Exit continues...

A little history about Exit. The first EXIT was held in 2000, in opposition to the regime of then Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The event quickly outgrew Serbia, and today, it is one of the top music festivals in Europe. Since its inception, EXIT has been about more than music. This year campaigns were established to promote tolerance and anti-discrimination.For the second year in a row, EXIT also sent a strong message to the EU, asking for the visa regime to be relaxed for residents of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

(the festival grounds)

This year was the 8th EXIT festival featuring about 150,000 music fans, 28 stages, and four wild nights in Novi Sad, a city 80km north of Belgrade. Festival officials say this year's EXIT drew a record-breaking crowd from outside the country. As many as 40% were foreigners, the gang of us being part of that percentage.

(Megs and I having a few beers on the way.)

Back to the show... The next day turned out to be much better. We sat around the camp site making friends, drinking beer and playing cards. In order to avoid the crazy mob, we gathered our things and headed out to the fortress early. By early, I mean the grounds were empty of any fans, just workers getting ready for the night. But it made it nice for us. We made friends with the camera guys, the security guys and even the food vendors. We now had connections all over the grounds.

(Darko, one of our new Serbian friends we met)

Night Two Lineup: Overflow, the Pipettes, CSS, and Beastie Boys.

Getting there early allowed us to stake out the best seats in the house...front row. Mind you we were hours early, but hey, there was beer and good company, same things we would have over at the camp.

(Beastie Boys)

Not recognizing most of the bands in the lineup, the show turned out to be awesome. Beastie Boys was of course the highlight. After the show we headed back to the camp already deciding to get there early the next day as well. There is nothing like being that close to the action.