Positivus festival: review of the foreign bands

Positivus festival, July 15-16, 2011
Salacgrīva, Latvia

Editors, Royksopp, Hurts, Beach House, Mark Ronson, OK Go and much more foreign and Baltic acts were welcomed at this year’s Positivus festival in Salacgrīva, Latvia taking place for the fifth time already and gathering around 20 thousand people from all around Baltics as well as Finland, Sweden and many other foreign countries. As the biggest music and arts festival in Baltics this is not just the venue for musicians to come and play. It invites you to a perfect location in the lovely and relaxing area of never-ending woods and the Baltic beach at the coastline. It offers a lot of activities and from year to year the organizers prepare new surprises for the visitors.

One of the surprises this year was a special festival newspaper distributed on the second day of the festival. It summarized the brightest moments of the festival’s first day as well as reported on the various attractions you can do inside the festival: take a picture of yourself and see how you will look in 90 years, become a rockstar on a special stage, charge your phone while riding on a bike, take a nap or chill in comfortable hammocks slung between the pine trees. Moreover, the newspaper revealed some secrets of previous years’ stars at Positivus and their special requests and behaviors (Muse, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Pete Doherty, James). 

This festival is definitely something more than just music.It offers a little place for everything: poetry, movies, beach zone, paint club, different kinds of workshops, arts and crafts. For sure, this all is a lot just for two festival days, therefore, it’s not surprising that after the festival the organizers say they hope to add a third day in the next year’s Positivus.

Concertnews.be reviewed some of the foreign bands here:

Freak Owls (USA)

This American band from Brooklyn, New York has the honor and in the same time the difficult task to open the Cēsu Alus Stage, the second biggest one in the festival. Even if they come later than scheduled, the festival is still lacking active audience, therefore they don’t receive as much as support as perhaps wanted and deserved. However, their performance is nice. It’s actually Josh Ricchio who has created the band and writes the songs. On a stage he is he accompanied by a violinist. The songs vary from slow and melancholic to cheerful and melodic folk and indie rhythms. One must admit that the song Seaquid starting with the catchy „Na-na-na-na-na-na” will stay in your memory for a longer time. 

Dry the River (UK)

These guys coming the second on Cēsu Alus stage really rock the crowd. In fact, it’s not a crowd yet when they start playing, but they manage to attract people quite naturally. Being compared to Mumford & Sons, the London based band gives contagious energy with their indie-folk music and active interaction with the audience. They are very talkative and openly admits being a bit drunk from too much beer at backstage, as well as wonder about tiny shorts the girls are wearing in this area. They express their regrets for flying back home already in the same evening, but enjoys their time on a stage with a full spirit. Especially during the last song they empty themselves completely – their passionate and energetic guitars, drums, violin in the end turn the show into a wonderful chaos. Get ready, Pukkelpop! It’s one of their next stops.

Yoav (IS)

Yoav is a musician from Israel who has accidently been linked to Latvia by famous Latvian band Brainstorm who discovered the talented musician and invited as a supporting act for their 2 gigs in the end on 2010. Since then his music is very well known to Latvians. Now there is no surprise why he deserves nothing, but the main stage when giving his third show in Latvia. Thanks to his unique musical influences the music created by just one person „fuses the singer-songwriter tradition with Eastern scales and rhythms, all rooted in a dance-club groove”. This is how Positivus festival speaks about him. Yoav starts his show with the song „Yellowbrite smile” and the audience doesn’t need much to start dancing already. He continues with other well known singles, such as „Club Thing”, „Beautiful Lie”, all of them well appreciated by the dancing crowd. Yoav looks truly happy to be here – he openly drinks Vodka, thanks the audience and is ready to enjoy this party himself. It’s amazing how one bright personality on a stage can make your legs move and everyone is just dancing as he says in his last song „We all are dancing”. Indeed, „we all are dancing anyway” despite the rain which starts exactly during this song. The musician seems truly proud to be here and dedicates this last song to the already mentioned Latvian band Brainstorm as their established contact 1,5 years ago is the reason for his recognition in Latvia. „Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here,” he admits.

Alcoholic Faith Mission (Denmark/Brooklyn)

I manage to see this Danish indie band (currently based in Brooklyn) just for 15 minutes in which they show pretty nice performance and a really warm attitude to the audience. The audience cheers as the band demonstrates some perfectly learned Latvian phrases. In fact, there are not much fans in front, but those who are there seem to enjoy their music that can start with acoustic folk and then grow to loud, fast and catchy melodies, all accompanied by Kristine Permild’s interesting vocals. They seem to purposefully seek for mixture of different styles and elements that result in interesting sounds.

King Charles (UK)

This very attractive personality with his famous great hair and passion for music comes on the main Tele 2 stage to get the crowd crazy for him. London based musician’s contagious energy immediately spreads in the audience and in the end everyone is having fun including the main hero. King Charles shows some acrobatic skills and bravely climbs up the stage rod with his guitar. Then he stays there for a while to perform one instrumental song. Everyone’s eyes and cameras are glued to him. For sure, the audience doesn’t miss his greatest singles „Love Lust” and „We Didn’t Start The Fire” and he ends his show with a slow song dedicated to all girls.

OK Go (USA)

The party at the main Tele 2 stage started with King Charles goes even wilder when the colourful guys from OK Go come on a stage. If there was a competition for the band with the best prepared homework, I would vote OK Go for this title. Apart from their vibrant music and colorful appearances, they like to talk a lot on a stage and make the audience laugh and enjoy. They have learned to say in Latvian „Sorry, I don’t speak Latvian because I am a stupid american”, as well as they keep being enthusiastic about performing in Latvia. They seem to have googled about this country a bit and now let the audience learn their findings about some facts, like highest ratio of women impresses them most. Then the singer doesn’t hesitate longer – he takes his guitar and goes straight to those girls in the crowd and sings from there. The crowd loves them even more. This band is really extravagant and overwhelmingly wild! And in the end everyone sings along with the catchy „When the morning comes...” as they perform the song „This Too Shall Pass”. And we want it or not, it does...it passed to give a stage for...Mark Ronson.

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl (UK/USA)

Grammy and Brit Award winner Mark Ronson comes on a stage to continue the great party at the main Tele 2 stage started with King Charles and OK Go. We hear „Valerie”, „The Bike Song”, „Somebody To Love Me”. His team keeps surprising the audience with crazy DJ sets and demands the audience for its maximum. „Bang, Bang, Bang,” everyone should sing in the end and the party can’t be finished until it’s not done properly loud.

James (UK)

„Possibly the most anticipated come-back in Positivus history”, this is how Positivus festival presents James. This band has been long awaited to come back to Latvia already since their first appearance in the very first Positivus festival five years ago. In fact, it might be likewise as the band has recognized their first performance at Positivus as the best ever. That time when Positivus was visited by only a few thousand of people they didn’t want to leave the festival territory and once arrived in the capital city Riga, James leader was so full of positive emotions that he couldn’t fall sleep and wrote a new song, reveals the festival newspaper.  The band’s warm and positive attitude accompanied with the great hits are the ones attractive to the audience and a perfect combination to create a special magic feeling. They are not lucky as the rain interferes their performance already in the first songs, but that doesn’t stop the band. The lead singer rather comes out and sings in the rain the well known „Standing in the rain”. Amazing, how he stops the rain with the next song „Waterfall”! It seems natural for the audience to love James as the leader of the band is simple in his nature, during the hit „Say something” he turns to the audience, greets them and let his hands to be touched by many admirers, mostly girls whose eyes he is looking at and singing. I miss a part of his performance as I go to see Beach House, but once coming back the scene doesn’t surprise at all. The same as in his first show at Positivus James end up with lots of fans on a stage performing together with him. 

Beach House (USA)

While James is loved by crowds at the main stage, a more intimate feeling can be gained at Cēsu Alus stage where Beach House, one of the greatest names of this year’s Positivus are welcomed. They are also not lucky with the weather, however, the audience keep standing and enjoying the lovely shoegazing duo’s dream pop melodies. Victoria Legrand feels sorry for the rain, but expresses the band’s happiness to be here and be welcomed so nicely. They mostly perform the well known songs from their third and the latest album „Teen Dream”. Everyone is silently pondering in their hits „Norway”, „Used to Be”, „Take Care” and others. Moreover, Victoria’s spectacular and charming vocals is something worth enjoying and admiring each sound as it stays in you for a longer time.