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Ten Years of Positivus

22 July 2016, 15:00
Words by Chris Marron

65 miles north of the Latvian capital of Riga lies Salacgrīva, which is the rather stunning location of Positivus Festival.

Celebrating their 10th year, the festival is the biggest in the Baltics. Mark Ronson (a last minute promotion due to Ellie Goulding being sick), M83 and Iggy Pop headline the latest edition. The rest of the lineup is a solid mix of International acts and Latvian talent, along with quite a few bands from the neighbouring Baltic countries.

The main festival site is in a forest clearing, which hugs the nearby Baltic Sea. And by nearby I mean it's behind one of the six stages housed within the grounds. You can even go and sit on the beach if you get the urge. A couple of the stages are also located in the forest, with many hammocks set up for people to chill between sets. Not that you'll have much chance to, as there is plenty of great music on offer.

Aside from the beautiful aesthetics of the festival, the site is also very functional. It has a big food court (with many local restaurants providing the catering), a craft market, lots of bars and plenty of toilets. Beer and food are cheap and you very rarely have to queue for it. The site, compared to your average UK festival, is immaculate. The locals are more than happy to clean up after themselves.

What We Saw

ho99o9 by Kristaps Bardziņš

Ho99o9

If you want to get a crowd energised early in proceedings, then there can't be many better places to start than with Ho99o9 (pictured above). The New Jersey duo of TheOGM and Eaddy rush around the Nordea stage with a remarkable amount of energy and passion, spitting rhymes over their heavy thrashcore beats. The musical equivalent of the running of the bulls - If anyone was not fully awake before they took the stage then they certainly would be afterwards.

Liima

Liima are made up of Finnish percussionist Tatu Rönkköand along with three members of Danish band Efterklang. Together they produce some upbeat atmospheric electronica to a very appreciative crowd. It's a much less grandiose sound than these Danes normally produce, but no less beautiful.

Minor Victories at Positivus

Minor Victories

Their atmospheric post-rock/shoegaze blend gives more than a few hints of the acts that make up this supergroup (pictued above), but at the same time they are not directly reminiscent of any of them. Rachel Goswell gives a masterclass in understated vocals while Stuart Braithwaite fills the stage with beautifully melodic distortion.

Satellites LV

Formed in the 90's, Latvian band Satellites LV are the closest that the local scene ever had to a band that encompassed the Britpop sound. You can certainly hear the odd hint of both Blur and Oasis within their set, but they have developed their sound over the years and these days seem to be more influenced by all things post-rock. I'm not sure why the keyboard player has a stand that looks like a stone fireplace though.

Kali Briis Band

Kali Briis Band are one of many acts that have made the short trip from Estonia, as has their President. The band have a sweet modern take on R&B without taking themselves too seriously, and spread cheer amongst the crowd on a wet Sunday afternoon. They very nearly represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest last year - their track "Idiot" being beaten in the national finals.

The Japanese House at Positivus 2016 by Kristaps Bardziņš

The Japanese House

The Japanese House are playing their "first festival of the season", as singer Amber Bain (pictured above) points out before enthralling us with some bittersweet Imogen Heap-esque vocoder harmonies. For someone not long out of her teens she seems to have the confidence of an artist that has being doing this for a long time. She even throws in a cover of "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, although stumbles over the lyrics at the start.

Cigarettes After Sex

Cigarettes After Sex play to the biggest crowd I witness at the Palladium stage all weekend, but it's hard to judge how much of this is down to the hype surrounding the band or the heavy rain that has started to fall outside. Either way, the crowd are lapping it up. Their sound is very atmospherically reminiscent of Mazzy Star, with frontman Greg Gonzalez at the helm.

Arts and Nature Stage at Positivus by Kristaps Bardziņš

HANA

At the bottom of a small slope by the beach lies the Arts and Nature Stage (pictu. It's normally a fairly chilled out area, with a crowd that generally watches from a seated position on the hill. This is all about to change as HANA starts her set. By the midpoint of her performance (including a cover of "Here Comes The Rain Again" by Eurythmics) there is a whole lot of dancing going on in this normally sedate space. She commands the small stage and is truly a pop star in the making.

Find out more about Positivus at positivusfestival.com.
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