. So after scaring everyone on the first day, the second day was devoid of weather nastiness.

Polarkreis 18 was a very interesting discovery. I did not know much about them, and I was somewhat confused as for the gender of the lead singer, but the songs were pretty good. I will do some googling for them and see what comes up.

Of course, the festival picked up in energy when Motorhead started singing. It is amazing when rock bands that were big names in the 70s or 80s can still grab the audience. I mean some of today’s groups last for 1 or 2 hits and then nobody hears from them. Yet (some) of the old rock bands are still touring. A small disclaimer: Motorhead referred to themselves as a rock and roll band. I am not sure I want to know what’s heavy rock in their perception. Probably my brain would shut down. Anyway – they kept the crowd jumping and screaming song after song and the “ace of spades” proved a huge success.

About the closing act – Moby – I will write a bit later. Office duties must take priority. Suffice to say that I really liked his concert!

Regarding general impressions of the festival:

  • the security and organizers sorted their proverbial shit together so there were no more ugly umbrellas blocking the view
  • I had flashbacks from previous festivals – every tent, scene, toilet is exactly in the same place. Feels like a lot of deja-vu.
  • I would like to see some variety in terms of drinks. There is Ciuc (ok, it is one of the 2 sponsors…) and almost at the entrance of the festival ground there is the Heineken ice bar. So if you are not going to go all the way to the exit, you are stuck with exactly one kind of drink. And no, Cola is not an endorsed concert drink (at least by me).
  • there is more variety in terms of food – even Chinese food. This is somewhat of a good thing.
  • the idea of encouraging people to not throw away the empty beer glasses but instead gather 10 of them and receive a free drink is successful – there is far less garbage on the ground.

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