Since the giant that is Roskilde Festival, Mew has played three festival shows in Nordic region and a show in Ireland. First up was one of the oldest annual rock festivals in the world, Ruisrock Festival (in Turku, Finland), where Mew have performed three times before (2003, 2006 and 2009). A rather large number of spectators, considering that they had an early evening hour-long Sunday slot, and in a hot tent. A lot of people saw Mew, but it was not the 20.000+ crowd that it has been before at this particular festival. New live guitarist Mads Wegner was seen in Finland for the first time and he was more than capable for the job. She Spider was particularly impressive, as he only had three days to practice in mid-June. One day just by himself, and two with the band. A$AP Rocky tried to torpedo Mew’s opening by playing fifteen minutes overtime on the next stage. Well, so Mew played overtime also.
Ruisrock video: Skip to 2:05 to see Jonas Bjerre talk about surviving the festival circuits without developing a beer belly.
The show in Dublin, Ireland saw a rarity where Mew closed their set with 156. This was also due to the length of the show. A short one, but nevertheless an interesting finale. Mew opened for St. Vincent, but in Nordic countries (maybe not in Sweden still) it would be in the opposite order. Either way, this was an interesting pair of bands sharing a stage.
Setlist: Ruisrock Festival
Witness / Satellites / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / The Night Believer / Beach / Water Slides / Snow Brigade / She Spider / Medley / Am I Wry? No / 156 —– Comforting Sounds
Setlist: Iveagh Gardens
Witness / Satellites / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / The Night Believer / Beach / Water Slides / Am I Wry? No / 156
Then it was Norway’s turn. Two big shows there. Mew always have big shows there. A sunny Skral Festival show sees an identical setlist with the Finland gig, but the longer Malakoff Festival set is the one that needs a special mention. A fan favourite Rows was played for the second time, as it premiered at Roskilde Festival. They also played My Complications which had been absent ever since. Mew are known for being quite predictable with their setlists, and it’s obvious looking at four of them on one page here. All of them had the same seven tracks and minor changes only come after. In my most humble opinion, they should go crazy with the order of the songs. They sure have the catalogue. But then again, at festivals you have to play the hit songs and your time is limited. Their solo shows are a completely different animal.
Setlist: Skral Festival
Witness / Satellites / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / The Night Believer / Beach / Water Slides / Snow Brigade / She Spider / Medley / Am I Wry? No / 156 —– Comforting Sounds
Setlist: Malakoff Festival
Witness / Satellites / Special / The Zookeeper’s Boy / The Night Believer / Beach / Water Slides / Snow Brigade / She Spider / Medley / My Complications / Rows / Am I Wry? No / 156 —– Comforting Sounds
Tero Heikkinen