Picture it: Roskilde, 2019. The Cure are on stage closing out that year’s edition of the Roskilde festival, a festival that I first experienced back in 2011. I was charmed that year by the festival’s setting, its musically adventurous lineup encompassing a myriad of genres, and just its general cool vibe, which Roskilde attendees have come to know as the orange feeling (named for the trademark orange hue if its main stage). And so I decided I needed to return, coming back again in 2012, 2014 and 2019. But after that 2019 edition, it seemed unlikely I’d return.
This is not to say I was dissatisfied with Roskilde 2019. On the contrary – it was as good as ever. Rather, as I stood in that field on the festival site, watching Robert Smith and co. run through a brilliant version of “Pictures of You”, I thought “this is a good note to go out on.” After all, there’s plenty of other places to see and plenty of other music festivals out there too. Then 2020 happened. And 2021. And let’s be real, 2022 has been no picnic either. During a good chunk of that time, live music wasn’t really an option at all. And so, with the summer 2022 season upon us and Roskilde finally making its return to the festival landscape after three years away (and for its 50th edition, no less), all of a sudden I’m like John Wick – yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.
Also back was Robert Plant, making his return to the festival after the previous edition and touring behind Raise The Roof, his latest collaboration with Alison Krauss. “Three years later,” he said. “Same stage, same tent. With great new friends.” Plant and Krauss put on an incredible performance on the Arena Stage that was one of the most memorable of the night.
Another highlight of the first night of the festival was Daniel Romano’s Outfit, one of the few Canadian acts on the bill this year. And though I may have chosen to take in their set in part because I wanted to support the “home team,” I stuck around for the whole thing because Romano and his outfit are a tight band who put on a hell of a show.
Earlier in the day, Dublin’s Fontaines DC got things started on the Avalon stage. Like Plant, Fontaines DC are also a repeat offender from the 2019 lineup, and in the time since that show, they have only improved as a live unit and put on an impressive show on this occasion in support of the recently released Skinty Fia.
A name that was new to me, but clearly not new to the many fans who flocked to the Orange stage for her mainstage opening set, Danish pop singer Drew Sycamore also delivered a high energy show that would definitely help to set the mood for the days to come.
