Lister

”I hope some of you are as hung-over as I am”, a smiling Sys Bjerre says in the microphone while sitting at Orange Camp in a pair of red Adidas shorts and a sparkling spangle top. In spite of nausea and the heat, she has decided to play an intimate concert on Thursday afternoon to show her support to the Iranians who are currently fighting for a democratic Iran. When at Roskilde Festival, we eat ski-burgers, jump around with a sweaty forehead from concert to concert, skip ropes in the nude and forget about the outside world. But even though we are having fun, some parts of the world are still in a mess.

No ”fuck you” in Iran

The organisers behind the intimate concerts at camp site believe that a woman like Sys Bjerre sends a very clear signal:

"Last Sunday an Iranian-Danish band was threatened into cancelling their support concert at Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen, and Iranian pop artists are fleeing Iran because they are not allowed to sing about what is going on around them. Sys Bjerre sings “fuck you” and “your apartment is kind of burned down” with an ironical distance that is totally forbidden in Iran”, tell volunteers from The Initiative for a real Democracy in Iran.

Intimate concerts all week

The Initiative for a real Democracy in Iran has contacted a wide range of artists, who will play intimate concerts during the festival – mainly around CITY centre West.

“Sys and the other artists can wear the clothes the wish and sing what they want without having to fear for their own life or their families’ – that is what we want to focus on with the concerts”, the volunteers say and remind us that Danish rapper Jooks and other artists from the Roskilde Festival stages will send their thoughts and support to Iranians around the world.

Mads Langer on the programme

Sys Bjerre’s blond guitarist strikes the last chord and Sys thanks the festival guests for giving her and the good cause a few minutes of their time. Several members of the audience are wearing t-shirts saying “I am an Iranian” – an item which should be saved for the rest of the intimate concerts at camp site for instance with Danish singer Mads Langer.