The Danish weather was on point, announcing the forthcoming of summer season just at the very beginning of May. The youngsters were already receiving some sunny vibes at the back of the Scandinavian Center in Aarhus, next to the train tracks and forgotten, rusty, industrial buildings, which are now used as means to new ends.
By Danna Campos. Mexican journalist and writer (master in Journalism and Communication from Mexico City), right now visiting Aarhus and jumping at the chance to be a SPOT volunteer journalist. (photos by Stefan Antoni Jensen and Mia Søndergaard)
RADAR is one of these spaces, a music venue who has been committed to serve as an underground platform for the local scene’s emerging bands. While SPOT Festival was starting the third day of its 2017 edition, RADAR was the place where most music enthusiasts who nowadays run the international music scene, gathered to network and listen to interesting Danish music acts perform in one of the most iconic local music grounds.
Curated by Laura Snapes, a music critic for medias like The Guardian and Pitchfork, amongst other publishings, Music Export Denmark’s Superball 2017, started to take place while presenting on stage School of X, who opened the ceremony with a high-quality performance that left everybody impressed with its electronic rock ambiance.
After a big round of applause, the midday celebration continued with the melancholic touch of Ellis May’s music, whose mysterious vibe made everybody in the audience evoke the feeling of having goosebumps right after watching a thriller movie. While people continued to connect with other music industry members under the rare summer-like weather, RADAR’s main room received Iceage’s Elias Bender Rønnenfelt side project, Marching Church.
While School of X’s and Ellis May’s music warmed-up the place with high quality performances, Marching Church’s live act reminded the guests that there is no need to be on a stage in front of 10,000 people to prove that a band has a powerful sound worthy of an audience of millions.
Laura’s curatorial skills for spotting interesting music projects, alongside the presence of special guests from the music industry, made this year’s MXD Superball more than a networking party: It showed the true essence of SPOT as a space that engineers the path to set a broader, and perhaps a stronger emerging music scene.
