Text by Rene Rosierse
Last week we were back in beautiful Hulst, the Netherlands, for Vestrock Festival and we were treated to three days of perfect festival weather. Ahead of the festival we tried to sort out the timetables and some unaffordable clashes but decided to simply see where the wind would take us at the festival instead!
Right at the start of the first day two bands that we wanted to see were programmed on the two new stages. Two new tents, called Nexus and Novus were situated next to each other and with the stages back-to-back. We decided to watch Seb Wesson and leave Customs for another occasion. Seb is a singer/songwriter and planned his set starting with four great powerful acoustic songs before turning his set into an all-electric band with the help of Des on bass and Ronald on drums. Unfortunately Customs, the indie-rockers from Belgium, in the other tent started full swing with their powerful guitar songs which almost sounded exactly the same in both tents. Seb Wesson managed to play his acoustic solo set anyway and with the assistance of bass and drums was able to outplay Customs at the Novus.
Deadletter is no stranger at festivals anymore, although they perform best at smaller venues and clubs, they don’t mind the bigger festival stages. This time they got the main stage at sunny Vestrock while everyone was enjoying their drinks and having a natter. Tough crowd…? Not for Deadletter! They played a really great set starting with ‘Credit to Treason’ at which singer Zac Lawrence got the attention of the audience straight away end kept hold of it until ‘It Flies’, the last one of their set.
Adult Leisure performed at The Chapel at the same time so we had to hurry to catch the last bit of their set (bloody timetable clashes). The Chapel is a small wooden building with no air conditioning or other means of ventilation. The place was packed and damp. The band combines indie rock and postpunk and were in great shape. They rocked, the audience was thrilled and had a great time. Definitely a band to keep your eyes and ears out for.
At the end of the afternoon it was time to ramp up pace and volume, at the Novus Jools played while at the same time Black Leather Jacket, a Flemish guitar band played their set of heavy rock. Jools are a punk rock band from Leicester and are heavily influenced by Shame and IDLES. Although the stage was a bit small for a six piece band, we were having trouble keeping up with them running and jumping around. Fantastic energy!
At the Sphere the air guitars were tuned for the NK Air Guitar contest. The four finalists competed with System of a Down and in the end, an English contested won the Dutch contest. We moved on to the main stage where Danko Jones played their set while we enjoyed our dinner. When going to see Danko Jones you know what to expect; guitars, riffs, more guitars, and steady rock songs with lots of power. Starting with the appropriate ‘Guess Who’s Back’ through to less appropriate Friday evening song ‘Everyday Is Saturday Night’ and finishing with ‘My Little RnR’. They rocked, we rolled, thank you Danko Jones.
Time for another great band; this time it’s Wies, a Dutch band singing in Dutch who have gathered an eager and carefully-listening audience over the years. Wies is an indie pop/ rock outfit fronted by powerful singer Jeanne, backed by bass player Teun and drummer Dan. The enthusiasm on and off stage made even the non-Dutch speaking audience dance, enjoy and forget that they didn’t understand any of the lyrics.
Stereophonics might have been the headliner for the first day of Vestrock, but it is Feeder who took the credits. They clearly enjoyed being on stage and that rubbed off on the crowd. They started their set with golden oldie ‘Insomnia’ and from there on played their greatest hits, undeniable crowd pleasers, and ended with some recent work from ‘Echo Park’. Started the show easily, and worked their way up to the most energetic, ‘Just a day’. Everyone sang, cheered and danced until Feeder had to make way for that other headliner. Stereophonics is a typical band in the Netherlands that might not directly ring a bell to everyone, until they hear their classics. It might have been the reason that the field for the main stage was nicely filled but definitely not packed. It was a good choice to perform ‘Have A Nice Day’ early on. The band played the rest on auto-pilot and didn’t bring much of a surprise nor thrill. Typical, that this band claimed an extra 15 minutes to the set, which they ended with ‘Dakota’ after which we headed back to our hotel for a good night’s rest and to recharge for the day ahead.
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