Chainsaw and fire-extinguisher - K.I.Z.

The rap-collective K.I.Z., consisting of twenty-something, mainly Berlin-based guys first decided to fight against xenophobia and racial or sexual prejudices (and all other form of injustice, of course) five years ago, within the compass of their album entitled German chainsaw rap-massacre (Das Rap Deutschland Kettensagen Massaker). This sunny afternoon, plenty of you wondered what a live chainsaw rap-battle may look like, but in spite of our expectations, K.I.Z., dressed as an insecticides squad, opted for fire-extinguishers instead of using their favourite toy: at least they could save themselves and their audience from spontaneous auto-ignition this way. Luckily, no had the time to worry about such things this afternoon, apart from, perhaps guests who are against peaceful ideologies built on unity and equal rights: these type of people, supposedly would have drown just at the sight of the infamous K.I.Z.-flag, in which an enormous tattoed dick in a crest is about to destroy a swastika. Tarek, Maxim and Nico immediately changed clothes after their entry, and initiated a short census on the Main Stage only to find out that most people came from Germany to enjoy the rap-congress of K.I.Z. At Sziget. Nevertheless, the show did not only go on in German from that point on, but the four-membered rap-collective also tried to recite a few words in all Eastern-European languages in order to warm up their audience, jumping around to a medley of punk and techno. In the meanwhile, they made it clear what they wanted from the leaders of the world: what else than a box of lager, perhaps some cash, a cunt and cider, along the line of the legendary 3 C's. Unfortunately, the leaders of the world appeared to remain deaf to these wishes, so K.I.Z. at least had the chance to go on with their self-conscious ganging even after four, spiced up with a pillow-fight rich in pogo-elements, with two splinkler-cars helping them out in their fight.

From opera to rock music – The Young Punx

The Young Punx come from the U.K. and play french house: the band become famous with their hit You've Got To, later covered by Norman Cook himself (Fatboy Slim). It was producer Hal Ritson who gathered a band around himself in order to build up an entirely new world, consisting of musicians familiar with opera as well as rock music, and beyond. More and more people joined the main Stage to watch the band who made the crowd jump around like crazy to their crazy rhythms, in spite of the terrible heat. They decided to play a safe game, opening with Prodigy's evergreen Smack My Bitch Up, of course the song transformed to their own likeness. We couldn't miss the great hit built around the theme of Manu Chao's Bongo Bong, which has – from one moment to the other – turned the sandy area in front of the Main Stage into a huge playa. The audience was eager to wait until the last song was over, and then happily ran to the bars so that they still had time to regain consciousness before Public Image Ltd.

Good future! - Public Image Ltd.

I am Johnny Rotten and you are NOT! - this is what Public Image Ltd. has scribbled in his book for us last time he was here. Johnny Lydon also known as Rotten Sex Pistols is back to Budapest now, this time with his more or less new wave-influenced formation which he founded shortly after leaving Sex Pistols in January of 1978, walking away from the stage right after the band's opening song. Laymen expecting to hear something similar to Pistols will probably get the same experience Woody Allen's audience got when they were waiting for the signs of the artist's irresistable sense of humour before watching his jazz-concert in 2007. PIL plays pure experimental music, far from the glittery world of hits and musicality, closer to the sounds of an old, used washmachine – even though this year they started in medias res with This Is Not A Love Song, turned into a bloodlily accurate soundtrack to the animation movie Waltz With Bashir. Rotten, dressed in a striped west and cravats, still looked as if he could bite off the head of any Calvinist priest any moment, without thinking for a second. There is no noubt that the majr charm of the act is the frontman's charisma, even if his off-white aura was suurounded by transcendent worms. Good luck, good future! - Uncle Johnny said, our favourite burgeois pensioner.

2Tone Army - The Specials

While burgeois pensioners of PIL scared the shit out of us with the death-disco of the early eighties, another big hero of the era was a band on the Main Stage who acted not at all like a main-stage-band: The Specials. Terry Hall and co. had no air of being old 2Tone-pensioners, but they rather appeared to be members of a retired firefighter association, just playing for their own pleasure at the local beerfestival in a British industrial town. OK, let's suppose then that in this firefighter association everybody is a damn good musician, of course. However, whenever they stopped for twenty-thirty seconds after each song to ease their aching backs, take their clothes off and share a couple of casual jokes with each other, they looked like everything but a worldwide famous band. The windsband tried to follow them, casually as if they were just "copying the big ones", but they couldn't, so they were just laughing at themselves. Half-naked guitarist Roddy Radiation could have well passed as a parody of Keith Richards. But the whole scene was not at all an organized casuality (or if it was, then it must have been of the most professional kind I have ever seen). This natural charm, in fact, enchanted and mesmerized the auidience from the first moment: they were skanking all the way through the gig and happily celebrated the band. It's easy to understand, really: who wouldn't just love the feeling of dancing at a village beerfestival to the tunes of the best ska-hits? Well, to remember that these worldwide famous hits were actually written by the members of the local retired firefighter association, is just a sweet thought.

Favourites of the audience - Faithless

Faithless, a band returning to Sziget not for the first time, started with a modest set, as far as lights and stage-appearance is concerned. The band was illuminated by a bunch of circles from the back - it was an impressive sight, nevertheless, especially when the dark shadow of Maxi Jazz sharply seperated from the band swimming in blue and red lights. Then pretty soon, when God Is a DJ was playing, a pantheon-like church became visible in the background, and then the over-crowded area in front of the Main Stage had the chance to see the rise of the black frontman into Black Jesus. Aftrwards, another big hit Insomnia would follow, introduced by Maxi Jazz as "this is your song". Just as anybody would have guessed, the audience went wild. I thought then, that we are reaching the climax too fast, but luckily I was gravely mistaken. The Britons have gotten pretty close to it a number of times, and the closing has most probably surpassed our idea of a climax in the end. The end of the gig, however, did not offer much of a surprise: before the first encore, the refrain of the opening song of their new album Not Going Home revealed that an encore is about to follow. Indded, the British band came back, not leaving their fans disappointed as they closed the show with We Come One. As a whole, Faithless - headliner and international superstar of the evening - closed the program of the Main Stage with a perfectly built-up gig on the second day of Sziget.