Festival Guide

Friday

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme Southside. Unlike the scorching sun of yesteryear, we were treated to showers as we approached the site. However, the weather gods were kind (for now) and cleared the sky for our arrival so we had a nice soft ground for tent pegs, a dry inside tent and cool splatter paint job on the car. With provisions (earplugs, painkillers, battery pack) packed, it was time to head to the arena. So we thought. Opening was delayed by over an hour as organisers monitored the approaching storm clouds. Luckily the securities were super nice and chatty so there wasn’t much stress.

Once the arena opened the top priority was obviously merch, because there’s always a design that sells out and its usually the best one. This year it was a tie-dye shirt. And it was sold out. Shaking my fist at the Thursday arrivals. Sea Girls were delayed on the green stage so I took the chance to go round all the merch stands in the faint hope of tracking down this elusive shirt. No such luck. Settling for different design, it was time to go watch some bands.

Sea Girls had a shortened set of about five songs, including All I Want To Hear You Say and Do You Really Wanna Know? which were the two I knew. Great, upbeat opener to the festival, they seemed to have a good time on stage and were very grateful to be playing at all. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for UK dates near me. Turns out, having written that and then checked, they’re on UK tour in autumn. Wonderful.

Quick chance to grab lunch before returning to the Green Stage for IDKHOW who I did not know were American. The aviators in the rain should have given it away really. I found the song Nobody Likes The Opening Band thoroughly endearing, especially as there was a growing crowd braving the rain. They played a heavier version of Do It All The Time which worked really well. Their set was also shortened to make up for the time lost to the delayed arena opening, but the singer said he’s been on the stage crew side of things, so he got it.

The stage now had a water feature running down the front but luckily the increasingly dense crowd kept the rain exposure to heads and shoulders. As Feine Sahne Fischfilet’s pre-show songs started playing, including She’s Kerosene by The Interrupters, the crowd started moving and evaporating any rain that tried to reach us. I think there’s generally a divide about this band’s shows, personally I think they’re great and their crowds are a rowdy party in all the best ways. Endless mosh pits, smoke flares and chants. The opener was a bit of a slow one, but the second song definitely got the crowd going. From then it was full on for the set with only a brief respite while an emotional front man sang about how much he loves his parents and the fact they stuck with him through his rebellious youth. Toward the end of the set there was a generous distribution of free (plastic) bottled beer into the crowd with the encouragement to get on shoulders to catch it. Suddenly I was surrounded by a forest of people and the rain was replaced with beer showers as the bottles started flying. Beer was shared around, and the atmosphere was on point. The set was finished off with a huge wall of death with the lead singer in the middle.

_{^{Feine Sahne Fishfilet in 2019}}

Heading over to the Blue Stage for Editors, I realised how much Feine Sahne Fishfilet cleared out the rest of the arena, I arrived for the start of the set and walked into the second row unimpeded. The Blue Stage was not blessed with runway tarmac to keep us safe from the growing swamp, but if I’m honest it’s preferable to the dust bath of last year where breathing was precarious at times and mosh pits a guarantee for dusty lung disease. The rain was back in full force and a fuller crowd would have been nice for rain protection. Editors played a great set including old and new songs with an acoustic opening to Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors. Front man, Tom Smith, delightfully contorting himself around the stage as he is wont to do, thanking the crowd in German and blowing kisses into the mic. Unfortunately, the sound was very bass heavy and it was hard to hear the melodies at times. I think it got better as the set went on, but it was a shame as the band has some great riffs.

_{^{Editors in 2018}}

Arriving at Sum 41 about 20 mins into the set the crowd was jam packed so it looks like Editors got a bit unlucky with their line-up slot. Sum 41 really bought the skate-punk vibe, jumping around on stage and generally being really fun and energetic. I have to admit that I missed them in my youthful emo phase, so I’m late to this particular party, but all the better to enjoy them now. The crowd went predictably wild for the classics and there were fireworks on the stage, like next to the drummer, for Fat Lip along with fire and smoke along the front. The set included a cover of We Will Rock You with the obvious sing along from the crowd. For all the fun of the set, it was a bit anticlimactic when the band just kind of went “ok, thanks, bye” and finished quite abruptly with 5 minutes left of the time slot. But either way, a lot of energy both on and in front of the stage.

Keeping the vibe going, The Offspring were next. I’ve missed these guys, they are so much fun and their music lends itself so well to singing, jumping and moshing. All the hits were covered: You’re Gonna Go Far Kid, Self Esteem and of course Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). We were also treated to a bunch of True Facts™ like that there was a world record breaking 1.9 million people at Southside this year and that this show was the greatest thing to ever happen in rock’n’roll. Which doesn’t sound right but I don’t know enough about rock’n’roll to dispute it. There was 6 billion large beach balls thrown into the crowd during Why Don’t You Get A Job, normally great, however their mud coating meant that every time they bounced overhead you got a little mud shower and I was doing so well at keeping mud below the waist line…

^{The Offspring in 2019}

Much of the crowd stayed in place for the Green Stage headliners Bring Me The Horizon. I recognised some of the front row from the start of the day, so one presumes they have not moved from there since 3pm. Some of the people were struggling a bit during the wait time. One young woman was handed water and a sweet by the securities, another was lifted out before things got started. The woman next to me had an impromptu whistling lesson from the guy next to her, so the wait passed quickly as the stage was set up. Red velvet curtains were draped along the edges of the three teered stage and a group of firemen got a tour of what I assume would be the ensuing pyrotechnics.

^{Bring Me The Horizon in 2022}

The show started strong with DArkSide, front man Oli Sykes, remaining in the shadow of the stage lights. Three songs in, after MANTRA, the band suddenly walked off stage and stayed gone for a long time. The screens stayed on and the lights were cycling through as there appeared to be a mic check. Luckily, whatever the issue was, it was resolved, the band came back on stage, blamed it on gremlins and the full moon and launched into Teardrops. They had a fan on stage to sing Antivist, who was so nervous but did such a good job, death growls and all. The stage show was fantastic, but then I am a sucker for gothic church and cyberpunk aesthetics. There was plenty of pyro and fireworks, especially for the closing Throne. For the whole show, Sykes was skipping along the stage all smiley and the band were clearly having a great time, jumping and spinning around. It was an amazing show, I do have one criticism though: throughout the day I thought how much phone recording seems to have gone down, like the occasional photo or bit of song or crowd videos. The crowd for BMTH was having none of this “living in the moment” nonsense. I was a few rows from the front and had to crane my neck a lot to be able to see around the many phone screens held aloft. And I get it, you want a record of the show. But maybe not all songs and maybe less held above you.

I missed out on UK tour earlier this year but thought the band might go on tour again when the delayed NeX GEn album is out. I think the only new song to the setlist at Southside was top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd, which to be fair, is a banger. Fingers crossed for an extended album tour when they’re back from Asia and South America.

Closing out the night, Deichkind finished up on the Blue Stage midnight to 2 am. I missed the first few songs moving over in the throng of people from BMTH but there was still plenty of dancing left to do. It’s hard to describe a Deichkind show in words and do it justice. It’s more like an absurdist art project with a banging soundtrack. I can’t say for sure how many band members there are, Wikipedia says four, but there were between one and about eleven people on stage at any given time and like 15 people took a bow at the end, so who is to say. There were loose but really fun choreographies, there was a giant barrel full of band traversing the crowd, there was office chair races. There was a giant selfie stick with matching giant IPhone, there was a song sung from a climbing portaledge, there were mini trampolines. One of the band members was replaced with a robot arm at one point. Of course, the robot arm kept up with the choreography. A good amount of the songs were different from the studio recordings, with various samples or style changes that worked superbly with the live show, really getting every last bit of energy out of the crowd. To finish it all off, the night concluded with a naked, masked man in y-fronts atop a giant inflatable ring bouncing over the crowd while emptying a huge sack of feathers upon the masses. Like I said, hard to really convey the mayhem, but an absolute spectacle. Even if you don’t understand the words, Deichkind is an infectious band with a one-of-a-kind show.

^{Deichkind in 2022}

As thoroughly drenched and partied-out crowds trudged back to the campsites, mud solemnly squelching under hundreds of feet, I picked my way back home by torchlight, around guide ropes and past camping tables laden with empty beer cans. Once I was excavated from my mud coating it was time for bed amongst the sound of gentle snoring from the neighbours, ABBA playing in the distance and (to my dismay) the dawn chorus of birds.

Saturday

Saturday morning started with beautiful weather, perfect for lazy coffee in the sun without being boiled alive in the tent. The trip for washing up and water re-fills was a fun slip and slide. Some might say walking through a muddy field in flip flops is a questionable decision, I say it’s a rejuvenating mud mask for your feet. Clouds were moving in and there was a queue of people filling up 10l+ water canisters at the taps. I made it back inside my tent just in time for the heavens to open, thwarting my plans for second coffee for reasons like “lack of airflow” and “carbon monoxide poisoning”, sounds fake, but ok. I’m glad the festival app cheerfully informed be of the sunny weather because the increasing fervour of the rain beating down on the tent would have fooled me into believing otherwise. Now trapped in the tent by what I assume was the end times, we thought it best to wait out the worst of it rather than go from 0 to 100 in the moist department. Just as the rain began to ease the app announce impeding heavy rain. I hoped it was a delayed message. It was not.

Opting today for a more rain proof ensemble, I was surprised to find that wellies and a waterproof jacket actually kept you dryer than my previous thick hoodie and trainers approach. *Meryl Streep voice* Groundbreaking.

I didn’t really know The Gaslight Anthem previously and the studio recordings didn’t grab me, but as I joined the crowd for Handwritten the high-spirited audience dancing in the rain together had that wonderful festival vibe where most music is actually great and life is too short to not enjoy yourself.

The swamp at the foot of the Blue stage had expanded and deepened into a lake by the time that Irish post punk band Fontaines D.C. took to the stage. All dancing now resembled that scene from one of the most beloved movie sequels of our time: step up 2 the streets. But with mud. Frontman Grian Chatten, rocking 90s vibes in bright green plastic sunglasses and a light blue adidas jacket, wandered up and down the little catwalk attached to the centre stage. The setlist spanned the bands discography, finishing on Starburster.

More punk vibes with working class sentiment were on offer from Idles over on the Green Stage. Truly a man of the people, lead singer Joe Talbot was sporting one of the red rain ponchos from a festival stall. Idles had a bit more of a beat going on compared to Fontaines D.C. and definitely more political anger. Correspondingly, the crowd was more mosh than dance, though lyrics like “Best way to scare a tory” may have gone over the heads of the crowd. With the guitarist rolling across the crowd when I got there and announcements like “Andale you f*cking animals” launching songs the set had a riotous energy that absolutely got the crowd moving.

As we were waiting for The Kooks it was announced that the blue and green stage headliners were going to be streamed on the other stage which was a great idea as it would reduce the massive one-sided crowding of the arena at the end of the day. The crowd was singing along joyfully with the intermission songs including Don’t Stop Believing and Sweet Caroline before the band took to the stage. Starting off with energetically with Always Where I Need to Be the set drew a bigger and bigger crowd as time went on. I never know which UK bands are well known in Europe, turns out The Kooks have a long history with Germany and Southside festival. This was evident from the amount of crowd sing alongs, especially for the closing Naïve. The band also announced a new album coming soon, playing a new song Sunny Baby. Everyone clearly had a great time, frontman Luke Pritchard showing off his best dance moves and the sound was much better than yesterday.

I can imagine the sombre sound of The National being great in the sunset, but alas we had all cloud. But at least it was dry so a good time to queue for dinner. The usual roaming beer and ice cream sellers were replaced with troops equipped with back pack hot coffee dispensers and side pouches of those little milks you get in hotels. The crowd management was really good this year, the walkway between the first and second zone was being used to fill the front of stage area from both sides very efficiently, so it was no problem getting in even though it was busy. The soulful voice with the gentle brass section accompaniment made for a calm evening performance up to the point that lead singer Matt Berninger walked into the crowd. Normally not unheard of at a festival. Berninger made it interesting by using a cabled microphone that had multiple stage crew reeling out wire while not choking anyone along the route. The second time Berninger made any indication of walking off, the roadies sprang into action immediately.

The crowd changeover between The National and Ed Sheeran was chaotic with people trying to leave while others rushed towards the middle. But once everyone was in, we settled in to wait the 75 minutes.

A group behind me were entertaining themselves with their own sing along with hits including Bohemian Rhapsody, Backstreet Boys and a fair bit of High School Musical. Ed Sheeran came on stage by himself and launched straight into Castle on the Hill, with fireworks exploding in front and behind the stage for every chorus. Sporting an official Southside hoodie he explained the loop pedal set up of the performance, how he builds up the songs bit by bit and that they are deleted after every performance. At one point he messed up a section and had to restart the whole song (“that’s how you know it’s live”). The stage was backed with a floor to roof screen that accompanied the set with bright, colourful visuals that paired perfectly with the acoustic feel of this headlining set. Besides all of his hits, the set included Love Yourself,which he wrote and gave to Justin Bieber, and Eyes Closed in memory of a close friend. I have to be honest, I was expecting an overproduced show of an overplayed radio star, but it was an endearing, earnest performance.

^{Kontra K in 2022}

In contrast, with Kontra K finishing up on the Blue Stage today it was very hard to tell what was irony and what we were supposed to take literal. On the one hand, knuckle duster microphone and gangster rap with all the associated attitudes, on the other hand he told people to share their feelings and love one another. There were bits that reminded me of self-help podcasts but then I figured it out, what was actually happening was fairly shallow platitudes that contained buzzwords that linked to the next song title. It was certainly an impressive stage show, and I think if you turn your brain off and go with it, it’s good fun. The show finished with a costume change, donning a big coat with the correct number of buckles (more than 5) he was set alight for the final song. Like I said, impressive to look at and the crowd was definitely here for it, just not my cup of tea. The show finished with the whole extensive crew on stage as he thanked them which was sweet.

Once back at the tent, the gentle embrace of sleep was accompanied by the dulcet tones of my neighbours trying to remember the name of Wallace and Gromit and discussing how it scarred their childhood. Perfect way to end day two.

Sunday

Sunday morning started with the app informing everyone about how to get out of the thoroughly soaked car park fields, encouraging everyone to help each other push, that there’s free rescues for those who can’t get out and asking for patience. There was hope that a dry Sunday night might make it easier to leave tomorrow morning. The drizzle set in as I frantically gathered stuff together and made it into the arena just in time for Danko Jones opening appropriately with Guess Who’s Back. What followed was an invigorating 45 minutes morning (2pm) workout of classic sex, drugs and rock’n’roll complete with little circle and mosh pits. The crowd started small but grew bigger and bigger despite the rain. The band was towelling down their guitars in between songs and pointing out the precarious decision to play in in a downpour surrounded by electrical equipment. Representing the first of the Canadian contingent of today’s line up, the band loudly declared their intention to have a Good Time,finishing the set with My Little RnR.

Slowing back down a bit, Bombay Bicycle Club on the blue stage played a relaxed set to a fairly loose crowd. Their backdrop of colourful streamers was swaying lazily in the breeze and the sun briefly peeked out behind the clouds. Before I could fully form a thought about suncream the sky disavowed that notion by getting back the scheduled rain. The arena had been generously covered in straw overnight, but the most travelled paths had already returned to the primordial soup. Crew was working hard emptying wheelie bins of wood chips in front of the stage so at least the securities and photographers could keep dry feet. After my personal favorite, Eat Sleep Wake it was time to head back to the green stage for Simple Plan.

Sunday Canadian act 2 out of 3 came on to the Star Wars theme then jumped right into I’d do anything. The sun was fully back now, and the tarmac actually dry in places, perfectly timed for Summer Paradise. The accompanying beach balls still had a light mud coating though, upgraded to a thick slathering after it fell in the mud at the side of the crowd so any contact with the crowd resulted in an unceremonious shower. The muddy threats were subsequently violently rejected by the masses. Turns out I’m Just a Kid is legally an adult now, so it made sense that the lead singer’s shirt got an update with kid crossed out and adult added. The back held true though. Life is a nightmare. As a mid 2000s limewire kid, Welcome to My Life bought the teenage angst flooding back in full force. Judging by the crowd response, I was not alone there. Besides the hits the set included covers of All Star, Mr Brightside and Scooby Do. Towards the end, the drummer, sporting a German football shirt, swapped round with the singer and went for a swim in the crowd. The set finished with Perfect, first verse and chorus being played on acoustic guitar before the frontman launched it across the stage to be deftly caught by the neck by the roadie. The band clearly had a great time and the crowd even more so.

Those who had a little more foresight and packed sunscreen today kindly shared it round while we waited for Leoniden to start. The band went way heavier than I expected for the intro with the guitarist swinging his instrument wildly by the strap and then the mic by the cable to the point where it’s a miracle he didn’t take out his bandmates. The band declared that they had a day off tomorrow so they would hold nothing back today. They really weren’t lying. Part of the show took place in the crowd, with both piano and percussion being carried into the masses at different points. The set included covers of Take on Me, Teenage Dirtbag and Smells like Teen Spirit. There was plenty of crowd interaction from the classic “sit down and jump up” through to “8 jumps left and right a la Dutch football fans”. A giant pink shark was leading one of the mosh pits, so really, how could I not? The band also announced the band mobile phone number to message with pictures, comments and to get exclusive merch. The second time they read out the number the crowd joined in. Next to Feine Sahne Fishfilet, this was definitely the most ecstatic crowd and the liveliest party of the weekend. Leoniden sing in English and are coming to London in December, I would highly recommend checking them out.

Jungle was hosting the  perfect dance party in the evening sun as I went to get dinner before heading into the crowd for Avril Lavigne, giving The Hives a miss this year (they’re way more likely to be back than Avril Lavigne).  The stage was adorned with pink hearts and skulls along with a selection of different coloured bejewelled microphones, exactly what you would expect from the icon of 2k teenage girl rebellion. Rocking a stunning punk rock outfit complete with skater skirt, high boots, patches and an over sized hood Avril came onto the stage to an instrumental intro before kicking things off with Girlfriend. The set was leaning heavily on the older albums including I’m with you, He wasn’t and Loosing Grip along with all the classics: Complicated, Skaterboi and Happy Ending. Simple Plan joined on stage for I’m Addicted, completing the Canadian triumvirate for the day beautifully. The flooded arena floor still made jumping a risk, so everyone was mainly swaying and singing along but all in all it was a great show from an artist I never expected to see live.

I stopped by the toilets/water taps for one last refresh before the final straight of the weekend. Clearly that was a very original idea as the area was rammed, but everyone queued nicely, and the infrastructure held. Turnstile finished 10 min ahead of schedule, but I still caught a bit of the set sitting on the tarmac by the stage. The area was already filling up for the final headliner of Southside 2024, so respite was brief as the crowd piled in. Somehow a group had enough internet connection to put the football onto their phone which was graciously held aloft, Swiss and German audience members reaching across the aisle with amicable respect. As the sun set there were a few medical issues, but crowds parted and helped carry wherever needed. I guess the sun had come a little unexpected, so heat exhaustion probably crept up on people.

^{K.I.Z in 2022}

K.I.Z. last played Southside 2022, moving up into the top slot this year. The stage got a do-over, now consisting of three massive crystals in the centre surrounded by smaller crystals at the base. Throughout the show the crystals were filled with smoke, contained band members or had mesmerising laser shows on or through them, it looked fantastically alien. Wasting no time, the set unexpectedly started with Ein Affe und ein Pferd, a popular older one, which whipped the crowd into a frenzy. The whole arena became a mosh pit, with more people moshing than those standing in their isolated islands of relative safety. The band’s developed a bit since the last show, still boasting a dark humour buried so deep shock value that (hopefully) no one takes it literally and the occasional straight-laced line, the newer material had a lot more biting social commentary and solemn themes still delivered with a highly sarcastic sting (eg “of course we’re pro peace, but first we have to win”). Though the crowd went hard for the pretty much the whole set, there was a levity to the performance as well, the group was joking around on stage and making each other laugh. I knew they’d be good; I was not expecting the show to be THAT good. Admittedly, the language might be a barrier to entry here and googling some of the lyrics may land you in trouble with office HR at a minimum, but to be honest, I think the crowd carries the vibe across the language barrier pretty damn well. In an incredible contrast, the show finished with hyper violent BOOM BOOM BOOM into the incredibly sombre Goerlitzer Park, a song about the disenfranchised of a famous park in Berlin.

Red taillights lined the horizon as I got back to the campsite, so it looked like cars were getting out of the mud ok. Monday morning treated us to a beautiful, crips dawn and what was possibly the best shower off my life. The ground had dried up a little, so we managed to get the car out with only minor slippage. This was probably the best organised Southside I’ve attended to date, an absolute joy. See you next year.