**Festivals**
**2nd - 5th July 2025**
The Polish four-day festival showcased remarkable performances from artists such as Massive Attack, Little Simz, and St Vincent.
Open’er is likely named after its host city, Gdynia, which was constructed during the 1920s as a significant seaport, intended to be an ‘open city’ linking Poland to the broader world. Although it might not seem an obvious choice for a major summer festival, situated at the end of a beautiful stretch of the Baltic coast that includes the ancient port city of Gdańsk and the picturesque town of Sopot, Gdynia-Kosakowo Airport serves as the festival site; it remains an incomplete civil airport that is continually utilized by the Polish military year-round. Nevertheless, it has been working effectively since 2006, and Open’er has become Poland’s largest festival, celebrated for its diverse and impressive line-ups spanning rock, pop, hip hop, and more. Each year, over 100,000 attendees from Poland and beyond converge at the festival, even though the compact layout around the Kosakowo airstrip gives it an unexpectedly intimate feel. For its 18th edition in its current location, the opening Wednesday had perfect conditions, with bright sunshine illuminating the early evening crowd gathered at the main stage for a smooth performance by Raye, who frequently reassured the audience of her dedication to her forthcoming second album. Following her, Gracie Abrams took the stage; while her songwriting has never been doubted, her stage presence has sometimes drawn scrutiny, as her success with last year's ‘The Secret of Us’ put her in an ambiguous space between a deeply emotive singer-songwriter and a genuine pop star. At Open’er, she appeared more like the latter; her set, filled with confidence and grace, transformed tracks like ‘Normal Thing’ and ‘I Miss You, I’m Sorry’—which are gentle on record—into massive sing-alongs to match her more recognizable anthems (‘That’s So True’, ‘Close to You’). Open’er’s eclectic booking policy often leads to a range of musical styles all in one evening, transitioning from Abrams' personal pop to the much darker, more expansive offerings of Wednesday night’s headliners, Massive Attack. This Bristol-based trip-hop legends boast over three decades of experience, yet they have never felt this vital. Their explosive audiovisual performance integrates scenes from films by their former collaborator, Adam Curtis, fitting due to the chaotic musical and politically charged nature of their set. It serves as a soundtrack for a world on fire, as Robert Del Naja guides the band through an array of brooding tracks (‘Inertia Creeps’, ‘Angel’), dramatic pieces (‘Girl I Love You’, ‘Unfinished Sympathy’), and moments that are deeply moving, especially when Elizabeth Fraser from Cocteau Twins joins them for haunting renditions of ‘Song to the Siren’ and ‘Teardrop’. Their call for a free Palestine resonates profoundly here in the Tricity region, a place well-versed in solidarity. After their performance, Jorja Smith illuminated the Tent stage with a perfectly timed late-night performance that brought a vibrant intensity to her diverse catalogue; she shifted effortlessly from bass-driven funk (‘Where Did I Go?’) to minimal, sultry R&B (‘Falling or Flying’), while also exploring pop hits like ‘Blue Lights’ and ‘Little Things’. Her astounding vocal versatility and infectious charisma tied everything together; few artists during the weekend appeared to be enjoying themselves as much as she did.
Open’er’s signature unlikely double bills were evident again on Thursday; after an energetic yet slightly one-dimensional set from South African superstar Tyla, the evening carried the promise of industrial metal legends Nine Inch Nails. The word ‘intensity’ perfectly encapsulates the band and its seemingly timeless frontman, Trent Reznor. From the opening of ‘Somewhat Damaged’, it was clear that the absence of new material wouldn’t hinder their performance. This European tour, dubbed the Peel It Back tour, borrows its title from a line in the classic ‘March of the Pigs’, a standout from the 1994 album 'The Downward Spiral', so it was expected that tracks from that masterpiece would dominate the setlist, from the frenetic ‘Closer’ to the brooding ‘Heresy’. The light show, as we’ve come to anticipate from Nine Inch Nails, was breathtakingly intense, but what made this set the highlight of the weekend was its emotional depth; the band took the stage to the sounds of Angelo Badalamenti’s ‘Audrey’s Dance’ from Twin Peaks, with the essence of Reznor’s late mentor palpable throughout, whether in the jazzy, Lynchian excursion of ‘God Break Down the Door’ or the powerful rendition of their 1995 collaboration with David Bowie, the timeless ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’.
Friday at the
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The Polish four-day event also featured remarkable performances from artists such as Massive Attack, Little Simz, and St. Vincent.