Appetizer – Subsonica

It is highly possible that no Hungarian citizen is aware of Italy's band Subsonica's lifework – and indeed, one could see how the area in fron of the Main Stage turned into an Italian section when the first band of the day started its show, and yes, it did take a while for Hungarians to realize that there is life beyond Adriano Celentano and Jovanotti. And this life is about cleverly designed rubberpop consisting of prog- and rock elements, spiced up with a rather convincing frontman, a dramatic keyboard-player and a set of great hits. In fact, these hits are absolutely worth a couple of clicks in the wonderful world of internet, so that we can listen to and purchase the works of Subsonica. 

The Cribs

Those who had a bit too much to drink and happened to stay in the sun too long only to end up near the Main Stage, must have thought for a second that they are witnessing the return of The Smiths. Well, they were not garevely mistaken, although it was not Morrissey standing behind the microphone but Johnny Marr doing his guitar-lesson at the gig of The Cribs. This Wakefield-based band was founded in 2001, and played at Sziget in 2008 for the first time – and even then thousands of people were eager to see their show. Since then, their fourth album Ignore the Ignorant has been released, so it was high time they introduced these songs to Sziget-inhabitants. Already in the beginning of the gig they played their hit Hey Sceneters!, but they definitely did a great job because this song just warmed up the audience even more... to the extent of having to cool down the crowd with a bit of cold water. While playing Be Safe, you could see the American Lee Ranaldo, one of the founders of Sonic Youth on the screen, and we even got to hear Men's Needs after which the band promised to come back as soon as possible!

Tankcsapda – photosensitive

„It's been a while we've played this early” - frontman Laci Lukács said in the beginning of the gig, nevertheless not to apologize. They could not have played in a more elegant timeline though: they were the only Hungarian band that got to play on the Main Stage of Sziget this year. In spite of this slighly Dracula-flavoured confession, the band was not afraid of the light and made the audience go literally crazy in no time, so those who had not known them did not even have the slightest clue that the band still has a lot in store when it comes to setting the mood. And then when twilight came, and the moon came up, lights went on and smoke machines began to create an eerie mood, only to make the international Maiden-audience realize how crazy a hellish rockgig on this side of the Leitha can get. Fans, on the other hand, got the chance to hear a couple of songs off the album Minden jót, released last autumn, after all this concert was a bit like a half-official album-release show. It's hard to tell whether in the end the band returned to their backstage cloakroom or to the crypt of their castle, but if we can believe what Lukács has told the audience, plenty of cold beer had been waiting for them...

Scream for me Hungary! - Iron Maiden

The alpha and omega of British galoppmetal devoted their set two years ago to their die-hard fans who have followed the band since the miocene era. This time, though, they decided to focus on  tracks off their latest three albums and put the newest record Final Fronter in the foreground, of course. This way, we had no The Trooper, no Run To The Hills, no Heaven Can Wait, but the crowed was also more than pleased to hear tracks off Wicker Man, Brave New World or Dance of Death. The encore, on the other hand, featured a number of classic songs, among which the long-neglected Running Free proved to be the most successful. Since their lates performance, the band has not aged a bit, nobody has begun to resemble Hmer Simpson either, it was just Dave Murrey who sort of reminded us of a Woodstock-like Professor Brinkmann. As far as guitarists are concerned, Janick Gers still bears the same function as Snoopy's yellow canary: he is the most loveable showman in the band. Bruck Dickinson also appeared to be very happy to be here, this time he did not just played practical jokes on the audience, but also shared a couple of unforgettable  puns with us. (In the light of this, we will even generously forget about his stage-stylist's lack of creativity: in fact, the guy was wearing the exact same outfit he did in 2008.) While playing the song Iron Maiden, of course the favourite monster-member of the band Eddie also appeared, who – with his new look – reminded us of the gene-manipulated lovechild of predator and Irén Psota. .