Roskilde 2024

It's my first time at Roskilde Festival and I'm going there as a photographer for a day. Yipeeee!!

Days before the festival I had made a list of all the gigs i want to see and now looking at it it seems ambitious. I packed my stuff and left for an 1.5 h trip to Roskilde, 30km away and honestly I didn't even need to put my google maps on cause there is a trail of people with backpacks and orange wristbands in all public transport spots haha.

I got to Valby station and it already smells like energy drink and beer everywhere. After a train ride, a bus ride that took the wrong route, a cab with some strangers to go back to the check in area and a hike, I'm in, and man this place is fucking huge and I'm confused.

Our photographer, Laura Ioana V, gives her 'fly on the wall' account of her first experience of Roskilde as a photographer and spectator. Here's her story and images...

First gig of the day is at Gaia and American band Better Lovers kicking it with super high energy. You can see fans of the band in the crowd but also people that seem to have landed here by accident. You can clearly see they go in the mosh not knowing how to do it and some young lads look like they’re fighting for their life over there kicking and punching. We need a mosh etiquette for the youngsters at Roskilde.

I grab a frozen daiquiri from Gutter Bar next to the Gaia stage and make my way towards Eos stage for my personal highlight of the day, Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. The moment I get to Eos, I get smashed in the face by a reek smell coming from the ground that even Frank commented on saying something along the lines of “I know this is the first festival day, but why does it already smell like shit in here??” Nevertheless, I could write a full blown review about this gig, it had so many good moments despite the shit smell! I shot them before so I was familiar with their typical shenanigans, so when I saw Frank jump off the stage and into the crowd I ran out of the photo pit and after a bit of squeezing in the crowd I saw him hover with his mic over the sea of people. Then he proceeded to open a moshpit for the women and non binary people in the crowd, we got some ballroom pair dancing and some rowing from the crowd as well. Amazing to hear some of their old stuff and yell my lungs out to “Kitty Sucker” and “Cupid’s Arrow” but also great to hear their new material from this year’s album as well, “Dark Rainbow”. All bangers if you ask me!

After yelling at the Eos stage it was time for me to continue my journey. Honestly, I tried walking around exploring a bit but this place is huuuuge and there’s everything in here, from vintage shopping, to a kiosk, a pharmacy and even a spot where you can get your spicy toys, from our local Norrebro shop. Next on the list is Bar Italia, a british indie rock band so I stayed for 3 of their songs but had to run soon to get to the Orange stage for Doja Cat. They sound really cool though, moody basslines and a vibe that I would expect to hear in the coolest record store of a hip neighborhood.

I’m in front of the Orange Stage, the main stage of the festival where huge names have played through the years. We’re all waiting for Doja Cat and the crowd feels really excited and keep chanting her name. I’m just disappointed that we are shooting from so far away and think I would have rather given my pit sticker to Kasper and gone to see Decorticate instead. Suddenly a melody starts and everyone starts screaming for Doja but I recognize the song, and it’s definitely not Doja Cat, it’s “Guided by Angels” by Amyl and the Sniffers hahaha, quite a different vibe! I guess they wanted to warm up the audience?

But everyone got confused instead. But finally the concert starts, and Doja comes on stage in a huge hairy hat. The set design also has a lot of fur around and all the photographers are packed in Front of House, so it was hard to see what was happening over there anyway. Honestly, not my cup of tea, but people were quite stirred in the audience. I shoot 3 songs and we get escorted out of the designated photo area and I make a run for it.

I have a tight list from now on and there are 3 bands I wanted to see at Avalon, so I embark on a little jog across the fest site, dodging youngsters left and right. Honestly I should have gotten more comfy shoes cause I already feel my docs feel like they grew spikes inside.

But here I am at Avalon, and I even caught local Copenhagen hardcore band Decorticate, who were blasting some super fast and very short tunes from the middle of the crowd, a setup that I wasn’t expecting.

The main stage was completely dark while a small podium was installed mid tent with the crowd surrounding it from all sides, apparently a special floor setup for this Wednesday at Avalon dedicated to expreme and punk music. I had all 3 bands on my list and I gotta say, I really enjoyed the vibe. After Decorticate, the podium was taken by Taqbir, a Moroccan band who got everyone to sway along while they were chanting “hurryia” which the lead explained later that means freedom.

The pace quickly picked up while they engaged everyone with their fast paced and audibly angry toned songs that are directed towards the patriarchal and religious authorities in their homeland. Finally my eve at Avalon ended with the philly queercore band Hirs Collective, who definitely shifted the atmosphere to a more playful one, mixing well known dancy intros like “Man! I feel like a woman!” into visceral metal vocals and screams.

Despite the general playful vibe, they’re also a very politically outspoken group, describing themselves as “exist to fight for, defend, and celebrate the survival of trans, queer, poc, black, women and any and all other folks who have to constantly face violence, marginalization, and oppression”. All in all, great vibes at Avalon, even though maybe not the best setup for photography, which is what I’m here for as well.

Last part of the evening was me running towards the Arena stage to see Heilung and turning into a bit of an unsuccessful venture. The stage was far, I got lost at some point, couldn’t get a good photo spot and had to run shortly to see and shoot Jungle, the last of the day.

The night ended in a rainy party. It started right when I was in the photo pit and while I was concerned about getting water on my cameras, everyone front row danced without care while Jungle started their set with “Busy earning” and continued the party with bangers like “The Heat”, “Back on 74”, “Heavy, California” and many others that made everyone dance regardless of their spot or the rain. I left after 3 songs to pack my cameras and take the train back to Copenhagen (it was 1.30 am and I am over 30 after all) but on the way to Backstage Village where the press area was I was quite delighted to see people on the paths dancing in the rain even further away from the stage where you could still hear Jungle in the distance.

Overall I had a lot of fun but also I’m happy I started with just one day as a first experience and not a full festival, which would have definitely been a lot. Will I do a repeat next year? Possibly and hopefully I can find someone to drive me there haha.

Things I liked:

some really good bands and the possibility to choose something that matches your personal music taste
Loads of other things to do which I didn’t even get time to explore properly
Press area is really nice lol

Things I disliked after my short first Roskilde experience:

The crowd was really one of the worst crowds I’ve ever experienced, especially the younger festival goers who litter everywhere, pee everywhere and act like unsupervised toddlers
A lot of trash around that started getting smelly
I prefer smaller festivals where I wouldn’t walk kms to get from stage to stage (especially when running around with cameras)