When I ran into the area of the Main Stage a few minutes before four o’clock in the afternoon, I was shocked to find that the arena was almost empty, despite the fact that LANY, who came from Los Angeles and played pop-rock, had to start at four o’clock. Unfortunately, I can’t say how big the crowd gathered for the concert, because I was still on my way to the Colosseum, so that Maneskin’s bassist, Victoria de Angelis, would breathe a little life into me with her cutting-edge DJ set. The party was frenetic, but the image of the empty Main Stage was always in my head, because I knew that this did not mean anything good – it was in the deck that the islanders probably won’t be interested in RAYE, who played after LANY.
Crazy girl
I was partially right, but not right. When I got back from the Colosseum to the Main Stage a little after five, I was greeted by a much larger crowd, but it was still easy to squeeze into the front rows. However, as soon as the concert began, as if they wanted to squeeze it into raisins, I felt that people were coming to the performance continuously and in good numbers from all sides. As we already wrote in our previous article, the young girl known only as Rachel Keen has been involved in music since she was 16 years old, she has written songs for Beyoncé, Little Mix, Ellie Goulding, Zara Larsson and even John Legend. it can be said that he remained unknown to the great man, despite the numerous awards and recognitions.
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Gallery: RAYE a SzigetenPhoto: Bence Tövissi / Index
This was supported, among other things, by the group partying in front of me, presumably English, who didn’t really know whose concert they had come to, but one of them suddenly became enlightened and shouted:
Oh, that crazy girl!
And he wasn’t wrong, RAYE is really “the wild girl”, a singer blessed with such an innate talent that even the English people drinking dubious-colored balls were mesmerized after she stepped on stage. However, it was not an easy task for him: his songs are about violence, abuse, addiction, depression, anxiety and all other things that, unfortunately, we are willing to treat as taboo in everyday life; but not at a RAYE concert. At the beginning of the show, the young girl stated that there will be very serious topics, but she added that music is the greatest medicine for her, and she knows that there are people in the audience who feel the same way. Her monologue was met with a huge ovation, and the audience signaled that they were ready to ride the emotional roller coaster.
He screams, then shakes me and sends me dancing
RAYE also stated a second thing, namely that she is a drama queen, which, according to her, is mostly manifested in the fact that she simply cannot end a song “just like that” – there must always be a way to end, under all circumstances. And Rachel Keen gave it, from the first minute to the last she sang so much that even the stars in the sky got it. Unfortunately, after a while, even this was not enough to fully capture the attention of the fans, as approximately 40 minutes of the one-hour concert were spent on songs with slower, deeper lyrics (e.g. Mary Jane, Ice Cream Man), which in itself would not be a problem, but it killed the mood in front of the Sziget Main Stage, the festival-goers bathed in tears instead of water.
Well, that’s the last 20 minutes!
Although, in my opinion, it would have been better to spread out the more party tracks in the 11-song setlist, I have to admit, it also has its own charm when, breaking out of a deep depression, you suddenly find yourself dancing obliviously. And that’s exactly what RAYE managed to achieve by the end of the concert, thanks to hits like You Don’t Know Me, a Secrets or just the Prada – which the English people partying in front of me were very happy about. The highlight of the concert was of course the finale itself, RAYE’s biggest hit so far Escapism. it also sounded at that time, which clearly put the dot on the i. There wasn’t a single person in the already large crowd who didn’t dance – despite the fact that RAYE’s fan base and that of Skrillex, who came after him, don’t overlap to say the least.
(Cover photo: RAYE on Sziget on August 12, 2024. Photo: Bence Tövissi / Index)
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