MELT FESTIVAL
MELT FESTIVAL
FERROPOLIS, GERMANY
17th - 19th July 2009
www.meltfestival.com
For those of you who may not know, Melt! is a unique music festival on the Ferropolis peninsula set against a breathtaking backdrop of five huge hulking coal mining diggers that tower into the sky. Melt! effortlessly mixes guitars, beatboxes and vinyl grooves so perfectly; indie boys dance with raver girls while hip hop heads wave their glowsticks. And with such a great location and massive line up, Melt! is one of the 'must do' festivals of the summer.
TRAVIS:
Travis are something like the swots of rock music. The foursome from Scotland have almost 20 years of band history under their collective belts. With songs like "Why does it always rain on me?" and "Sing", they quietly but irresistibly claimed their musical place, at some point started their own label, and somehow just always got everything right. But what may have seemed unappealing back in third grade is now winning over even Travis haters. On stage there's always a smile on their faces, they chat away happily with the audience, even waltzing with them on occasion, and simply revel in what they do. The attitude is infectious. No scandals, no fights, no extramarital affairs. No wonder even a goody two-shoes like Chris Martin describes himself as "a poor man's Fran Healy" and adds that Coldplay wouldn't even exist without Travis. But it's not all just a laugh for Travis; they will cover even a song like "Baby One More Time" with such pre! cision and sobriety that the thought of Healy sporting plaits and a school uniform never arises – appealing though the image may be. When they play Melt!, they will of course be bringing along their bag of treats, stuffed with all the bittersweet tunes they have given us in the course of their career and whose sell-by date is still a long way off.
BOYS NOIZE & EROL ALKAN:
If there are two DJs in the world who understand the message of our festival, they are Alexander Ridha, a.k.a. Boys Noize, and Erol Alkan. It's almost as if they're on a mission to Melt! – so relentlessly do these two work at merging guitar music, classic pop and every variation of electronic music. Boys Noize already went out on quite a limb with his debut "Oi Oi Oi". Some DJ from Berlin re-interpreting the holy call to arms of punk's roughest subset? Exactly so – and it wasn't even intended to be particularly ironic, but rather as an indication of where his music is going. Namely straight for your dancing feet and right in your face – and that goes for both his own tracks and his remixes for Bloc Party, Depeche Mode, Feist or the Kaiser Chiefs. It's much the same story with London DJ Erol Alkan, already dubbed "the God of remix" by the music press years ago. And rightly so – his "Boy From School" remix for Hot Chip or his Interpol remix "Mammoth" are reason enough to fall at his feet. And now Boys Noize and Erol Alkan will be fusing their melting pot sounds at Melt! - and giving it all a good stir.
PHOENIX:
"Mégalomanie" is a lovely French word. One you'll be coming across more often once the latest Phoenix album hits the world's music publications and record collections. After all, you'd have to be – at least jokingly - megalomaniac to call your album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix". But the title actually makes sense - the band led by Thomas Mars, Sofia Coppola's husband, conjures up electro-pop that has a similarly embracing effect to the works of past master Mozart. How could anyone resist "Everything is Everything", "Too Young" or "Long Distance Call"? "So do not neglect the so-called popular style, which tickles even long ears", Mozart's daddy once advised his prodigious son in a letter written in 1780. Phoenix provide a contemporary take on this mission statement, and they do it so "trés charmant" that you can't help but forgive them their little bit of megalomania.
WHAT ELSE?
A quick overview of further highlights: Kasabian willl present their new album exclusively at Melt! +++ More rock for rock fans: breathtaking The Soundtrack Of Our Lives with their 2nd appearance at Melt! +++ Techno beats not only from heroes such as Ellen Allien and Paul Kalkbrenner but also from newly confirmed Tiga, Koze, Hell, James Holden and Radioslave +++ For the first time the Sleepless Floor will be opened for 50 hours without any breaks +++ Fresh and hot: with LA Roux and Metronomy we present two of the most talked about young acts from the UK +++ World-Dance-Hype reaches Ferropolis with Portuguese live sensation Buraka Som Sistema +++ The Faint just cancelled all European dates and will therefore not be playing at Melt! this year
ALL CONFIRMED ACTS SO FAR:
A Critical Mass feat. Henrik Schwarz, Âme, Dixon (live) | Matias Aguayo | Aphex Twin + Hecker* | Baddies | Kasper Bjørke | Bloc Party | Bodi Bill | Bonaparte | Boy8Bit | Boys Noize + Erol Alkan* | Buraka Som Sistema* | Caribou* | Digitalism (live)* | Diplo* | Jochen Distelmeyer* | DJ Koze | DJ Phono | The Dodos | Ellen Allien | Filthy Dukes | Tim Exile | Foals | Sascha Funke | Goldie* | Gossip* | Daniel Haaksman | Hell | James Holden | Jazzanova Live! | Paul Kalkbrenner | Kasabian* | Markus Kavka | Kiki | Klaxons* | Kode 9 & Spaceape | LA Roux* | Magnetic Man* feat. Skream* & Benga* (live) | Mediengruppe Telekommander | Metronomy | Mikroboy | Moderat (= Modeselektor + Apparat + Pfadfinderei live) | Muff Potter | Hudson Mohawke | MSTRKRFT | Mujava | The New Wine | Oasis* | Phoenix | Pilooski | Polarkreis 18 | Radioslave | Jesse Rose | Röyksopp | Scharrenbroich & Gunjah | Simian Mobile Disco (live)* | Luke Slater (live) | The Soundtrack Of Our Lives | Super 700 | Thunderheist | Tiga | Tobias Thomas | Travis* | Trentemøller (DJ-Set)* | TRG | The Whitest Boy Alive | WhoMadeWho | James Yuill | Zander VT
*only show in Germany 2009
TICKETS:
2-day-ticket (Fri 17th + Sat 18th July 2009): 70 EUR plus fees // box office: 85 EUR
3-day-ticket (Fri 17th, Sat 18th + Sun 19th July 2009): 90 EUR plus fees // box office: 110 EUR
Day tickets will be available for 45 EUR plus fees from May onwards // box office: 55 EUR
Sleepless Floor, camping and parking are free of charge at anytime.
DOORS OPEN:
3pm every day
FIRST ACTS ON STAGE:
5pm every day
TRAVEL:
Ferropolis is near Grafenhainchen in the heart of a triangle between Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin. Nearest airports are Berlin Tegel or Schonefeld (80 mins shuttle bus ride), Helle/Leipzig Airport (60 mins shuttle bus ride). The nearest town is Dessau and there is a direct train from Schonefeld airport and Alexanderplatz.
FERROPOLIS, GERMANY
17th - 19th July 2009
www.meltfestival.com
For those of you who may not know, Melt! is a unique music festival on the Ferropolis peninsula set against a breathtaking backdrop of five huge hulking coal mining diggers that tower into the sky. Melt! effortlessly mixes guitars, beatboxes and vinyl grooves so perfectly; indie boys dance with raver girls while hip hop heads wave their glowsticks. And with such a great location and massive line up, Melt! is one of the 'must do' festivals of the summer.
TRAVIS:
Travis are something like the swots of rock music. The foursome from Scotland have almost 20 years of band history under their collective belts. With songs like "Why does it always rain on me?" and "Sing", they quietly but irresistibly claimed their musical place, at some point started their own label, and somehow just always got everything right. But what may have seemed unappealing back in third grade is now winning over even Travis haters. On stage there's always a smile on their faces, they chat away happily with the audience, even waltzing with them on occasion, and simply revel in what they do. The attitude is infectious. No scandals, no fights, no extramarital affairs. No wonder even a goody two-shoes like Chris Martin describes himself as "a poor man's Fran Healy" and adds that Coldplay wouldn't even exist without Travis. But it's not all just a laugh for Travis; they will cover even a song like "Baby One More Time" with such pre! cision and sobriety that the thought of Healy sporting plaits and a school uniform never arises – appealing though the image may be. When they play Melt!, they will of course be bringing along their bag of treats, stuffed with all the bittersweet tunes they have given us in the course of their career and whose sell-by date is still a long way off.
BOYS NOIZE & EROL ALKAN:
If there are two DJs in the world who understand the message of our festival, they are Alexander Ridha, a.k.a. Boys Noize, and Erol Alkan. It's almost as if they're on a mission to Melt! – so relentlessly do these two work at merging guitar music, classic pop and every variation of electronic music. Boys Noize already went out on quite a limb with his debut "Oi Oi Oi". Some DJ from Berlin re-interpreting the holy call to arms of punk's roughest subset? Exactly so – and it wasn't even intended to be particularly ironic, but rather as an indication of where his music is going. Namely straight for your dancing feet and right in your face – and that goes for both his own tracks and his remixes for Bloc Party, Depeche Mode, Feist or the Kaiser Chiefs. It's much the same story with London DJ Erol Alkan, already dubbed "the God of remix" by the music press years ago. And rightly so – his "Boy From School" remix for Hot Chip or his Interpol remix "Mammoth" are reason enough to fall at his feet. And now Boys Noize and Erol Alkan will be fusing their melting pot sounds at Melt! - and giving it all a good stir.
PHOENIX:
"Mégalomanie" is a lovely French word. One you'll be coming across more often once the latest Phoenix album hits the world's music publications and record collections. After all, you'd have to be – at least jokingly - megalomaniac to call your album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix". But the title actually makes sense - the band led by Thomas Mars, Sofia Coppola's husband, conjures up electro-pop that has a similarly embracing effect to the works of past master Mozart. How could anyone resist "Everything is Everything", "Too Young" or "Long Distance Call"? "So do not neglect the so-called popular style, which tickles even long ears", Mozart's daddy once advised his prodigious son in a letter written in 1780. Phoenix provide a contemporary take on this mission statement, and they do it so "trés charmant" that you can't help but forgive them their little bit of megalomania.
WHAT ELSE?
A quick overview of further highlights: Kasabian willl present their new album exclusively at Melt! +++ More rock for rock fans: breathtaking The Soundtrack Of Our Lives with their 2nd appearance at Melt! +++ Techno beats not only from heroes such as Ellen Allien and Paul Kalkbrenner but also from newly confirmed Tiga, Koze, Hell, James Holden and Radioslave +++ For the first time the Sleepless Floor will be opened for 50 hours without any breaks +++ Fresh and hot: with LA Roux and Metronomy we present two of the most talked about young acts from the UK +++ World-Dance-Hype reaches Ferropolis with Portuguese live sensation Buraka Som Sistema +++ The Faint just cancelled all European dates and will therefore not be playing at Melt! this year
ALL CONFIRMED ACTS SO FAR:
A Critical Mass feat. Henrik Schwarz, Âme, Dixon (live) | Matias Aguayo | Aphex Twin + Hecker* | Baddies | Kasper Bjørke | Bloc Party | Bodi Bill | Bonaparte | Boy8Bit | Boys Noize + Erol Alkan* | Buraka Som Sistema* | Caribou* | Digitalism (live)* | Diplo* | Jochen Distelmeyer* | DJ Koze | DJ Phono | The Dodos | Ellen Allien | Filthy Dukes | Tim Exile | Foals | Sascha Funke | Goldie* | Gossip* | Daniel Haaksman | Hell | James Holden | Jazzanova Live! | Paul Kalkbrenner | Kasabian* | Markus Kavka | Kiki | Klaxons* | Kode 9 & Spaceape | LA Roux* | Magnetic Man* feat. Skream* & Benga* (live) | Mediengruppe Telekommander | Metronomy | Mikroboy | Moderat (= Modeselektor + Apparat + Pfadfinderei live) | Muff Potter | Hudson Mohawke | MSTRKRFT | Mujava | The New Wine | Oasis* | Phoenix | Pilooski | Polarkreis 18 | Radioslave | Jesse Rose | Röyksopp | Scharrenbroich & Gunjah | Simian Mobile Disco (live)* | Luke Slater (live) | The Soundtrack Of Our Lives | Super 700 | Thunderheist | Tiga | Tobias Thomas | Travis* | Trentemøller (DJ-Set)* | TRG | The Whitest Boy Alive | WhoMadeWho | James Yuill | Zander VT
*only show in Germany 2009
TICKETS:
2-day-ticket (Fri 17th + Sat 18th July 2009): 70 EUR plus fees // box office: 85 EUR
3-day-ticket (Fri 17th, Sat 18th + Sun 19th July 2009): 90 EUR plus fees // box office: 110 EUR
Day tickets will be available for 45 EUR plus fees from May onwards // box office: 55 EUR
Sleepless Floor, camping and parking are free of charge at anytime.
DOORS OPEN:
3pm every day
FIRST ACTS ON STAGE:
5pm every day
TRAVEL:
Ferropolis is near Grafenhainchen in the heart of a triangle between Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin. Nearest airports are Berlin Tegel or Schonefeld (80 mins shuttle bus ride), Helle/Leipzig Airport (60 mins shuttle bus ride). The nearest town is Dessau and there is a direct train from Schonefeld airport and Alexanderplatz.
