Friday 04/07/08 Kings of Leon, Yeasayer, Band of Horses, Holy F*ck @ Roskilde Festival, Denmark

It's so hot on day two of Roskilde that anyone not wishing to be cooked alive vacates their tent by 10am.  Not that you’d want to hang around in the campsite for too long anyway as Friday boasts an incredible line-up, including Band of Horses, Yeasayer and Kings Of Leon…

Gigwise kicks up the dust on the way into the festival arena, dodging the water trucks that pass, sprinkling the ground in a vague attempt to settle the flaking walkways in the stifling heat.  Once inside, we head straight for Band Of Horses, who just can’t seem to get enough of the blue-eyed Danes.  “You’re the best crowd we’ve ever played for!” frontman Ben Bridwell squeals in his nasal American twang.  “And you also happen to have the prettiest girls on the planet!”  Gushing, he might be, but wrong, he is not.  It is sweltering and aesthetics have gone out the window for most of us, but the Danes always look impossibly composed, as fair-haired and bronzed, like some happy accident of good breeding.  They make for a great festival audience too, never rowdy enough to detract from the music, but always energetic enough to make for a party.

Band Of Horses, with their grandiose, windswept breed of American rock, go down well in the early heat.  While some of their set plateaus at mediocrity, ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’ coming off particularly lacklustre, other tracks take on a life of their own, with some magnificent piano work during ‘Detlef Schrempf’.

Outdoor and away from the humid confines of the dark tents, Kings Of Leon’s hook-laden southern rock thrives on the energy of the dusty, sun-soaked afternoon.  We stand on a hill between speakers, sipping fizzy festival beer to some of their best, including ‘Milk’, ‘Molly’s Chambers’ and ‘McFearless’.  It’s not the tightest set Kings Of Leon are capable of with some clumsy co-ordination during ‘Razz’, but the band fit right into the festival ambience.  Drummer Nathan Followill is fed beer through a straw as Caleb toasts the crowd with whisky, evidently delighted at the reception they’re getting.  We get the chance to hear a couple of their new songs, too, which are remarkably mellower than ‘Because Of The Times’.

Cocorosie couldn’t be more different.  They slot into one of the darker venues, allowing them maximum impact on presentation alone.  The girls are barely visible onstage save for their neon facepaints and fluorescent fingernails, but their voices fill the tent.  Heads are turned by this unusual concoction of Kate Bush vocal dramatics and Might Boosh absurdity.  A human beatboxer and a talented pianist complete the quartet onstage, and while it’s not to everyone’s taste, innovation alone make this New York duo promising newcomers in the Santogold/M.I.A. vein.

There’s another sweaty tent jammed full of punters just south, waiting to hear the organic electro-punk of Holy ****.  This Canadian quartet smash right through the laptop contingent on the modern electro circuit by reproducing loops and programming right before our very eyes, using analogue instruments.  Propulsive and intense, their high energy set races to a climax on ‘Lovely Allen’, leaving the crowd screaming for more, even when the boys return to the stage to unplug their equipment.

Night sets in but the acts keep coming.  Battles are attracting quite a gathering, but Gigwise opts instead for Yeasayer in Pavillion tent, where the roof is blanketed with fairy lights.  These Red Indian rockers are formidable live, their sound a bizarre mélange of New York garage rock and Native American campfire magic, with some impossibly catchy chorus hooks thrown in for good measure.  They reveal that they’ve come straight from the road, having driven 22 hours from Manchester to play Roskilde, but it doesn’t dampen their energy, as the infectious cheer of ‘Wait For The Summertime’ and ‘2080’ has everyone dancing until well past 2am.