VF Europe's weekly news round-up

News from Oxegen, Roskilde and more

Tom Bentley - 11 May 2009

We have had another four day week in the UK, with our banks kindly giving the rest of us a Monday away from the financial doom and gloom. In Europe though, the working week has been as long as usual, giving us plenty of juicy news bites to bring to the festival masses.

Line-ups:

Let's begin with Europe's favourite festival of 2008, Oxegen. The Irish bash made a mammoth set of announcements this week headed by Felix Da Housecat, MSTRKRFT and BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac. The likes of Yuksek and Don Rimini were also unveiled, joining Blur, Kings of Leon and The Killers who top this year's bill.

Click here for the latest Oxegen line-up.

Another of Europe's favourites popped its head through the door with a bit of a surprise this week. Roskilde, while admitting to fibbing about their so called 'completed' bill, unveiled Belgian dance goliaths 2 Many DJs and metal veterans Neurosis. We were even told that further names can be expected as a couple more line-up gaps need filling. Stay tuned, it promises to be exciting. For now though, the two newcomers join the likes of Oasis, Coldplay, Kanye West and the reformed Faith No More.

It would have been an empty week without a mention of the rockers who bolstered their summer comeback further with a couple more majors. The first of these was Ruisrock, slap bang in the middle of that metal haven we call Finland, where they will play alongside Slipknot, Volbeat, In Flames and more.

The second can be found among the windmills and tulips on the Dutch plains. Alongisde Faith No More, Lowlands confirmed another set of corkers this week including the Kaiser Chiefs, Grace Jones and the cuddly Grizzly Bear. They are set to join Arctic Monkeys, Basement Jaxx and many more.

Click here for the latest Lowlands line-up.

The Dutch event also confirmed a few dance names in Tiga and Paul Kalkbrenner which brings us neatly onto the beat filled part of this line-up.

The last bit of news to come our way gave us a few more names for EXIT's formidable Dance Arena line-up which is strapping a bunch of DJs back to back in honour of the festival's tenth. James Zabiela, Nic Fanciulli, Loco Dice and more were announced, joining the likes of Carl Cox, Eric Prydz and Sasha. Godmother of punk, Patti Smith was also confirmed for the main stage in that Serbian fortress we all know and love.Back to the dance side we move onto Richie Hawtin who is also amongst those gracing the EXIT Dance Arena.

The Canadian sensation announced his yearly date with Sonar this week. The producer can be pretty much called a resident of the festival and joins Grace Jones, Orbital and Animal Collective as one of the much anticipated highlights. Rustie, Angel Molina, HD Substance, Nacho Marco and Henry Saiz were also added to the bill in Barcelona.

Spain was definitely at the forefront of all things dance this week as we were treated to the first glipses of the international editions of Creamfields. As always, the UK export kicked things off with a bang in Andalucia with the announcement of Tiesto, Trentemoller and Rex The Dog, leaving the dance masses craving more already I'm sure. Start booking your flights guys and girls.

Moving swiftly away from the Med, Dour Festival treated us yet again to some tasty treats with the announcement of Deadmau5 who is definitely on the path to greatness this festival season. The electro demon is set to be joined at the Belgian coalfields by Luke Slater's Planetary Assault System, Rinocerose, Qemists, Fuck Buttons, Richard Devine and many more. Dour is probably the most cosmopolitan of festivals with genres and spectacles for all.

A peak at the latest Dour line-up will confirm that.

Staying in Belgium for a second, Les Ardentes put its hand up to be counted with the announcement of Scottish rockers Mogwai, disco-indie outfit Art Brut, Madcon, DJ Mehdi and Alice Russell. Lauryn Hill, The Gossip and French superstars Supreme NTM were previously confirmed.

Speaking of France, VF was delighted to be able to tell you that Parisian festival Solidays finally got Manu Chao, the elusive booking organisers have been trying to make for ten years. Many other acts were added alongside the Spanish ska-punk legend including Ayo, Alela Diane, Cocoon and Metronomy. Solidays is spawned from the need to increase solidarity in fighting the global aids pandemic.

From one capital to another we shift over to Berlin where the Berlin Festival secured its dream venue and couple of dream acts too. The 2009 event is set to take place at the Templehof Airport in the middle of he city, an area steeped in history, playing a major part in WW2. Alongside this exciting announcement the festival also confirmed Jose Gonzales, Junior Boys and a further few names to join Jarvis Cocker and co.

A little further away from the German capital, under the now infamous steel diggers, Melt! Festival confirmed Fever Ray, the new project of Karin Dreijer Andersson, one half of renowned dance outfit The Knife. She will be joining Aphex Twin & Hecker, Bloc Party, Oasis and many more on the bill this summer.

Finally, the last bit of news of the week comes from Austria. Punk rock is set to take centre stage at Two Days A Week with The Offspring heading up affairs in front of Dragonforce, Millencolin and Bouncing Souls among others, setting out for a high octane end to the Austrian festival season.

Tickets:

On the ticket front one festival stole the show with an offer no-one could possibly turn down in these tough economic times. Bilbao BBK Live put 1000 festival passes up for sale at the price of £40. Not bad for a three day affair sporting Janes Addiction, Depeche Mode, Placebo and more.

Click here to snap up a ticket for Bilbao BBK.

On a final note, as one festival begins its push to sell, we can leave you with the news that Nova Rock, Austria’s premier rock event has sold out of Friday, Sunday and Caravan tickets. Weekend passes are still available as well as Saturday tickets. Faith No More, Metallica, Limp Bizkit and many more rock and metal names are set to play on a bill that is nothing short of legendary.

Click here to browse and buy tickets for Nova Rock.

From VF, have a cracking weekend.

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