Rock Werchter Review: Part 4

Rock Werchter Review (Sunday)

As the sun peeks its head through the clouds, it bathes the festival site in sunlight and it's clear that the past three days have been one huge party. But there is still one day left and it turned out to be another day of superb sets. 

We begin with a stage change. British band The Vaccines are due on The Barn at half past three, but Jessie J cancelled her set on the main stage at the very last minute to the shock of some of the younger members of the audience. This meant that The Vaccines are now moved to the main stage. It's the second time the band are playing at Werchter and keen to impress once again, they begin with something new from their third album "English Graffiti". The song 'Handsome' is typical Vaccines, its fast paced, and simple setting up the set perfectly. Front-man Justin Young is another singer who puts on an accent when introducing his songs which some may not care about but it is rather irritating. Credit to him though as he is clearly a passionate front-man, regularly falling to his knees, showing emotion and walking around the stage so that both sides of the audience can see him. Their set is well polished but rarely shows signs of variety, Their songs have great live presence and they create a distinctly positive atmosphere among the audience. Songs like 'Wetsuit', 'If You Wanna' and 'Norgaard' all go down a treat as The Vaccines light up the main stage. 

It's a long wait for Kasabian who are the main support act for Muse's set when they headline later. They are the perfect warm up act and play a storming set albeit in front of a crowd who were there for Muse, but Kasabian are a sensational live band and this performance showed exactly that. After seventeen years of experience you would expect Kasabian to have mastered the art of live performance, and you'd be right. They also have such range in their songs, from the bombastic "Bumblebeee" to the nod back to the 90s rave scene "Treat" (a sound which Kasabian said inspired their recent album 48:13) and the song that gave them their unique and commanding sound "Club Foot". As well as their own songs, Kasabian couldn't resist throwing in a couple of covers including 'People Are Strange" by The Doors which they cleverly added in to then end of "Thick As Thieves" and before their final hurrah they dedicated "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim to the days headliners Muse which led them perfectly in to set closer "LSF". They did find it hard to get the crowd going but eventually they fell under their spell of bullish rhythms and began emulating front-man Tom Meighan's dancing on stage.

Rock Werchter Review: Part 3

Rock Werchter Review (Saturday)

Temperatures had now soared to a staggering 36 degrees Celsius in Werchter and as we move closer to one o'clock on Saturday, American rock band FIDLAR (Fuck It Dog, Life's a Risk) are set to take the stage. Front-man Zach Carper is appropriately dressed for the weather, he's sporting a blue and white flowery shirt and shorts. He introduces the band. "we're FIDLAR, F, I, D, L, A R" as they dive in to their set with opener 'Stoked and Broke'. Fidlar's song's rarely exceed three and a half minutes, which lead to a breezy and rapid set full of quick and speedy riffs and "we don't care" style vocals. The set was over just as it began, the band blasted through songs from their self titled debut album, new songs including 'Drone' and they even treated the audience to a cover of Weezer's 'Sweater Song'. Fidlar are appearing at various other festivals this year and they will no doubt leave the audience stunned with their brand of punk. 

Up next on the main stage were British duo Royal Blood who just one year ago were declared as the "saviours of rock and roll" read in to that what you will, but they lived up to their hype by putting a red-hot set. The pair had actually played the festival on the Thursday and returned to give the Saturday crowd a dose of old-school rock and roll which both them and Royal Blood seemed to really enjoy. Opening with 'Come On Over' the duo set about breaking a few ear-drums. The only slightly disappointing element of their set was the speed at which they played some of their songs. 'Come On Over' was played at a slower tempo which meant that the song lost a bit of punch. Also front-man and bass player Mike Kerr has grown in confidence since the band first stared as he introduces the band with an American accent whilst he strutted around the stage in aviator sunglasses clearly fond of himself.  'Little Monster' saves his apparent arrogance as it completely blows away everything leaving you in awe of the riffs. Closer 'Out Of The Black' is bone-shaking ending to a set which is perhaps growing a little bit old and stale. Take nothing away from the performance because Royal Blood are a superb live band, but we want the duo to release some new material and fast. 

For all the hype surrounding The War On Drugs at the minute, it would be interesting to see if he lived up to it. The atmospheric composer bathed in the late afternoon sun did absolutely nothing to suggest that this hype is true. His performance was as dull as they come, and musically well, you can make all the little sounds come to life in a recording studio, but on a big festival stage they are rendered completely irrelevant and his performance lacked everything, even one his famous songs 'Red Eyes' was a disappointment. He drew in a big crowd as the festival advertised him one not to miss but they were left confused by this statement. If his performance was a colour it would have been beige. 

Bringing round the main stage crowd from a dreary performance would be a tough task for many bands and artists. But when you have Noel Gallagher on the bill you can breathe a sigh of relief. The ex-Oasis guitarist now solo artist took up the gauntlet. It turned out to be a brilliant performance with a few hidden surprises to boot. His opening track 'Everybody's On The Run' set the tone with it's anthemic chorus and vocal melodies. Noel Gallagher also interacted with the crowd something which The War Drugs failed to do. Gallagher seemed astonished when a member of the audience told him he was Mexican despite having ginger hair. Gallagher replied by saying "seeing a ginger Mexican is as rare as seeing a unicorn on acid" and then gave the man a round of applause. Gallagher then played four tracks from his new album "Chasing Yesterday" which although a bit samey, still had the huge choruses that you would expect from any Gallagher or Oasis song. Talking of Oasis songs, Gallagher played four in total including 'The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back In Anger" which to everyone's delight he ended with and it was a special moment for any Oasis fan who hadn't seen the 90s group live. The perfect showman left the Werchter crowd with a smile on their face and had treated them to one of the stand-out performances of the festival thus far. 

Rock Werchter Review: Part 2

Rock Werchter 2015 - Review (Friday)

After the excitement of the first day at Rock Werchter, the Friday had a lot to live up to. Arguably, it was the weakest of the four days as day tickets hadn't even sold out. Nonetheless there were still some acts definitely worth seeing. 

The first act of the day was the Scandinavian five-piece Of Monsters And Men who are still riding on the wave that is (arguably) their only hit 'Little Talks' which has brought them staggering popularity. It would be interesting to see if they have any other songs that can match or beat the folk-pop anthem. Sadly the answer to that it is a resounding no. Even when they finally got round to playing the hit, it left the audience with a sour taste as the performance felt tired and it seemed that even the band themselves were tired of the song too. They left the stage to tame applause which was an appropriate match for their set. Unless you're a die-hard fan, Of Monsters And Men might not be the best band to see at a festival.

Over in The Barn, the temperature was about to rise substantially as Alt-J were about to bring their wonky, complex music to the people of Belgium. Anticipation grew rapidly as the the lights went down and smoke began to fill The Barn and the introduction to Alt-J's 'Hunger of the Pine' rang out. The four-piece walked out on to the stage bathed in lasers and neon lights as if they had just walked out of a spaceship, which is very appropriate as their music at times can sound like its from another planet. They stormed straight in to a set full of tracks from both their albums to date. And the first thing you notice when they perform is how much  talent all four members have on stage and with their instruments. Secondly, you will notice that their songs played live have such power and are delivered so effortlessly, they may not strut around the stage but that is not what Alt-J are all about.

All their songs also have the ability to take you on a journey in to the unknown, not only that, the songs were all received with thunderous cheers which show just how popular the group have become. 'Matilda' and 'Left Hand Free' went down an absolute treat and 'Taro' from the debut album "An Awesome Wave" was performed to such perfection that it felt like Alt-J were issuing a statement to all encased within The Barn stating that "we are here". They have become a well-polished live act, this combined with their phenomenal musicianship and front-man Joe Newman's diverse lyrics signal that Alt-J are a force to be reckoned with. And don't be surprised to see them playing in stadiums across the world in the future. 

Rock Werchter 2015 Review

Rock Werchter 2015 - Review (Thursday)

After nearly 40 years of entertaining people from all over Europe, the organisers of Rock Werchter  know how to put on a good festival. And in 2015 despite various bands dropping out and having to shuffle the line-up on one of the days of the weekend, the festival delivered a fantastic spectacle. 

Arriving a day early, we set up camp for the next five days in the sweltering heat (believe it or not) and prepared for the first day. Thursday's line-up had been altered as the Foo Fighters had to pull out due to Dave Grohl falling off stage a breaking his leg. Faith No More replaced them. The festival site itself was a lot bigger than expected, and the first band of the day were British alternative rock band Marmozets. The band's debut album "Weird and Wonderful Marmozets" had been voted as Kerrang's album of the year a couple of months before, however they played in front of a half empty main stage. That didn't stop them from producing a raucous and wild set as vocalist Becca Macintyre ran around the stage frantically like she had been given electric shock treatment. Despite the hot conditions, she kept running around the stage for the majority of the set, and the performance was still excellent. Playing songs like 'Born Young and Free' and 'Why Do You Hate Me' the five-piece would have left a strong impression on the audience members who didn't know them and were the perfect opening act for Werchter 2015.

Having given Eagles of Death Metal a miss on the main stage (definitely a good move) the next band I saw were Swedish duo First Aid Kit who were bringing their latest album "Stay Gold" to Rock Werchter. They put on an extremely melodic and intricate performance in one of the indoor stages The Barn. This provided the perfect atmosphere for the duo's brand of folk-pop. It was very well received by the crowd and even caused mass sing-alongs to songs like 'My Silver Lining' and 'Emmylou' much to the shock of the duo themselves as they looked at each other in disbelief, but full of smiles. As debut performances at festival's go, First Aid Kit passed the test with flying colours with a well polished and glittering set. 

By now The Barn had turned in to a sweat-box as temperatures reached 30 degrees and with no air-conditioning it was a tad uncomfortable. But the music was sure to take your mind off the heat. Up next in The Barn was Hertfordshire-based singer-songwriter James Bay, who's debut album the chaos and the calm (released earlier in 2015) had reached the top 10 in pretty much every country in Europe. This lead to him drawing one of the biggest crowds of the day - at least 14,500 inside The Barn. Bay's performance was nothing out of the ordinary, but the crowd seemed to absolutely love his every move and listen to every word he sang. The set was good in the sense that it was well-rehearsed and very clean, but it lacked a bit of heart and the fact that he could have been any other singer-songwriter who has found fame in the past twelve months didn't give his performance any originality. But it's clear that Bay is an artist in demand and don't be surprised to see him at many festivals in the future. 

Last but by no means least, Florence and The Machine played a blinding set on the main stage. It was a performance full of energy and anthemic songs. Florence has the type of voice that most singers dream of, powerful, forceful and recognisable. However, when the song-writer addressed the crowd for the first time her voice was so soft and delicate. Which showcases how brilliant her voice actually is. She and the band won the approval of the Werchter crowd who were left disappointed after the news tat the Foo Fighters had cancelled their set, this approval was helped in part with the catalogue of great songs that Florence has to draw upon. She also looked like she really enjoyed the performance. She was beaming from ear to ear after every single song especially when her song's 'You Got The Love' and 'Dog Days Are Over' got the crowd going in a mass sing-along. She repeatedly ventured in to the crowd and put on a flower garland offered to her, and demanded that the crowd get as much people on one another's shoulders during 'Raise It Up' also asking if Werchter wanted to get high, to which a good percentage of the audience cheered. Despite being asked to perform at a later time than billed, Florence enjoyed every minute of the performance and musically the band were completely in-sync. Perfect for rounding off the first day.