My First Ever European Music Festival: Tinderbox 

*Warning: Picture heavy post*

I’m a huge fan of live music. I’ve seen a lot of musicians and bands play in my life, but there’s a long list of acts I want to see. One of the bands on that musical bucket list was Modest Mouse. Over the winter, I found out that they were going to play at Tinderbox, a brand new festival taking place about 2 hours away in Odense, Denmark. I gushed to the Viking about how badly I wanted to go, and in Febraury, he surprised me with two one-day tickets to Tinderbox! I had been looking forward to June 26th ever since.

Last friday was the day I had been waiting for…

The Viking had to work in the morning, so around 2pm we hopped a train. A two hour ride brought us to Odense, and the shuttle dropped us off 5 minutes away from the festival entrance. 

After a quick bag check, we got our wristbands. We walked onto the grounds and heard Hozier playing on the Blue Stage. The almost 3 hour journey left us a little tired, so we grabbed some beers, spread out a blanket, and relaxed to the end of his set.

We left the Blue Stage a few minutes early because I wanted to get a good spot for Echosmith nearby. It was just a short walk away, so we still heard the end of “Take Me to Church”. I’m glad we got to the Yellow Stage early because we managed to get a spot along the fence up front. The Viking and I were the oldest people there by at least 8 years, but whatever. Echosmith put on a really enjoyable show.  

 After they wrapped up with ‘Cool Kids’, it was time to grab a quick bite to eat before the two hour wait for Modest Mouse. They were playing at the same stage, and I wanted to be back in time to snag a front row spot. I basically ran to the food stands and back while the Viking did his best to keep up with me. When we got back to the stage, there were only three other people waiting for MM (two Norwegians and a Dane from Copenhagen). Naturally, I had to talk to them. They quickly figured out that I was American and we spent the remainder of the wait talking about hockey because they all followed the NHL. Nice.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for arrived! MODEST MOUSE TOOK THE STAGE!!!

I’m pretty sure I was hyperventilating. Modest Mouse has been one of my favorite bands for over a decade, and this was the first time I was seeing them play!  Forty-five minutes was nowhere near enough time, but I enjoyed every second of their set. The Viking only stayed for the first half because he wanted to see Kent on the Red Stage, and of course they were playing at the exact same time. After the show, I found the Norwegians, and we all agreed that Modest Mouse definitely didn’t get enough time on stage. But that’s what you get when you go to a festival…

Now that Modest Mouse was done, it was time to go find the Viking. I walked over to the Red Stage, and I was surprised to see there was still plenty of room for me to get right up front. I figured I would enjoy a song or two (in Swedish) before meeting up with him. They we’re pretty enjoyable considering it the first time I had really heard them.

The Viking and I met up after Kent finished, and we made the short trip back to the Yellow Stage. Again, we got some beers and laid on the blanket. Major Lazer was playing next and I was pretty dang excited. One of the members of the group is Diplo, and I friggin’ love Diplo! Halfway through the show, I couldn’t help but hop up off the blanket and dance awkwardly (the Viking refused to dance with me). The end of show came with a pleasant surprise. MØ, a Danish singer performing the next day, joined Major Lazer on stage for their hit ‘Lean On’.

When ML finished up their set, it was 11pm. We wanted to head back to the train station at a semi-reasonable hour since we still had a two hour trip home. I realized I was starving, and we cut back through the festival to grab some food. However, I got a little sidetracked. These large plastic cubes I had seen people sitting on all day had suddenly lit up! I just had to take a closer look…

Seriously how cool were those things??

Eventually, we made our way to the food stands. We caught the first few songs by The Prodigy while I munched on my Thai chicken. Unfortunately, it was time go back home. We left the grounds an hour before Calvin Harris was supposed to play. Sorry, T. Swift, but I couldn’t stay to see your boyfriend…

We were only able to go on Friday, but Tinderbox lasted all weekend. I had an amazing time at this brand new festival and would definitely consider going for all three days next year. But I’m not done with festivals just yet. Stay tuned to see where I go next!

What festivals are you going to this summer?? Which ones are on your bucket list? Tell me below!

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