A Head Full of Wishes

A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.

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Galaxie 500 at The Bizarre Festival, 1990
Galaxie 500 at The Bizarre Festival, 1990

I’ve just been re-reading Black Postcards and Galaxie 500 are breaking up again… and it’s making me sad again… maybe sadder than my first read through. Anyway in amongst all that sniping and bitteness Dean describes their festival tour of Europe in 1990. In his description of their appearance at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark he pretty much nails why I don’t go to festivals…

We played the same stage as Melissa Etheridge, but missed her show. We also missed Lenny Kravitz and Midnight Oil and all kinds of other stupid shit. Rock festivals are celebrations of rock music, and everyone is happy and nice to one another, but the truth is that you hate most of the bands. Well, you hate their music, and isn’t that the same thing?

So just to prove how pointless and hateful festivals are here’s an excellent recording of Galaxie 500’s performance at the 1990 Roskilde Festival. Bah! Glad I wasn’t there.

Download Galaxie 500 at The Roskilde Festival - 1990 - (68MB via Mediafire)

_OK - the picture was taken at The Bizarre Festival in Lorelei, Germany the week before Roskilde, but it’s the closest I can manage. Dean mentions this festival in the book as well and how despite the beautiful setting The Ramones chose to stay in their trailer and eat pizza rather than be outside enjoying “the mountain, the cliff, the sunshine, the barbecue [… because] punk is a celebration of ugly, how can punk rockers enjoy the beautiful Rhine Valley?”