What to Check Out at Open'er 2015
Mumford and Sons, Kasabian and Major Lazer are among the big names set to play at this year’s Open’er Festival. The diverse festival, held in Gdynia, will also feature performances by acclaimed Polish artists and groups such as Domowe Melodie, Natalia Przybysz, and Fisz Emade Tworzywo.
Folk
This will be the 14th year of the Open’er festival, which is a major fixture on Poland’s music calendar. The 2015 festival will run from July 1 through 4 at the Gdynia-Kosakowo airport in the Baltic town of Gdynia. The diverse line-up, as usual, will include many top performers and bands from across the world. A special treat awaits folk lovers: the British band Mumford and Sons is scheduled to play on the 3rd and the Polish folksters from the band Domowe Melodie, a trio who have made a name for themselves by creating lo-fi music, will perform a day later. Domowe Melodie consists of band leader, singer, and pianist Justyna Chowaniak; bassist and accordion-player Staszek Czyżewski, and guitarist and drummer Kuba Dykiert. The group was formed in 2012 and quickly gained a substantial following by posting online minimalistic music videos showing the band performing its songs in various places such as an apartment, a street, and a greenhouse. Their style blends urban folk with avant pop.
Rock
Traditionally the festival offers a lot of great rock acts and this won’t change this time around. Rock-and-rollers might want to get ready for Alabama Shakes, who will play on the festival’s opening day, Kasabian, who are set to perform on the 4th, and the New York band Swans who will take the festival’s Alter Stage on the 3rd. The Polish rock scene will be represented by groups such as Trupa Trupa, a band that plays alt-rock and whose last album, Headache, was released by the English label Blue Tapes and X-Ray Records. Headache, the third studio album of this band that makes nearly all of their songs in English, contains compositions that are based on simple guitar and organ motifs and feature rather pessimistic lyrics. During concerts the group, unlike most rock bands, is calm and focused. Visualizations also play an important part in their shows. Trupa Trupa are set to perform on the 4th.
Hip Hop
A number of hip hop artists are scheduled to play at the festival. Drake will perform on the 1st (this will be the first show in Poland for the Canadian rapper), and Die Antwoord and A$AP Rocky will give their concerts on the same day. The noted Polish hip-hoppers Fisz Emade Tworzywo, who channel jazz and funk, are set to appear on stage on the 2nd. Fisz Emade Tworzywo was founded by the brothers Piotr and Bartosz Waglewski in 2002 and since then the band has released four albums. This year the group’s last LP entitled Mamut won a Fryderyk, which is the Polish equivalent of a Grammy, for best electronic, indie, or alternative album of the year. Mamut is an eclectic album on which one can find distinctly hip-hop numbers such as the dance song Pył or the jazzy tune Ślady.
Dance Music
This year’s Open’er will also include dance music. The Prodigy will play on the 3rd and the Australian Flume will take the festival’s Tent Stage a day later. Rysy, a Polish band that makes dance music featuring catchy melodies and original lyrics, is set to perform on the 2nd. Rysy play as a trio consisting of the composer and producer Wojtek Urbański, the DJ and producer Łukasz Stachurko and the singer Justyna Święs. Their music, which combines ethereal sounds with hypnotic beats and engaging stories is sometimes described as conceptual and narrative. Rysy’s 2105 EP EGO shows that the artists from this group are well up to date with the newest trends in dance music.
Soul
The musical needs of soul music enthusiasts were also taken into consideration by the festival’s organizers. D’Angelo and the Vanguard are going to play on the Main Stage on the 3rd, and the soulful Polish vocalist Natalia Przybysz will give a concert on the opening day. Przybysz, who started out in the immensely popular pop/R&B band Sistars, released last year a great album inspired by old-school blues which is entitled Prąd. On this album she continues her fascination with retro music - In 2013 she recorded a tribute album to Janis Joplin. Because of her use of vintage sound Przybysz has been called “a female version of Jack White”.
Among the other artists and bands that are to perform at the festival are the Libertines, the Vaccines and the Polish singer, composer, and instrumentalist Iza Lach, who is known for her extensive collaboration with Snoop Dogg. Lach, an indie pop and hip hop creator, has recorded over 400 songs with the famous rapper and made a film with him, titled Birds of a Feather.
For a full list of participating artists and groups and for tickets visit Open’er’s website: http://opener.pl/en.
Written by Marek Kępa
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