Always a high point of the festival season, Oslo’s Øya returns in late August with another bill to die for. The location – a picturesque lakeside city-centre park – is splendid and invariably matched by the line-up: this year it’s headed by the return of the Arctic Monkeys, and a chance to check their change of direction a few weeks before the new album hits the shops.
Doves, Lily Allen, Florence And The Machine, Glasvegas and Madness are also over from our shores, while it seems that a fair percentage of the finest bands in America are also flying in – Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses, Grizzly Bear, Wilco, Gang Gang Dance, Dirty Projectors, Beirut – Øya, you are really spoiling us. Also guaranteed to go down well are the local boys, Royskopp and Datarock, and fellow Nordic types Mew and Fever Ray. And that’s just during the day.
Øya continues after dark at various venues around downtown Oslo (with a nice discount at each for wristband holders), and here’s where Clash gets involved. We’re taking over Stratos – a splendid bar/club with spectacular views across the city – for the four nights of the fest, and have put together a suitably varied team of talents. Kiwi chart-mistress Ladyhawke, DFA duo Holy Ghost!, Brit DJs Casper C, Heartbreak and Grum and Nordic DJs Luke Eargoggles and Bygdin will all take to our stage for what should be a hectic set of gigs.
It’s set to be a stupendous four days – and nights – by the Fjords, and Clash is offering tickets to both the main festival and the Stratos parties as part of our massive festival giveaway. Head on over to our massive festival ticket giveaway HERE.
