MUSIC: Interrail

 
After my last post, comparing my affection for mainstream indie with the indolence of a brainless snaphappy tourist, I decided to become the very thing I loathe and, with my trusty fanny-pack and a loaded camera, I began a five week journey interrailing across Europe – East to West – with two valiant companions. Our stories could probably go the length of Don Quixote: being scammed by a bogus Macedonian hostel, rubbing shoulders with a charitable Serbian millionaire and even being detained by a whole Turkish village under the pretence that it was physically impossible to leave their town – but I shall save these for my memoirs... Here I’ll discuss a couple of the cultural aspects of our trip, namely Croatia’s Soundwave Music Festival  and Germany’s Oberammergau Passion Play, two events which could not have been more different and yet were both unforgettable.
            
Soundwave is based on the beautiful shores of Petrcane – a small fishing village in Southern Croatia – that every summer lets out its land for five different festivals. In its second year and with only 2000 tickets available, Soundwave has a relaxed nature seemingly unknown to other festivals, perhaps due to its infancy, perhaps due to the presence of sand and sea. Even the Festival’s organiser himself, Noah Ball, sits at the entrance greeting festival-goers and handing out almost unnecessary wristbands.  
 
Artists come primarily out of the Mancunian music scene but have an eclectic mixture of sounds and styles. Due to the intimacy of the festival fans are more than likely to find yourself queuing up for a burger with an act you’ve just seen on the mainstage. During the day you’ll find bands playing a range of ska, funk, jazz and alternative music, without the terror of a stray pint flying over your head, and with the liberty even to lie back and sunbathe. The real heroes for me were ten-piece band Mind on Fire  who all drove down in a VW campervan and exploded onto the mainstage with their perfectly executed mixture of soul, rap and ska.     
 
The evenings were ruled primarily by DJs and dubstep. As soon as the sun set over the ocean’s horizon the arena became packed with all the beachgoers and latewakers, and as much as the days were relaxed and laid back, the nights were loud and endless, with DJs such as Benjy B and hip-hop act Broke’n’£nglish keeping feet moving. Highlights were original dub masters Smith and Mighty (the major influence of bands such as Massive Attack) with great remixes of ‘Sex on Fire’ and ‘Seven Nation Army’ as well as all of their classics. On top of this was dub / roots reggae band Gentlemen’s Dub Club, a nine-piece band – with the presence of an army – who are well worth seeing if they come up to London any time soon.
 
The second cultural experience of my expedition was perhaps even more worthy of a review: Germany’s Oberammergau Passion Play. The play was first performed in the early 1600s when the town was spared the bubonic plague. Since then, Oberammergau’s villagers have taken to performing a production of ‘The Passion of the Christ’ each decade in gratitude.  
 


And, as far as six-hour long classical German Passion plays go ... it wasn’t half bad. With five thousand audience members and more than five hundred cast members there was always going to be a feeling of momentous awe, and when herds of live camels, donkeys, and chicken were brought out during the market scenes one couldn’t help but feel the butterflies scaling the walls of your stomach. But without its history and intermittent runs the play definitely would not be as widely renowned and attended as it currently is. With each scene intertwined with endless coral chanting and each (amateur) actor finding it necessary to shout every single line to apparently communicate anger, sadness and happiness, the performance would be unlikely to attract an audience on its merits alone.
 
Yes, I may be regarded as a philistine, and I’m sure the fact I cannot speak a word of German did not do me any favours (although an English translation was supplied) but if you asked me whether I’d be going back in another ten years, frankly I’d have to say no. Of course my opinion makes no difference: the play will run purely off its reputation, and I’m sure the elderly Americans filling the place, all of whom clearly ridiculously wealthy and devout theists, would have no qualms sitting through the entire production again. What’s more, I do urge anybody to go to Oberammergau, to check out the small town (also noted for its handcrafted christmas products) and experience what may have been slightly lost on me.

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