You know it is proper Summer in Denmark when you are wearing 5 layers of clothing including 2 x jackets where one of them is a snowboard jacket for Winter use, and you are freezing your ass off in 12 degrees “heat” standing on a windy grassy field – but you do it with a huge smile on your face because you are at Roskilde Festival and you are sharing a wonderful music experience with 70,000 people worshipping The Cure. True story, I was so tired and cold on the last night I wore every piece of clothing I had available. The weather gods could not quite make up their mind during this years festival. Sun, wind, rain, hot, cold, just lacked some hail and snow to complete the full weather bingo board.
The music programme at Roskilde is so varied you can have a hiphop, or a heavy metal, or whatever you like festival. Just pick your own trail through the programme. For my taste, electronic music, I thought the program to be slightly thin this year but the acts that did play were incredible. Jon Hopkins was magic again, and seeing Underworld live for the first time was mind-blowing. Spleen United are at least half electronic and it was so good to hear them again. Farveblind were an explosion of mad awesome energy and deserve a late night spot next time. I love Lydmor but couldn’t make it to her show because of scheduling conflicts with Underworld. I also had so much fun being on the Orange Stage with Danish reggae/dancehall band Bikstok.
Once again I had the honor and pleasure to make pictures for Roskilde Festival Marketing department alongside my friend Kim Matthäi Leland. I love that gig, and working with Kim, we make a good team. It was as wonderful as ever to work in the press center. These 4 days, working alongside friends who are the most kick ass music photographers and share the passion is just really magic. Some of these people I only see once a year, at Roskilde so it’s a special reunion.
When you love music, when you are totally addicted to music and to photographing music, then Roskilde is a smorgasbord. Frustrating, tough, mad, incredible, too much, not enough, insane, fantastic, mind blowing. A total music photography drug. There is nothing quite like it.
…and yeah I brought some extra cameras, but this post is about the love of music and music photography, the passion and obsession. Gear talk is for another day, another story. Instead, grab a drink, put on some loud music and scroll through my favorite pictures from #RF19.
Roskilde Festival 2019 Gallery
Schacke on the Countdown stage.
Schacke, backstage, minutes before playing.
Schacke
Farveblind feat. Killason was an outstanding opener on the Apollo stage.
JPEGMAFIA taking a small breath in between songs and then…
Diving straight into the crowd again! He crowd surfed in every song!
The crowd at Apollo was loving it! Full on hiphop punk rave!
Skepta surprised everyone with his floatation skills in the Arena tent!
Cardi B turned the Orange stage into something out of Las Vegas!
Her fans loved it!
Random crowd shot that I do not even remember where is from, but loved the torch!
Rud Aslak from Barselona
Barselona fans in the gorgeous Avalon tent.
Fatoumata Diawara, incredible voice and funky band.
MØ
MØ was an explosion of energy as always and giving the photographers lots to work with. I never got in a position to make anything as good as I made in 2016 nor get a great angle on this shot. Love the hair though.
MØ
MØ played in constant rain and still it was packed and people danced in the rain and it was quite a special feeling, the Orange stage going crazy in mad rain (and a cold feeling too, but worth it)
Jon Hopkins, my man crush numero uno, played the Avalon stage and it was insanely awesome. Totally brilliant Jon.
The crowd at Jon Hopkins, and yes, it was mindblowing!
Jon Hopkins added two dancers with lightsabers since I last saw him in Copenhagen last year. His podium is so tall I am standing on my toes with the camera over my head to fit his head in the composition. Man crush!
I am not the only one who worships Jon!
The drop! Jon had the whole of Avalon raving.
Travis Scott crowd at the Orange stage late Thursday, and it is still raining!
Spleen United is UNITED again, hell to the yeah, I love this band.
Spleen United and a really nice production in the Arena tent.
Wonderful crowd at the wonderful Jada concert
Hans Philip solo. It was good but…I am a huge huge fan of Hælervarer and Neonlys albums from Ukendt Kunstner, and I am not so much a fan of this softer rnb stuff.
Hans Philip packed the Arena tent, wonderful crowd that knew the lyrics too.
Wu-Tang Clan are legends but were truly horrible. The Orange Stage looked great on this non-rainy Friday night though.
Underworld! UNDERWORLD!!!!! Another one of my highlights. Been a fan for 2 decades. Finally caught them live. Oh and lasers!!!!
Underworld owning the Arena tent. King of Snakes.
Karl Hyde playing laser tag! Love lasers, more lasers!
MORE LASERS I SAID!!!! Ok this is quite a decent amount of lasers!
The Arena tent is so huge it is mindboggling. Holds something like 17,000 people + probably 3-4000 people hanging around outside here at the Underworld concert. Looked totally mad.
A bit smaller scale, but equally great. My friends from Regelbau playing in the new Ambereum area.
Ambereum and the massive Arena tent towering in the background.
Saturday I had the huge pleasure of following Bikstok onto the Orange Stage and it was such a blast, what a great concert.
The crowd loved every bit of it!
The advantage of documenting a whole show with full access. You get to document these moments when Bikstok met the crowd up close!
One of the maddest and coolest things on the Orange stage this year – every single person swinging a t-shirt or jacket over their head. Looked incredible, like a mad twirling ocean of fabric.
The rain cleared just before the show and what a view!
The last concert at The Orange Stage and the one I had been looking forward to the most. The Cure.
Not that Robert Smith and The Cure are that exciting to photograph actually, it is more that I am a huge fan and it was such a pleasure to make some pictures up close. Oh and “Bad wolf”, someone is a Doctor Who fan.
Robert Smith does not exactly bounce around the stage, but he can definitely still sing.
A little goodbye to the Orange stage backstage after leaving the photopit
The Cure lighting up the sky.
Thank you Roskilde Festival 2019. I hope to see you for the 50 year anniversary next year!
THE END
…well except for…
Yours truly, tired but a happy music photographer! In the photopit at the Orange Stage on the last night with The Cure. Photo by Kim Matthäi Leland.
Now it is the end!
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