Heineken Open'er 2010: Rated!

Gdynia, Poland - 1-4 July

Poland | by Gosia Jasinska | 07 July 2010

Overall - 8/10
Taking home the Best Major European Festival Award at the European Festival Awards last year, the pressure of expectation on Poland’s Open’er must have been felt by thousands of fans from all over the world.

Here the saying ‘people make the place’ matches perfectly - there is no other event that gathers such beautiful and interesting people. The musical side of the festival seemed a little under par compared to last year’s triumph but overall it had a lot to offer and spewed up some unforgettable moments.

Getting there and back - 9/10
The city of Gdynia did not disappoint, providing the best possible standards of transportation. It would have been perfect if not for some mistakes by the organisers, such as not handling the crowd on day one before Pearl Jam’s concert. The problem was that many fans came last minute purely for that show, with organisers failing to consider that others from the 70,000 crowd would do the same.

At one point it became quite tense when a growing group couldn’t get wristbands. Some said there was a shortage of wristbands, but whoever was at fault, the organisers reacted quickly and did their best to make sure everybody got in.

The site - 7/10
The area itself has undergone some changes. First of all, the Tent and World stage locations were switched. Some regular attendees protested, claiming people would suffer from increased distance between the Main and Tent stages. Overall the distance wasn’t too detrimental, although it was a little distracting hearing music from the other stages between songs.

The addition of extra merchandising areas made the issue of queuing less painful and there were quite a lot of attractions to keep people busy. These included the Heineken Experience, theatres, games, competitions, a Jam session tent where people could try out their guitar skills with professionals and a kids’ zone for those who brought their little ones.

Some people, especially those who were new to Open’er, claimed that information at the site was unsatisfactory, which was compounded by the information booklets and details of line-ups arriving late.

The biggest problem was the lack of water pressure in the showers and sinks at the camping field during peak times. The city’s waterworks simply couldn’t provide for an increased camping area and the festival’s general needs. As a result, this year’s most asked question at the camping field wasn’t whether there was hot water but if there was any water at all!

Overall, the growth of the festival was noticeable. Unfortunately, it seems that the organisers took things for granted and didn’t insure themselves against possible failures. This year gave them a lesson to remember before next year’s 10th anniversary of Open’er.

Music - 9/10
The line-up was very well thought over, giving possibilities to see at least part of one show before going to another stage to see someone else. All invited artists left something to remember, satisfying their faithful fans and surely finding new ones. There were truly so many good shows that it’s impossible to write about them all here.

Uppers

Ben Harper and the Restless 7 were one of the highlights on day one, playing just after the Laki Lan, who are now part of the Open’er furniture. Though the two performances differed greatly in style, both gave the festival the kick-start it needed.

Fans of Pearl Jam were truly satisfied, too. Bitter feelings must have accompanied those who had trouble getting in, but hearing all the old hits like ‘Jeremy’ and ‘Daughter’ along with some of their newest pieces must surely have soothed their nerves. Eddie Vadder prepared a speech in Polish before saying that he wasn’t so good at speaking it so they would just rock instead - and they did.

Yeasayer opened a group of unique shows at the festival. Their performance, along with Grace Jones’, will be remembered for being truly unconventional and surprising. Yeasayer, who are not that well known in Poland, surely gained many new fans as a result.

The Dead Weather with their founder Jack White can be also listed under ‘unique’. Once again, Jack White has created something truly incredible. One Polish newspaper named him King Midas, as it seems everything he touches turns to gold. He is surely one of the most talented artists of his generation.

Playing under the hot sun, Skunk Anansie’s Skin created a riot when she leapt from the stage onto a sea of hands. The power of her voice and endless energy was certainly appreciated and you could see from her big smile that the chemistry between the Open’er audience and the band truly worked.

Later, it was Nas and Damian Marley’s turn to give the festival-goers a second wind. Their band and choir worked together to impress their message that everything started in Africa. This incredible combination made both artists stand out from the crowd. However, when they performed alone, Nas was overshadowed by Damian’s reggae pedigree.

Another reggae representative was Matisyahu, who sounded awesome live and engaged many who came to listen. In spite of not using any special effects, his extraordinary appearance and musical skills were sufficient for everyone who came to see him.

Cypress Hill, visiting Open’er for the second time, made the crowd ‘get high’ in every single way with a mixture of old hits and new songs, before Massive Attack proved their skills once again. Just before their show, a famous pianist, maestro Marek Drewnowski, appeared to play a few of Chopin’s masterpieces, before Massive Attack paid tribute to Poland’s greatest composer, whose 200th birthday falls in 2010. Massive Attack themselves were a bit predictable but nothing can compare to their phenomenal musical ability.

Multi-talented Regina Spector was another highlight of the festival. The singer was quite intimidated by the enthusiastic crowd but by the end all who witnessed her charming performance had fallen in love with her.

As the Hives took to the stage, some people weren’t sure what to expect. Dressed like marines, the boys wasted no time in connecting with the audience, showing the unsure they weren’t just another rock band. The band ran and leapt around the main stage, impressing the crowd with their great performing skills and providing one of the main highlights of the day.

Downers

Although Tricky’s set was far from a failure, it’s only thanks to his band that the crowd wasn’t left disappointed. Tricky barely rapped or performed at all, instead leaving the band to carry the show, although he did lift the crowd when he invited around 30 fans to get up on stage and dance with him.

Gorillaz would’ve surprised those who weren’t aware of their style of performance: hidden from view, the band used animations to greet the crowd. Their performance was decent but predictable; those who had seen them before didn’t come away with any special memories.

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