Rock Werchter shapes up for its biggest year – Liam Gallagher, Placebo, Disclosure and more just added.
ROCK WERCHTER SHAPES UP FOR ITS MOST IMPRESSIVE YEAR YET
PEARL JAM, THE STROKES, KENDRICK LAMAR, SYSTEM OF A DOWN
TWENTY ONE PILOTS, PIXIES, BECK, THOM YORKE TOMORROW’S MODERN BOXES, FAITH NO MORE, THE STREETS, AND ANDERSON .PAAK AND THE FREE NATIONALS, WILCO, KEANE, SUM 41, LEWIS CAPALDI, THE LUMINEERS, RAG’N’BONE MAN, DERMOT KENNEDY, YUNGBLUD, VOLBEAT, BLACK PUMAS, MEUTE, AND THE PRETTY RECKLESS
JUST ANNOUNCED: LIAM GALLAGHER, DISCLOSURE, PLACEBO, HAIM, MICHAEL KIWANUKA, KACEY MUSGRAVES AND JORJA SMITH
PLUS: BRITTANY HOWARD, CIGARETTES AFTER SEX, THE BIG MOON, BIG THIEF, BICEP LIVE, JIMMY EAT WORLD, ARCHIVE, TONES AND I AND JOOST
MORE ACTS TO BE ADDED FOR BELGIUM’S BIGGEST WEEKEND THIS SUMMER
The lineup for Rock Werchter, Belgium’s largest music festival, is gradually shaping up. Huge acts like Pearl Jam, The Strokes, Kendrick Lamar, System of a Down, Twenty One Pilots and Volbeat will take the stage. Other prominent performers on the lineup are Beck, Faith No More, Pixies, Thom Yorke Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, Anderson .Paak and the Free Nationals and Wilco. Rock Werchter is always a cast-iron guarantee of the best line-up, and it’s no different in 2020. Sixteen new names have just been announced for the line up. New for Thursday 2 July are Haim, Disclosure and The Big Moon. On Friday 3 July Liam Gallagher, Archive, BicepLive, Cigarettes After Sex and Brittany Howard play at the festival. Jorja Smith, Jimmy Eat World and Tones and I join the line-up for Saturday 4 July. New on for Sunday 5 July are Placebo, Michael Kiwanuka, Kacey Musgraves, Big Thief and Joost. The bill was already looking packed, with more huge acts like LewisCapaldi, The Lumineers, Keane, Rag’n’Bone Man, Black Pumas, Dermot Kennedy, Sum 41, Meute, The Pretty Reckless and TheStreets, all spread across four stages over four days this July. Delivering unrivalled line ups for over four decades, Rock Werchter stakes its reputation on booking the biggest headliners and best young talents every summer, and is known around the world for exceeding expectations year after year. The multi-award winning event determinedly programmes across all genres. From hard rock to soul, and from bright funk to pure pop. From eclectic indie to intimate singer-songwriters, and with a techno-flavoured brass band to top things off. Anything can and will happen at Rock Werchter, where the conditions are exceptional and the festival feeling is always electric. It’s no wonder this international hit remains a regular fixture in every music lover’s diary. Tickets for Rock Werchter 2020, which takes place from Thursday 2nd July to Sunday 5th July at the Festivalpark in Werchter (Belgium), are now on sale from ticketmaster.be
David Hicks is a photographer who is just as interested in the behind-the-scenes stories as he is in the stories themselves. A true photojournalist, Hicks aims to capture every aspect of waking life.
Whether that be everyday activities on the streets of Cuba to the passionate and dynamic tango culture in Buenos Aries, Hicks will be there to experience it and share it.He says of his tango collection: “The Tango, a now-popular dance between a man and a woman, started in its current form in the mid-1800s, after a massive migration to Argentina, mostly by men. Because men outnumbered women by quite some number, the only way for a man to get close to a woman was via a brothel or by dance.The men practiced together, as you’d have to be a great dancer to get a woman’s attention. So, this very sexual dance you see now was born out of the reality for men in those old days. Nowadays, you see it performed often, usually on the street corners of Buenos Aires, with live musicians or a pre-recorded soundtrack, and they do it for the tips!”
It can always be a struggle when you music possesses such a crucial and pertinent message and yet you’re blocked by the damning limitations of ‘going under the radar’ – electronic animated anarchists ‘The Mad Game’ know this all too well.
The band’s debut EP, ‘Player One’, is a righteous middle finger to what they describe as ‘The Mad Game’ – the absurdities in society that have been integrated as the status quo – after tangling with governments, security services and local mafia. Their message of outrage and vitriol is a potent one found across the EPs five tracks – a mere morsel of their true potential – and is certainly enough to make listeners pay attention.
The trio’s soundscape is an eclectic one: the righteous indignation of the best punk music married beautifully to the jarring and skittish landscapes of the best electronica. The lead track, ‘Game Over ‘, in particular makes a phenomenal first impression to the animated anarchists with members Sonu, Karla and Sonya giving their respective inputs to this chilling three-pronged attack. What these newcomers nail best is their sincerity.
It’s hard to take such a venomous assault from someone you don’t genuinely believe has lived through the horrors that they detail – The Mad Game give off no such illusion. What you hear is authentic and those unaware of the band’s craft will soon learn to such things. It makes for a truly gripping and inspiring experience.
This is not a project that anyone should overlook regardless of their tastes; thoughtful, well crafted and genuine music. Not something 2021 receives in surplus.
“The Tunetables idea was borne,” says Rob Chappelhow, the man behind a range of ingenious new storage solutions, “out of a personal desire to have my music collection around me once again.”
That’s something all of us record-collector’s can empathise with. Now, I’ve banged on before about how, for many of us, digital streaming doesn’t cut it. Streaming services are great, but for a large number of us hard-core music fans, we want something we can hold in our sweaty hands, right? But, once you have all those lovely records, where do you put them?
Flat-pack shelving is fine, but it’s hardly inspiring. That’s where the Tunetables range comes into its own. More words from Rob Chappelhow, who explains that the idea came to him during a visit to the Joe Strummer Archive exhibition in the basement of Fred Perry’s flagship store in Covent Garden – “Set out under an acrylic plinth was Strummer’s personal tape cassette collection…his musical heritage and inspiration perfectly showcased.”
It was totally spellbinding. I soon started to conceptualise how I could create my own version of this…a personal time capsule of life-affirming music. I wanted something that could be inherently useful, something that I would see and use every day, and that would be a talking point for like-minded music enthusiasts.”
And lo! Tunetables was born… What Chappelhow has done is to take brand new music-equipment flight-cases (the type we are well-used to seeing lugged around by roadies and musicians) and turn them into hand-crafted storage solutions for your CDs, tapes and vinyl. It’s a wonderful idea and, most importantly, they look great. As mentioned, each case is built by hand, and can be personalised with your own initials (or whatever you fancy). Storage ranges from 100 – 500 for CDs, 30 – 60 for tapes, and 75 for vinyl. That’s not a bad amount at all. I can see a lot of people going for this, from pro and semi-pro musicians to plain music-lovers such as myself. This is modern design with an old-school aesthetic. Check them out for yourself!
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.