Hungary’s Sziget Festival Muse, Maiden, Gorillaz, Hives

LATEST STARS, BIG COMEBACKS, AND PROMISING NAMES AT SZIGET FESTIVAL 2010

Sziget Festival 2009 by Walter

Sziget Festival has announced the first names that include current stars, big comebacks and great promises. Among the confirmed names is Muse, one of the world’s most popular rock bands, after three sold out concerts at Wembley stadium and a wildly successful world tour they will be performing on the main stage at Sziget. Very few bands have managed as outsiders to infiltrate the incredibly exclusive Madchester rock community. The Gallagher brothers’ favourite band Kasabian is just one such group, who will bring their latest album – voted “Album of the Year” both by NME and Q magazines – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum to Sziget. Papa Roach, who is always in training, hence always able to make great leaps will be performing his spectacular rock work out – which has expanded in 2009 to include his fifth album, Metamorphosis – on the Sziget main stage this year. Sziget is offering a real treat to ska fanatics: The Specials, who celebrated their 30th anniversary with a few exclusive concerts in 2009, will be paying Sziget a visit. This summer the Juno award winning Canadian rock band, Billy Talent will be giving a concert at Sziget. This year Damon Albarn‘s dream factory will be representing with its most successful product to date, the Gorillaz Sound System DJ set. Enter Shikari, will be holding a power demonstration at the 18th Sziget festival too. And last, but not least Infected Mushroom is preparing an assault on all the senses with their concert at Sziget. The formation was recently named by DJ Mag, the world’s number one DJ info-port, as the world’s best psy-trance production of all time.

Among the newly discovered performers will be a dozen names that recall the biggest parties in Sziget history. During its career Iron Maiden has recorded the most important heavy metal albums, they have the most dedicated fan base and are one of the most respected metal bands ever. At Sziget this year they will not only play old favourites, but also present their new album, The Final Frontier. The electro-pop formation Faithless has a huge fan base in Hungary, and so far have always put on sold out shows at Sziget, and this year is their chance to prove that they’ve still got it. Also returning after last year’s success is the Canadian Danko Jones. The Hives, one of the most popular Swedish rock bands are repeat customers at Sziget festival. The audiences have also had the pleasure of The Toy Dolls, the band lead by singer-guitarist Michael Algar, aka Olga. After their hugely successful concert on the main stage, the Spanish Ska-P are organizing an international ska convention at Sziget. Germany’s best reggae artist of Jamaican roots, Tilmann Otto, aka Gentleman will be bringing his latest studio album Diversity to Sziget this year. The other end will also be there, represented by Bad Religion, perhaps the only band in the world that can boast a singer who is a doctor in his spare time.

Sziget festival will also host a number of bands who are perhaps not so familiar to the ear, but have a good chance of becoming the favourites of the future. The Cribs, for example, will be arriving to Sziget festival on top form after the massive critical and commercial success of their album, Ignore the Ignorant. During Gwar‘s incomparable heavy metal enhanced visual orgy at Sziget, festival goers might run into George W. Bush or even Michael Jackson, or they can follow the magical adventures of Phallus in Wonderland presented by the world’s craziest metal band.

A complete list of confirmed artists is available at sziget.hu.

For more on Sziget Festival see our 2009 coverage here.