Daily.tportal.hr is honoured to exclusively present a review of INmusic festival that took place at Jarun lake in Zagreb from June 28 to June 30, written by Marc Rowlands, a writer with the distinguished British newspaper The Guardian.
The sun is relentless on Jarun for the three days of this year's InMusic festival. For anyone who is visiting from England, like me, it makes a nice change not to be drowning in mud and rain at summer music festivals.
Inside the festival things are somewhat cooler. During the day camping festival attendees lie around lazily, under trees or leave the festival site to go shopping or visit some of the bars that can be found all around the perimeter of this vast, man made lake. Some also join locals to swin in the lake, which is fine because there are no piranhas. Probably.
Music continues long into the night with several party options following the bands. The best of these and one of the best parts of the festival is the Ko to tamo peva / Balkan Party area. It frustrates me to think that western European visitors may come to some of the many music festivals that now happen in Croatia without once hearing any of the music that comes from the culturally rich Balkans.
DJ Sorich and the Balkan Party crew ensure this does not happen at INmusic and all weekend they can be heard playing a diverse selection of music from Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Hungary. Their music is so wonderful and I receive such an education, I wish I could stay here all weekend, watching the dancers in angel costumes and the locals who sometimes sing along. Other highlights at this stage are the bands Zykopops, who combine traditional folk music elements with progressive rock and funk, and Pozdrav Azri. Although Pozdrav Azri never reach the heights attained in concert by the original band, fronted by Johnny Štulić, foreign visitors could be left in no doubt of the love locals still have for this 1980s rock band, as Pozdraz Azri draw a huge crowd who sing along to every word.
The main stages also provide opportunity to hear some more fantastic Croatian music. On Thursday young Zagreb band Spremište play on the main stage and perform an excellent set which reaches an impressive climax when they bring on several guest musicians. First is Matija Brajković from local band Porto Morto, who provides stunning guitar work and next are the three piece horn section who appear to play ‘Do Jaja’ and ‘Bananana’ which everybody recognizes due to its appearance on a TV commercial during the Euros.
Later that night, English rapper Plan B cancels due to illness. I am grateful as his replacements are perhaps Croatia’s greatest current band Let3. These crazy, crazy guys from Rijeka supply an amazing show, the best all weekend and locals and visitors alike love it. The lesson is clear - you don’t have to sing in English to entertain western audiences, you just have to put 100% into your performance. They may look like ageing car mechanics dressed as 17 years olds in a gay disco, but that only makes me love them more. What a privilege it was to have seen this band.
Of the main stage headliners, Gorillaz Sound System are hugely underwhelming, their set better suited to a nightclub experience than the main stage at a festival. Things get better on Friday with Gogol Bordello and New Order, who are both fantastic. Lots of people also enjoy Mando Diao and Franz Ferdinand on Saturday, but after the brilliant Friday night, Let3 and the Balkan party, both performances seem tame to me.
Ticket prices for the festival are quite high by Croatian standards and although it's good that many Croatians manage to attend, foreign visitors may not get a true reflection of all Croatian society if they encounter only the privileged youth here. Food and drink prices drain your wallet further. They are not cheap and the inconvenient voucher system is a depressing, permanent reminder of the absence of trust the festival has for its employees, some of whom shake tip jars in the faces of foreign visitors. The varied options and the standard of the food are excellent.
Nearly everyone here speaks English and they are extremely friendly, making this an easy experience for anyone attending from Western Europe. The site is remarkably clean, as are the toilets and anyone making the trip can camp here for a week, allowing further exploration of the wonderful city of Zagreb. I would happily come back and I expect many visitors feel the same.
