Rock 2012 - eurofestivals

1. free 16-page magazine
EURO
FESTIVAL
GUIDE 2012
Nv!ry
I ee
Wts tol insidE
ck e
Ti stIva
fe
Your free guide to the best European festivals

2. CONTENTS
NME’S GUIDE TO THE CONTINENT’S BEST FESTIVALS
FOO FIGHTERS
SET FOR
PUKKELPOP
PAGE 14
MUMFORD &
SONS HEAD TO
BILBAO BBK
PAGE 7
Highlights
4 HERE COMES
THE SUMMER!
BURN SELECTOR
5
ROCK WERCHTER
6
H
HEINEKEN OPEN’ER
7
BILBAO BBK LIVE AVE YOU WORKED OUT WHERE YOU’RE SPENDING YOUR 2012
COVER PHOTO: RICHARD JOHNSON THIS PAGE: TOM OXLEY, RICHARD JOHNSON
8 festival allowance yet? If not, hold that thought, pause that browser, and
BENICÀSSIM
9
check this guide out. We’ve done some extensive research and racked up
OPTIMUS LIVE enough airmiles to give Greenpeace a heart attack, and sought out the 12
10 best European festivals this summer has to offer. From beachside raves
COSTA DE FUEGO to sprawling stages set in historic cities – and one on its own island – we’ve unearthed a
11 bunch of ideas you might want to consider. They can all be reached within a couple of
SZIGET hours and for a comparable price to the UK alternatives, so take a peek and book some
12
OYAFESTIVALEN tickets pronto. We’ll see you there…
13
COKE LIVE
14 TIM CHESTER
PUKKELPOP
Head to NME.COM/festivals for a comprehensive guide to the summer’s action, including details of coverage on NME Radio
3

3. BURN SELECTOR ROCK WERCHTER
FESTIVAL June 28 – July 1
June 1 – 2
WHERE Werchter,
Festivalpark
Belgium.
DIRECTIONS Eurostar
WHEREPoland. Either take the
from London or Kent, or
Krakow,
jump on board a budget
DIRECTIONS fly airplane to Brussels. A
quick train to Leuven and
Try Ryanair, who
to Krakow from buses will be waiting to
Leeds/Bradford, take you to the site.
Liverpool, London
Stansted and Edinburgh. WEATHER if previous
Mild and dry
WEATHER pretty warm years are anything to
go by.
It should be
and dry but not heatwave
hellish. FOOD oysters, burgers,
& DRINK
Pizzas,
FOOD & DRINK spring rolls and all sorts
of vegetarian food.
A smorgasbord of
international delights
awaits you and your belly. ACCOMMODATION
H R
There’s several campsites
old up, send this page ACCOMmODATION of ock Werchter has come right by the site.
There’s a whole range
back – someone’s made a
mistake. It says this
hotels and B&Bs listed on
a long way since local heroes
Banzai and Kandahar played
WEBSITE
the festival website. www.rockwerchter.be
festival’s only £40. Wow. to a few thousand people in
That’s a pretty good price
to Poland
WEBSITE 1975. The weekender has
Main pic: The Cure are sure to be hugely
COST pass will set
for 48 hours of top notch dance and Main pic: Magnetic Man bring the rave www.selectorfestival.pl grown at an astonishing rate since then popular A four-day
good time! Above: Another lovely day at Wercht
Above: Hands up if you’re having a you back £162, including
COST a two-day ticket.
world class electronica. and now attracts some 80,000 people a er
Burn Selector is back for 2012 with a day, music fans from across the globe your public transport.
better line-up than ever, from insane rave £40 for who regularly make the pilgrimage for It’s £15 more for a
Yes, really. camping ticket.
kids Chase & Status to eccentric knob- the event’s award-winning programme
WIN! WIN!
twiddler and wearer of excellent It all takes place in the middle of of bands as well as its legendary, “that was quick”. Take an EasyFlight and
headwear Totally Enormous Extinct Krakow, a charming and historic Polish intoxicatingly exciting atmosphere. you’ll be there even quicker. And of
Dinosaurs, original firestarters Hadouken! city. The place is compact and The festival’s not resting on its laurels course this one comes with all the
and dubstep behemoths Magnetic Man. pedestrianised, so you’ll be able to fully either. Since winning the European benefits of Belgian delicacies and beers.
That’s not all, though, there’s a range of explore one of Europe’s hidden gems too, If you want to grab a pair Festival Awards for Best Line-Up last year So if you’re finding a Glasto-shaped hole For the chance of
noises on offer for your delectation, from taking in the listed architecture and of tickets to the festival, they’ve added yet another stage and in your festival calendar this June, you winning six four-day
RICHARD JOHNSON, TOMEK KOMINSKI
Niki & The Dove’s charms to Miike Snow’s sampling some of the fine traditional head to NME.COM/win 2012 looks set to be better than ever. know what to do. passes to Rock Werchter,
TIM COCHRANE, JORIS BULCKENS
alluring indie. local cuisine. and solve this: While The Cure, Pearl Jam and Jack White head to NME.COM/win
The three stages, including Cyan and Which of these is not a represent the international megastar end and answer this:
Magenta, will host over 20 Polish artists
too, giving you the chance to check out a
whole new scene and expand that Spotify Line-up Dinosaurs
Magnetic Man?
a)
b)
Skream
Benga
of the spectrum there’s all manner of
new and exciting bands booked and a
strong dance presence from the likes of
Line-up Jam
The Cure Elbow Pearl
   Editors  The xx
Which of these people is
a member of Red Hot
Chili Peppers?
selection to much more sophisticated Totally Enormous Extinct Stay+
 c) Wonga Skrillex, Deadmau5, Justice and Skream.  Jack White  Justice  Skrillex  Skream  The A) Moth
dimensions. Add to this multimedia arts  Magnetic Man  Miike Snow  Hadouken! Leuven is really easy to get to, too. Maccabees  Deadmau5  Gossip  Katy B  Red Hot B) Flea
across the site and you’ve got yourself  Chase & Status  Buraka Som Sistema Just hop on a train from London and Chili Peppers  Snow Patrol  Noel Gallagher’s High C) Cricket
one hell of a weekend.  Neon Indian  Niki & The Dove you’ll be in Belgium before you can say Flying Birds  The Vaccines  Ed Sheeran
4 5

4. HEINEKEN OPEN’ER BILBAO BBK LIVE
FESTIVAL July 12 – 14
July 4 – 7
WHERE
4-7.07.2012, Gdynia, Gdynia-Kosakowo Airfield
WHERE a stunning
Gydnia-Kosakowo Airfield, Kobetamendi,
Gydnia, Poland. natural park 10 minutes
from Bilbao city centre.
DIRECTIONS
Wizz Air and Ryanair DIRECTIONS all fly
run flights from around Easyjet and Vueling
the UK. to Bilbao, and the site’s
a shuttle bus away from
WEATHER mild the town. Ryanair flies
Poland is pretty to Santander, a one-hour
in July, but bring wet bus ride away.
weather gear just in case.
WEATHER have his
FOOD &ofDRINK The sun will
All kinds European hat on.
snackage will be readily
on hand to soak up those FOOD & DRINK
festival beers. Basque country pintxos
(which are like tapas) are
ACCOMmODATION very popular, but all
The campsite is a stone’s manner of food is
throw from the Main available.
Stage, although we don’t
ACCOmMODATION
S B
advocate tossing rocks,
ure, the Heineken and features a 24-hour ilbao BBK Live has a few The campsite surrounds
Open’er Festival has the bands. shop for those 4am unfair advantages over most the site and clings to
Rizla/biscuit runs. some spectacular hills.
Lots of them, both big and other festivals. For starters,
small, across seven stages and
three days.
WEBSITE it’s in northern Spain, which
means the sun rises and
WEBSITE
www.opener.pl/en bilbaobbklive.com
find them here! Main pic: Thom Yorke will need that
This year, however, the two-time Best Main pic: Looking for Justice? You’ll shines like clockwork and the
COST a four-day pass COST a three-day
headband
festival sites Above: No wonder the Bilbao crowds
Major Festival winner is adding a whole Above: One of the most stunning Euro temperature stubbornly sits in the mid- are happy
extra arts programme to the bill, £82 for 20s or above. Second, it’s perched atop a £88 for
including a full schedule of theatre including camping or just massive hill overlooking the city, so the ticket, including camping.
£75 without. £46 for a day pass.
performances and umpteen views are breathtaking and the first peek
WIN! WIN!
documentaries in conjunction with the Perhaps Open’er’s biggest draw, of the world from your tent flaps in the After that you might just have time to
country’s acclaimed Planet+Doc Film though, is the price (see sidebar). Not morning makes the hangover magically check out the streets full of historic
Festival. In addition to that, one of the sure about you, but we haven’t seen disappear. Third, it’s a short trip to both buildings or the famous Guggenheim (one
festival’s bunkers will be adapted to host festival tickets for that price in years. So Bilbao itself and the beach. of the world’s most interesting museums)
the Museum Of Contemporary Art in if you want to party like it’s 2012 with Want to experience the If you’re more used to sitting around before another packed evening of music Want to go to Bilbao?
Warsaw, which means it’ll be packed full prices from 1999, it might just be time to Heineken Open’er under damp canvas waiting for the arena begins – especially as a third, new stage Then head to NME.COM/
of art and installations. There will also be try Gdynia this summer. Festival? Then trip on gates to open, this will come as a is being added this year, with 20 extra win and answer this:
AMY BRAMMALL, TOMEK KAMINSKI
theatrical performances in conjunction over to NME.COM/win refreshing change. Mornings can be acts from around the world. Who is the lead singer of
with Krzysztof Warlikowski’s Nowy Teatr, and answer this tough whiled away on the sand or in the sea The Cure?
and a 50-piece orchestra performing the
works of Krzysztof Penderecki and
Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
Line-up Justice
Björk Franz Ferdinand
   Bloc Party
teaser:
This year’s event is the
a) 10th
while lunchtime sees half of the city
come out to bar crawl and taste Bilbao’s
famous pintxos. These dishes are Basque Line-upGarbage
a)
b)
c)
Robert Harvey
Robert Smith
Robert Mugabe
ANDY WILLSHER
The venue is a disused airfield on  The Kills  The xx  Bat For Lashes  Bon Iver b) 11th country’s answer to tapas, little bite-sized Radiohead The Cure
   The Kooks
Poland’s Baltic coast. It also packs in a  Public Enemy  Friendly Fires  Gogol Bordello c) 12th delicacies lined up on every bar counter  Mumford & Sons  Bloc Party  Glasvegas
silent disco, NGO zone, the Fashion Stage  Janelle Monáe  M83  Dry the River  Orbital and perfect for a quick nibble as you  The Maccabees  Warpaint  Noah & The Whale
and a signing tent.  The Maccabees  New Order  Mumford & Sons move from one joint to another.  Four Tet  Tribes  Enter Shikari
6 7

5. Festival International OPTIMUS ALIVE
de Benicàssim July 13 – 15
July 12 – 15
WHERE Spain. WHERE
Valencia, Passeio Maritimo de
Alges, Lisbon.
DIRECTIONS hop
The site is a mere DIRECTIONSLisbon
from Valencia airport You can fly to
or you can reach it from cheaply. The site is a
Barcelona or Madrid in a 15-minute car journey
couple of hours. from the airport.
WEATHER to pack WEATHER
You may want Glorious sunshine.
sunscreen. Factor 25.
FOOD &court seats
DRINK
FOOD &paella and tapas
DRINK The food
Burgers, 2,500 people and serves
provide the mainstay, up the likes of pizza,
while large beers come sushi, hamburgers, veggie
bigger than a pint. All can snacks and Portuguese
be bought for vouchers classics. A pint will set
onsite. you back £2.50.
ACCOMMODATION ACCOMMODATION is
Your four-day festival The extensive campsite
B O
ticket includes eight days 10 minutes from the site
enicàssim is a highly of camping. There’s also ptimus alive might and free shuttle buses
sought and fought after gig in a hotel opposite the site only be six years old but its run between the two.
and several on the nearby
the NME office for good
reason. Everyone wants to go
beach. legacy is already world-
class. Punters of previous
WEBSITE
www.optimusalive.com/
there because it’s more a
that jacket
WEBSITE years have seen some
Main pic: The Stone Roses reunion
en
holiday than a festival. Forget your Main pic: Noel Gallagher won’t be needing www.fiberfib.com stunning performances at the beautiful
COST ticket
will reach Portugal
crowds Above: Days in the sun, nights like
Above: Benicàssim attracts some lively this… amazing!
homegrown damp squib of a weekender,
this is a place where the sun never stops COST ticket will cost Lisbon site, from Metallica to Pearl Jam,
The Prodigy, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and A three-day
shining, the music never stops playing, A four-day Rage Against The Machine. Last year with camping will cost
you £155. you £103.
and the good times never end. Coldplay, My Chemical Romance and Foo
WIN! WIN!
Ok, well they eventually grind to a halt have more stimulus than should be legal. Fighters raised the bar yet again. beach for hanging ten or eating shit,
around 6am every night, but by that The site’s set near the coast so sun This year The Stone Roses, The Cure depending on your ability. It’s also a
point you’ve been spanked with too much and sea are just a short trip away, and and Radiohead would be reason enough quick cab ride to the centre of Lisbon.
fun and really do need to grab four and a the cultural delights of both Madrid and to try out Optimus Alive, but there’s So if you want to make the festival
half winks before it all begins again. Barcelona are close at hand. Forget Want to get your grubby many other reasons why you should go. into a summer holiday, spending your Want to try out Optimus
Now in its 18th year, the shindig has deciding between a holiday or a festival mitts on a pair of tix? For starters, did you notice the price? A nights watching music and your days in Alive? Then head over to
NME.COM/win and have a
AMY BRAMMALL, RICHARD JOHNSON
grown to encompass 100+ artists on this summer, because Benicàssim has Head to NME.COM/win three-day shindig including camping for the sun, and coming home with a tan to go and solving this fiend-
three stages over four days and also both. and solve this fiendish £100 is pretty bargainous in our book, turn your mates green, Optimus Alive is ish conundrum:
boasts a short film festival to boot. As puzzle: and getting here is cheaper than the one.
well as the big ticket acts, there’s all Who did NOT play trekking across the UK anyway. Who is the lead singer
PAUL SLATTERY, RETNA
manner of top quality new bands to
check out, from Spector to Howler and
Kurt Vile. Throw in the local likes of
Line-up
Bob Dylan The Stone Roses
  New Order
Benicàssim in 2011?
a)
b)
The Streets
The Strokes
Then there’s the location. Situated
right by the Tagus River as well as some
beautiful beaches, Optimus Alive offers Line-upThe Stone Roses
of 30 Seconds To Mars?
a) Jared Leto
b) Jared Followill
Juanita y los Feos (who probably sound  Florence + The Machine  At The Drive-In c) The Hoobs loads of opportunities for swimming and Radiohead The Cure
  c) Jasper Carrott
awesome after a fistful of Cerveza), art  Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds chilling in the sun, including Europe’s  The Kills  The Maccabees  Snow Patrol
exhibitions and dance shows and you  Dizzee Rascal  Bat For Lashes only World Surfing Reserve at Ericeira  Justice  Florence + The Machine
8 9

6. COSTA DE FUEGO SZIGET
July 20 – 21 August 6 – 13
WHERE Costa del WHERE Budapest,
Benicàssim, Obudai Island,
Azahar, Valencia, Spain. Hungary.
DIRECTIONSfly to DIRECTIONS fly to
You’d want to Loads of airlines
Madrid or Barcelona and Budapest, and the island
transfer from there, or is pretty central. Take a
jet direct to Valencia. boat down the Danube for
Easyjet, Ryanair or Iberia a scenic route. Eurolines
can offer the planes. runs a bus or there’s
always the “party train”
WEATHERclear skies, from The Netherlands.
We predict
sunny days and scattered WEATHER hot.
happy punters. Usually pretty
FOOD &burgers, paella,
DRINK FOOD & stalls and 72
DRINK
Includes Is 75 food
pasta, Thai food and bars enough? There’s
salads, as well as sweet something for everyone,
stuff. Tapas too. including Italian, French
and Michelin-starred
ACCOMmODATION restaurants.
I W
Camping is included and
f you’ve got some money to the site is walking e asked Michael ACCOMMODATION
spend now Sonisphere’s been distance to the festival, Eavis where the Ticket includes camping.
the town and the beach.
axed, or if you just fancy some distraught Glastonbury WEBSITE
metal music in the sunshine, allow
us to introduce Costa de Fuego.
WEBSITE hardcore should go
instead this year, and
www.szigetfestival.com
www.costadefuego.com or www.szigetfest.co.uk
Spain Main pic: Placebo are one of the main
Translated literally as ‘coast of fire’, this Main pic: Guns N’ Roses are set to rock he chose Sziget. Why? Well, how long have
COST the two-day COSTfor a weekly pass if
attractions
bill’s highlights Above: Life’s a beach at Sziget!
new two-dayer sees a who’s who of Above: Marilyn Manson, one of the you got? The mammoth event, now in its
heavy descend on the Spanish coast for £70 for 20th year, is fast gaining legendary status £165
48 hours of dials at 11 – and looks set to festival, including four for good reasons. It boasts over a you book before the end
days of camping. of April.
burn July down to the ground. thousand acts playing across the best part
WIN! WIN!
Brought to us by the promoters behind and hot so you can cool off your cochleas of a week to a crowd of 400,000 from £20 note or two in the mud. And with the
one of the greatest festivals on Earth, after a hard night’s headbanging with a over 60 countries and is frequently cited Sziget–Budapest Citypass you can combine
Benicàssim (and in fact taking place at daily dip in the Mediterranean. Or, much as one of the world’s greatest festivals. the festival with a few mornings exploring
the same location), Costa de Fuego sees like at Benicàssim, follow it up with a few Did we mention that it all takes place the beautiful, historic city and its famous
all manner of noisenik heavyweights days in the Spanish capital. Wanna try Costa De on an 266-acre island, in the middle of a Turkish spas and special “ruin pubs”. As Hands up who wants a
playing live, from Marilyn Manson to Priced at a staggeringly cheap £70 for Fuego? Tap NME.COM/ city? And that it won the Best European alternatives to our own summer bashes pair of tickets to Sziget?
Guns N’ Roses, as well as the smaller but two days, it’s the noisiest fun you can win into your browser Major Festival Award? Yep, Hungary’s best go, this one comes close. And you won’t Well, get those hands
no less potent likes of Rolo Tomassi and have in the sun, and could become a and answer this stupidly summer event is something else indeed. find anyone going on about leylines. clicking on NME.COM/
ANDY WILLSHER, DANNY NORTH
Paradise Lost. regular fixture in the festival season. easy question: Commandeering the aforementioned win and answer this:
TOM MARTN, MARK SOMAY
Organisers promise “the most island in the middle of the Danube, it’s Which of these bands is
energetic rock, hardcore and metal” so
expect even more names to be
announced in the coming months. And Line-upManson
Which of these used to
play in Guns N’ Roses?
a) Panelface
more like a community or small city than
a festival, and boasts all manner of extra-
curricular stuff, from theatre to circus
Line-up Placebo
The Stone Roses Korn
 
playing Sziget this year?
A) Corn
B) Korn
you don’t have to sit in a dank Camden Guns N’ Roses Marilyn
 Cancer Bats
 b) Buckethead acts, exhibitions and poetry. There’s a  Noah & The Whale  LMFAO  The Horrors C) Cornrows
basement or wet Midlands park to enjoy  Opeth  Rolo Tomassi  We Are The Ocean c) Shovelfoot cashless payment system too, which is  The Ting Tings  The Vaccines  The Subways
them – this part of the world is sunny  Amorphis  Berru Txarrak  Paradise Lost great news for anyone who’s ever lost a  The xx  Two Door Cinema Club
10 11