Indie Boy

First Chikinki came on and impressed me with their blend of synthesizes and guitars. They turned out to be another one of the bands who I have to check out later. Louis XIV did not receive as warm a welcome as the rest of the line-up, but they still had the swagger which you would expect from their sexual innuendo stuffed lyrics. Dirty Pretty Things were up next, and fortunately I had got a place on the barrier, to get a good peek at Carl Barat and co.. They played a good set, starting out with their slower second more britpoppy album and making their way to their faster début. Their energy was quite inspiring and there were a couple of die hard fans singing along. They ended with a fantastic Bang Bang You’re Dead, not perhaps my favourite, but certainly their most popular. Anthony managed to pretty much nail the trumpet solo, and most of the crowd had joined in screaming “Bang Bang, You’re Dead!” by the last chorus. The next band I saw was The Hives, who were even better than the last time I saw them, with more tricks, even more energy and being better at persuading the crowd to dance. They didn’t need to though, the crowd was already pumped up and even in the middle of the crowd, everyone went crazy and a mosh pit started, for their first song.

On the last day, The Subways came on and put on a good show, not good enough to make me buy a CD, though. It seemed they were trying a little too hard to get the crowd involved. Kaizers Orchestra took me by surprise with a kooky mix of gypsy punk and psychedelic orchestral music. They completely took the piss of Babyshambles, shouting how unprofessional they were. They had cancelled earlier, to the dismay of myself and a thousand other Pete fanatics. This meant Kaizers got to play longer, something which the singer could not get over. Dropkick Murphys seemed like a similar version of the Flogging Molly, just a bit harder, and dare I say, less Irish. They are from Boston, but they still managed to spark some interest. Justice had the best light show I have ever seen. It was truly awe-inspiring and ignited my interest in Justice. The music was good as well, most of the tracks sounded very different from the album, convincing me yet again, that they are two very talented guys. We Are Your Friends was masterfully played, with the voice being pulled in and out again and the crowd filling in the gaps. Finally The Killers, rounded up the festival. I’m not really into Killers, and they seemed really bland. They could have just played their tracks from the album in the background and mimed. Even the best wasn’t good. The crowd still seemed to enjoy it, everyone screamed Mr. Brightside and All These Things I’ve Done, the latter being my personal favourite.

Comparing this to last year’s Rock Im Park, Frequency was definitely better, with too many bands which could have been the best of the festival.
Thanks Florian for the Hives picture and Frischi for the Killers.