Night 1 of Exit Fest 2008 saw 79 performances on sixteen stages. Most of the estimated 150,000 attendees saw dawn break like a bottle of champagne over the sleepy city of Novi Sad as the last performers pulled the plugs at 630am. As the sun rose red in the east, blending light with a derrick burning in the distance and illuminating an oil tanker anchored on the Danube, one couldn't help but remember the banner mounted on the World Music stage, announcing that Exit Fest is sponsored in part by the Petroleum Industry of Serbia .
But petroleum was the chemical least on people's minds as they bounced and squirmed to performances from rock rappers N.E.R.D, poetic soul singers The Streets, and other performances as varied as traditional Serbian music - think old men with brown polyester suits, pencil-thin moustaches and upright basses - and German minimalist DJ, Sven Vath - think 5,000 sweaty, nickel-pupiled dancers making steam to repetitive bass beats intense enough to cause cardiac arrest with prolonged exposure.
But let's dispense with generalities.
Serbian speed-rockers 888 blistered through the opening set on the Fusion stage, with quick, catchy thrash tunes that seemed perfect accompaniment to the four fighter planes trailing smoky loop-the-loops in perfect formation across the brilliant blue evening sky above the fortress. The band kept the crowd happy with snappy harmonies and the occasional accordion fill above distorted three-chord progressions indebted to Johnny Ramone, whose counterpart drummer Marky will play on the final night of the festival.
The Bellrays brought raucous Detroit soul to the Main stage, living up to their slogan, "Blues is the teacher, punk is the preacher." Powering through a well-paced set of straight ahead greasy rock as well as a few soulful numbers for the broken-hearted, singer Lisa Kekaula still found time for preaching between songs, and few in the crowd remained unconverted by her smooth, smoky voice. The band did their part as well, with tight drum fills and harmonies beneath Kekaula's raging gospel melodies. Think MC5 with a slit black skirt, a broken heart and a few psychotic Amens.
N.E.R.D thrilled a packed crowd with an hour-long set that commenced with fireworks bursting above stage, the percussive colored explosions mingling and becoming the heavy beat of their opening song. N.E.R.D's popular style is a mix of rock, rap, pop and RnB that owes as much to The Sugarhill Gang as the classic collaboration of Aerosmith and Run DMC, albeit with more complex arrangements and equipment. The band, fronted by Pharrel Williams, had the crowd on lockdown from start to finish, instructing them to bounce, jump, spin and mosh, and demanding that they answer every request with "Sir, yes Sir!" Slightly unsettling.
Along the fifteen minute walk from the fortress to the campsite, it's easy to lose oneself in the stream of stragglers bumbling back to their tents for a few sunlit hours of sleep. It's easy to feel frizzled,stale and small, strung out on stimulants in your sweaty clothes and intimidated by the prospect of three more nights of festivities and music. But breathe deep: smell those corn ears boiling in steel buckets. Look at the locals, sitting on the sidewalk all night as much for a sale as to get a good look at the crazy folk invading their city for a week. Just relax, no one says you have to stay up all night every night, right? And as for the derricks and petroleum, well, somebody's got to pay for all this fun.
Report from Exit Fest
The Bellrays
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