Festival season starts: These pop highlights are coming in May

May brings everything new. Admittedly, it's an old saying, but it's true in many ways for festivals, as the first highlights of the season are coming up in the coming weeks – and they're indeed spread across the entire country. So, while the avant-garde takes over at the Krems Donaufestival, the 80s and 90s are celebrated at the Donauinsel Open Air. And while Blood Incantation are blazing their way through space, there are also the following highlights:

It's been a while since Salzburg's Residenzplatz was filled with pop music. Fans fondly remember performances by Herbert Grönemeyer, Pearl Jam, and Tina Turner. This year, it's that time again: with local duo Wanda and Christina Stürmer (May 9) and German star DJ Paul Kalkbrenner (May 10), there will be another prominent live lineup. And you can also look forward to a stylish ambiance in Krems, where the Festival am Steinertor (May 28-31) will feature performances by Michael Mittermeier, Jan Delay and his Disko No.1, the Fantastischen Vier, and Pizzera & Jaus. A varied program of humor and danceable sounds seems guaranteed.

Freshly awarded the Austrian Jazz Prize for Best Live Act, the quartet Synesthetic4, led by jack-of-all-trades Vincent Pongracz, presents a new album. On "Bread," released on May 16, the group focuses primarily on groove and drive, as expressed in the irresistible head-nodder "Hö." Together with guitarist Peter Rom, bassist Manuel Mayr, and drummer Andreas Lettner, clarinetist Pongracz continues to explore sounds that are anything but ordinary, yet still don't offend. Not to mention his Dadaist-inspired lyrics, which create a great sense of urgency in the title track, for example. The album, which lasts just over 12 minutes on record, will be presented live on May 18 at Porgy & Bess in Vienna.

In the early 2000s, the Deconstruction Tour, a one-day festival, brought together a renowned punk lineup year after year to tour Europe together. After a nearly 20-year hiatus, the format is now revived, now called the Reconstruction Tour, and will also be appearing at the Vienna Arena on May 21st. Alongside melodic punk legends Pennywise and the hardcore band Comeback Kid, the lineup will also feature Canadians Propagandhi. The band has been at the forefront of the political punk scene for almost 30 years, offering a diverse musical approach with undeniable influences from metal and alternative rock. A new studio album, "At Peace," will be released at the beginning of this month, and it will surely place the title in a global political context. Chris Hannah and his colleagues have never been shy about making clear statements.

The Klagenfurt Festival will take place for the fifth time from May 23 to June 13. Between the Musilhaus, the Burghof, and the Stadttheater, a rich selection of events will be served, with the Viennese band Buntspecht combining handcrafted sounds with compositional finesse, Soap&Skin singing their way through their own and other people's songs as a sorrow woman, and the sibling duo CocoRosie presenting their new album "Little Death Wishes." Schmähbruder Austrofred and Marina & The Kats will be hosting "Walking Concerts," while Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, Peter Licht, and Lars Eidinger will be serving up literary delights alongside their DJ activities. And Christoph Grissemann and maschek member Robert Stachel will be serving up deliciously humorous "Rouladen" (roulades).