I decided to stay at the hotel until I left for the festival. The reason was the failed scam attempt from yesterday – it made me feel unsafe in the streets of Istanbul. I got to the festival early (9 hours before The Prodigy got on stage) to see bands I would have probably never seen otherwise: Howling Bells were pretty good but not my kind of music. Jane’s Addiction were good and Dave Navarro (their guitarist) is really amazing. Nine Inch Nails – well, I think that when it was time for them to go on stage (before The Prodigy) I was already exhausted from the long wait so I couldn’t enjoy the music which was obviously very good.
The big surprise for me was Juliette Lewis. The music and lyrics are very good but the highlight of the show is her performance: she has so much energy on stage – I don’t know how she manages to sing and move like that at the same time. She pretty much makes love with the crowd (in action and words) up to the point where she takes her shirt off and is left with a bikini top.
After the long 9 hours wait The Prodigy finally came on stage. I completely forgot about my fatigue and the backaches I experienced earlier from standing so long. I had a front stage ticket so for the first time I was in the front 2-3 rows in a Prodigy show. Since the number of people in the front stage area was limited, there was enough room to go crazy.
So how was my fifth Prodigy show this year? Right now my voice is husky and I have a little limp in my right leg so you can tell I enjoyed myself a lot. I have to find another Prodigy show to go to. I have my sights set on Madrid in December.
I can barely keep my eyes open here at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. And I still have to work today. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some shuteye.