Thursday started off with a cancellation, Sam Fender had tonsillitis and couldn’t perform plus it was raining like crazy all day. The area was opened a few hours before the first act went on so people were able to build up their tents where the ground was still relatively dry.

The next day started grey but nearly dry to everyone’s relief. The ground turned into a mud field, but because the mud party happens every year the festival got nicknamed `Schlammgallen` which loosely translated means muddy Gallen. The food variety was quite big with acceptable vegan/veggie variety options but there was definitely still room for improvement and for the first time there was a supermarket, sponsored by ALDI, on the grounds that allowed campers to shop for food without breaking the bank – we are in Switzerland after all. 

Many people had to get VIP tickets because regular admission was so quickly sold out. As a result, the VIP area became more crowded than the rest of the park. The view on the stage was great, and the food quality was excellent but the prices here were insanely high.

The main reason for us all to gather in the mud, however, was of course music and so here are some of my highlights from the weekend.

Viagra Boys: Great start with a nice punk set; the lead singer smoked a joint on stage and drank beer throughout making it a rather entertaining set to watch. The crowd seemed to enjoy this as a good wake-up with a very relaxed feeling in the air despite the tent stage still being half under water which people didn’t mind at all [images below].

Kontra K: This German rapper gathered a surprisingly big crowd [2 images above]. His performance was set against a beautiful background with horse statues and a stair-like stage illuminated by the finally arrived sun.

Joy Crookes: Advertised as the “next Amy Winehouse,” Joy appeared calm and beautiful, a kind of performance everyone could just listen and enjoy. The audience seemed to love her, many danced and sang along, very peaceful and definitely one for the feels [image below].

Annenmaykantereit: German sensation with much of the clout turned over the past few years with some viral tracks (also in combo with Giant Rooks due to a Tom`s Diner cover earlier this year). Everyone was here to witness this set and it was a great show with a mix of fast and slow songs, and some new tracks mixed in between the classics. All additional live instruments were played by women and there was a huge pride flag on the piano which was really great to see [2 images above].

Giant Rooks: A five-piece band of very happy musicians. Their performance was enthusiastic and engaging; the lead singer ran close to the crowd a few times causing a bit of a riot. The pit was pretty full and everyone was singing along even though it was burning hot at this point [images below].

Tones and I: Had a very creative stage design with an actual house built on it with a sign declaring it a “mad house.” In a typical manner Tones and I played new tracks and a few old songs to please the fans [image above].  

Juju: This German female rapper was a much-appreciated surprise with her engaging performance. Juju talked about feminism, released balloons into the audience, and consistently engaged with her huge fanbase; the tent was full to the brim!

Muse: Much anticipated headliner of the event. The band had a great stage design with a burning sign and changed out into several different outfits and backgrounds. They even brought their own stage and walked down the `catwalk` a few times; great show showcasing all of the band’s classic songs that nearly everyone could sing along to [images above].

The last day was unusually hot and usually ends in the afternoon so only a few acts:

Years & Years: Solo project of British singer Olly Alexander who came on stage with a telephone cabin. Olly offered up a real pop star performance with loads of action, dancers, special effects, choreography, and other entertaining theatrics. Sadly many people had already gone for the day or were hiding in the shade escaping the heat.

Milky Chance: The crowd was similar but it was a very fitting Sunday afternoon show. Folks were sitting in their chairs under umbrellas, taking in this feel-good comfort music, observing the band’s foggy performance [images above].

Openair St.Gallen was a great way to return to summer festivals and the crowd came here committed to enjoying every minute of every day, rain boots and jackets in hand everyone had an amazing time.

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The lead singer of Milky Chance, Clemens Rehbein, has a voice reminiscent of Southern California punk: the nasal pitch of NOFX or Black Flag with a snarl like Rancid – or maybe even Smash Mouth. If none of those bands sounds familiar, that’s fine. Just, instead, imagine a show choir dropout with balled fists, pent up energy, and an enviable lung capacity, cursed with a deviated septum. Or blessed? It’s not a pretty voice, not bourgeoisie fancy; it’s working class, carries a tune well, and lifts up a chorus. It’s a voice that feels like the Southern California desert in the dichotomy of its abrasiveness coupled with its aesthetic magnetism.

Except the lead singer of Milky Chance isn’t from Southern California. Clemens is German. The whole band is German. And it is because of this Germanity that Milky Chance’s latest album Mind the Moon represents the best of what the post-punk, folksy, electronic-ish genre can be. As outsiders to the English language and the SoCal music scene, they seem to recognize what makes that music appealing, and then they add their own cultural embellishments and musical preferences to make an original album that surpasses the listenability of its stylistic ancestors. Where the Dead Kennedys and The Offspring captured the anger and aggression of youth suffering under the cultural oppression of Reaganism and George Bush the First in the late ’80s and ’90s in an exciting but grating confluence of distortion and amphetamines, Milky Chance offers a more subdued image of the global zeitgeist affecting modern audiences. Mind the Moon is laid back and mixes the analog guitar with electronic drums and digital voice effects in a way that invites listeners to lean in, and maybe move their heads up and down a little, maybe kick their feet a bit too.

The album feels like it comes from a stage recording, which is probably why it can be chill and still danceable. But the downside of the live-in-your-home-stereo vibe is that the album tends to drag towards the middle, and becomes tiring towards the end. The repetition of sounds and the literal repeating lyrics forces the listener to choose between entering a trance or pressing the “skip” button. It’s not a tight, highly composed album, but a loose mix of songs that went over well at concerts – though the needs of those two audiences differ in that the live group has an ambiance built-in, but at home that feeling has to be created, and Mind the Moon starts off strong but doesn’t finish with the same effort.

It’s a good album to pull songs from for mixes. Combined with Milky Chance’s other work it might have been a great album, but Mind the Moon is still worth listening to, and at least a few of the songs will stick in the ear, while the others are ignored – just like grains of sand in the SoCal desert.

The post Milky Chance new album “Mind the Moon” makes ya want to dance appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Over the last year,  Milky Chance went from that alternative folk band your obscure friends tell you about to a band topping charts and invading playlists of people from 15 to 45. With two sold out show over the Easter weekend in Toronto Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch fully invaded the East side of the city.

No one seemed to mind the ambiguous opening act while continuing some all-encompassing conversations about how hot Rehbein is: “I’d totally sleep with him right now. Just kidding. But not really…” awkward laugh follows “I love his hair!” All chatter stopped and turned to piercing screams as soon as Milky Chance came out on stage.

Check mark for all three popularity indicators.

Rehbein and Dausch’s music has been painfully summed up into ‘Folk, soul and reggae-infused electronica’ by various critics, but who really pays attention to the genres these days when the innovations in music try to break all the rules built up by the early masters. Sadnecessary not being quite the music to dance to the crowd seemed slightly confused about their moves, some tried to fully dance while others stuck to the safe bopping and tapping. Rehbein and Dausch don’t move much themselves nor do they talk a whole lot but they did play out the entire album catering to everyone wishes.

The duo are soaking in the heat and are in no rush to make another YouTube viral sensation. “We can definitely still feel the buzz, and it’s still overwhelming for us because everything happened in such a short period of time” they told Rolling Stone. Having seen bands get close to the sun and sink like Titanic with the second album one can only appreciate Milky Chance’s pace and patience.

Here’s to hopping that whatever comes next is another genre-banding collection of tracks to play on repeat.

The post For the love of big hair: Easter weekend with Milky Chance appeared first on Quip Magazine.

Their debut album, Sadnecessary, released on Oct 14th by Lichtdicht/Republic Records features a 14-track compilation. It is no surprise that this album went Gold in Germany and it is definitely no surprise that their music caught fire and spread through radio stations across North America.

But what makes this album in general so memorable? It’s their simplistic yet catchy beats combined with their rhythmic, acoustic guitar technique and a raspy-like, soulful vocal style that you can immediately recognize. The cohesiveness of the songs throughout the album and the bittersweet lyrics versus upbeat melodies, as the album title implies, sets off the mood to dance but also to feel a sense of lost nostalgia all the while.

Usually it’s easy to point out which songs in an album are the ones that are likely to be a favourite – of course, “Stolen Dance” would be one of the top ones because it is arguably the most upbeat song – but having listened to the album numerous times, they all are equally and individually catchy and all have their own unique characteristic that makes the song enjoyable to listen to.

Guaranteed that after you listen to Sadnecessary the first time, you’ll want to listen to it over again to keep in that innocent, blissful land that Milky Chance has provided.

Their spring 2015 North American tour was announced not too long ago, so definitely check out their show if they’re coming to your city!

The post Get reminiscent with Milky Chance’s debut album “Sadnecessary” appeared first on Quip Magazine.