At the 14th Vienna Popfest, Uche Yara performed as the headliner despite not having released a single song yet. This kind of performer is uncommon. At the opening of the four-day free event on Thursday, the 20-year-old Austrian of Nigerian ancestry captivated the crowd with a fusion of soul, R&B, psychedelic rock, and "Tango," as her most well-known song is known.
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| Vienna Pop Fest 2023 |
Because on the opening night, which was graced with ideal summer weather, stylistic diversity was given high attention on the lake stage, the iconic center of the outdoor party.
The fact that this year's curators Anna Mabo and Dorian Concept had mentioned a "mixed goods evening" in the lead-up to the event, which was meant to represent the broadest spectrum of Austrian musical works imaginable pars pro toto, was not an accident. The goal was achieved.
On the first day of the event, 18,000 people attended, according to the organizer. Das Schottische Prinzip, a female quintet centered on the vocalist Julia Reißner, set the bar extremely high with the publication of their debut album "Jolly" last year.
When the guitar or piano is put on, the front woman emanates a confident coolness that, with or without sunglasses, is reminiscent of Hildegard Knef. The quartet's style of music falls halfway between Kurt Weill, punk, and chanson. Good music to groove to.
Donna Savage had some discomfort in front of the stage for the first time. She served up German rap made in Vienna's Landstrasse with the beat maker institution Brenk Sinatra, with whom she released the EP "Parole Donna" in May.
Defiantly rejecting toxic masculinity, hard feminist punchlines like "For sons of bitches won't be slowed down" and "My name is known on the blood meadow" spoke to a healthy dose of self-assurance. The rapper gave the crowd a few vodka shots in plastic glasses in between songs. The necessary shout-along could perhaps be a little simpler.
Veronica Kaup-Hasler, the city councilor for culture in Vienna, also encouraged joy: "Let's shake it!" There are many problems going on right now, but "don't worry," says the pop festival, because art and culture are "the best antidote" and culture "belongs to all of us." Sal's supporters didn't need to be reminded twice not to shake. He rallied the audience to his side by saying, "Thank you for being here and not at the Rammstein concert."
With his rough-brushed, rough-punk variation of the Neue Deutsche Welle, the southern Styrian with Vienna as his adopted home, whose real name is Andreas Binder, sings like Rio Reiser, and writes music "for people who pet dogs, refuse to work, and everyone else who has other feelings," is currently creating a sensation.
He entertained the crowd by singing favorites like "Geil auf Betong," "Apollonia sits at Edeka at the cash desk," "AMS," or "Internetfreundin" while wearing a sweat towel around his shoulders and swinging the microphone. Songs that discuss the continuous struggle between love and capitalism in equal measure.
With that, everything was ready for the main performer, Uche Yara, who relatively quickly into her set asked "Ey, party all night." The singer-songwriter has gained notoriety recently, despite the fact that there haven't been any formal recordings, thanks to appearances at many festivals and as a support act for Bilderbuch's tour, which continues this Saturday at Burg Clam.
She is thrilled to be performing as the headliner with her own band for the first time, and she quickly showed the pop festival that she is capable of doing it. The first festival day's open-air lineup was concluded by the vocally strong and skilled genre-jumper Uche Yara, who also dismissed the crowd by promising that the song will be released shortly.
Up to Sunday, the pop festival welcomes you to sample contemporary Austrian music in Karlsplatz. On the lake stage and at eight other places, you may witness Ankathie Koi, Bipolar Feminin, Leftovers, Franz Fuexe, Buntspecht, Paul Plut, Lukas Koenig, or Krixi, Kraxi, and die Kroxn for free.
Source: K.AT