Monday 17 July 2017

Klikofest 2017 @ Patronaat



The annual garage rock n roll festival Klikofest has proven itself as a celebration of upcoming and established garage rock bands and is something to look forward to every summer. It is a night festival that totally suits the music and this year’s line up promises to be a killer one.

Klikofest 2017 at Patronaat Haarlem, July 15 2017

Fifty Foot Combo


One of the reasons I definitely didn't want to miss this year's edition was this Belgian surf band. I saw them a few years back on the North Sea Surf festival and they blew my mind. It's the first show of the night in the main hall and it isn't really crowded yet. The people that are here still need a bit of warming up, but you can leave that to this energetic band that have been around for quite some years. Tirelessly the group play their powerful surf rock songs with a lot of fire. Slowly the hall is filling up and their contagious performance is catching on. In the end their hard work pays off and everyone falls for this incredible combo.



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La Muerte


Another Belgian band that have been around for long are La Muerte who also recently started playing again after a long hiatus. Their mix of punk rock and Motörhead like hard rock has moved to the hard rock side more. Candles and skulls on the stage together with singer Marc Du Marais’ outfit are quite a sight. Their music is heavy and tight, but at the same time I find all that stage decoration too much of a distraction so we decide to check out the last bit of The Skidmarks’ show who play uncompromising rock n roll.

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The Gories


The festival is slowly filling up and many people have moved to the main hall to see The Gories. This band goes all the way back to the eighties and also returned about ten years back after a long hiatus. Their garage rock with blues elements sounds good on paper but it looks like the band are playing in slow motion. Drummer Peggy O’Neill looks quite uninspired behind her minimal drum setup and doesn't put a lot of variation in her drumming. At the end it gets a bit better but it's a pretty pale and disappointing performance altogether from a band that seems to have run out of fuel.



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Bartek


Fortunately we can check out Amsterdam trio Bartek who are leaving quite an impression everywhere they play. For a good reason the three prove tonight, since their contagious rock music is a great mix of nineties grunge and garage rock. It sounds amazing and the band play very tight and with a lot of energy. The small third hall of the festival is exploding with their music and even a few crowd surfers ride the small waves in front of the stage.

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New Bomb Turks


The main hall has filled up for this legendary band from Ohio. I never saw them play before but their reputation has preceded them and many people don’t want to miss out on this punk rock band’s show. From the first beat on the band lives up to their reputation. Singer Eric Davidsons is bouncing around stage as one big energy bomb. He is making funny faces all the time, puts the microphone in his pants regularly, dives into the crowd and is having fun with the crowd. He's all over the stage while the rest of the band are firing off their explosive songs. Because you’d almost forget their music is top notch as well and this band is playing with a lot of power and tight. The pit in front of the stage has people in their fourties and above jumping around like teenagers, together with a people of some of the other bands. It's one big glorious and rampageous mess and one of the highlights of tonight.



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Belgian band Cocaine Piss a band on the rise and their name is buzzing around. Their punk rock music is pretty heavy and singer Aurélie Poppins' screaming vocals are powerful and sometimes hysterical. Still after a few songs the first shock has worn off and I notice the vocals make it all sound alike a lot and also get on my nerves. I can see why people may find this very impressive and interesting but it is not for me. We go to the second hall to see Swedish band Viagra Boys but their performance is definitely not working for us. It doesn't have a lot of variation and the vocals aren't great while the band doesn't play very tight. Great moment to get another beer.

Meatbodies


I saw this band a while ago and liked their music a lot. Tonight in the main hall it sounds even better. The psychedelic rock songs are clever and tight and the band is playing very well. It's getting late and you can see it getting less crowded. Meatbodies are treating the ones that have stayed to a very convincing show. It is clear this band has grown since I've seen them and have improved on their already great sound.

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After that we decide to go home as well which means we have to miss the last few band. Night festivals are all about endurance and we have simply run out. However we leave in a very good mood after a very good edition of this wonderful festival.

All Pictures

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