No end to the heat in sight – on the second day, around 45,000 visitors suffered from this summer’s record temperatures. Various top acts such as Apache 207, The Offspring and the famous Brit Raye provided the music. Today, the event continues with RAF Camora, Cro and Louis Tomlinson.
After the heated but musically soft start on Wednesday, many artists turned the party level up to the max on the first official day of the Frequency Festival. The range now extends from hyperpop, techno, punk rock and old school rap, which gives the traditional event in St. Pölten’s Green Park a certain uniqueness. But the mixture of all the styles and sub-styles is by no means just a hodgepodge of disarray; it also reflects the listening habits of the younger generations. Spotify playlists do not adhere to traditional consumption formulas. People listen to what they like. Ski goggles party rapper Ski Aggu is a direct fit for the North German punk rockers Feine Sahne Fischfilet and the US punk rock veterans Rise Against share the stage on the same day with the German rapper Badmómzjay.Escape from the heatThe greatest enemy of all remains – as on the warm-up day – the merciless sun. On Thursday, at least a light wind blows across the gravel and concrete tracks of the Green Park, but the first acts, such as the fantastic American Upsahl or the offbeat ska party collective Querbeat, play almost to the exclusion of the public. The same is true over on the Green Stage, where the two Americans Joey Valence & Brae perform a wonderful edge of old-school hip hop in the best Cypress Hill style on their Austrian debut, but only meet a handful of brave die-hards. Anyone who can cool off in the Traisen will do so. Anyone who isn’t camping and is lucky enough to have air conditioning at home should arrive in the evening. The food stalls are also deserted for a long time, but the (still too few) water stations are understandably literally flooded. The musical program is above all doubt on this day. Kenya Grace, with her weird laptop art, would be better suited to a stuffy indoor club, but the indie electronic punk popper Grandson mixes styles more skilfully and nimbly than anyone else. On the Space Stage, ski goggle fetishist Ski Aggu weaves his blaster beats with German rap and pop music derivatives. In between, there is time to ingratiate himself with the home crowd by blaming the referee for Austria’s elimination in the European Championship round of 16 and receiving thunderous applause for doing so.PromisingThe stage prop is reminiscent of a kind of hall of mirrors cable car – Tyrol’s National Council member Franz Hörl would be delighted with it. Frequency and Ski Aggu, that certainly goes together. “I think it’s so cool here that I’ll probably keep coming back for the next ten years,” he says happily to the audience wearing a dirty T-shirt. Exciting insider tips can usually be found on the Red Bull Stage in the VAZ. Levin Liam and Domiziana could actually have an exciting future ahead of them. The German hyper-pop electronic artist Baby B3ns plays anime on the screen and uses autotune, before the British up-and-comer Artemas performs his mystical pop with R&B quotes and a melancholic voice. He still needs to hone his frontman skills, but he spent two days in Vienna before his first Austrian gig, as he revealed to the “Krone” in an interview. “I didn’t think it would be so damn hot there.” Neither did we. The punk rock baton handover is taking place on the Space Stage. The Brit Yungblud is now an Austrian veteran and even though two thirds of the Ski-Aggu audience head off to the campsite or the nearest beer hut, those who remain celebrate their British hero like Mick Jagger. As a born stage frontman, he not only puts on a brilliant pyrotechnic show, but also invites the overjoyed Viennese Viktoria onto the stage, who plays the guitar (quite competently) during the song “Fleabag”, thanks the fans for their support in the broadest Viennese dialect and then receives a guitar from her hero at the end. That’s what you call serving the fans. The oldies from Offspring are much more experienced, but also long since level-headed. The first singles from the album, which will be released in October, suggest something bad, but you still can’t go wrong with the classics from the 90s and 2000s.Much improved againThe Californians can be seen on local stages with constant regularity in the summer, just like a new day dawns in the morning. Punk rocker Dexter Holland has now become a qualified molecular biologist, and their look has changed accordingly. With his orange shirt and tie, he looks like a cross between an investment banker and Michael Douglas in “Falling Down”. The punk rock factor is kept up by guitarist Noodles, who has now used tons of dye to give his greying hair a youthful look. Given the many ups and downs that Offspring have experienced live in this country in recent years, this show is definitely in the upper quality segment. Sometimes the old brooms still sweep well, but not always. The festival’s most valuable pearl, however, plays almost in front of the closed audience on the Green Stage. The British singer Raye, a vocal prodigy with Ghanaian-Swiss ancestors, won the prestigious BRIT Award for “Album of the Year” for “My 21st Century Blues.” and is quite rightly considered one of the rising stars on the island. While rough techno beats blast across the gravel area in the roller disco and on the vodka stage about 50 meters away, Raye focuses on the most tender moments of the entire festival. The stage decoration and band are in pure white, a brass trio creates a big band feel and a real piano duels with beats that are combined in Raye’s mixture of soul, R&B and pop.Charisma and melodiesAlthough the sound is miles away from the rest of the festival and she has to struggle against the background noise from all directions, Raye shines with thoughtful, sometimes very personal lyrics and a vocal range that impresses. The audience is not very large, but those in the front rows know the lyrics and are enthusiastic. It doesn’t always have to be guitar strumming and beat relays, sometimes pure charisma, delicate melodies or a well-rehearsed band that isn’t afraid of humorous influences despite serious topics are enough. A triumphal procession that took place in the wrong place, however. Raye and the band would be best enjoyed in the Vienna Konzerthaus. A valued colleague suggests the Arena. And that’s perfectly legitimate. The headliner positions switch the stage themes. Punk rock moves towards the Green Stage, where the festival-established Rise Against quote from their extensive back catalogue and mix (left-wing) political messages with brutal riffs and a lot of joy in playing. So beautiful, so not new, but guitar bands with a punk attitude and message always work. The Space Stage is closed by the Mannheim rapper Apache 207, who recently returned to the limelight with a few singles. The Frequency performance two years ago showed weaknesses in the live segment, and this year Apache’s show is still not really lively and penetrating. The joy of playing the songs is often watered down by extended interludes and awkward announcements. But after a breakdown in mood like that of The Offspring, it’s difficult to follow up. Day three today brings high temperatures again and acts like RAF Camora, Cro, Louis Tomlinson and the hip electro collective Brutalismus 3000.
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