Thursday
I was happy to see they improved some organisatory stuff compared to the previous years - no more standing in the hot sun for 45 minutes to get in!
Started the day with Stay+ which is...some sort of electro thingy. Just one guy on a laptop, but it was quite good really.
Went to the main stage to see Snoop Dogg. I suppose this was my guilty pleasure of the festival. So many wrong things on stage (guy dressed up as a dog with a huuuge dong, 2 almost naked female dancers, Snoop talking about smoking weed every 2 minutes), but I liked it.
Saw a bit of Of Monsters and Men - kind of cute but also kind of forgettable. Walked around a bit, checking out the changes they made to the festival, then went back to the castello to see Chromatics. I left rather early - they did nothing for me, at all. They're sort of synth-poppy, sounding not to dissimilar to Depeche Mode and the like, and normally I like that, but the female singer was just awful, and the lyrics (which I can be very anal about) were quite laughable sometimes. I'm quite surprised to see they got good reviews everywhere - maybe it was just the wrong place and the wrong time for me.
So I left and went to check out the Petit Bazaar, which has a variety of activities - a couple of years ago they even had professional wrestling, it was quite good. This time though, a band was coming on a little stage they made: Kenji Minogue. They were hilarious. 2 women, one sort of androgynous, the other pregnant. And let's not forget the guy wearing a pig mask on drums. Music was also 80s synth pop (or actually, closer to Belgian new-beat), singing in west-flemish, the first song about "what is your name", second song was about "if you can't come, then don't come!" I mean, it was so stupid, it was actually brilliant!! I have two videos of them, here and here. They were quite the hype really, I went to see them every day, first day there were maybe 30 people, last day maybe 150 or more dancing to them. And by then they already knew her name haha. Really, it was one of the best overall experiences I had at a festival.
Back to the main stage to see Santigold. Saw her about 2 years ago at another festival (back when she was still Santogold) so I knew - more or less - what to expect. But I wondered what the new album would sound like live. To my surprise, she actually balanced the two albums quite well - I expected only to hear one or two songs from the first album, but she played about 4 I think. Was nice to hear Creator again - one of her best songs, especially live. And good to see her two dancers again, they're really good. I wasn't really impressed with the new songs though, I don't think I'll buy her new album. First album still rocks though.
After that it was time to check out another hype: Django Django. I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were, although it might be because I went to see them with a "oh god, not another stupidly hyped indie band". Very catchy stuff, enough diversity in their songs, hmm...maybe they do deserve some hype?
It was time for another little break - even though I did stay with Dorian Concept in the castello a bit - which I quite enjoyed, I do appreciate a nice slice of electro now and then.
I went to the marquee to see Hot Chip - they played here a lot over the past 6 years or so, but I always had another band I wanted to see at that time. This time I actually skipped Bloc Party to see them (it's okay though, I had seen Bloc Party twice before at this festival heh). Anyway, I can easily understand why they're a festival favourite, they're electronic but not too electronic, just right enough for everyone to enjoy, not just the electro crowd.
Then it was time to find a good spot in front of the main stage to see the number one reason I actually bought a ticket for this festival: Björk!
I actually wasn't expecting that much from this show really - the new album only has about 2 songs I like, and I really just wanted to experience Pluto and Declare Independence again.
I was happy to hear Hunter again (one of my favs) and right after Thunderbolt (one of those 2 songs I like on the new album), which was the first song in which they used that electronic gizmo, two tesla coils in a cage - I'll link to a vid later. Most of the set was a mix of new songs and some reworked old songs like Hidden Place (which had a very creepy video) and Pagan Poetry.
After Pagan Poetry, the last third of the set began...with Mutual Core (that other song from the new album I like), followed by a weird version of Pluto. Then, a song dedicated to Eyjafjallajökull: Naturra.
Encore time! Björk said she went digging in her back catalogue to find a song to use with her electronic gizmo, and that song was....Possibly Maybe! It was also a weirder version, started off slow, but then those do-do-do-doos turned into hard, crunchy electro-gizmo beats (or was it the other way around?). Anyway, it sounded SO GOOD and I could almost cry at the beauty, of both the song (which probably has my favourite Björk lyrics, together with Cocoon) and how weird but wonderful this version turned out.
Then the set obviously ended with Declare Independence, which she dedicated to Julian Assange and Pussy Riot. "Justice!"
I promised you videos of the electro-gizmo, here's a bit of Possibly Maybe and Declare Independence.
I wanted to see Isbells next, but the tent they were playing in was already full. Got some food, and then went to the marquee to see Feist. Before the gig I wondered if the marquee wouldn't be too big for her, after all, most of her songs are sort of quiet, intimate songs. But no, it looked like she fitted in quite well, the live versions of her songs all sounded a lot more lively, and she interacted with the audience rather well. Still, after the excitement and emotion of the Björk gig, I couldn't really get into it as much as I wanted to. She also didn't play 1 2 3 4 *sadface*, but she did play My Moon My Man and Limit to your love (which are more know in Belgium by other artists, go figure). Though she ended with Sealion, which is one of my least favourite songs ha.
And that was the end of day one!! One of the best festival days I had here.
Friday
My day started with Vondelpark, a pretty nice way to start the festival day, sort of new wave/electro, but quite relaxing. I stayed around the castello and saw Com Truise later - not a big jump in genre but I would say he was more exciting than Vondelpark - but it was just him and his laptop so it was pretty boring to watch.
Saw a bit of Sam Sparro. He was pretty good live. Not a big fan of his other work, but Black & Gold is an awesome track. Much better than Happiness!
Back to the castello to see Kap Bambino. I was constantly torn between "this is giving me a headache" and "this is awesome!" I generally quite like a bit of electro-punk, but the woman shouting sort of gets old after a while. The music itself I liked though.
Apparat band was next. I was quite surprised, this was actually a band, because I know Apparat as a techno DJ/producer. Again it was very nice electronic pop, and actually far less "jumpy" than I expected.
Took a little food break (the chicken burgers were awesome!) and then I did my only trip that day to the main stage, to see Lykke Li. I was surprised to see they put her on the main stage, as her music isn't really main stage material... result: the main stage area was practically deserted. Not that the gig itself was that awful, it's just that her music doesn't fit on the main stage of a festival like this. And personally, I don't like the new album as much as the first one, I think she should've put some of the more upbeat songs from that album in the set. And Dance dance dance, because of the trumpet. Actually, her band played a lot more instruments on the tour of the first album, it's like they dumbed down for this album. Meh. So yeah, it was a bit disappointing.
Caught a bit of Goose - a belgian festival regular - and again I was amazed but not surprised to see the marquee site absolutely flooded. They probably should've put them on the main stage really.
Went to the club to see a bit of The Tallest Man on Earth. He wasn't tall. But the music wasn't bad at all. Found a place to sit near the club and stayed there until The Stone Roses began. Didn't stay long as I went to the Marquee to see Jamie Woon. Unfortunately I missed the one song I wanted to hear: Night Air, as the rest of his album is horribly boring. The songs did sound a lot better live though, more jazz-rock like. And I thought that Jamie Woon would be this shy, quiet guy on stage, but his stage presence is pretty good for someone as inexperienced as him.
After that I went stage-hopping again. Saw a bit of James Blake (as a DJ) in the castello, I liked his music choice but you know, DJs are boring. Someone told me to go see The Afghan Whigs, and even though it's not something I'd usually go see, it really wasn't bad or anything. Sat down a bit outside the marquee so I could see the gig on a screen.
It was getting very late, but I still found the energy to go to the dance site (first time this festival) to see Digitalism (live). I had seen them before when they toured with their first album, which I quite liked, but I haven't really followed them since. I know they had a new album out, so I was interested to hear what it would sound like. I wouldn't say the new songs were bad, but I still don't see myself buying the new album though. They're sort of...passé, you know. Heh. I liked their set-up though, sort of Kraftwerkian. Happy I saw them, but I was already quite tired then.
So, this was a bit of weird day, pretty much every stage I went to (except for when Goose played) was maybe only 1/4th filled. I didn't have the impression that there were less people than yesterday, but when it comes to headliners this was easily the worst day of the 3.
Saturday
It was hot on Friday, but on Saturday, it was scorching hot. The friend I was staying with had a thermometer in the garden, and it got stuck at 50°C (in the sun). So yeah. I didn't play on leaving early anyway after the long day yesterday, so I only left at 3:30PM.
I went to see Light Asylum first, I read the names "Suicide" and "D.A.F." somewhere (two of my favourite bands) when describing them, so I had to see them. Even if they played in the castello tent, which would be even hotter than outside.
And it was extremely hot in the tent, probably the reason why the place was practically deserted, and I could go right up to the front. And guess what happened? I was sweating like crazy, just by being in that tent, but I couldn't resist dancing. Not...really dancing and jumping around or anything, but still moving my body far more than I did at any other gig. Their type of music is indeed not that far from the Suicide and D.A.F. family (drum machine driven electro) but Light Asylum also has a crazy (but awesome) female vocalist. I quite liked her energy, despite the heat she gave a great performance, lots of dancing and jumping and whatnot .
It was in some ways one of the weirdest gigs I experienced at this festival (though still not close to Jamie Liddel's electro gig with just him dressed in his pyjamas and some other guy dressed as a harlequin, or that - now legendary - Fat Truckers gig), but you know I like weird, and I very much like this type of music, so this ended up being my second favourite gig of this festival.
When I went out of the castello I wanted to go see Major Lazer, but the dance site was so damn crowded already, ugh. I did stay a bit, and liked what I heard, but I hated how crowded it was so I left to see Patrick Watson. Stayed about 15 minutes, liked what I heard, but I need to get a drink and went away. While I was doing that, that impressive minute of silence happened to commemorate the victims of last year's storm. Very, very impressive, that a big festival like this can just stop for a minute. Respect.
I went back to the petit bazaar to have some fun again - the show must go on etc. - had a drink, relaxed, and saw some mini-gigs again. Was happy to see many people there for Kenji Minogue, looked like they were a small festival hype haha. ....obviously, that means I no longer liked them, since they became too popular to be cool. I only like unpopular things you know. Like Björk.
Anyway, back to the "real" festival - I went to see SX, a little but hyped belgian band, I was quite impressed with them. Very nice electro-pop, with a pretty good female vocalist. Their album isn't out yet but if they sound as good on record as they did live I'll very likely get it.
Miike Snow was playing in the marquee, I have heard about him but don't really know his music. It was kind of nice, and the music was more upbeat than I thought it would be. But Miike Snow himself is such a weirdo really.
Anyway, at that point I was getting bored a bit, and 3 days of getting dust up my nose and in my throat, and being surrounded by music non-stop was getting to me, and I thought about going home. I gave myself another hour, and if I didn't feel better then I would go home. I went past the castello again and saw C2C, four french dudes actually DJ-ing, old school, with turntables and stuff! It was actually interesting to watch, unlike those DJs that just push the play button and throw up their hands.
I did another tour around the festival grounds, and then decided to go home anyway. Yes I know, Foo Fighters were on next, but I had already seen them before and I'm not a big fan anyway (yes, shame on me, etc.)
Anyway, to recap:
The good: Björk, Light Asylum, Kenji Minogue.
The bad: no-one, but Lykki Ly was rather disappointing
The ugly: the dry weather and the 10000s of people walking around made me get a ton of dirt and dust down my nose and throat. It's three days after the festival and only now I'm starting to feel better. I was sneezing non-stop from Friday to Sunday, and then on Monday I had a blocked nose and sore throat. And today I've been caughing up random crap. Yes, lots of fun.
Oh, and another thing to file under ugly: since everyone only had a minimal amount of clothing on, you couldn't help but stare at people's tattoos. 9.9/10 are ugly, stupid, or just plain wrong. My favourite was the girl with the Johnny Depp tattoo on her upper back: on the left side she had Edward Scissorhands, and on the right side the Mad Hatter. Yeah. Yeah. On the plus side, "the girl with the Johnny Depp tattoo" would be a great name for one of those young crappy indie bands, no?
So, anyway. Good edition this year, even though Friday felt a bit weird, and I was already tired on Saturday (although that might've been because of the heat as well). Maybe I'm just getting too old for 3 days of non-stop music. We'll see what bands will show up next year, but in general I'd love to go the full three days again. Just one day always feels so short .
To conclude, my (awful) pictures are here, and you can find some (short) videos on my youtube channel.
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