Today, Sunday, the Viennese Danube Island Festival completed the finale – and a very hot one at that. During the day, visitors to the festival grounds were greeted with midsummer temperatures. The 2022 festival edition took place again this year in the usual form after format changes caused by the pandemic. The crowds poured over the grounds like in the old days. The new FM4 stage experienced a “baptism of fire”. It can be considered a success.
So far, the stage has been at the northern end of the party mile, idyllically situated in a natural arena between the Floridsdorf Bridge and the North Bridge. This stage is now history, at least in terms of the FM4 line-up. Instead, the 88.6 rock stage is now there. The large central festival stage on Sunday now functions as the FM4 stage – although this was already the case at the “slimmed-down” festival last year. On the other days there is no such thing. Castling was justified with security concerns. Because recently the rush to the old FM4 area was often very large, it said. In fact, there is significantly more space in front of the festival stage – who, given the fantastic weather, also flocked to the main stage in large numbers. The headliner there was the German singer Jan Delay – accompanied by his live combo Disko Nr the singer Eli Preiss and Mavi Phoenix. Well-known acts could also be found on other island areas. That’s how the multiple song contest winner Johnny Logan entered the Schlager stage. Ernst Molden and Ursula Strauss, among others, performed in the Ö1 culture tent. “It’s so hot,” stated one of the first actors on the FM4 stage, the young Viennese rapper Lawrenco. It was time for the night, he decided – not least because some of his songs deal with it. “Nightcrawler” is a hymn to the clubs that have been closed for so long in recent years. However, the fact that the performance was garnished with pyrotechnics provided additional warmth. New material from Mavi Phoenix For one of the artists, the gig meant a return to the island festival: in 2018 Mavi Phoenix was still a guest on the “old” FM4 stage. In the meantime, a lot has changed for the singer and rapper – which was not just due to the Corona break. Mavi, born Marlene Nader, now goes by the nickname Marlon. The transout was followed by hormone treatment, which also resulted in a darker voice. Mavi Phoenix also brought new material with him – his recently released second album “Marlon”. Excerpts from it were of course heard today, such as the number “Grass In the Sun”. Older songs like the hit “Aventura” were also performed. “It’s wonderful with you,” the artist was visibly happy about his return to the big festival. Wrapped in a rainbow flag, he also commemorated the most recent terrorist attack in an LGBTQ bar in Oslo.Jan Delay was the headliner, and it was followed by a much older gentleman with a hat – and a distinctive voice: Jan Delay. The Hamburg hip-hop musician acted as headliner at the newly designed FM4 location. The rush was correspondingly large. Tens of thousands cheered in festival mood for the final act – who was repeatedly delighted with the impressive scenery. “I haven’t been to Vienna for so long and then such a reception,” stated the guest from Germany. “I love Vienna,” he declared. The great jubilation suggested that the affection was mutual. Free admission created an island festival feeling. There were also no longer any corona restrictions. In the afternoon, chilling and swimming was the order of the day. The banks of the New Danube were heavily frequented. As is usually the case on Sundays, there were initially numerous families with children. The past two days had already created an island festival feeling in the usual manner. The rush was great – and the visitors were spared the thunderstorms feared for Saturday evening. The main acts have so far included Nico Santos, Mathea, Steffi Werger and Peter Cornelius. Probably the most prominent visitor was Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen, who strolled along with Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) over the Inselsause on Saturday. On Friday, the events of the war were commemorated at the festival site. Before 10 p.m. a sign for peace was set in front of each stage with a sea of cell phone lights. In addition, the Ukrainian pop band Latexfauna performed every day on the “Peace Stage”. Donations for refugee aid were collected by means of a cup deposit. So far, events on the Danube Island itself have been largely peaceful. The police looked back on a quiet party on Sunday, as was emphasized via the broadcast.
source site-12