Best Kept Secret Festival 2017 Day 2

After a wonderful first day that was a good warm up, things promise to be heating up further today. Fried eggs and coffee get us ready for the first band of the day, that are playing early on Stage Five.

The Courtneys

Three ladies that make cheerful fuzzy slackerpop. It sounds nice on paper and in the beginning it actually does sounds good. But after a while it is clear that all songs sound alike and drummer/singer Jen Twynn Payne plays the same four on the floor drum groove in every song. She's hardly hitting her snare drum so the sound engineer cranked up the volume of it a lot, making it sound horrible. The three also look pretty pale on stage and the crowd quickly loses attention including me.

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Kim Janssen

We decide to wander around the festival site and end up at Kim Janssens's performance at Stage Two. It isn't something I put on my schedule, but he's doing quite well over here. His quiet music requires a bit of effort from the audience and although it stays half full, the people that hang in there get treated to a nice show. The string and horns section are a good addition that gives his songs a bit of extra.



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The Amazons

I can appreciate a nice piece of britpop and The Amazons are exactly playing that. They don't have the cocky attitude but have a lot of heart. It isn't really anything special or original, but these guys are trying hard. It may be a thirteen to the dozen band, but it's not a bad way to start things off today.

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Whitney

This band has been getting a lot of attention especially for their live shows. I'm not really a fan of their music and I don't like the falsetto vocals too much. The band looks happy enough to play here and it's a rare setup to see a drummer at the middle of attention. The music is quite nice and sounds good, but the falsetto vocals are getting too much after a while. It doesn't grab me enough to hang in there for long.



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Honeyblood

Two girls, a drum kit and a guitar, sometimes it doesn't take more to play a good show. Scottish duo Honeyblood play lo-fi indie rock songs with a lot of heart. The two work really hard and their rock songs have enough power and variation to stay interesting. It isn't mind blowing but it definitely works and it is exactly what I need to get this day going.



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Cloud Nothings

I know these guys won't have any trouble to keep me going. Their rock music is tight and in your face. They play loud, with a lot of fire and their songs don't miss their effect. A big pit forms and keeps going for the whole show, only getting bigger. Singer Dylan Baldi genuinely looks appreciative of the positive response and it fires up the band even more. It may not be subtle but every song is a slap in the face and works like strong coffee.



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The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion play the main stage with a lush view of the lake and the sunbathing people. They have come a long way and got quite big during it. But it doesn't seem to work well and their performance is a too mellow where not a lot is going on. People seem to enjoy the sun and the cold beers more. The band isn't really trying to spice things up either and the show just dozes off.



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The Wytches

These three guys don't have the word "mellow" in their dictionary and like to play loud and dirty rock. There's plenty to enjoy if you like things a bit rough and their music sounds interesting and good enough. But the band largely ignores the crowd, which doesn't have to a problem. But today it simply doesn't really work. Maybe if the band would have worked a bit harder, it could have turned into something of a rough party but now it won't exactly take off. We leave to see Cigarettes After Sex, but as I expected with their continuous slow depressing music this is definitely not a band for me. Time to get a good spot for the big headliner of the day.



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Arcade Fire

The festival has a dream headliner on the bill today. Arcade Fire are one of the reasons why I wanted to return this year and draws a big crowd. A lot of people have gathered in front of the stage and I find myself squeezed in somewhere halfway the field. Many here are very hungry to see this band and it's a treat seeing them on a medium sized festival. A show unfolds that nears perfection, with more hits than you can count and a band that is in absolute killer shape.

The Arcade Fire machine starts rolling from the first second and comes to a halt nearly two hours later when they leave the stage. In between we got everything that makes this band so good. Great songs that sound amazing live and are played with a lot of detail and dynamics. The brand new song 'Everything Now' already proves to be a classic that people are chanting along massively. The members switch places and instruments very smoothly with the music not stopping for a second.

Needless to say the crowd is simply ecstatic and it turns the show into a big celebration with a cheering crowd and happy faces all around. The band simply has to come back for an encore and close with 'Intervention' that apparently wasn't planned, since it wasn't on the written setlist. And so this festival has the headliner it deserves and gets even more from them. There aren't many bands of that quality around any more and I haven't seen many festivals ending in such a overwhelming climax.



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Best Kept Secret Festival 2017 Day 1

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Top 10 Albums 2013

What a great music year 2013 turned out to be. This year we saw wonderful albums coming out and the level was very high. Still the top of my list was crystal clear and I didn't have to go through a lot of trouble to be coming up with the top half.

1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
Nick Cave and his The Bad Seeds simply made a gem of a record. Push The Sky Away is a highlight in his catalogue. Does he ever make a bad record?
Play in Spotify

2. Arctic Monkeys - AM
Arctic Monkeys announced their new record would be a mix of Dr. Dre and Black Sabbath. That sounds pretty bad, but turns out to be a brilliant combination.
Play in Spotify

3. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
There was no way around Arcade Fire this year, so much is clear. With a thought-through pr-campaign they drew everyone's attention. And then that record. Pretentious? For sure. Bombastic? Absolutely. But also very good and surprising.
Play in Spotify

4. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Of absolute beauty is The National's album. It is full of gems, that make you listen breathlessly.
Play in Spotify

5. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
UMO made an impression with their second record, simply titled II. It is a nice combination of psychedelics and nice guitar playing.
Play in Spotify

6. White Denim - Corsicana Lemonade
White Denim show what they're made of again on Corsicana Lemonade. It's full of virtuous rock songs played by great musicians.
Play in Spotify

7. Jacco Gardner - Cabinet of Curiosities
There were also many nice Dutch productions again this year. Our own Jacco Gardner even drew attention across the border. His psychedelic baroque pop record Cabinet of Curiosities is an atmospheric album filled with beautiful songs and sounds.
Play in Spotify

8. Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
Josh Homme looked death into the eyes and this eventually resulted in ...Like Clockwork. A nice and varied record that not only has pounding rock songs but also leaves room for reflection.
Play in Spotify

9. Mikal Cronin - MCII
Mikal Cronin no longer stands in Ty Segall's shadow after releasing MCII, that has nice fuzzy pop songs on it.
Play in Spotify

10. Automatic Sam - Sonic Whip
Dutch rock band Automatic Sam shows with Sonic Whip why they are one of the most interesting rock bands in this country. And also one of the most underrated ones if you ask me.
Play in Spotify


The bottom half of this list was a lot more difficult. That's why I also want to mention De Staat's I_CON, Floating Coffin by Thee Oh Sees and Parquet Courts' Light Up Gold. They missed this list only by an inch. Looking forward to a new year of releases. Happy New Year!

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Arcade Fire Improve And Never Look Back

In a recent interview with NME, Win Butler of Canadian group Arcade Fire called themselves the "black sheep of the music industry". He feels they are the weird band in a mainstream context and he may be right. They are one of the most popular indie bands of today, but still a relatively unknown band to the mainstream crowd. Maybe new album Reflektor can change that.

Arcade Fire - Reflektor (Ronald Says 9 out of 10)

Like the previous albums Reflektor is build around a theme, the Orpheus myth. In a nutshell: Orpheus was in love with Eurydice who died. He descends into the underworld and makes a deal with the devil. He's allowed to take her back, but she has to follow behind him and Orpheus can never look back until they make it out. He does look back too soon and loses here forever. More specific Butler and his wife Régine Chassagne were inspired by the movie Black Orpheus who places the myth in modern time Brazil. This theme is running through the record and is displayed in the cover. It is most explicit in the track 'It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)' where they sing:

Just wait until it's over Wait until it's through

and where it ends in:

Oh Orpheus, Eurydice It's over too soon

Arcade Fire want us to look ahead and not back all the time. It isn't all light material, but then again the band from Montreal doesn't always like to make things easy for us. Title track 'Reflektor' urges us to look away more from our screens and social media. It's just reflecting our ego that was skilfully crafted in Facebook and isn't about our real identity at all. Nor are you chatting to a real person at the other side, but again talking to your reflection. It is the first single off the new album that immediately reveals where the band stands today. LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy is producing the album and David Bowie is guesting on this track. The video directed by Anton Corbijn showed the band wearing bobble heads, trying to get the message of the song across.

This is not the Arcade Fire of the past three albums. This is a new and improved version. They dropped all the remaining timidity and are now blossoming in full. More details, more hidden layers, the Canadians do it all. Less is more? Not for Arcade Fire. They went to Haiti, to the roots of Chassagne's family and were inspired by the music on this Carribbean island. This is most notable in 'Here Comes The Night Time' with it's melodic steel drums.

'Joan of Arc' even starts out as a punk song before it changes into a more mellow tune. Butler sings in 'Normal Person' "Do you like rock 'n' roll music? Cause I don't know if I do". And the the song unfolds into a plain rock 'n' roll song. With all this diversity the addition of James Murphy has a potential risk. It could add yet another factor that pushes things into another direction and cause the album to lose balance and coherence. But the opposite is true. Murphy has added the glue of the album and a light danceable touch to the songs. It is the reason why 'Reflektor' sticks to your head for days. It turns Reflektor into a brilliant album, the best one of the band so far. It may only be just a bit too long. Arcade Fire prove they have turned into the beautiful swan of the music industry.



Listen to 'Reflektor' on Spotify

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Visual Spectacle With Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire hasn't played this country, The Netherlands, a lot. Somehow they decided to skip it many times. The Lowlands festival would have loved to have them close this year's edition but the band arrived in our country one week later to play the Heineken Music Hall. With the release of their brilliant and highly acclaimed last album The Suburbs they have grown in one of the more popular indie bands of today. Many are praising their lively performances so it was time to find out ourselves.

Arcade Fire at Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam, 29 August 2011 (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)



The band Austra are the ones to warm up the big hall that has already filled up. Their music may be an interesting return to 80s new wave but on stage it's hardly a warm up. Everyone is either hardly moving or moving in the same way the entire show. This stage is definitely too big for them. The dark somewhat cold music doesn't help either.



How different this is when Arcade Fire take to the stage and kick it off with the very appropriate 'Ready To Start'. It's clear what their mission is: to conquer the music world by force. The sound is big, the stage setting is big and Win Butler has transformed into a big front man. And this works very well. For one and a half hour they take us on a musical journey through their world filled with beautiful visuals, great music and a very focused band. The show has no weak moments and never falls in. It has a high tempo but also has been stripped from subtleties.



The band members themselves are already great to look at with most of them changing positions a lot. Especially Will Butler and Richard Parry are all over the place and are playing with great enthusiasm. Régine Chassagne also is playing several instruments and of course she's getting her share of the spot lights as well.



'The Suburbs' is accompanied by bits of the Spike Jonze directed video and short film 'Scenes from the Suburbs'. All the visuals throughout the show are well chosen and powerful, adding more depth to the performances. When there are no clips to show we can see shots of the band. A great savage version of 'Month of May' with quickly changing shots and stroboscopic lights turns into one of the highlights of the set.



After one encore with 'Intervention' and 'Wake Up', one and a half hour later, the show is over. Although it was a convincing show, somehow it didn't look like the crowd was really following Butler's request at the beginning of the show for everyone to stand up and give them energy. Maybe that has to do with the kind of people that are here tonight: men and women into their thirties that are enjoying a night out with live music. The kind of music they listen to at home, nodding their head approvingly to the beat of the music. Arcade Fire could use a larger group of young wild dogs to fire up the party. Although I fall into the group of over thirty myself, they really deserve the response of an excited crowd.

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Set List:
Ready to Start
Keep the Car Running
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haïti
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Empty Room
Rococo
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Month of May
Rebellion (Lies)
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
We Used to Wait Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Encore
Intervention
Wake Up

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Arcade Fire Break Out Of The Suburbs

There are bands you know are out there and are appreciated by many but still somehow never catch your attention. For me Arcade Fire is one of those bands. Although receiving lots of praise for their previous albums and live performances I somehow never really gave them my full attention. But with the exposure and raving reviews their new album 'The Suburbs' get they are hard to ignore.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The album opener with the same title immediately sets the tone for the entire album. It's a catchy indie pop/rock song with a prominent piano part that will get stuck in your head in a pleasant way. The album is full with these tracks. There isn't a weak track on it and probably every song that will make it as a single will turn into an Arcade Fire classic.

That's the power of the whole album: it gets better every time you hear it. Of course I listened to their previous albums again and both had their weaker moments. They have grown into skilled lyricists and are clearly telling a story. This time about living in the suburbs with all its boredom and wasted time that goes with it. But in the end:

If I could have it back
All the time that we wasted
I'd only waste it again

The band unmistakably has taken it to the next level and has almost crafted their song writing skills to perfection. They got a bit too eager because maybe 16 songs is just a bit too much. But they sure got my attention now.
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Rock Werchter 2010 Day 4: A Day With The Rock Gods

Again the sun was relentless and it would turn out to be another hot day. The heat was getting the best of us but we would hang in there. Time for some screaming guitars to wake us up! And a nice zeppelin in the sky to accompany us. Do you think John Paul Jones saw the air vessel?



The Van Jets (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
And this band was just what we needed. In the shade of one of the light towers we watched them pour their rock riffs over the decently filled field. This promising band has some nice solid 70s inspired rock songs. Singer Johannes Verschaeve is a convincing frontman that is able to transfer his energy to the crowd so they received a good response.

Sweet Coffee (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
I like a good cup of coffee especially one of those sturdy espressos. Nice and bitter so without sugar. I was expecting a more jazzy sound from this Belgian band but it turned out to be a mix of soul and dance. It kind of sounded like Faithless on valium. Not bad though and the vibes were pretty good. Just maybe a bit too sweet for my tasting.

The Black Keys (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Nothing sweet about this rocking duo. Especially drum player Patrick Carney was putting lots of effort in his drum playing. His face turning more and more red and sweaty during the set. For a moment they had two more musicians helping them out. But they really didn't need them to produce their rough blues and rock songs. The main stage does seem a bit big for only two people. By this time the burning sun really got too much so we stayed in the shade of one of the food stands to check out the next couple of bands.

Alice in Chains (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
Their glorious return with the album 'Black Gives Way To Blue' put them back on the rock map. They played a tight set and looked more comfortable than the great gig back in August. The slow heavy grooves were going down well with many people and the new songs blend in nicely with the older hits. It looked like the boys were enjoying it a lot and I'm sure they have won some hearts over. Ending the set in style with 'Rooster' while Dave Grohl was watching in approval.



Vampire Weekend (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
It's hard to write an objective review about this band. I tried to watch them objectively as well but could not. Their happy tunes do not remind me of Africa at all but really get on my nerves. Their live performance wasn't that special either so I really don't get all fuzz. Don't worry, it's me not them I guess.

Them Crooked Vultures (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
I cannot watch this band objectively either. With members of my favourite bands including one of my favourite drum players showing off his skills and the fun they are having every performance of these guys is a treat. Great grooves, killer riffs and mouthwatering jams always make my day. So I left my shady spot to get a closer look once again. Too bad this time the zeppelin didn't swing by.

Arcade Fire (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
I never really paid much attention to Arcade Fire. Although I heard good things about them they somehow never really crossed my radar. It must be the combination with indie folk that kind of puts me off. But it was a pleasant introduction to their music. Good moments alternated with weaker parts but all in all they played a good set. They haven't really won me over but they sent out good vibes.

Pearl Jam (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
The ultimate festival band was closing this year's edition of Rock Werchter. They are one of my favourite rock bands and I don't agree with all the sceptics that say their best years have long gone. And they showed they're still on top of things with an energetic and convincing set. A weird moment was when they all left the stage early in their set but maybe Dave Grohl called that the burgers were done. Eddie Vedder mentioned they were having a backstage bbq with Alice in Chains and Them Crooked Vultures and Grohl was minding the grill. Vedder looked really eager and aggressive just the way I like it. Their show flew by and before I knew it they were playing their last song MC5's 'Kick out the Jams' with the Them Crooked Vultures members and fireworks helping them out. I guess they were done bbqing.



The fire continued on the festival site where small fires were started. Fire and heat surely seemed to be the common theme this year. The level of the bands was very high and we had seen great music. For the last time we walked back along the many bars and food stands, got ourselves a last cervela and returned to our tent fully satisfied where we laid our sore overheated and tired bodies to rest. The next morning we woke up it was cloudy and raining. Time to go home.

See more pictures over here:
Rock Werchter 2010 Day 4 Pictures

Rock Werchter 2010 Day 1 Review >
Rock Werchter 2010 Day 2 Review >
Rock Werchter 2010 Day 3 Review >

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