Snowbombing 2007

Austria | by Steve McConville | 18 April 2007

Great Skiing? Check. Blistering Sunshine? Check. Breathtaking scenery? Check. Great music? Check. Enough booze to kill a herd of Rhinos? Check...With all these boxes ticked; if you don't enjoy Snowbombing then you might as well end it all now.

It really is that good and with none of the sub-Magaluf Euro-pop associated with most ski resorts, it provides arguably Europe's finest Après Ski. It's got a line up of DJs that would make certain clubs in Ibiza blush and for the first time even a few bands thrown into the heady mix of snow, sun and stupidity. Now in its eighth year and its third in Mayrhofen, this was surely the year Snowbombing came of age and properly established itself as a big player in the global festival calendar. While it has to be said the live guitar bands didn't give the best account of themselves, the rammed, sweaty venues in this picturesque Austrian valley were still full of grinning punters that will ensure the festival goes from strength to strength in future years.

Spread across as many as 10 venues over town (and if you find the right one, open pretty much 24/7), Snowbombing can become as much about endurance as it is about partying. It's a good job the alpine air is as fresh as a daisy, otherwise there would be many strugglers on the slopes for the best skiing at 9a.m. Most here continue to party long past a bedtime that would give them the advisable 8 hours kip. Not that anyone would dream of complaining; there is little that will stop the hardcore partiers that help make Snowbombing so special.

Throughout the week and throughout the location, there's an atmosphere of pure, unadulterated fun that makes Snowbombing something very special. Imagine Bestival at altitude and you're getting somewhere near - scary that thought may be. Before the last party has closed people will have witnessed musical chairs at 2000 feet, the largest snowball fight ever seen and the best fancy dress street party Rob Da Bank never threw.

That said, Mr Da Bank does throw his very own Bestival party on the closing night, which brings the clear similarities of the two events together courtesy of a right old knees up hosted by the ubiquitous Cuban Brothers down at The Speakeasy Arena. With Da Bank at the decks picking the finest selection from his very own record, err, bank (you know 'Blue Monday', 'Song 2', 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'), there's no stopping Miguel, Archerio, Clemente, Kengo and San from bringing Snowbombing down with a big sleazy bang. By now you'd think their hackneyed routine may be getting somewhat tired, but try telling that to the drunken hordes on Saturday night and you'd get shoved the wrong way down a black run.

That's not to say the crowd aren't fussy or, indeed, selective about whom they heap their praise on. Despite the brave move of adding live bands to the bill, there's unquestionably a larger thirst for the DJ's on the bill than there is for the much touted, but perhaps not well known enough, boys and girls with guitars. Testament to this perhaps is Thursday night's line up which offers Krafty Kuts and The Young Knives at the same time in different venues.

While Krafty Kuts at the Schlussel is kind of like watching a DJ play to a sauna full of drunk, excitable sardines - with security offering 'four out, one in' on the door of the packed venue - The Young Knives over at the school-hall like Europhaus don't seem to be getting the time of day from the crowd. It's hard to tell whether that's the crowd's attitude spreading to the band or the other way around: Popular though the Leicestershire three-piece are, they far from hold the audience captive. Even their heavier, punkier tunes like 'She's Attracted To' can't seem to hold anyone's attention and it's only when DJ Dan comes on after their set and offers some better known material from the likes of The Kaiser Chiefs that it feels like the party has got started again.

The following evening The Speakeasy Arena has both Pull Tiger Tail and Just Jack on the same bill (although the former will later pull out) and it's clearly the one appealing to a dance crowd that comes out on top. This may be because Pull Tiger Tail are only offering twee 'heard it a million times before' indie rock rather than any larger antipathy against guitar bands, though the indifferent reaction to them does seem part of a wider theme at Snowbombing. It's important to say here however, that Snowbombers do clearly appreciate their guitar music; when the Guilty Pleasures DJ's drop The Clash and The White Stripes (and by the way since when did we start having to feel Guilty about liking them?) at the Street Party on Friday, the whole place erupts. There's room for guitars but it would seem there's only room for them if they're the very, very best. Just Jack fares significantly better with his beat laden UK hip-hop in The Streets mould gleefully accepted by the evenings punters before a triumphant, if inevitable, climax with the relentlessly catchy single 'Starz In Their Eyes'.

On Saturday back in the Schlussel, James Lavelle plays an awesome set in the pub-meets-sauna, to another preposterously sweaty crowd. If they didn't need a shower beforehand - and that's doubtful - they certainly did after this unabashedly filthy, but utterly irresistible breaks and electro set. As his set finishes at 4a.m on the Saturday there's either deep and progressive house in The Garage or Queen and Dire Straits in The Piccadilly Pub...an easy choice, where else do you get your money for nothing and your chicks for free? As the sun rises on the final morning of Snowbombing, the familiar strains of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' can be heard echoing down the Zillertal...

While perhaps some of the bands may disagree, Snowbombing 2007 is an outrageously entertaining success. The thrill of throwing yourself down a mountain on two (or even one!) planks of wood is matched only by an incredibly friendly crowd appreciating a brilliant DJ line up across the town during the evenings. There are some lessons to be learnt for next year (and not just by those sporting limbs in plaster on their return to the UK), where the organisers must surely decide whether to continue with the live bands experiment or stick with the tried and tested strong DJ line up. Though take nothing away from it; the festival itself is brilliantly organised, preposterously good fun and filled with a crowd with as much enthusiasm for a good party as a good 'shoop' down the mountain. As Snowbombing pushes on towards a decade of festivals you'd be strongly advised to get there soon, lest global warming takes this avalanche of fun away from us...