The summer is coming to an end and although that is bad news for me, the good news is that we get to go to that lovely festival Into The Great Wide Open on that beautiful little island. This year they have lined up another crazy load of amazing bands, so it promises to be a good edition again.
Into The Great Wide Open 2018 Thursday August 30
The first day started out as a simple warm up but although it still isn't a full day, it has turned into a nice start of the festival with a couple of great bands.
Dijf Sanders
The stage in the woods is still at the same lush place as the past years. Belgian musician Dijf Sanders kicks off the festival here and it is still a bit quiet between the trees. Sanders’ music is a good fit at this beautiful place. Warm vintage electronics are mixed with samples and sequences. A sax player adds variation to the mellow music. It isn't a crazy wild party but it’s a nice start of the festival.
Now it’s time to pick things up and the Canadian noise trio will exactly do that. I love this band who play a loud mix of noise and punk. Their songs have powerful grooves that will nail them into your ears and head. In this dark small venue they are at the right place and give a blistering performance that goes down well with the people that can handle it and stay in there to watch.
Dutch artist Boudewijn de Groot made quite a number of records and tonight the Mauro Pawlowski and his Braaknoot Ensemble play one of his most experimental ones Nacht & Ontij. To be fair I didn’t see the whole performance because I spent most of the time chatting to a friend (at the back). But what I saw was quite interesting and well performed by these group of very good musicians. Visuals at the back are effectively supporting the experimental music. It is a remarkable show in a great setting between the trees in the dark.
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What better way than to wake up with Turkish psychedelic rock? The Dutch band Altin Gün have reworked Turkish psychedelic music from the sixties and seventies into groovy and catchy dance tunes. Singer Merve Dasdemir is smiling when she sees the whole field dancing like true Turkish people and for a moment we are attending a wedding party in Istanbul. This group are a bunch of very fine musicians who are kicking us off in the most festive way.
I know I’m going to love the next performance on the field with this amazing band from Austin. They use classic and Southern rock als a basis for their music, but build all kinds of styles on it. The result is a crazy ride with a band that is excelling in mind blowing solos, twists and turns. The band is taking the field by storm with a rock show that has an enormous tempo and blistering power.
On the beach Dylan Leblanc has already started his set. At the front people are dozing off sitting down on the beach, listening to the mellow sounds. His set is heavy on slow roots and country songs and the beach and the sun are the perfect setting for this. It is a bit too slow for me though, but the environment makes up for that.
Time to pick it up a notch again and nineties power rockers The Posies are waiting for us indoors. In the dark they are firing off compact rock songs with great ease. The band is celebrating thirty years playing together which has turned them into a tight band. Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow are alternating on vocals and both are singing really well. There’s a jolly mood on stage and it turns the show into a cheerful one. Although Stringfellow invites us all for a swim tomorrow morning I think I have to pass on that one.
What is there to say about Johan, the band that I’ve seen so many times and love so much? I would have expected more people to come watch as their music is a perfect match to this festival. Their songs are simply gorgeous and the band is getting better and better after playing many shows since their return. Singer Jacco de Greeuw’s voice sounds good today and I find myself completely lost in their wonderful music.
Dutch talent Pip Blom is turning the beach stage into a garage rock party with her young band. While the sun is setting and the sky is showing amazing colours with purple dots of clouds, Pip is bouncing her blonde curls with a huge smile on her face. This is how garage rock is supposed to sound: a bit dirty and sloppy, but in a good way. Her vocals are sometimes a bit lazy which gives her music that extra dimension. This is a nice beach party with a lovely young bunch of musicians.
Legendary The Velvet Underground member John Cale is playing the main stage in the dark. Visuals at the back are supporting his experimental songs. Cale and his band are playing very focused, making sure all the layers of the songs are coming out well. It is definitely intriguing but it is a bit too difficult for me and most of the audience.
Irish singer Róisín Murphy takes us into the night after that with her modern disco tunes. She’s a great performer with quick costume changes and a lot of activity. She’s constantly moving around stage, dancing to her clever pop songs. The show never stops and before you know it, she has left the stage. The show is clearly well choreographed which leaves not much room for improvisation. Murphy also seems to play it on auto pilot which takes away the spontaneity. Nevertheless it is a nice end of an amazing day where we got treated to unexpected sun shine.
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