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Best Lowlands Ever |
Monday, 23 August 7:20 pm
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I had my 3rd experience as a lowlands goer this past weekend and i have to say that it was the best time i've ever had there, and that says a lot. it's not particularly the line up that made me feel this way but just the entire vibe the festival had this year. the terrain was set up a lot nicer and everything was so relaxed. there was a really funny joke going around concerning someone named THEO, but we'll get into that later.
THEO waar ben je?
Friday morning we arrived nice and early and got an excellent spot at the camping ground across from the entrance to the festival terrain. That in itself helped make this a much nicer experience cos otherwise it can be a 20 min. walk to and from your tent. the festival grounds didnt open until 3pm.
the first band we saw was called the zutons. eh. they were okay. they had a saxophone player that looked like a muppet and a guitarist that looked like frank zappa as someone in the crowd so graciously pointed out to him during the show. they were from liverpool and described as blues-rock or something like that. it wasnt anything i'd particularly recommend.
and next was the hives. oh gawd, talk about a buncha idiotic middle of the road rock-n-roll snobs tooting their own horn way too much. i have a hives record and i really thought i'd enjoy them. but after two songs i just couldnt take it anymore. they didnt play very well and their banter was so egotistical i wanted to shove the microphone down the singers throat and wrap the cord around his neck (okay, not really but ya know) . he kept going on and on and on and on about how they were the hives and they played lowlands in a small tent in 2001 and now they were playing a huge tent and none of us even bothered to show up when they played a few years ago. i dunno, just way to retarded and concieted for my tastes, especially for people who aren't that talented, they just sound like all those other average "the" bands that got popular a few years ago.
so after that we went for a walk to go see what i thought was gonna be snow patrol but turned out to be a band called the delays, then we left that and listened to keane play their hit song (which i like very much).
next we saw N*E*R*D. they put on a fun show. altho we watched it from a hill on the side of the tent. the crowd dug them a lot. not too long after that we watched about half hour of groove armada, i coulda took it or left it.
that evening tho....wooo. what fun i had. first was faithless who have been known to make catchy euro trash dance music but they are damn good live. again the crowd dug them and we were in the crowd this time. i felt a little claustrophobic like i can at times and maybe looked like i wasnt enjoying it but i was on the inside. besides i was just reserving my energy for what was coming next.
miss kittin!
shit. that was so fun and good and fun. i coulda danced all night. felix da housecat did a set that night as well but didnt start till like 3am and i was long asleep by then.
the following day we started out by seeing a dutch guitar pop band called eleven. we only went cos well, there was nothing else going on at the time really and it was raining. when the rain let up a little we went to go see this theatrical dance group called aya. the funny thing was that outta 5 people in that group only two of them could actually dance so that was nothing worth sticking around for. and next we went and got in line for the front section to see velvet revolver. while waiting the blood hound gang were on stage. did anyone know this band still existed?
Velvet Revolver rockin' Guns-n-Roses style
okay. so we got a really good spot for velvet revolver. for those of you that don't know velvet revolver is comprised of 3 ex guns-n- roses members duff, slash & matt sorem and the singer from stone temple pilots scott weiland. dude. they played a rock-n-roll show like i've never seen a rock-n-roll show played before. i enjoyed every second of it and i wasnt really sure if i would. i was never particularly into gnr
and only liked stp when i was a young teenager. on the other hand martijn was a huge guns-n-roses fan since he was kid and was so excited about the whole thing. so i was more excited for him than anything. but man, it turned out i wasnt doing martijn any favors by being there they turned out to be in my top 3 from the whole weekend. they even played 2 gnr songs and 1 stp song. they definetly got the rock-n-roll salute from everyone there.
after velvet revolver was dEUS which is a band martijn and i like very much. they are from belgium and i was really excited about getting to see 'em cos i thought i'd never get a chance to since they havent done anythying as a band for a really long time.
dEUS was unfortunatly a let down. the band is way too diluted by now. martijn did get to see them when they were good and i've seen video of them playing live in the mid nineties and yeah, i expected a lot better.
the next thing we saw was dizzee rascal. he's a two-step/garage rapper from the uk. okay, i gotta say from the first time i've heard this kids music i was intrigued and he's good and has mad skillz but he was sucha jerk. he only performed for half an hour, thats including the encore. for some reason the crowd just wasnt up to par for him and he kept acting like they were retarded and would slow down so they could understand him. i dunno. it was weird. maybe he was just high and lazy. martijn thinks its cos he doesn't like white people, but anyone that doesnt like white people would never step a foot in this country. right?
after some walking around wondering what the heck just happened with that rascal kid we went to check the darkness, that was fun retro-style rock show. after out the streets. but then martijn had the brilliant idea to go hang out at the smallest tent the festival has cos we hadn't been there yet. we walked in and there were 5 guys on stage. so first there was a little black guy with dread locks and a big smile playing the bongos wearing a german soccer jersey, then a tall skinny (iggy pop-ish looking) dude playing bass and singing and he was wearing a dutch soccer jersey, the drummer wore an italian jersey and looked italian then the gitarist wore a brazilian jersey and played guitar soooooooooo good. then there was a sweet looking guy playing horns and flutes also wearing a dutch jersey.they were all amazing musicians and were based in beglium. they were called WAWADADAKWA and we found them by accident but man, they were the gem of the festival. the whole tent was hopping and people didnt want them to leave the stage they ended up playing half an hour over their set time. i didnt see any of the big bands get ovations the way they did. its always fun to see people enjoy music they way they enjoyed this band, especially considering the fact it was something we were all seeing for the first time.
after that we went to check out magnus which is a sideproject of the singer from dEUS. its electro-clashy dancey music. it was pretty good but his mixing was so awful. we decided to go check out the russian disco and while hanging around that area we ran into martijns cousin anna. we talked to her for awhile then we hit the hay.
the first thing we did the on the last day was watch 3/4 of the movie punch drunk love. ah. the movie was set in the valley. ah the valley. i spent the first ten minutes just staring at the mountains in the background and telling martijn where everything was that i recognized.
so we didnt sit this movie out. it seemed like we shoulda been doing something outside since the weather was finally nice. we went to go see another group from belgium called off the record and they were a beat box orchestra. they were awesome. i only stayed for a few songs cos i had to cue up for franz ferdinand. this was the only time tijn and i seperated all weekend. whilst waiting to get into franz ferdinand i had to sit thru flogging molly which sizucked, imagine my shame when i found out they were from l.a., goodness.
but onto nicer things, franz ferdinand did not dissapoint. i was so glad. i find that a lot of the time when i build up these expectations when i wanna see something at a festival i get let down. lotsa bands cant pull off performing in a festival atmosphere. but they lived up to my expectations and the crowd loved 'em. it was awesome. thier record has been part of my soundtrack this summer so getting to see them was just great. after that i had to make a mad dash to the tent to change my clothes then rush over to see a bit of graham coxon. now, if they were gonna give out an award for most pathetic crowd turn out in a big tent , graham woulda won hands down. it was kinda sad. he wasnt even bad or anything. i dunno what was up with that but then again, its not like i stuck around my priorities lied with securing a good spot for the white stripes later that night.
so after some hours alone i met up with my hunny again and we made cue for soulwax who were to be followed by the white stripes. soulwax was a let down. another band from belgium who i thought would probably be really good but nah, not really.
okay, so you all probably know that the last three years i have been so in love with this band the white stripes. and you also probably know with my intercontinental family situation i was never on the same continent as them when they were touring. so this my friends was my first white stripes experience (unless you count standing outside the paradiso & listening when they played in amsterdam) and it was a damn good one. undoubtedly one of the best shows i've ever seen in my life. have you seen jack white play the guitar....my oh my. i could try and think of every flattering adjective imaginable and it still wouldn't do it justice.
i had a good ol' time, the way i do it, lots of jumping around and singing along and just watching in stunned silence while tears welled up in my eyes during guitar solos.  the crowd hardly moved and i couldnt help but wonder if it was normal cos i felt like i was gonna bust outta my skin i was so into it.
 
jack meg
 
the white stripes the best band in the world
with the white stripes over the festival was pretty much over. there were just dj's in the different tents around the festival. so we ended up at the latino explosivo tent which was excellent and made me wish jolene was there to enjoy it with us.
i have my sweet boyfriend to thank for all the amazing fun i had this weekend.
Thanks tijny!
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