Lowlands 2011 Day 3: Taking It Easy

When you're partying it's time for the last day before you know it. A bit of coffee to get us going (that DE coffee really is horrible) and we're on our way for day three!

Lowlands 2011 Day 3, August 21 2011
Looking at the program this is gonna be a relaxed day. Which is good because our bodies are aching from head 'til toe and we could use some rest now and then.

Frank Turner (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
First up is the man I heard a lot about. He used to play punk but traded his electric guitar for an acoustic one and...kind of still is playing punk music but with an acoustic ring to it. Which works really well. Not all songs are equally appealing especially when they're turning into Scottish folk. But the songs that are more melodic are quite good. He looks comfortable on stage, is chatting away making funny comments and his voice is just really powerful.

De Staat (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
With their first record they dropped a bomb on the Dutch music scene and filled up the Grolsch stage two years ago. This year with their second album they make it to the biggest stage. And they play a good set. Not all songs are real crowd pleasers; they are good but maybe not that rocking as the older songs. However they balance their set nicely and put down a good show. "The Machine" seems to have a bit of a slow start in 'Back To The Grind', but it still impressive to see it laying down the groove for the song. And 'Ah I See' is a great way to close their performance.

The Kills (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
You never know what you're gonna get with Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince. They're off to a good start, the dark and a bit cold songs sound good and rock bitch Mosshart is going through all her poses. It's far from party music so the crowd is not exactly jumping. Then a beer hits Hince's guitar. He seems to kind of ignore it, but at the end of the song he's pretty pissed (and for a good reason). It takes the fire out of the show and they finish it on routine. Too bad with such a promising start.

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Happy Camper (Ronald Says 9 out of 10)
I've mentioned this project many times on my blog so I won't go into details about the story behind it. All guest vocalists are present today, so the songs get the interpretation they deserve. The Lima stage is the perfect setting, the weather is lovely and it ends up in a dream for initiator Job Roggeveen. It is showing once again how strong his compositions are.

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Interpol (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
With this band from New York you can't really go wrong. Their dark music is always impressive and they play a very tight set. But I can imagine that for many it isn't really appealing to see those static musicians on the dark stage. Of course they also play songs off their last album that simply isn't as good as the other three. Fortunately the end of the show is the best part where 'The Heinrich Maneuver' and 'Slow Hands' come up and where they close the set with the great 'Obstacle I'.

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Karnivool (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
I was making sure not to go see The Offspring and decided to go see Karnivool. I heard many good thing about them and especially the part where people say they play Tool-like compositions triggered my interest. But it's a disappointing show. The music is complex and creative but nothing near Tool. The musicians have no charisma at all and singer Ian Kenny's vocals sound alike most of the time. The songs and set list are lacking variation because of that and it makes this show a hard one to sit out.

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And so Lowlands 2011 comes to an end. But not before we party out our last bits of energy. Maybe the program wasn't that great on paper but we had a great weekend with many good performances in the end. Lowlands 2012 anyone?

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Lowlands 2011 Day 1 Review >
Lowlands 2011 Day 2 Review >

Monday 29 August 2011