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.
