Friday at Roskilde. One of those days when you can feel the festival leaning hard into making you feel something. Whether that ends in euphoria, confusion, or something in between, time will tell. One thing is certain: Saint Levant has to prove he can carry a stage, Olivia Rodrigo has to own Orange, and Electric Callboy are set to blow the minds of anyone who didn’t know they were into metal with flashing lights.
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Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
Saint Levant – From Gaza to Roskilde
Saint Levant – or Marwan Abdelhamid, as he’s called when he’s not putting on a show – should be everything we’re dreaming of this year. Gaza, Amman, California. Arabic, French, English. On paper, he’s a sensation. The only question is whether he can make it feel that way.
Olivia Rodrigo – The pop star we can all agree on
Olivia Rodrigo is that huge pop name that’s also actually exciting. It’s the kind of booking Roskilde can pat itself on the back for: a name that is both massive, of-the-moment and good. She has drivers license, she has good 4 u, she has vampire – and she has that ability to write songs that sound like your entire adolescence boiled down to three minutes. If anyone can make Orange Scene feel intimate in the middle of 70,000 people, it’s her. It’s Roskilde’s “trackpasta” – a dish that both tastes good and fills you up – a booking that just makes sense.
Doechii – Grammy on paper, chaos on stage?
Doechii (not Doji – though it’s easy to say that) has actually won a Billboard “Rising Star” Award, but not a Grammy yet. She just feels like someone who should already have one. It’ll be interesting to see whether she can make Apollo explode – or whether it’ll be one of those concerts where you later say: “She was actually pretty good… who was that again?”
Schoolboy Q – You know what you’re getting
Schoolboy Q is back. Again. And it feels a bit like eating at your old regular restaurant: it’s safe, it’s delicious, but you’re not necessarily surprised. He knows his craft – we know his craft – and if you want solid West Coast rap without any nonsense, this is where you should be standing.
Jamie xx – “Someone had to be called XX”
Jamie xx feels a bit like a Roskilde tradition: there has to be an artist with XX in the name on the lineup. Of course, he’s still making beautiful, colourful club music for grown-ups who dream of Ibiza but end up in a tent camp in Slagelse. It’s going to be lovely. It’ll probably be very nocturnal. The kind of set where you suddenly realise your shoes are gone and someone has drawn a rainbow on your forehead.
Electric Callboy – Metal with flashing lights
If Cartoon Network made a metal band, it would be Electric Callboy. They’re completely over the top – hard, stupid, funny, screaming, flashing. Imagine an Ud Af Kontrol concert, only with guitar solos and mosh pits, and you’re roughly there. It’ll probably be a mess. It’ll probably be brilliant. At the very least, put on sunglasses and stop fighting it.
Emma Sehested Høeg – Diva on her own terms
Emma Sehested Høeg makes shows that hover somewhere between concert, performance art and therapeutic self-exposure. She is much more of a diva than she may think – and that’s what makes it interesting. If you want to see someone wrench themselves free of every expectation, both their own and everyone else’s, stop by.
Others we’re keeping an eye on:
- Artigeardit: Danish rap that works, especially if you like a little pain in the beat.
- MØ: Energetic. Familiar. She usually wins over the big stages because she plays as if she still has everything to prove.
- Snow Strippers: If you like weird electronic music at 3 a.m. – this is for you.
Closing note:
Friday at Roskilde 2025 will be all the best and worst things about festivals: new stars, old favourites, and concerts that end up either as mythical memories or as “oh right, that was her too.” We’re most excited about Saint Levant – and most of all, we’re excited to see what goes wrong in the most wonderful way.
