On day 2 Phara and Isabelle had joined us – just for the day. On day 3 we got the company of Sofie (her twin sister Stefanie, as well as Hermine, had arrived the day before) and I finally met Jort (who runs the awesome Over Muziek). But now for the important part: what did I see?
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Comment: in all honesty guys, we JUST missed Cymbals Eat Guitars. Which left us sad and disappointed. Gisèle had caught them a couple of months before at Trix in Antwerp and loved it. The people that had witnessed this show thoroughly enjoyed it and when we had a chat with singer Joseph D’Agostino it was hard not to notice he’d just given his all: the sweat was literally still dripping from his face. And hey, every guy that appreciates Belgian treats as much as he did is good in our books.
(by Madelien Waegemans)
OK GO
Rate: 7/10
Comment: again, this rate is not due to the band’s performance. It was a little early (around noon) and not many people turned up. The sound wasn’t exactly what it was supposed to be either. But OK GO braved all of that and played a really fun set. Most remarkable moment was definitely when 3 guys were called on stage to do the dance from OK GO’s A Million Ways video.
The 3rd and last day would turn out to be a rather unproductive day for me. The heat/tiredness was just too much and there weren’t many bands I was enthusiastic about that were playing in the afternoon. Heard Toro Y Moi from outside the tent and apparently it was good. I’m not a Toro Y Moi fan at all though. The first proper thing we saw didn’t blow me away either:
Surfer Blood
Rate: 6/10
Comment: it all started out well for Surfer Blood. A nice crowd had turned up and they played pretty tight. But as the time progressed it dawned on me: Surfer Blood live doesn’t work at all. They couldn’t persuade me one bit and left hardly any impression. On top of all that we missed Caribou by sticking through their entire set. When we arrived at the tent where he was playing it appeared to be full. Major bummer.
GOOSE
Rate: 5/10
Comment: I used to be a bit of a fangirl of this Belgian band but the times have changed. I still love that first album but I wasn’t too sure about new single Words and that doubt was grounded when watching the first 2 songs of their set. First one was instrumental and had the (annoying in most parts) audience going crazy. Second one was also new but with singing – pretty much the same lyrics repeating throughout. Nope, they just don’t do it anymore for me. Sorry guys, we had some great times, but it’s time for me to grow up. I left after those 2 songs cause I couldn’t bear any more naked, sweaty, male bodies pushing me.
Two Door Cinema Club
Rate: 8/10
Comment: as seen on the screen outside of the tent. In November I predicted that next time they played Belgium there’d be rows of screaming girls and, as always, I was right. Two Door Cinema Club have risen to huge popularity levels and rightly so. Their infectious mix of edgy indie and poppy hooks had everyone going crazy.
We had dinner (with actual vegetables this time – win!) and watched The National from far away. It sounded absolutely beautiful but I can’t rate it cause I wasn’t fully paying attention. One thing though: why program The National at the Main Stage?! This for an audience made up almost entirely of people that knew their hitsong Bloodbuzz Ohio from the radio and hardly payed attention to the rest. Shame.
(by Rien Geypen)
Au Revoir Simone
Rate: 8,5/10
Comment: “awwww that was sooo cuuute!” were pretty much the only words I uttered for the first 10 minutes after watching Au Revoir SImone. It’s taken me 3 years to get into Au Revoir Simone but I have lots of love for them now. The three Brooklyn beauties faced numerous technical problems but managed to win me entirely over nontheless. Especially by playing Knight Of Wands. Gorgeous. Be my friends, please?
Queens of the Stone Age
Rate: 9/10
Comment: Josh Homme, I love you! Somehow I managed not to see QOTSA live over the many years they’ve existed but at Pukkelpop I finally did. And I loved every second. I think it was around this time the beast in me was unleashed and roared for the first time. I, like many others I reckon, supposed they were to play a set consisting solely of hits but that wasn’t entirely the case. QOTSA decided to play some of the older work intertwined with the more succesful stuff. Really, really great. QOTSA SLAYS like no other band can.
Yeasayer
Rate: 10/10
Comment: Yeasayer is the exact same case as Au Revoir Simone. It’s taken me a long time to get into these guys but right now I am in love. And so it is not very surprising that I was rather excited to catch them at Pukkelpop. I lost everyone apart from Marijke about then so we decided to watch outisde on the screen so we wouldn’t miss any of our friends passing by. And then me and Marijke completely, totally lost it. And I mean seriously, LOST IT. We danced like crazy, made the most silly moves, tried to jump as high as possible and shook our asses like we’ve never shook them before. I’m 100% sure that we didn’t look too sexy in the process but it was the most fun I’ve had of the entire festival. I was just one huge ball of hyperactivity. All thanks to Yeasayer. What! A! Band! Just watch this video of O.N.E.
2 Many DJ’s
Rate: 8/10
Comment: yeah, the Dewaele brothers always kind of do the same thing but they are masters in what they do. This time their set was with added video candy. Our happy bunch had rejoiced and we did more dancing.
But then, mega disappointment. The big surprise act that had been announced didn’t seem to be happening. We were all really hoping for Gorillaz but alas. Instead we made the worst jokes and laughed too hard. I had hardly any voice the day after. Enough said.
Pukkelpop again next year? Not entirely sure. The fact that it was sold out made it a too crowded affaire every now and then. Tons of fun was had by all though. Thanks to all the lovely bands and especially all my awesome friends!
Gerlin
(by Joris Bulckens)
(by Madelien Waegemans)
(by Rien Geypen)
(by Rien Geypen)
