Live Report: SHIP Festival 2024
War bunkers, vegetable robbery, fortresses and queer legends – SHIP is the Croatian festival committed to platforming Europe’s more eclectic and entertaining artists ready to break through…
“Look at what the local scene and festivals are doing, and stick with smaller events, local clubs and grassroots movements.” It’s become an age-old take on how to support new artists and build an infrastructure for music to flourish, but the rallying call from a festival programmer, Ivana Jelača, during one of SHIP’s conference panels rings true for the second edition of this Croatian festival.
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It’s a festival based in the small city of Šibenik on the Dalmatian coast, run by a new-ish music organisation We Move Music Croatia to promote the best from the country’s music scene. They’re doing this by running SHIP as a showcase festival where not just Croatia, but many European countries, send their up-and-coming artists to perform to delegates afar from where they’re based.
By daytime, its panels featuring experts talk trends and issues in everything from promotion and management to record labels. By early evening, artists play across the city’s stunning surroundings until the early hours. Šibenik’s 40,000 inhabitants are looked after by three fortresses towering across its landscape, plus another on a nearby archipelago close to the mussel farms along the coastline.
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With the off-white stone streets that weave away from the marina, it’s no surprise that Game of Thrones filmed in the city for a few episodes. The highlight is Šibenik Cathedral where the stone heads sculpted into its façade feature on all of SHIP’s merch and promotional materials. One of the spectacular fortresses, St. Michael’s – previously an 11th century military stronghold – has been reinvented into a cultural venue that has already hosted the likes of Lorde, BADBADNOTGOOD, Air, and Bonobo. It’s the flag-SHIP venue for the festival and the first evening of the three-dayer here focuses on celebrating the local, Croatian scene.
Undeterred by the thunder lighting up the night sky, Kries’ rock energy, encouraged by frontman Mojmir Novaković’s chanting, elevated their traditional Slavic songs using bagpipes, the diple, and lyre into one of the evening’s more impressive sets. Some of the other best Croatian artists appeared at the fortress too, with Veja’s Istrian traditional music creating this rousing momentum spurred on by flute melodies breaking up Goran Farkaš’ belting verses, who was one of the festival’s best vocalists. Je Veux had a fluid neo-soul sound that ventured into downtempo and discotronica on their minimal set up of bass synths, drums, and trumpet with vocalist Željka Veverec.
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At the arts space House of Art Arsen, a venue pivoting between panels and performances, the discussion on the hip-hop scene across different cultures was when Jelača’s comments on investing in new artists and local music institutions felt tangible for the Croatian scene. Particularly after proudly sharing how Croatians were present at the birth of hip-hop – specifically Mladen ‘Milton Malden’ Mladenović who helped run Sugar Hill Records as its vice-president until the early 1980s – the passion of Croatian DJ and promoter Phat Phillie had for the local hip-hop scene made it clear how nurturing grassroots music builds a community for new artists to prosper in.
Local Šibenik collective Hram, who pedal on their bikes around the city selling CDs of their music, were highlighted as some of the next generation benefitting from the investment into the city’s music scene encouraged by SHIP with their programming.
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A music highlight from this venue came from Czechia indie slackers Island Mint, drawing on early-Tame Impala pysch that incorporates shoegaze in its heady moments and jangly indie pop for sweeter songs like ‘Irreality’. The pleasure they had in being able to play ‘Sea’ for the first time ever by the sea was a wonderful way to finish their set, with the mellow breakdown of an arpeggiating melody opening before a wave of distortion. A shoutout to the keys player Honza Podskalský who delighted the crowd with minimal but loose dance moves throughout.
If hosting some of the festival in an old military fortress wasn’t enough to satisfy a thirst for gigs in unusual places, the shuttle bus ride to Šibenik’s docks certainly did the job. The festival programme pitched Tunel as a WW2 bunker now converted into a playground for DJs to perform in. The vast maze of concrete tunnels was an eerily cool place, underpinned on the Friday night by the allure of pounding, squelchy techno from Le Chocolat Noir.
With the design of the sound system combined with geometric shapes lasered across the walls, it felt similar to A Clockwork Orange’s Korova Milkbar as the surreal atmosphere heightened with the piercing synths that screeched out. Slovenian producer Fujita Pinnacle intensified this by cranking up the bpm into hardcore delight. Slick breaks full of snares being fired out like gunshots were only beaten by an otherworldly jungle tune that unleashed into a double-time pace, ensuring a glorious climax finished his set on a high.
Some other highlights from artists outside of Croatia included Hungarian band Freakin’ Disco. With live drums playing to modular synths and Moogs, juddering grooves on ‘Freak Out’ slid quickly into gunfinger house and techno reminiscent of ‘Homework’ era Daft Punk. An intense performance from Polish post-rock groupCiśnienie full of dramatic riffs, snarling bari sax and a violin being teared apart by an increasingly threadbare bow, saw their wall of noise approach create a tension that tested the limits of your adrenaline (and eardrums).
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The UK’s raucous Lambrini Girls headlined St. Michael’s Fortress on the Friday, their relentless energy cutting through the strong winds (thankfully) to rile up the crowd as lead singer Phoebe Lunny moved on and off stage throughout. After picking out and championing the “queer legends” in the crowd during ‘Help Me I’m Gay’, the best of their noisy punk came from ‘Lads Lads Lads’ and ‘Mr Lovebomb’ as their renowned scorn for the police, politicians, and nepo babies was shouted throughout their set.
The festival’s biggest surprise came from absurd Polish duo Franek Warzywa & Mlody Budda; who knew singing about your love for vegetables could be so mind-bending and as far from boring as possible. Coupled with WordArt font types plastered onto what seemed to be a cracked DIY-version of GTA, messages of “this is a robbery – I have a leek gun – give me your fucking tomatoes” were a visual backdrop to their headfuck performance of glitch, hyperpop, breaks, and punk.
The more introspective, indietronica ‘Wykopki’ – discussing “what’s wrong with you” for going on potatoe, turnip, and beetroot digs in May rather than waiting for the autumn harvest – was all you needed to be convinced this duo will become even more popular outside of their homeland. It’s no surprise their ridiculously silly approach to music has garnered fame on TikTok, and even led The Needle Drop’s Anthony Fantano to call them “insane”.
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Šibenik has the feeling of an underdog city in Croatia compared to Split and the capital Zagreb, prompting one of the panels called ‘Is Šibenik next?’ to discuss how to develop cities through culture. The city already hosts festivals for dance, animation and comics, plus even more music on the opposite coastline at Martinska. But that underdog spirit embodies how SHIP programmes their festival, and it has confidently positioned itself as the “next” new festival to platform Europe’s best underground artists ready to break through.
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Words: Ben Lee
Photography: Valerio Baranovic, Franek Warzywa
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