Sunny Festival Vibes On Liberation Day

This year's Liberation Day was celebrated on a Sunday. That day totally lived up to its name with lots of sunshine and warm weather. For the first time the Amsterdam edition of the festival was held in Westerpark, which turned out to be a perfect choice. The park is a great location with lots of space and the stages were spread around it, not too far apart. We stuck to the main stage and the talent stage where we saw a balladeer, Girl Beard, Lucas Hamming, The Vagary, Jungle By Night and The Don't Touch My Croque-Monsieurs. You can see some pictures down below and all of them over here.

A Balladeer



Girl Beard

Lucas Hamming

The Vagary

Jungle By Night

The Don't Touch My Croque-Monsieurs

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Warming Up With Live Music On Liberation Day

At Liberation Day, every May 5th, we remember and celebrate that the allied forces liberated The Netherlands and ended the World War II for us in 1945. Many bands are playing all over the country. This year I was lucky that this day fell on Saturday, since it's only a Bank Holiday once every five years. There's always a nice line-up in Amsterdam that has a few stages scattered around the city centre. This year we watched Wooden Saints, Go Back To The Zoo, Sven Hammon Soul, Hit Me TV and the veterans of The Scene.

Wooden Saints

Go Back To The Zoo

Sven Hammond Soul

Hit Me TV

The Scene

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Liberation Day Ends In Tropical Party

Dutch Liberation Day on the 5th of May is a bank holiday only once every five years. So this year I had to work and couldn't see any of the bands that were playing during the day. But at night I went down town straight away to check out some of the bands playing in the evening.

Ten Tempiés
We kick it off with this band that is playing a mix of rock, ska with a latin-american flavour. The songs are in Spanish which isn't a surprise since singer Maurino Alarcón is originally from Chili. It gives the songs an extra touch. I don't speak Spanish but I read that the lyrics are about social abuses and injustice. Their music reminds me of a band called La Pegatina that I saw on Lowlands last year. It is hard not to move your booty to this music.



Case Mayfield
This singer/songwriter was warming up the crowd for Happy Camper in April. It isn't a big crowd watching which probably has to do with the location. He only plays three songs but once again I'm impressed with his singing and quality of his songs. Afterwards I heard he wasn't feeling too good about himself and his performance at all. Imagine when he is. I hope he will bring out a record some time soon.



Houses
After seeing them as a support act in the Melkweg earlier this year I was curious if a second performance would be just as interesting. And I'm not disappointed since they are playing a tight set. Their songs sound interesting enough and I would love to listen to more of their music. They are working on their first album right now and it should be out in September. I'll be sure to catch that one.



Jungle By Night
These young guys are the ones to close the stage at the Nes square. They have been able to reach out to quite some people in the past months. Many have heard of them by now and the small square fills up quite quickly. And they know what everyone needs right now. Within no time they have everyone moving and the warm night turns into a tropical party. The boys are loving it and it's great fun to watch them play and enjoy their catchy afro beat tracks. It's impressive that such young musicians are working on afro beat jazz songs and can turn it into something modern that appeals to so many people.

And so this year's Liberation Day ends like it should: with a great party.

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Liberation Day A True Celebration

In The Netherlands we celebrate the liberation of our country at the end of World War II every 5th of May or as we call it Liberation Day. It's a nation wide official holiday every 5 years and so this year I was off as well (the government wants to go back to a yearly official holiday which I support completely of course!). And what's a celebration without music? So cities throughout the country have liberation festivals and of course our capital is one of them. A great chance to check out bands like Moss, The Mad Trist and Gotcha! Allstars.

Liberation Festival 2010 on Dam Square Amsterdam, May 5 2010
There were two stages close to each other with the main stage on Dam square. I only knew the bands on the main stage and that bill didn't look bad at all: Moss, The Tunes, The Mad Trist, Junkie XL, Ed Kowalczyk, Gotcha! Allstars and Giovanca. So we headed to the center to check them out and enjoy a little sun while we're there.

Moss (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
By the time we arrived they already started playing. I wanted to see this band for quite a while since I love their highly acclaimed album that they released last year. And they sure didn't disappoint me. They played a tight balanced set and their harmonies sounded live just as good as they do on the album. I'm sure they won over some new fans. Can't wait to see them in Paradiso next month.



We wandered about for a while thinking that The Tunes probably wasn't my cup of tea. By the time we returned we still could catch a few songs to find out I was right. But I was pretty sure that I was gonna like the next band.

The Mad Trist (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
And they sure kicked ass. A great heavy set of stoner rock filled with roaring guitars and pounding drums. It does sound a lot like Queens of the Stone Age, even singer Arthur von Berg copies the singing style of Josh Homme. The songs also don't offer a lot of variety. So hopefully they will develop their own sound in the years to come and live up to the potential they showed.



Then it was time to check out our favourite tapas bar in town 'Catala' and skip Junkie XL and Ed Kowalczyk. Not too bad since I have seen Junkie XL a few times already and he moved into a direction that I'm not too fond of. I lost interest in Kowalczyk ages ago. After great food and drinks smelling like garlic from a mile away because of that delicious aioli we returned to get ready for a party.

Gotcha! All Stars (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)
And a party it was going to be. This legendary band from the early 90s has returned with a vengeance. The stage was filled up to the last square meter with instruments and musicians. Their only goal was to show us and themselves a good time. A funk and rock show that would make George Clinton proud. And what a surprise when they brought singer Mary Griffin to join them on stage. I saw her in August singing with Dr. Funkenstein himself as well. In the end I don't think anyone could stand still and although it was cold with the sun down it sure was a hot show.



After this great performance we decided to skip Giovanca and call it a day. Hopefully next year when liberation day will be a yearly holiday again the bands will be just as interesting. What a great way to celebrate freedom!
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