One can safely say that Thursday was dominated by acts from the so-called Loddefjorden scene. Fjorden Baby!, Ungdomskulen, The New Wine and John Olav Nilsen were all on the Thursday bill, which also contained acts from – among other places – Stavanger, Nigeria, Scotland, England, the US and Sweden.

Fjorden Baby! opened the second day of the festival on the Enga stage, the biggest stage the band has ever performed on, followed by Huntsville and Le Corbeau, on the Odden and Vika stages respectively. Both bands offer complex music that demands active listening on the audience’s part, and the crowd seemed to listen intently, even though it was still early in the day.

I Was a King have quickly become one of the most reliable Norwegian acts around these days, and after their wicked self-entitled debut album they simply can’t do anything wrong. And their performance on the Seaside stage was brilliant indeed, and so was the audience.

Marit Larsen’s second Øya concert after her festival debut back in 2006 was just as charming as last time. Her two albums more or less qualify as Norwegian classics, and the tidbits came like pearls on a string, with “Don’t Save Me” as the grand finale. No M2M oldies this time around, unfortunately, but that didn’t in any way diminish the experience for those present.

After Marit Larsen, Wilco opened like they open their latest album: with “Wilco (The Song)”. When they stated that “Wilco will love you, baby”, most everyone in the crowd was completely in the palm of their hand, and from there on out there were a lot of nostalgic moments and solid musical craftsmanship. Jeff Tweedy possesses a magical ability to block out everything else, significant or insignificant, with his voice, and that he once again managed from the Enga stage.

Florence & The Machine are the big British hype of the year, and Florence clearly showed us why. Some people are simply just born with what the British call “it” and the French refer to as “je ne sais quoi” – or in plain words, charisma and a radiant presence on stage. However, what is most stunning about this redhead, who entered the Seaside stage in sky-high heels and the shortest skirt of the day, is and remains her voice.

Øya has made a habit out of including acts from parts of the world where the indie rock genre isn’t very predominant. Seun Kuti came all the way from Lagos, Nigeria – together with his father’s legendary band, Fela’s Egypt 80 – to make stiff and hesitant Norwegians dance. The musicians outperformed most everybody else, the female backing singers completely outdid Beyoncé when it came to shaking their hineys, and Seun himself was all over the place, often with a saxophone strapped to his neck. Afro beat from beginning to end!

The sunset last night was accompanied by tender male voices, bass, guitar, brass, Victoria Legrand from Beach House and a whole sea of people when this year’s critic faves Grizzly Bear rounded off the evening at Vika. The New York-based act included everything from low, almost inaudible noises to booming voices in order to show Oslo just how to conclude an amazing day at the Øya Festival.

Fever Ray is about much more than just the music – which in itself is magical and dark like very little else these days. When you add the costumes and the light show to the music, however, the entire experience becomes a spectacular display of just how consistent and well carried out a live show can be. In her performance, Karin Dreijer Anderson alternated between innocence and darkness like it was the most natural thing in the world – while in reality it was flat out supernatural.