Brief Encounter: July / August 2007

At the Donauinselfest on Saturday the 23rd of June, the band Gentleman was playing at the FM4 stage, and while the Bass from the nearby techno stages boomed throughout the writhing masses, this crowd was waving lighters to songs like Evolution, Different Places and Send a prayer.

Two girls in a Woodstock trance swayed on the shoulders of their friends, hands clenched in peace signs, singing along. Tracey Chapman would have been proud. As I made my way to my friends, in front of the technician’s tower, a sufficiently intoxicated youth pushed his way forward, strutting to the reggae beats. He was jostled from the left and slammed right into one of the men with a Woodstock girl on his shoulders.

The "one love" vibe vanished.

"Heast Oida, was is’n mit dir, du wichser!" ("Hey man, what the f*ck’s your problem?"), the girl screamed. So much for sending a prayer.