Thank you, Arvika!

Now that I have that Depeche Mode ranting and raving out of my system (well, sort of), I think I can tell abit about the festival in general.

We, meaning me and a friend, left early on Thursday, and had a stop at a shopping centre just across the border in Sweden, seeing as beer and food is cheaper over there, before driving the last bit to Arvika. As we unloaded the stuff we quickly understood that this might be one hell of a walk. I was sure I'd tried to pack as lightly as I could, but when you insist on such luxuries as an airmatress, a party tent and comfy camping chairs, you have to be prepared to haul heavy shit around. When you add the fact that we were stupid enough to shop lots of beer/soda and food BEFORE setting up our campsite, you get... a big pile of stuff to carry. I ended up hauling a 20kg backpack with an 11kg partytent strapped to it on my back, and in each hand I had a big, brown paper bag stuffed with food and drinks. The marshals at the entrance to the campsite nearly applaused me as I arrived huffing and puffing, drenched in sweat, and were kind enough to help me with my backpack and hand me some water. I think I earned some respect, and some of the marshals actually greeted me several times after that.

Luxury camping!
The campsite we'd chosen as a new feature at this years festival; the "quiet" camp. Which really is a bad name, it should've been named "the more luxurious, less noisy camp for a slightly more mature festival crowd". Or something. It was situated on a football field, meaning we had a flat ground, we had access to our "own" showers and toilets in addition to the normal port-a-potties, lots of marshals walking around picking up trash or just answering general questions, it was located much closer to the festival area than the other campsites - in short, the benefits were many, and I was very happy I chose to dish out the extra €10 to live there, well worth it!

The heat!
Now, large parts of northern Europe, at least Norway and Sweden, has had a few weeks of nearly tropical weather, with bright sunshine and temperatures from 20 to 35 degrees celcius. I will admit that I have spent the past 4 months praying for nice weather, the prospect of living at a festival campsite in heavy rain for days really sounded as much as fun as the swine flu, but I might've overdone it a bit. Living outsite with nothing but a cheap party tent to protect you from the heat can be one hell of a challenge, and feel like what amounts to pure torture; you don't have anywhere to run or hide but the shade, and that help only marginally. After a while you realise you just have to accept the fact that you'll be drenched in sweat until the sun goes down, and remember to drink lots of water. The heat also resulted in me drinking a lot less than what one could expect, because we had no way of cooling the beer we'd hauled all the way there, and the idea of being really hungover in that heat made me want to cry the big wet. All in all it was a good thing: I can remember everything, I didn't spend as much money as I might have done, I wasn't hungover and I now have a lot of beer in my fridge.

The Arvika Festival has grown a lot since I last visited it in 2003, with more campsites, more stages, more acts and more visitors, but it is still a quite "small" festival compared to others. And I really love it. The tickets are cheap, the food and beer doesn't cost TOO much, the marshals and volunteer workers are really nice, and there are bands and music to suit just about everyone's taste. This year I got to see Detektivbyrån, Mars Volta, Nine Inch Nails, Elegant Machinery, Bob Hund and Depeche Mode. I regret not seeing Røyksopp, but they played on the day we arrived, and I was so knackered I just had to sit quietly on my bum for a while and enjoy a beer that was actually cold. Nine Inch Nails did a better performance here than they did at the Øya festival in 2007, or so I thought, maybe I just got a better view (and a cold beer). Trent's performance of "Hurt" was the absolute highlight, the level of noise from the crowd dropped to zero, everyone sang along with intense concentration and a focused calm, it was actually very emotional.

Bob Hund
I was positively surprised by Bob Hund's performance. Bob Hund is a band I really don't know how to describe, they're labeled as "indierock" inspired by Velvet Underground, Gun Club, Kraftwerk and the Pixies, but that doesn't do them justice. The vocalist is one of the most fascinating characters I've ever seen, he freaks me out and pulls me in at the same time. He's energetic, hyperactive, eccentric, funny and intense, and the concert was interesting and entertaining to watch even though I don't have much of a relationship with their music. But I do think I will always prefer Bob Hund live, their studio recordings aren't half as interesting.

All in all this was my best festival trip to date. I didn't get too drunk, too hungover or too broke, I learned the value of taking the trouble to carry a few extra luxury items along, had great people for company, I saw some good bands, had a few near-religious experiences and had my best concert and musical experience of my life. Can't ask for more, can I?