Photo: Splash
Day one of Oya Festival kicked off in style with huge sets from the likes of Queens Of The Stone Age, The National and more performing last night (Wednesday 6 August).
There is a real feeling that every man, woman and child from Norway’s capital city is in attendance for the first day of the 16th annual Øyafestivalen, held this year for the first time in Oslo’s Tøyenpark.
As main stage headliners Queens of the Stone Age take to the stage, they immediately set the tone with the thunderous sound of ‘Feel Good Hit of the Summer’ followed by early sing-along ‘The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret’ indicating that the bands have packed all the hits.
Frontman Joshua Homme was clearly in good spirits telling the Norwegian crowd “We’ve come a long way to get shit faced and have a party OK?” before exploding into Like Clockwork’s lead single ‘My God is the Sun.’
The set was well balanced with new and old songs all complete with huge hooky riffs loudly rocking the festival to its very core. As the sun set over Oslo, Homme preached “Everyone does what they want in the dark and we are here to bring the darkness,” prior to the final two tracks of the day ‘Go With the Flow’ and an extended finale in the form of ‘Song for the Dead.’
Earlier in the day The National played a highly charged career- spanning set on the main stage, with an expectantly well-oiled performance culminating in front man Matt Berninger getting very up close and personal with the audience. Penultimate track ‘Mr. November’ saw Berniger make his way from the left to the right of the crowd before raising a delighted child on to his shoulders for the final bars of the song.
It was evident that moving sites this year has not deterred any festival goers as an early afternoon set from Pennsylvania quartet The Districts saw a modest audience turn out to watch the fast rising blues rockers. Later on over at the Sirkus tent, Jon Hopkins delivered intense sounds and stunning visuals to a very appreciative crowd during his hour long set.
The festival continues today with performances from Jungle, Janelle Monáe, Future and OutKast to look forward to. Check back at Gigwise for the latest news, reviews and more from Oya Festival 2014.
