Reviews

Gothenburg’s Way Out West Festival opened the gates to the 18th edition in Slottsskogen – three days of music madness, overpriced beer, and bantering with people you meet once a year. For many, Way Out West is as much about meeting up as it is about the music. For someone growing up in Gothenburg, the festival is equal parts music and …

Three decades after starting out in Düsseldorf’s punk scene, Broilers reached a milestone few would have imagined back then: 48,000 fans packed the Merkur Spiel-Arena for the band’s biggest headline show to date. The “Ultrabowl” was equal parts punk rock celebration and stadium spectacle. And against all odds, this rarely felt like a contradiction. First up were New York hardcore …

First ‘real’ festival day arrived (meaning the pre-festival days are over), and finally a full schedule of music. But first, it was the traditional Beer Badminton tournament at Camp Vienna United. The summer sun was still gazing hot, and I’m quite sure this year’s Roskilde Festival goes down in the history books as one of the best, weather-wise. The Beer …

By eight in the morning, the Danish sun had already transformed the tent into an oven. The air was thick with heat, the body was covered in a layer of sweat, and the sleeping bag felt more like a punishment than a place to rest. And on top of that, the feet were hurting from exhaustion of yesterday’s hours of …

Some things in life become part of your routine when you have done them more times than you remember. Call it a reflex or a primary function that you perform without even reflecting on it, like going to the loo at 4 am without waking up. That’s what the Roskilde Festival is about. Some festivals become traditions, and a rare …

There was a time when sludge and stoner metal sat comfortably atop the underground’s food chain. Bands like Baroness, Red Fang, Black Tusk and Mastodon were defining the sound of heavy music’s more adventurous corners — and right there among them stood Kylesa. Yet despite following the band for years, they somehow remained a glaring omission on my live résumé. …