Yes! My favourite festival was about to start and it got off to a great start. Instead of continuing this year's festival trend of traffic jams we got to the festival's camping site in no time and were sipping a cold beer well before the first band started. This promised to be some weekend!
Lowlands Festival Day 1 Bigginghuizen, August 21 2009
The festival was looking pale on paper according to many: not enough big headliners. But I could find plenty of bands to sink my teeth in. Time to dig in!
Roosbeef (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Not really my choice but a quiet start of the weekend. This Dutch singer had a succesful year so far and was the festival's opener. Her voice is one of a kind and her lyrics are pretty original as is her music...and humour. Not exactly my cup of tea but not a bad start. She definitely was able to win the crowd over in the end.
La Roux (Ronald Says 5 out of 10)
A bit of 80s electronics mixed with dancable tunes can be good. Their hit single "Bulletproof" has a nice ring to it. Unfortunately their performance didn't. All tunes sound alike and not much happening on stage. Singer Eleanor Jackson looked ridiculous and has no charisma whatsoever.
Razorlight (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Their last album "Slipway Fires" was quite a disappointment and they don't seem to live up to their own ambitions of becoming a great rock band. And that was exactly what they were showing. The biggest hits of their second album like "Before I Fall To Pieces" and "America" are strong songs and could please the crowd but the songs of the new album just are much worse and didn't have much effect on anyone. This made their set to be off balance and the Alpha stage way to big.
Ghinzu (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
I read about this band and planned to see them on Werchter but didn't get to it. I heard they had a great performance there and didn't want to miss them this time. It turned out to be a very lifely performance with a lot of variety in styles. Sharp as the knifes they named themselves after (very cliche remark) they had a rocking set that threw you around between bombastic Muse like songs and more gentle rock tunes.
Faith No More (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
A reunion concert of one of the most interesting and influencial bands of the 90s so worth checking it out. This lead to a cover of Reunited by Peaches and Herb as the opening song followed by a greatest hit show mostly from their "Angel Dust" album. But what a show! Their songs are very diverse partly because of the gifted voice of singer Mike Patton that allows him to sing in so many ways. But he's also the annoying kid in your class that is always bullying everyone: shouting out "Thank you Pukkelpop" several times (of course he knew better) until people started booing. Slapping people for not knowing the lyrics to "Evidence" or not singing it correctly. But it all adds up to a great almost cheesy rock show showing that they still haven't lost it.
Kasabian (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
I think their latest album "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" is okay but didn't expect an energetic and highly dancable show like this one. I couldn't make it to their gig in time since Faith No More's performance ended just before it. But when we arrived the crowd was already jumping and sweaty in a hot and sultry atmosphere. Good way to get us ready for a long night of partying.
Lowlands Day 2 Review >
Lowlands Day 3 Review >
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