Hurricane Festival

This past weekend I went to Hurricane, a music festival held in Scheeßel, a small town in northern Germany. We took the train and arrived at about 9 at night on Thursday, excited for the concerts that would take place till Sunday night. It was a really, really great time, and I feel like it was a rather European experience. Though we have music festivals where people camp in the US/Canada, they're not nearly as common.

The thing that stands out the most other than the great music was the dirt. We were camping in a field of dust, very literally, with some straw growing out of the ground. It looked really weird at first. By the time I woke up on Friday, I had dirt between my toes even though I had been wearing socks the whole time. Washing your hands was totally futile, as was showering. Long lines at the showers in the morning was a strong deterrent, so by the end of the festival I felt that anyone who looked remotely clean was not trustworthy.

Meanwhile, I spent probably about six hours a day at concerts. Our festival kicked off with Shantel, a German guy who started off making techno (as they all do), but decided his interests lie more in Balkan music. He played with a full band and it was really awesome and all the Germans were dancing. Of course. Then we saw Rodrigo y Gabriela, who are amazing guitar players from Mexico. The rest of the weekend's highlights were Tegan and Sara, the band I was the most excited to see; Jaguar Love, Bat for Lashes, Sigur Ros, and Radiohead.

I had a great time, and came back filthy and thinking my feet might fall off.
Here is a video I found on YouTube. Although the cinematography is dizzifying, it shows the festival & is a hilarious spoof of super-dramatic football players.