International Music Festivals

Skrillex b2b Four Tet, yall.

Oh yeah.. And I went to Rock Werchter and Down The Rabbit Hole end of june/early july. Both were great experiences (think this was my 4th year at Werchter?) and well organized on both occasions. 

Rock Werchter/

I wasn't very keen on the line up and the organisation this year after what they pulled on us with the whole P!nk-thing (they tried to sell day tickets for the same price as other days despite having a lot less acts and upped the price for weekend, which they made up for after festival goers complained on social media about it.) but I could go as a journalist and write about concerts so I just went for free which was nice, despite not me really agreeing with their policy, control system and the amount of people they let on the ground which made me feel very small in the past (now not so much even though they capped it off at 88k a day again, sigh).

Anyways, ever since 2017 they made some system in the tents where if you weren't "on time" you couldn't get anymore because of the way they try to control the crowd in there (again, way to much people). So if you wanted to see someone you basically had to go there atleast 10 mins beforehand to no run into the red crosses who lit up after the boys at the gates decide that the tent is full. That's fine but not so much when you got another tent right next to it that when the act there ends it's set, the set at the other tent starts which is lame because you never get to experience a full set because at the end you just have to leave because you might miss the next one (or you're left with the option to see what's on the mainstage which most of the time was basic shit anyways). It caused tents to get really full at the start and just empty out in the end (King Princess was the most painful one, she only had 1/3 of her initial crowd anymore). And even if people leave.. They still don't open the gates again to enter the tent until halfway through the show. This holy shitshow causes unnecessary stress and I fucking hate it that I have to stress about if I can "make it to the next show".

So apart from the bat shit crazy line up again this year (The Cure and Tool on one fucking day?!), I was already done with Werchter before it even started. I've been done for the past few years with this festival, the problem is that the line up IS SO FUCKING GOOD and there's no festival in Europe (okay Mad Cool was better last year) that does a better job with their line ups and quality of sound than Werchter.

On top of that, I gotta say that the crowd was the worst in all of the years I went. Maybe it was because they booked 2 stadium bands (P!nk and Muse) to headline or maybe it was due to the heatwave but holy shit do people like to talk during concerts and it's fucking annoying, but you already knew that.

You'd almost forget that after all that complaining, there was also amazing shit to see there. Rosalia blew my mind, giving one of the best shows of the year period. She was so spontaneous, engaging, sensual and mysterious at the same time. The Cure was insane on that Radiohead 2017 level for me personally. Tool was just 1h (because I went to catch Robyn) of pure noise, power and roaring guitars and I fucking loved it. Damon Albarn never dissappoints. Janelle Monae, Angèle and Robyn (+ Rosalia) showed that females ruled this edition. Brockhampton had insane energy.. Idk, here's a top ten.

Top ten:

1. Rosalía
2. The Cure
3. Tool
4. The Good, The Bad & The Queen
5. Janelle Monáe
6. Brockhampton
7. Angèle
8. Robyn
9. New Order
10. Elbow


Down The Rabbit Hole/

My first time going and holy shit was it amazing. I went with two guys I met online and they were both really nice. We sometimes hung out with some bigger group where one of them was part of which was really cool aswell because I never went to a festival with like 30-ish people like that (not that we went all the time to the same concerts but you get the jist. With Werchter, it was just me and my buddy so). The location (that lake!) sells itself though the organisation still put a lot of effort in the whole esthetic of the festival which was cool (but I wonder if this all fairy tale kind of set is really necessary). 

Festival goers were talkative but not so much as compared to Werchter the weekend before which is telling because I've always liked the Werchter-crowd. The nightprogramming was highly anticipated but next to some sets by Dam Funk, The Hacker, Sassy J whom were only half attended.. It left me dissapointed. I was really looking forward to some late techno and each night only like 1-2k people showed up.. Maybe they got to much side activities going (they hosted a basic singalong party each night in the second stage/tent which could hold about 5/8k people f.e.).

My experience at DTRH was A LOT better than RW, but the amount of great shows can't be compared. DTRH is half the size, has a smaller production which sometimes led to bad sound, but is a crowd amount I like more than the whole ant-feeling I get from going to RW. The vibezz were amazing despite sometimes having a talkative kind of crowd which could be solved by just standing really close to the stage lmao (f.e. Olafur Arnalds, Thom Yorke etc.) I'd think about going back in opposition to not going to Werchter next year if they program a bit more cutting edge shit, have better headliners and have a better night program. Top ten beloww:

1. Thom Yorke
2. Rosalía
3. Janelle Monáe
4. The Comet Is Coming
5. Low
6. Parquet Courts
7. Gwyneth Wentink
8. Parcels
9. Balthazar
10. DāM-FunK

^^^^^^^^
hopefully king gizzard plays some new stuff!!

blindly committing to rewire fest in the hague for 70 euro, so many left field bookings last year it grabbed my attention. Nicolas jaar did a show where the crowd hit some bulb things on stage and around the venue and he would use that to create his show from the mixing board? and that seemed to be boring by their standards. Planning a trip with a friend who has only been to a couple shows in his life so this will be an experience.

Yeah this fucking owns again, doesn't it.

Honestly count me in if you do, I've never pulled the trigger on this one because of several reasons and it just needs to happen lol.

That Bug curation is just insane.

It's always gonna come down to this or Roadburn for me, I swear.

Has anyone here ever gone to this before? I have a friend who's very much interested in attending but wants more information about it before pulling the trigger

Wtf

Sorry, I'm seeing this now. I've been to the Guadalajara version, but that's it. I can still ask your friend's questions if still interested. I also won't be going to this anymore, and I can sell my ticket if interested in that as well. 

How about that Pitchfork Berlin announcement?

Great, let me know!

Lol NOS Alive about to sell their most tickets ever. RIP indeed

When you had bands like The National, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire etc headlining, you sure as hell as a regular visitor would love to see TayTay and Billie headlining. Ofcourse will the kids eat this shit up and will this sell out.