Pinkpop 2018 Day 2

Because of my own stupid fault leaving something in the car and having to go back, I arrive at the festival site late again so I missed a few bands. Let’s not linger any longer and go see some music!



Pinkpop Festival 2018 Day 2, June 16 2018

Gang of Youths

The Aussies of Gang of Youths played a good show at the Best Kept Secret Festival last weekend and Pinkpop should be a an even better place for them. This turns out to be true because the crowd really get into the band’s heart full rock songs. The set is identical to last week’s and even some small talk in between is similar. But the band works hard again and I’m sure they found new fans today. This could be the turning point in their career over here.



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A Perfect Circle

It’s been forever since I’ve seen A Perfect Circle play live. Like Maynard James Keenan's other band Tool they don’t release a lot of new music and only play a few shows now and then. I really like the new record even though it is a bit more mellow. The first half of the show follows this sound but they slowly pick it up. Maynard adjusted the colour of his suit to the festival’s pink colour and has goofy looking hair with pick tails wearing partly black face paint. Like a caged animal he’s walking around his small raised stage that he will never leave during the show. Guitarist Billy Howerdel is a lot more mobile and is showing his skills on every part of the stage. The small stages and some loose elements are part of the light show, but because it's in the afternoon and too bright it doesn’t really work as well as they would in the dark. Towards the end of the show they play a heavy version of AC/DC's 'Dog Eat Dog' as a tribute to the late Malcolm Young. After this convincing show I’m definitely going to see them in December when they return for a show in Amsterdam.



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I really like Noel Gallagher and would love to see his whole show with The High Flying Birds. But we know we need to be early at the main stage if we want a good spot for Foo Fighters. We watch three songs that sound really nice. Hopefully next time we will be able to see his full show again.

Foo Fighters

Like Pearl Jam yesterday you know that Foo Fighters will deliver. Together with Pearl Jam they are the reason we wanted to come here for three days. By now we know what to expect from them. They play a couple of new songs and most of their explosive hits. This band knows exactly how to close a festival day. There’s the usual goofing around, a lot of the Taylor and Dave show, and the fan Mike who lives his fifteen minutes of fame, spending a few songs on stage with the band. The crowd loves it and there are many smiles around. As a bonus a meteor burning in the atmosphere causes a fireball in the sky and creates natural fireworks. What a night!

I simply love this band, the rehearsal room vibes, the incredible energy, the joy in their playing, the no nonsense rock songs. It’s just two and half hours of uncomplicated fun and forgetting about everything else.



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It's been a day with some frustration about having to go back to the car, missing bands and a lot of queues again. But it's also been a day with a couple of good shows that made everything fine in the end.

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Pinkpop 2018 Day 1
Pinkpop 2018 Day 3

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Rock Werchter 2017 Sunday

We used to go to the Rock Werchter festival every year for quite a while. A few years ago it was time for a change of scenery and we decided to skip it, although we still love the festival. This summer Foo Fighters are in Europe for only two weeks to play a string of festivals and Rock Werchter was one of them. It was time to visit our old friend again. And Dave of course.

Rock Werchter 2017 Sunday, July 2 2017

The festival didn't have the best weather and visitors had to deal with quite a bit of rain. Today looks a lot better although when we park our car we have to sit out ten minutes of rain. Fortunately for us the weather will only improve for the rest of the day. Within no time we find ourselves exploring the festival site to see what has changed. We are ready for the first band.

Cage the Elephant

This band is guaranteed to get the party started early with their lively performances. Singer Matt Shultz is an explosive energy bomb that is bouncing around the stage. The sound in the beginning is completely out of balance and his vocals are almost impossible to hear. Because of his running around it is probably quite hard to balance his mic out anyway, since he isn't exactly always singing in it in the same way. It doesn't matter since this band is all about putting a lot of heart in their shows. Their classic rock with a punk twist may not always be tight but you can forgive them for that when you see them working up a sweat like this. If anyone wasn't fully awake yet, this sure should have done the trick.



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The Thurston Moore Group

Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon were the one of the alternative rock's scene most favourite couples and their band Sonic Youth were highly successful until the couple broke up. Sonic Youth are now on a hiatus that will most probably mean it has split up. Moore is focusing on his solo career and released a new album recently Rock N Roll Consciousness. Today he's playing the entire album after opening with new single 'Ceasefire' that is not on the album. The songs are patiently built up which is exactly what his music needs, since the songs are carefully crafted and the long songs need time to reach their full potential. The tracks are full of little twists and turns, cleverly placed and several times you think a song is over until it continues for a few minutes again. It turns this performance in a very interesting one and enough to keep you on your toes throughout.



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The Kills

Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince are taking the main stage halfway the afternoon while the skies are clearing and the sun shows itself regularly. In their familiar way the duo play their sultry rock songs together with a drummer and keyboard player added to the live line-up. Mosshart of course is a delight to watch with her sexy appearance and ultra cool stage presence, sometimes walking around like a caged tigress. Her smiling faces make her even more charming. Hince is showing his incredible guitar skills, posing at the front of the stage and using the mic stand as an extra guitar accesory. But the main stage may not be the perfect place for them as their music works best in a darker environment. Next time it would be better to schedule them on one of the two tented stages.



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Benjamin Clementine

We make our way to one of those huge tent stages that are hardly tents any more. Air conditioned and with seated stands to the side they are full scale venues. We are joining Benjamin Clementine halfway his show. His story is remarkable, spending some time in France as a homeless person. After he got his break at Later With Jools Holland he's now considered a talented musician and poet. His show is quite impressive with music that swings between classical, soulful pop and theatrical. The charismatic Clementine sometimes looks a bit lost sitting behind his piano, but that makes him more mysterious and the crowd love it. His four backing singers and band add a frame for him to create his interesting songs in. It isn't necessarily my kind of music but it's an impressive show nevertheless.



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Soulwax

Unfortunately we can't get in the the tent where Rag'n'Bone Man is performing so we have to miss his show. Instead we wander around a bit, have some food and drinks and make sure we get to The Barn stage early for Belgium's Soulwax. I can't get enough of this band and after seeing them three times in a year, I want to see them play their home turf. I am expecting a huge party but it takes a while for it to take off. The packed full house at the beginning, is even getting more empty halfway. But I know the two brothers are simply building up their show, teasing the crowd with climaxes that are not always coming, slowly picking up the pass, making them beg. Just over half of the show they let it rip and the three drummers are in perfect harmony, playing irresistible grooves that make everyone crazy. Now they are going for the ultimate climax and everyone that stayed in here is exploding. 'NY Excuse' is killing it and is their ultimate victory lap, turning the place into a party after all.



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Foo Fighters

The field is filling up early for Foo Fighters and we make sure we have a decent spot. It isn't extremely close to the stage, but it's good enough for a good view. The last time they played here was in 2005, when we were here as well. Because of Dave Grohl's broken leg, the band had to cancel in 2015 and Grohl explains they are here to make up for that big time. Of course you can leave that to Foo Fighters. The band plays a greatest hits set that should make everyone happy. Grohl isn't the greatest singer and his voice isn't in the best shape tonight, but of course that's not what matters a lot. He's all over the stage, running to either side and at one point makes his way all the way to the sound booth where we are close to. The rest of the band are watching him with a huge smile.

I know there are many that find this band too commercial and middle of the road and maybe they are right their music isn't the most inventive or original. But to me this is one of the best live bands around, that are simply having so much fun at it and do everything they can to show everyone a good time. It's exactly what they are doing tonight. Grohl is undeniably one of the most charismatic people in the industry. He's working the crowd like no other and is lighting the fuse to an explosive mix of rock whenever he likes. He's cooling down the crowd with little speeches throughout the set and the band will never take things for granted. To me it's like eating one of the best burgers in the world that can taste just as good as a three Michelin star meal. I like both but it is good to have variation around.

Two songs of the upcoming album are on the setlist today. The new single 'Run' that they have been playing for a few weeks now. Tonight the song 'La Di Da' that they recorded together with The Kills' Alison Mosshart. Of course she is joining in to sing it with them and from the cheerful look on her smiling face I can tell she hasn't been drinking apple juice back stage. After two and a half hours the band wraps up their show with 'Everlong' and fire works are set off at the end of it. Foo Fighters prove they are the perfect headliner to any festival, one that guaranteed will send off the visitors smiling.



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It was nice to be back at this festival that is still a great visit. Rock Werchter will always come up with a killer line-up but I don't know if I can take the four day partying combination with sleeping in a tent again. But I'm sure we will back here again, maybe for just one day. It was totally worth the 3 hour drive back home in the middle of the night, arriving home while the sun was rising again.

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On Stage: Foo Fighters at Ziggo Dome Amsterdam

It's been a few years since I saw Foo Fighters play live, especially in a venue. The last time they played a venue concert over here was in 2006 and only played a few times on festivals since then. Earlier this year their headline appearance got cancelled due to Dave Grohl’s unfortunate fall, breaking his leg. Needless to say I was really looking forward to their show at the Ziggo Dome.

Foo Fighters at Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, November 5 2015



We make sure that we arrive early at the venue to see Trombone Shorty aka Troy Andrews, who is the support act tonight. For some reason support acts always get bad sound and the mix is terrible for them tonight. The saxophones can hardly be heard and also the microphone of Andrews, sounds terrible. It's not his voice since he sounds great and his voice is powerful which reminds of Living Colour singer Corey Glover. The songs are swinging and rock hard, played with a lot of heart by the band, who do a good job warming up the crowd.



The Foo Fighters are off to a rough start tonight when the curtain with their logo that was hanging in front off the stage doesn't completely fall down at the beginning of ‘Everlong’ and is keeping Grohl and his throne obscured from most of us. While the rest of the band laugh their heads off, Grohl stops the song and jokes “Sometimes it's the fucked up things that make you remember a show for the rest of your life!". It's typical for Foo Fighters to fix setbacks when they happen and don't let it get them down. When Grohl breaks his leg? He asks his crew to build a throne and it turns into one of the eye catchers of the tour.



From then on the show takes off with high speed and hardly ever slows down. The setlist is a nice overview of their twenty year career and their biggest hits. Some oldies like ‘Breakout’ and an intimate version of ‘Big Me’ played by Grohl solo are treats for the fans of the first hour. Drummer Taylor Hawkins sometimes takes vocals as well, especially in the cover songs they play when the band is introduced and in Pink Floyd's 'In The Flesh'. He is also doing a small sing along with the crowd Freddy Mercury style. These small interruptions are not taking the tempo out of the show, but instead give it more dynamic, making the highs even higher.



And there are plenty of highs for the crowd to go crazy on. Small circle pits are forming and the atmosphere is a festive one with plenty of beer showers. This band knows how to energize the people like no one else can, by playing with so much heart, energy and pleasure that you simply cannot resist it. Grohl explains they never play encores since they don't want to waste any time. And so for the last time band and crowd give it all once more in ‘Best Of You’ for an explosive ending to an epic rock show.



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Setlist:
01. Everlong
02. Monkey Wrench
03. Learn to Fly
04. Something From Nothing
05. The Pretender
06. Big Me
07. Congregation
08. Walk
09. Eruption (Van Halen)/Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (Van Halen)/ Tom Sawyer (Rush)/ Another One Bites The Dust (Queen)/ You Really Got Me (The Kinks)
10. Cold Day in the Sun
11. My Hero
12. Times Like These
13. Breakout
14. All My Life
15. These Days
16. Arlandria
17. White Limo
18. Skin and Bones
19. This Is a Call
20. In the Flesh?
21. Best of You


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Pinkpop 2015 Sunday

The biggest nightmare for a festival organiser is when a headlining act falls out. Even worse is when it's your closing headliner and it happens at the latest moment. Exactly this happened to the Pinkpop festival when Foo Fighters had to cancel because Dave Grohl broke his leg. They are not only one of the biggest rock bands at the moment but also the headliner everyone is after this festival summer.

Pinkpop 2015 Sunday at Landgraaf, June 14 2015

There's no way you can replace an act like that in only a day, even though festival director Jan Smeets and his team tried really hard. The solution to bring in Triggerfinger in the line-up and let Pharrell Williams close the festival was the best they could do. Of course you can't blame this on anyone and it is just really sad for the festival organisers, Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters and all the festival visitors, especially Foo Fighters fans like me who bought a ticket for this day just to see them play. The smartest thing to do is just make the best out of it and try to have a fun day nevertheless. That's exactly what we're planning on and after a smooth trip we find ourselves on the festival site that is already bathing in sun light. Time to rock!



The Deaf
Time to rock indeed and get this party started. The Deaf are just the right band to do that, which I already knew after seeing them a few times before. Singer Spike and co. have no trouble firing up the crowd with their catchy rock 'n roll songs. Especially Spike himself and keyboard player Maurizio Pinna are going absolutely all the way and are all over the stage. The setlist is almost entirely full of uptempo rock songs that get everyone dancing and result in an early high. The band doesn't leave before Spike is crowd surfing while playing guitar and the four members are all soaking in sweat.

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Nick Mulvey
We make our way to the Brand Stage where Nick Mulvey has already started. The modest intimate songs are a different cup of tea, played patiently by his band. It all sounds pretty good and skillful, but this simply isn't my kind of music. It's too slow and cautious for me so we decide to cross over to the other side of the site.

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Typhoon
There Dutch rapper Typhoon has already started another leg of his victory parade across the country that started last year after releasing his highly successful record Lobi Da Basi. He turns every place he's playing into a big tropical party and today is no different. His energetic songs invite everyone to the dance and his wonderful tight band make sure the music keeps swinging and grooving. Typhoon himself can only answer to this with his big smile.



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Triggerfinger
Even though they have to play a show tonight at the other side of the country, Belgian rock heroes Triggerfinger didn't mind to be added to the line-up so last minute. "We are no Foo Fighters, far from it" says singer Ruben Block, "we are Triggerfinger!". And I think most Foo Fighters fans can definitely appreciate the rock show the trio is displaying. Of course I have seen them many times before, but this band never gets old and will always deliver. Today is no exception and even though all the songs are so familiar by now, they still don't miss their effect. The heavy rock is sounding more solid and spot on than ever and the three men give it all.



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Oscar and The Wolf
Also from Belgium is Oscar and the Wolf, Max Colombie's electropop project, whose dark danceable electropop songs are slowly winning over our country. They are showing today that there's a good reason for that, since the smooth sultry songs sound great and are full of hooks. The strong album Entity translates well to the live stage and most people, including many Belgians, are dancing and enjoying the tropical music. Even a cover song like Gala's 'Freed From Desire' sounds sexy in the world of Oscar and the Wolf.

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De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig
Dutch hiphoppers De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig have something to celebrate, their 10th anniversary, so a big present including ribbons is standing on stage. When it opens the band steps out and what better treat can they hand out than themselves? We are watching from a distance but it's clear many people enjoy songs like 'Shenkie', 'Sterrenstof' and the hit that started it all 'Watskeburt'. The very catchy songs may sometimes seem a bit cheesy but are always very clever with creative lyrics. More treats follow when they hand out a few Foo Fighters T-shirts before ending their happy birthday party with 'De Formule'.

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Kovacs
Dutch singer Sharon Kovacs surprised the Dutch music world with her dark and powerful voice and a good debut album Shades Of Black. Although she's definitely talented she lacks experience to entertain a festival crowd. Her somewhat static performance isn't always light on the stomach and her band, although routinely playing the songs, doesn't exactly add a lot of sparks either. In the end this stage is a bit too big for her but she still has plenty of time to grow.

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Placebo
Rock band Placebo are no strangers to replacing cancelled acts. They replaced Depeche Mode a few years ago as headliner and today they are replacing Sam Smith. This was good news for me and especially today I'm glad they are playing instead of Smith. The band plays a greatest hit show and you'd almost forget how many great songs they have like 'For What It's Worth' and 'Every You Every Me'. Singer Brian Molko isn't exactly Mr. Sunshine but the band knows how to play stages of this size and a festival crowd. They throw in a cover of Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' and in the end it's a solid and satisfactory rock show.



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Pharrell Williams
By then it's time for the final performance of the weekend. And where I was expecting to be jumping on some Foo Fighters adrenaline we are now watching Pharrell Williams close the festival from a distance. Of course he has many hits but to me it feels like watching a long video with plenty of commercial breaks. I didn't expect to go wild about this show but it really just doesn't grab me at all. So after a few songs we decide to make for our car and leave the festival early and beat traffic. Oh by the way, Pinkpop is not even close to Amsterdam Mr. Williams, it takes about 2,5 hours by car.



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It's a disappointing ending to a day I was really excited about and to me the festival kind of dies out on a sort of low instead of the euphoric high I was hoping for. With this kind of weather and nice bands it was the perfect festival that in the end just was far from perfect. Still we had a great time and enjoyed the sun, great music and cold beers. It could have been worse of course and next year when the Foo Fighters will be back (which I expect) I will be there again as well.

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New Sounds: The Birds Of Satan

No, don't worry, nothing scary. Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, like his band mate Dave Grohl, has a hard time sitting at home. And so he made an album with some friends and they call themselves The Birds Of Satan. It's a bit of a prog rock project with some traces of Queen and David Bowie of course, since this is Taylor's project! The album will be out on April 15. Listen below.





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Listen To Dave Grohl's Early Years in Dain Bramage

Whether you like it or not, Dave Grohl is one of the most iconic musicians in present day rock music. As a drummer he may just be one of the most important rock drummers of the nineties. Back in 1986 before people even knew him and while he was still smoking pot in high school, he used to play in a band called Dain Bramage. Some recordings have been discovered and you can listen over here: Read more!

Lowlands 2012 Day 3: It Doesn't Get Hotter Than This

We wake up to a simmering heat. Today will be the hottest day ever recorded in our country and it certainly is the hottest day ever on Lowlands. But who cares? This is still better than rain and mud, so time to get some eggs, coffee and juice to start us off.

Lowlands Day 2, August 18 2012



Moss
The big Alpha stage is only half full and it still is a mystery to me why Moss aren't playing the smaller Grolsch. Okay, they killed it there a few years back, but this band isn't a big stadium rock band. Their songs are working best in a smaller place. And this is exactly why their show isn't as good as it could be. The band is playing great though and it's obvious the songs are all little gems. But the big stage screams for big anthems and crowd pleasers. We get a glimpse of that at the end with their big hit 'I Love The Chemistry'. It's simply a matter of the right band at the wrong place.

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Orgel Vreten
What do you get when you put two Hammonds together and a crowd ready to party on the hottest day ever? A crazy sweat dripping hot Hammond beating. Thijs Schrijnemakers and Robin Piso, who's also playing for DeWolff, are scourging their organs making it impossible to stand still. There are no vocals and it's like listening to a long Hammond solo. That's exactly the weak spot, it does get a bit too much in the end. Still a surprise on the always interesting Lima stage.



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Pulled Apart By Horses
We may be hot but who cares? Let's see if we can take some hardcore punk rock at the hottest stage of the festival at the hottest moment of the hottest day. So Lowlands was hot? Mwah, not too bad. These guys definitely don't take it easy. They are playing their guts out, almost literally when singer Tom Hudson is puking off the stage just in front of the first row. It turns out he's doing that more often so it probably wasn't the heat. It's a high energy performance that will definitely have pleased a lot of the people that came to see them. After their show they run off to Lake Lowlands to take a well deserved jump into the water to cool off.

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Ewert and The Two Dragons
I have a break in my schedule and decide to go buy some records at the local festival record store. There's not a lot to my record collection, so I'm done pretty quickly. Why not take a peak at the Lima stage where Estonian band Ewert & The Two Dragons are playing? I heard many good things about them although it may a bit too light for my liking. I'm pretty sure of this after seeing them here at Lowlands. There's nothing special about their music and the band is looking pretty pale. Nothing is really happening on stage and the band members don't seem to put a lot of effort in it. Maybe it's the heat, but I'll skip them next time.

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Foo Fighters
I decide to watch Kyteman from outside the Alpha tent to save some energy for the big finale. Therefore I cannot say much about his orchestra's performance tonight. I leave my friends to ensure a spot in the pit at the front. I have seen Foo Fighters play several times but never from up close and definitely want to take this opportunity to get close this time. The band isn't wasting any time and fly right into it. They knock out hit after hit song and the heat is rising to incredible heights inside the tent.

Dave Grohl says it's probably the hottest Foo Fighters show ever, but the band recalls one other show that was even hotter. Later on Grohl says he doesn't care and thinks this really ís the hottest Foo Fighters show ever. I'm not too sure about that, but it definitely is a great one. For over two hours they are rocking the place, only to take it a bit more slow in the end, where Grohl is chatting more. There are great versions of a long spun out 'Monkey Wrench' and the original 'Everlong'. Afterwards I hear they had to cut the show short because of the heat. It doesn't really matter. It was the perfect close of another great Lowlands edition.



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Within no time this edition seemed to be over. Time was going by so quickly because of all the great bands we watched and all the fun we had. When the gods are on my side and the horrible ticketmaster/livenation ticket sale system is cooperative, I'm definitely back in 2013 for my fifteenth edition!

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Lowlands 2012 Day 1
Lowlands 2012 Day 2
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Top 10 Albums 2011

Normally I don't do top 10 lists myself. But since I'm a writer for ROAR E-Zine, a Dutch music website, and they asked all their writers to come up with one I might as well post it over here as well.


The hard thing about year lists is, that they seem final, but in reality are just snapshots. So here's my 2011 snapshot:



01. The Black Keys - El Camino

And then The Black Keys release a great album just before the closing of the year that ends up at the top of my list. They seem to have found the perfect formula for great rock tunes: songs that are great compositions, keep on going and that I want to hear over and over again.



02. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
Just like the Arctic Monkeys who took revenge with Suck It And See for the, in my opinion, unjustified moderate response on predecessor Humbug. When they can keep up this level I expect a true classic in one or two albums.



03. White Denim - "D"

White Denim also keeps on delivering quality. "D" turned into a true piece of art.



04. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Girls had their definite breakthrough with their Father, Son, Holy Ghost that is full of nice indie songs.



05. dEUS - Keep You Close

And 2011 is without a doubt dEUS' year. Keep You Close left a big impression and meantime they are doing a true victory tour around clubs and festivals.



06. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Beasty Boys came back hard this year with a great album, that can measure up to their greatest work.



07. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

With a smart promotional campaign no one could ignore Foo Fighters' Wasting Light. And it's just as I like it: like a hit in the crotch and a kick in the ass.



08. TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light

TV On The Radio is a different cup of tea; a well thought through album with intelligent songs.



09. Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

Just like Radiohead and their The King Of Limbs. Sometimes they are too much for me, but this album is nicely balanced.



10. Happy Camper - Happy Camper

And there were great Dutch releases, that just missed my list. Happy Camper did make it with its beautiful atmospheric songs and the wonderful varied vocals.

So there you have it. 2011 was a good year with great music and some great gigs as well. I can't wait for 2012! Happy New Year!
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Pinkpop Ends With Perfect Storm

When the Pinkpop festival announced they had put Foo Fighters down as the headliner on the third day I didn't need any more convincing to buy tickets for that day. It may be the sad truth but it turns all other acts on Pinkpop Monday into support acts. Of course we would definitely check out some of them since there were some pretty nice ones. The three day festival with Coldplay and Kings of Leon headlining the other two days did however program lots of mediocre acts so it wasn't hard to pick out the most interesting ones without having to run around or making tough choices.

Pinkpop Festival, Day 3 Monday June 13 2011
And we continue our festival traveling success streak. Without traffic jams and long queues we make it onto the festival area long before the first band will start playing and we're sipping beers that go by the brilliant name Brand in no time. This day sure was off to a good start!



Dazzled Kid (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
First act to check is Tjeerd Bomhof and his solo project Dazzled Kid. I already saw the Voicst front man a while ago and was impressed. He's bringing the same big band onto the stage this time as well. But the singer is off to a hesitating start though and seems a bit tensed which isn't weird on a big festival like this. During the first couple of songs he manages to pull it together though and slowly grows into it. His voice isn't too great today and this is noticeable in the higher registers. Maybe it
s the nerves but with this great band it doesn't matter and the sound is good. It even turns magical now and then like in 'Stronger'. By the end everyone is loving it and Bomhof's emotions explode in the last song '99 Cent Dreams' when he starts trashing the drum kit.

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Go Back To The Zoo (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
This band are rocketing upwards in their career. I've been following them for a while now and saw them live in beach bar Timboektoe about one year ago with a few hundred people. Now they're playing the main stage in front of 50,000 people. The boys must have been dead nervous but are hiding that well. The band manages to put down a big sound that's needed for this huge crowds. Singer Cas Hieltjes, in a bright green African shirt, acts like he's used to playing huge crowds and is using most of the stage. They brought confetti canons, inflatable elephants, a big jungle picture at the back and a huge gorilla inflates itself during 'I'm The Night'. They are a hit producing machine and especially the up-tempo songs are working very well. Their slower songs aren't as good but they know how to balance that in their set list. Half of the crowd is jumping and cheering and when they close with their big hit and best song 'Electric' the field explodes.

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The Gaslight Anthem (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
With a big picture of a skull in the back and lots of tattoos you may expect a heavy rock band. But this band are inspired by Bruce Springsteen and play rock songs in the same style. Looking at their faces you can see they aren't as dangerous as it seems. Their songs are good and sound great live. Singer Brian Fallon looks like a nice guy and is chatting away. His voice sounds clear and their show is nicely balanced. It just is lacking a bit of danger. If they can put a bit more spice in their music and performance it could turn into an unforgettable show like their big inspiration The Boss proved two years ago.
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Kaiser Chiefs (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
They have played every major festival several times and are an audience favourite. Their lively shows with the ever active front man Ricky Wilson resulted in many memorable moments. But their hitmachine came to a grinding hold with their third record and the songs of their upcoming record aren't really promising either. And that's obvious in their performance today. All their hits are still good for a bouncing crowd and many people join the sing-along verses. But their setlist isn't well chosen and the new songs are scattered throughout it causing many dead moments. They aren't really catchy and no matter what Wilson tries they don't go down easy. Of course they have to change direction since they can't keep on producing the same anthems over and over again. But they may have gone down the wrong road since their show has given in on energy and speed. A real shame.
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Foo Fighters (Ronald Says 10 out of 10)
Then it's time for the long awaited headliner. And Foo Fighters live up to every expectation and more. They have an impressive list of big stadium rockers and start firing those onto the crowd. The weather gods aren't really cooperative and the first real rain of the day starts coming down. But that doesn't bother Dave Grohl and the others at all. Instead it adds to the great atmosphere of the excited crowd. It even adds a rainbow to the already impressive light show and causes Grohl to stop and enjoy it for a moment. Then it's full force ahead again. The band shows how to close a festival as the main headliner. It's the perfect rock show. Two hours in total which is 30 minutes longer than planned. No leaving the stage before the obligatory encore as Grohl explains it. Why leave if they can just keep on playing? This is a no nonsense band, no arrogance, no faking it. Just good honest giving it all rock music. And that's truly admirable. To top it off they play one of my favourite Queen songs 'Tie Your Mother Down'. Epic.

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