Hultsfred

---

On Thursday afternoon me and Enrico borrowed my sisters old yellow Volvo and headed for Hultsfred Festival. The journey took us around 2 hours, as we manged to get slightly lost in Vimmerby on the way, and also the Volvo refused to start again after a short break at a petrol station. But despite these minor obstacles we arrived at Hultsfred Festival in the early afternoon.

The weather was unreliable to say the least, black storm clouds and clear blue sky all at the same time. But it didn't rain much, only a few drops so we managed to stay almost completely dry.

After having explored the festival area, pinpointed the beer tents (in Sweden you can only drink alcohol within designated areas at a festival) and checked out the stages it was time for Babyshambles. The main reason why I wanted to see them is because I need to see Pete Doherty with my own eyes. Is he REALLY that disgusting? Can he really be that pale and sticky looking? The answer is: Yes, his level of unpleasentness exceeds all expectations. With regards to the music it was catchy but slightly boring.

Later on in the evening Serj Tankian entered the main stage. I have to say the man is very, very entertaining and has a very distinctive voice. One Swedish paper described him very acurately as follows:
"He sips red wine, acts like a mad circus director on new year's day and leads his band through Zappa-coloured crooner metal..."
You have got to love it.

Later in the evening it got colder and colder, me and Enrico tried to keep warm by dancing in one of the beer tents that had a DJ. There was only one more act to see before the evening was complete, the main attraction of the whole fesival. Rage Against the Machine!

At midnight the concert started. Thousands of people crowded the field in front of the stage, twice as many people as any of the other acts managed to attract. Enrico insisted on standing quite near the stage dispite my protests. I still have the near death experience from Red Hot Chili Peppers last year fresh in my memory. I am too old and too sensible to be standing in a raging horde of jumping hobbledehoys at a concert. Finally, after a few elbows in the face, I managed to get my point across to Enrico and we moved to a spot where we could actually see the band.

And Rage Against the Machine - what can I say? They rocked! They made the ground shake (really, they did. The stage is set by a lake, and when thousands of people jump up and down on the ground it actually moves quite noticable). Not much else to say about it, we certainly got our money's worth.

Ony one more thing to mention now - the rain coat. I didn't want to get soaked in the cold Swedish summer night, so I bought a cheap rain coat in one of the stands at the festival. I never had to use it, so when we arrived home it was still sealed in plastic. So I started to read the writing on the packaging. Made in China, let's see what is says... If anyone reading this can tell me what on EARTH they are on about, please let me know! This is what is says:

CHARACTERISTICS:
The joint adopts the computer thermal melt transaction, and 100% waterproof transaction.
Deodorization, innocuity, and not easy to age after airing.

STORAGE METHOD:
Do not contact acid, alkali or oil.
Forbidden to insulate below the sunshine.
In case any dirt in it after using, clean with water, airing and fold.

Trust me, it doesn't matter how many times you read it, it will never make sense. But you will get a good laugh or two.
That's it for now. Take care, and if you own a rain coat remember it is forbidden to insulate it below the sunshine!

Sara

---

Photos

Volvo
My sisters' trusty old yellow Volvo

Serj Tankian
The mad magician

Comments

[Gunnar]

Gr8!
Volvon på INTERNET! Jag säger bara hallå...

[Maria]

fun
Thank you for the laugh on the rain coat! I happenned upon your posting while looking for information about Hultsfred (I am considering moving there from the US)