SMUKFEST - IN THE WOODS ON A MOTORBIKE

Written by Valle V. Petersen -

Music is in the blood, but is it a disease, or is it genetic? There’s probably no better feeling, than to pull on the leathers, get on the motorcycle, and head towards something that warms the soul. It feels great to ride the 25 km from Aarhus to Skanderborg Festival, park the bike, and disappear into the music world.

VACCINATED WITH A PHONOGRAPH NEEDLE

Will there be something new this year? Will nostalgia hang on the outside of your clothes, like when Peter Gabriel and his daughter sang, and the tears ran down her cheeks, like the Giber river? Or when Moby emptied all the disposable lighters at the festival during his stunning performance in 2003. Not to mention Beck, who put a smile on everyone's lips, while the rain poured down in 2006. Or as Robert Plant, when............ Stop!

WHAT IS SKANDERBORG WITHOUT SMUKFEST, OR VICE VERSA?

Many people know the small towns that lie around Aarhus. But how often do you visit them? I sometimes think that if Smukfest wasn’t held in Skanderborg, then I had maybe never been in the town, only driven past. Ok, there is always Rasses Skovpølser. I often stop at the Sausage man out on Horsensvej, on the way home from a motorcycle trip to get a ‘Ristet’ (roasted) with all the trimmings, before heading home. There is something special about Rasses Forest Sausages, maybe it's location. It brings to mind, the fact that I have only been in Skanderborg, when Smukfest was on, because what else should I Skanderborg, if there was no Smukfest? The area is beautiful and there are many good roads around Skanderborg, but it is not what has drawn me to the south of Aarhus, for four days every year.

LEATHER BABES UNDER THE BEECH TREES

Now, it’s not only the international music acts that draw the crowds. Most Danish bands over the years have played at the festival, with TV2 as house band under the beech trees. Naturally, they come from Aarhus. This year's festival was a great celebration of all the mover and shakers. Faithless, Suede, Kent, Placebo and Amy MacDonald pulled the international strings. They gave some great musical experiences, as did the Danish bands, with Kashmir and the slender Medina (also in leather), right at the edge of the stage.

Music critics would gladly have had the big names at the festival, and they are never completely satisfied with the music program, but so what? The crowd love it. The rest of us just want to enjoy ourselves with what it is, and we do so, to the full, year after year. Each year, we rely on the people behind Smukfest, to arrange this year's best party, and they do. With Smukfest, you shouldn’t try to assess whether one year is musically better than the other. If it has not been a good year, then it’s yourself, that there’s something wrong with. Maybe you should assess an entire decade. The 80’s were good, the 90’s were good, and here after the Millennium, the good style continues. We can only hope the party continues. This year's SMUKFEST has passed, but we have the great musical experiences from it.