Exit Day 3
By Stephan Delbos

Campers woke in a windswept field, with dust clouds and the stench of portable toilets drifting into every tent. Walking groggy to the outdoor showers, the early birds were tripped up by scraps of porno magazines and back issues of Provokator rattling along the grassless ground. But what seemed like just a breezy day on the banks of the meandering Danube turned tragic when a tree limb snapped and fell onto a cluster of tents. Ambulances were called and quickly arrived to cart away the victims. Rumors of the death of one of the campers have swept the festival, but these cannot yet be substantiated, and have done little to dampen the general joviality of the festival.

Night three played host to a triple-header on the main stage, with Gogol Bordello , Juliet and the Licks , and Manu Chao all pulling no punches to thrill the packed and energetic crowd.

Gogol Bordello lived up to their reputation as the kings of gypsy punk, with an energetic set that had the crowd singing, dancing and moshing, all under the code of Roma hospitality. Led by Eugene Hutz, this group of Russian, Israeli and American rapscallions seemed willing to do everything to carry a tune and the audience with them. Banging steel buckets on microphones, breaking violin bows and swinging bottles of wine, nothing was taboo for the band, and the crowd loved them for it. Their performance was the perfect mix of professional musicality and unprofessional amounts of raucos energy. In short, it's plain to see why Gogol Bordello has become a musical phenomenon - they love what they do and are damn good at it.

Juliet and the Licks brought good old American rock and roll to the Balkans, with a blistering set that had at least one attendee thanking Ace Frehley that someone is still around to carry the torch. The band was impeccably solid, to be sure, but it was Juliet Lewis who stole the show. Clad in an Indian headband and yellow spandex, Lewis strutted, stretched, howled and posed her way into the rock starlet-starved hearts of every male in the audience, and a few of the females too, no doubt.

Manu Chao proved to be the hardest working man in show biz, at least thus far in the festival. Playing a two-hour set with virtually no pauses between songs, Chao and his band had the capacity crowd jumping and clapping from start to finish. The level of energy approached manic, to be sure, but the band always seemed aware of where they were, and even thankful to be there. It was a welcome break from the ego-soaked performances of N.E.R.D and other big name acts, who seemed content to put in their time and collect their cash. The only justifiable complaint audience members had was the fact that the set was not varied. Basically, every song started slow, broke into double time, then got slow again. It's an old formula that the crowd ate up, but one that finally left the more discerning ears a bit bored.

The Hives and Sex Pistols among others will play tonight, the last night of the festival. It's been a long haul, boys and girls, and those left standing have worked hard to be here. Let's just hope no more accidents come our way to darken the delight of Exit Fest 2008.  

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