In spite of having almost 70.000 people partying heavily in a rather small area this years Roskilde Festival is quite peaceful. According to police officials there’s been 190 reports of theft, just two minor cases of violence and (of course) a number of drug related charges until now. The amount of confiscated hash has in fact doubled compared to last year, but the number of cases is pretty much the same. And then we have to give the ALL SCANDINAVIAN friendship award to the fellow who turned himself in for possession of 200 ecstasy pills, something his friend had been arrested and charged for on Wednesday.

I don’t know what kind of friend Mugison is, but the Icelandic musical chameleon seemed to be in a fantastic mood when he took the Odeon stage and charmed a crowd eager to be pleased. And fans of bluesman Mugison got everything they could’ve wished for as the majority of the hour-long set was a funky, spellbinding blues-rock attack on the dedicated audience, who helped make ‘Sweetest Melody’ the absolute climax of the show when they belted the chorus “Singing! Swinging! Singing the blues away” with the band as if their lives depended on it.

Roskilde Festival this year has had a few misplaced bands in terms of stage and time, but one perfect match was Danish synthrockers Spleen United (Photo by kind permission of Carsten Snejbjerg/RockPhoto) who shut down the Arena stage late Friday night. In the more than packed tent the unlikely hit machine created a great rave-like party that didn’t die even when the quintet was hit by technical problems mid-set, which put the concert on hold for about 10 minutes. With hits from debut album ‘Godspeed Into The Mainstream’ (2005) as excellent crowd pleasers the highlights counted a massive version of instrumental song ‘Dominator’ and encore ‘Suburbia’ (that won’t stop reminding me of 2 Unlimited’s 1993 smash hit ‘No Limit’) from this years sophomore album ‘Neanderthal’. With Spleen United on album you either get drawn into it or you don’t. Friday night you couldn’t help but get into the groove.

Post Scriptum: See more pictures and buy your favorites at RockPhoto, the official Roskilde Festival photographers.