Umeå Open is an annual music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 taking place in Umeå

Umeå

- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...

, Västerbotten

Västerbotten

', English exonym: West Bothnia, is a province or landskap in the north of Sweden. It borders Ångermanland, Lapland, Norrbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is famous for the cheese with the same name as the province.- Administration :...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 at the end of March. Bands and artists from Europe, North America and Japan perform alongside local acts in the Folkets Hus venue in downtown Umeå. Along with music, Umeå Open has a conference and a host of related events. Borne from the popularity of the 1997 PopStad award to Umeå by Swedish radio, the festival has been held since 1998 and is regularly sold out in advance.

Swedish artists

• Abhinanda
• The Ark
  The Ark (band)
  The Ark was a Swedish glam rock band formed in 1991 by Jepsson Mikael , and Lasse Ljungberg, when Ola Salo and Leari were only fourteen years old. Martin Axén officially joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in 1999. In late 2005, Jens Andersson joined The Ark as an official member...
  
  
• Asta Kask
  Asta Kask
  Asta Kask is a punk band from Töreboda, Sweden. It was founded as "X-tas" in 1978, but changed to Asta Kask in 1980. In 1984 the band started working with Rosa Honung Records. After the 1986 release of the "Aldrig en LP" the band split up. In 1989 the band was reunited and played a few gigs, but...
  
  
• The Bear Quartet
  The Bear Quartet
  The Bear Quartet is an indie rock group from Luleå in northern Sweden. They have been playing since 1989 and have been making records at a steady rate since 1992, often to critical acclaim but never resulting in large sales....
  
  
• Cult of Luna
  Cult of Luna
  Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå. They formed from the remnants of a Umeå hardcore punk band called Eclipse in 1998. They slowly garnered critical appreciation and underground popularity with early releases Cult of Luna and The Beyond ; however, it is 2004's Salvation that can...
  
  
• Doktor Kosmos
  Doktor Kosmos
  Doktor Kosmos is a pop band best characterized by the unique style of their humorous lyrics. The lyrics often have social or political themes, and the band is socialist, although not above making fun of their own opinions....
  
  
• Entombed
  Entombed (band)
  Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
  
  
• Final Exit
  Final Exit (band)
  Final Exit was a Swedish hardcore punk band witch originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1994. The band was a side project made up by the members of Refused and Abhinanda. The band existed from 1994 and broke up in 1997.- History :...
  
  
• Frida Hyvönen
  Frida Hyvönen
  Frida Hyvönen is a Swedish singer-songwriter. She grew up in Robertsfors, a small place just outside Umeå in the north of Sweden , and is currently based in Paris, France....
  
  
• Grand Tone Music
• The Haunted
  The Haunted
  The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...
  
  
• Heed
  Heed
  Heed was a Swedish power metal band founded in 2004 by ex-Lost Horizon members Daniel Heiman and Fredrik Olsson . They were joined by drummer Mats Karlsson and bass player Jörgen Olsson, and began recording on their debut album The Call...
  
  
• Hellacopters
• Honey Is Cool
  Honey Is Cool
  Honey Is Cool was an alternative rock band from Sweden. The band was formed in 1994 by Karin Dreijer, drummer Johan Hagström, and bass player Staffan Larsson, who were soon complemented by guitarist Anders Göthberg who soon left the band and was replaced by John Jern.-History:During the second half...
  
  
• Håkan Hellström
  Håkan Hellström
  Håkan Hellström is a Swedish musician. He got his Swedish breakthrough in the year 2000 with the song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg"...
  
  
• Isolation Years
• Jens Lekman
  Jens Lekman
  Jens Martin Lekman is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. The English lyrics reflect an advanced knowledge of the language and its idioms...
  
  
• José González
  José González
  José González is a Swedish-Argentine indie folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Gothenburg, Sweden.González is also a member of Swedish band Junip, along with Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn.- Biography :...
  
  
• Komeda
  Komeda
  Komeda is a Swedish pop/indie band from Umeå. The group is named in honour of the late jazz musician Krzysztof Komeda. The band started in 1991 as a pit band for a Buster Keaton festival. Forming as a quartet, Komeda consisted of vocalist Lena Karlsson, guitarist Henrik Andersson , bassist Marcus...
  
  
• Mando Diao
  Mando Diao
  Mando Diao is an alternative rock band from Borlänge, Sweden. The band got their breakthrough with the release of the album Hurricane Bar. Their main fan base is in Sweden, Germany, and Japan although their influence has recently spread to Western Europe, most notably the UK.-Origin:The roots of...
  
  
• Meshuggah
  Meshuggah
  Meshuggah is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992...
  
  
• Nicolai Dunger
  Nicolai Dunger
  Nicolai Dunger is a singer and acoustic songwriter from Piteå in Sweden. He has released twelve EPs and albums, singing primarily in English, and collaborated notably with Will Oldham, the Esbjörn Svensson jazz trio and Ebbot Lundberg. He also records under the alias A Taste of Ra...
  
  
• Nocturnal Rites
  Nocturnal Rites
  - Biography :The band started off under the name Necronomic playing heavy metal, as can be heard on their demo . This attracted some independent labels' attention, but they turned them down in the hope of a better opportunity...
  
  
• The (International) Noise Conspiracy
  The (International) Noise Conspiracy
  The Noise Conspiracy is a Swedish rock band formed in Sweden in the late months of 1998. The line-up consists of Dennis Lyxzén , Inge Johansson , Lars Strömberg , and Ludwig Dahlberg . The band is known for its punk and garage rock musical influences, and its impassioned left-wing political stance...
  
  
• Refused
  Refused
  Refused was a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1991. In total the band released five EPs and three albums, before splitting up in 1998...
  
  
• Randy
  Randy (band)
  Randy is a punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. They were first inspired by skate punk bands like NOFX and Propagandhi but after the release of The Rest Is Silence and the depart of their bass player Patrik Trydvall, they radically changed their musical style and adopted an older...
  
  
• Sahara Hotnights
  Sahara Hotnights
  Sahara Hotnights is a rock band from Robertsfors, Sweden. Their style incorporates elements of garage rock, power pop and punk. While in Australia, Josephine Forsman bet on a horse named Sahara Hotnights and used the name for the band.-History:...
  
  
• Salem Al Fakir
  Salem Al Fakir
  Lars Salem Al Fakir is a Swedish soul/pop musician and singer of Syrian origin.-Early years:Salem learned to play violin at the age of four and subsequently toured Russia as a solo violinist at the age of fourteen, but returned to Sweden to study jazz piano.-Recording artist:During his career he...
  
  
• Silverbullit
  Silverbullit
  Silverbullit is a Swedish rock band based in Göteborg. Formed in 1995 under the name "Silverbullet", which was changed after a conflict over the rights for the name. They are known under the name Citizen Bird in the US, and have toured under that name and released their album Citizen Bird as a...
  
  
• The Soundtrack of Our Lives
  The Soundtrack of Our Lives
  The Soundtrack of Our Lives, alternatively known as T.S.O.O.L. or Soundtrack, is a Swedish rock band that formed in 1995 after the dissolution of the punk band Union Carbide Productions....
  
  
• Starmarket
• Timbuktu
  Timbuktu (artist)
  Jason Michael Robinson Diakité , known under the stage name Timbuktu, is a Swedish rapper and reggae artist. Earlier in the mid-1990s, he started as part of rap Excel before going solo as Timbuktu.-Biography:...
  
  
• Tingsek
  Tingsek
  Tingsek, first name Magnus, was born in 1978 and raised in the small town of Södra Sandby in the lush countryside of southern Sweden.-Biography:Tingsek began his musical career in his early teens...
  
  
• The Vectors
• The Wannadies
  The Wannadies
  The Wannadies were an alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå, northern Sweden. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten , Christina Bergmark , Stefan Schönfeldt and his younger brother Fredrik Schönfeldt with Gunnar Karlsson and Björn Malmquist .Early influences...
  
  
• Weeping Willows
  Weeping Willows
  Weeping Willows is a Swedish indie rock group that started 1995.-History:The band's first two albums are primarily influenced by the popular music of the late 1950's to early 1960's...
  
  

International Artists

• The Afghan Whigs
  The Afghan Whigs
  The Afghan Whigs were a soul-influenced American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. PopMatters described the band as "beyond simple genre categorization, and though lauded by the music press, never got their just due."-Band history:...
  
  
• Atmosphere
  Atmosphere (music group)
  Atmosphere is an American hip hop group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is composed of rapper Slug and DJ/Producer Ant...
  
  
• The Bell Orchestre
• Chicks on Speed
  Chicks on Speed
  Chicks on Speed is a multi-national musical ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, when members Melissa Logan, Kiki Moorse and Alex Murray-Leslie met at the Academy of Fine Arts....
  
  
• Ed Harcourt
  Ed Harcourt
  Ed Harcourt is an English singer-songwriter. To date, he has released five studio albums, two EPs, and thirteen singles. His debut album, Here Be Monsters, was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Prize...
  
  
• Euroboys
  Euroboys
  Euroboys is a Norwegian band. They were formed in 1990 under the name Kåre And The Cavemen, but changed their name to Euroboys in 1997 for releases outside of Norway...
  
  
• Handsomeboy Technique
• Interpol
  Interpol (band)
  Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...
  
  
• Jeans Team
  Jeans Team
  Jeans Team are a Berlin-based electronic music group. The group started as a duo as a video art performance group. By 1997, Gunter Kreis and Henning Watkinson were added to complete the quartet. In 2002, they recorded a session for John Peel radio show. Various members of the ensemble perform DJ...
  
  
• The Jesus Lizard
  The Jesus Lizard
  The Jesus Lizard was an American alternative rock and noise rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial...
  
  
• Kavinsky
  Kavinsky
  Kavinsky is a French electro house artist, and has released three EPs on the Record Makers label: Teddy Boy in 2006, 1986 a year later and "Nightcall" in 2010. He has been remixed by SebastiAn and others. He toured alongside Daft Punk, The Rapture, Justice, and SebastiAn in 2007...
  
  
• Le Tigre
  Le Tigre
  Le Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
  
  
• The Magnetic Fields
  The Magnetic Fields
  The Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
  
  
• The Make-Up
• Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel
  Mark Eitzel is a musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the San Francisco band American Music Club.-History:Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan, Ohio and the United Kingdom. He moved to America in 1979.He started making music while he was...
  
  
• Mates Of State
  Mates of State
  Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is composed of the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel .Over the course of the band's fourteen year career, they've released three EPs and six full-length, studio...
  
  
• Mayhem
  Mayhem (band)
  Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...
  
  
• Mental Kombat
• Motorpsycho
  Motorpsycho
  Motorpsycho is a band from Trondheim, Norway. Their music can generally be defined as psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from metal, jazz, rock, pop and many other musical styles. The members of the band are Bent Sæther , Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan and Kenneth Kapstad...
  
  
• P.K. 14
  P.K. 14
  P.K. 14 is a Chinese rock band composed of vocalist Yang Haisong , Xu Bo on guitar, bassist Shi Xudong , and drummer Jonathan Leijonhufvud . Their post-punk, indie rock musical style has been influential on the Chinese rock scene since their first album was released in 2001, making them "elder...
  
  
• Poison The Well
  Poison the Well (band)
  Poison the Well was an experimental hardcore band from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who were last signed to Ferret Music. Guitarist Ryan Primack and drummer Chris Hornbrook were the only remaining members of the band who were involved since their inception, although vocalist Jeffrey Moreira was...
  
  
• The Pipettes
  The Pipettes
  The Pipettes are a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by "svengali" Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released two albums, We Are the Pipettes, and Earth vs...
  
  
• Stereo Total
  Stereo Total
  Stereo Total is a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German duo comprising Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring . Both Cactus and Göring sing and play multiple instruments...
  
  
• Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
  
  
• Turbonegro
  Turbonegro
  Turbonegro is a Norwegian punk rock band that was initially active from 1989 to 1998, and later reformed in 2002. Their style combines glam rock, punk rock and hard rock into a style the band describes as "deathpunk"....
  
  

External links

• Umeå Open home page
• List of previous bands