Just got back from Rock Werchter, last year was the first time for me with some of my favourite bands of all time. Among them Metallica. This year the main head liner supposed to be the Foo Fighters until Dave Grohl decided to break a leg. No damage done, not for me at least. The first day started with the Eagles of death metal , just relaxing in the sun and listening. Very nice start of the day. Next up Royal blood. Lot’s of energy especially considering there are just 2 guys rocking. Very good show.
In the barn, Patti smith and her band perform ‘horses’, apparently her breakthrough album. I just know a couple of songs, but this is a rare opportunity to see the old gall rock it. My expectations were topped. If you get the change go see her. Florence and the machine was my absolute for the day. What an energetic show. Very nice sound as well. Enjoyed it a lot.
Faith no more was cool as well, we were standing with a few dedicated fans which was a lot of fun. Only problem was the sound quality , way too much bottom end. Nonetheless enjoyed the show.
Finally the Chemical brothers, which started out with Hey boy hey girl. Excellent start, too bad straight after that the energy took a dive. So after about 40 minutes we called it a day. Bit disappointing but maybe the show got better after we left. Excellent start of the festival. Ow and did I mention the sun.
Day two , went to see Kovacs, Ibeyi, Of monsters and men, Death cab for cutie, the cat empire , Balthazar, Alt-J, Roisin Murphy. Kovacs was very good, although the singer was a bit insecure because her in ear monitoring didn’t seem to work. And this being the first time on such a big stage must have a been a bit unnerving. She shouldn’t have been. Never having listened to the band before I think it was a really good performance.
Iberyi , which means twins in (I forgot what language), was excellent. The two girl really got the crowd going. Alt-J was very cool and very very packed in Klub C. Hot as hell as well. Roisin Murphy, she really is a bit strange. Changing lot’s of outfits. The singing and the music was very very good. Go see her. Sound quality was very good as well. The other bands I watched but didn’t stuck with me as much. One thing I learned is that The cat empire only needs to be on stage and that’s enough for the audience to start partying. Not really my kind of music but fun to watch anyway. Good second day as well, weather very nice again. Only thing is time flies.
After a good nights sleep it was time to relax and enjoy Leuven a bit. We walked around a bit and decided to have a few drinks and lunch and leave a bit later. This evening it’s the Prodigy which will consume some energy. We arrived late , around 6 and started with the war on drugs, relaxing in the sun and listening some good music. After that Noel Gallagher’s high flying birds, which got going when they played don’t look back in anger. Unfortunately it was the last song. Lenny Kravitz up next which was good , not special. A bit of a long intermezzo and it took a lot of time to get the audience going. Bang the Prodigy. Start to finish it was full throttle, very cool and got a lot of people starting little pits all over the place. Made the day. Very nice too see them again.
Only one day to go.
Fourth and final day. After a short night the day started out with a walk around Leuven and checking out some University buildings and wandering around the city trying to find some Geocaches. Always a fun way to see another part of the city. Last day brought The Vaccines, Circa waves, Alabama shakes, Ben harper and the innocent criminals, Kasabian, Maxi Jazz and the e type boys and Muse. Best band of the day Alabama shakes without a doubt, Muse rocked as well. Really liked The Vaccins as well.
Another very good episode of Rock Werchter. Good vibes and great music. What more do you want.