Live, in Photos: NorthSide Festival with The Smile, St. Vincent, Massive Attack, and More

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Live, in Photos: NorthSide Festival with The Smile, St. Vincent, Massive Attack, and More

Plus Vince Staples, Troye Sivan, Slowdive, MØ, and more from the annual fest in Denmark’s City of Smiles, Aarhus.

Photos: Joshua Mellin

June 10, 2024

Throughout frequent rain showers, occasional hail, and consuming mud, the fans of NorthSide Festival never lost their beaming grins in Aarhus, Denmark—familiarly known as Smilets, which is literally translated as “City of Smiles.” Motivated by the likes of Vince Staples, Massive Attack with special guest Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins (!), and, most aptly, the Radiohead offshoot The Smile, the good vibes shone through as the skies always seemed to part at just the right moment, even revealing a rainbow or two.

Beyond those aforementioned draws, St. Vincent continued to settle into her current era buoyed by her latest release All Born Screaming. Elsewhere, recent breakout Troye Sivan put on a full-on Pride Month celebration with his afternoon set full of dancers and fashion changes, while 070 Shake brought her fans to tears.

Located just a leisurely stroll (or a short bike ride, as is local custom) from the city center, the festival’s rolling hills offered a secluded setting while still conveniently close enough to the urban space to let fans reset and have a refreshing night’s sleep in their own beds—the ideal situation, as any festival goer will tell you. The event also goes out of its way to surprise guests with such spectacles as jellyfish stilt-walkers, faux horse jockeys, and even oiled up wrestling matches.

NorthSide champions a model of environmental sustainability in being the first major festival in the world to use 100 percent green electricity, while repurposing shipping pallets into the structures that make up the bars around the site—and this year they even made the move to go completely meat-free with their food vendors. The initiative led to some of the most delicious food offerings like butter chicken-free masala and New York steak subs made of mushroom even better than the real thing.

Check out more highlights from the City of Smiles below.