“There’s a spirit of optimism. It’s great fun to be there.” Heavy sounds and a message were offered by the Ukrainian metal band Jinjer, who attracted a considerable crowd to the stage early on Saturday afternoon.
“We are here to draw attention to the problems in our homeland, to all the destruction,” said singer Tatiana Shmailyuk during the tough and strong performance. She thanked “all the solidarity, for all the humanitarian aid, for all the support” against the “fucking Putin regime”. The group played the anger right off their souls. “We want our home back!” demanded Shmailyuk, who sang, screamed and roared. A peace sign in the colors of the Ukrainian flag was emblazoned in the background.
Mud is history
The mud of the first day was history on Saturday. With the sun, the outfits changed from rubber boots and rain jackets to either lots of skin or flashy costumes. “I’ve also been to Nova Rock quite often and enjoyed it too – three days of filthy party in the tent. But now I can’t do it anymore…”, Bernhard Speer laughed. Colleague Christopher Seiler said about the approach to the performance: “You have to remember that people are not there because of you, but because of the experience. As a band, you have the task of delivering the best because you’re basically playing in the audience’s living room.”
Seiler and Speer have enough stage experience at Nova Rock: “Somehow we’ve become inventory,” they smiled. “We’re probably the cheapest band. No, we earned it. We’ve grown into an insanely good live band over the last few years.” When they were booked for the Red Stage in 2016, there were also negative reactions: “The snot that was spread on the Internet. But we actually rocked the festival,” emphasized Speer.
Mono & Nikitaman will strike slightly different tones later in the evening: the Austrian-German duo, which oscillates between reggae, dancehall and pop, released the new album “Autonome Zone” at the beginning of the year. “Actually, it was planned earlier, but then it was a pandemic, a pandemic,” said Mono in the APA interview. “There was no land in sight. For everyone in the industry, there was no plan. You could only react spontaneously.” You just have to enjoy the fact that the songs are out now and the two can be on the road again with their band. “Festivals are special anyway because there are so many people there,” Mono noted. “It’s nice that people can think outside the box,” said Nikitaman, commenting on the stylistic diversity of the third day of the festival.
You arrive and smell the festival again
“It’s just great: you arrive and smell the festival again, hear the festival again,” said Mono, full of anticipation. “It’s bustling, not only in front of the stage, but also backstage.” A lot is still new, not just because of the break, said Nikitaman. “We also have new band musicians. It’s just super exciting.” Routine is also important for the duo, who will be celebrating their 20th anniversary next year. “Everyone has their roles, there are certain processes,” emphasized Mono. “That’s totally the basis for spontaneous things and outbursts to happen.” Over the years they have played far more than 1,000 concerts – and there is still a lot to come.
The Nova Rock visitors who were picked up from Boston Manor in the early afternoon also have a lot to look forward to: the English band combined metal with plenty of hardcore set pieces and clearly had fun with the motivated people in front of the stage, making one circle pit after the other deducted. Punk was also on the program with Bad Religion and The Offspring. The Hamburg hip-hop and electropunk formation Deichkind and Mando Diao should provide more splashes of color in the rock sound.
Source: Nachrichten
