Optimus Alive’14 – a Festival you do not want to miss!

If you are looking for a Summer festival in Europe, search no more. Optimus Alive is a music festival that takes place every year in Lisbon, Portugal. In “Passeio Marítimo de Algés” to be more precise. It joins the warm (and if you’re lucky, sunny) weather of the capital city with great music and a wonderful atmosphere.

The line up? It is not even completed yet and it already has some huge names confirmed.

This year, for 3 straight days (10th, 11th and 12th of July) you will get to see/hear in the same place

• The recent 5 NME Awards’14 and 2 BRIT Awards’14 winners, Arctic Monkeys; 
• The band that created timeless songs such as ‘Lonely Boy’ and ‘Howlin’ for You’, The Black Keys;
• The winners of the British Breakthrough Act in the BRIT Awards’14 Bastille;
• The band that has the single ‘Radioactive’ in the Hot 100 of Billboard for the impressive 77th consecutive week, Imagine Dragons;
• One of the biggest alternative artists at the moment, that created a brilliant cover of ‘No Diggity’ and other amazing tunes himself, like ‘I’m into You’ and ‘Terms and Conditions’, Chet Faker
• The American Rock band, MGMT, creators of the famous “Kids” and “Electric feel”.

I could say a lot more about the other artists as well, but the list would be endless. Also, new names are being constantly added so, make sure you check regularly their website to stay up to date! (Optimus Alive’14)

Last couple of years’ editions were absolutely amazing. The many volunteers working for this event are waiting for you, right at the entrance to give you the best welcome possible and to give you the schedule of the full festival. Some other gifts such as hats, scarves and t-shirts are also given, so that you can go home with plenty souvenirs. And a smile in your face.

One of the things I appreciate the most about this festival is its ability to join lots of different genres of music and so, it can satisfy any musical taste. There are three stages: the “Optimus Stage” (main), the “Heineken Stage” (secondary) and the “Optimus Clubbing”, which is an Electronic music tent. Exactly due to the variety and a large number of artists, sometimes the schedules overlap between the stages and decisions have to be made. “Choose wisely!”

The debut of Of Monsters and Men in Portugal was on the 14th July 2013, on the Heineken Stage, Optimus Alive. Since this is one of my favourite bands, I had to give up watching Tame Impala on the Optimus Stage. I felt that they wanted to make this first time count and I can tell you that the Icelandic band unquestionably nailed it. It was an energetic concert from the start till the end, and the crowd didn’t stop singing along for even one second. Of Monsters and Men got even more loved by the Portuguese audience when the singer and guitarist Ragnar “Raggi” Þórhallsson placed a Portuguese flag thrown to the stage on a microphone stand. Oh good memories.

Band of Horses was also present in the Heineken Stage, delivering not only a flawless concert, but also one of the most felt versions of “The Funeral” I have ever heard.

In the main stage you could see bands such as Green Day, Kings of Leon, Depeche Mode, Two Door Cinema Club and others. Well, if you want to know a little bit more of how it was last year, you can watch the official after movie:

This year’s line up is exactly as luxurious as last years’. And it is not even complete. Unmissable.

(All images used belong to Optimus Alive)

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