VCF

That Arcade Fire setlist. Jealous.

Seems like her EU tour ended this weekend in Portugal but no festival tried to get Lorde?

Ended up with (sets I've seen entirely or almost) : FRI - Black Leather Jacket > BLUAI > Froukje > Ethel Cain > The Aces > M83 > boygenius > Billie Eilish boygenius was fantastic. To be honest the record still hasn't really clicked but god how well did that translate in a live setting. Lucy Dacus was the only one I had not seen before, but her singing True Blue was special! I was a bit further back for M83 but unfortunately it was so hot and lots of talking. Lol at all the people leaving after Midnight City! Gave Yungblud 5 minutes and it was enough to make me go back to the Marquee. Never really got into the Billie set for diverse reasons sadly but that felt like a solid show and what should have been the closing set of the festival. Crowd was strangely quiet though? SAT - Compact Disk Dummies > julie > Nabihah Iqdal > Jessie Ware > MUNA > Limp Bizkit > Angèle > BICEP Might have been the best day of the weekend (and I thought it was the weakest line-up wise!). Not really concerned by Clouseau but that was a nice touch. There were so many people they could have done that on the Main stage but I guess it would have not had the same magic. Compact Disk Dummies was a perfect midday act, Nabihah Iqdal was my best decision of the weekend (she seems like a great artist and person), Jessie Ware put on a great live show, MUNA and Limp Bizkit were fun. Only letdown was Angèle. I'm Belgian and had never seen her so it was finally time to, but I found the first 40-45 minutes to be really boring. Was better afterwards. SUN - Giant Rooks > Dylan > girl in red > Macklemore > Balthazar > The Killers The Killers... Third time seeing them and this weekend I got the confirmation that they're nothing more than a festival band for me. Bilbao BBK last year was a great experience because the crowd was unreal, so we wanted to be at the front to end the weekend on a good note. Bad decision as it meant skipping Foals and enduring a rough set and atmosphere. Not sure I'll see them again in the future. What could have been Florence > Foals > The Killers ended up being Balthazar into The Killers and what a bummer. Scheduling wise I would have rather seen Foals replacing Florence on the Main with Balthazar closing the Marquee but anyway. Afternoon could not save that unfortunately as fatigue and bad choices on our side played their part. Girl in Red was solid though! Overall, given it was my first Pukkelpop (went to HEAR HEAR last year so I knew the festival site) : - You could tell by the line-up PKP has clearly aimed at late teens / early twenties people (not that it's a bad thing!) and succesfully so as sales have never been this good, but the 27-year-old me felt old at times! You could also tell the festival had sold out as the place felt packed all weekend. - Overall the line-up was a good one but I had to make choices. Some were fortunate, some less. The Main / Marquee rotation with 5 minutes between each did not help at all. However, I still think it was missing a few Marquee indie bands ala The National, Franz Ferdinand... We were discussing this going back to the camping but I feel like even the HEAR HEAR day did a better job last year. - Did not like the Main. It's obviously not the main asset of the festival (same applies for Werchter) but all 3 headliners were quite disappointing and/or had a crowd not up to the task. - What's with all the talking?! - Some... interesting choices on site created long queues. The wristband picking point on Thursday night, the only two water spots on the festival site, the early closing of some food and drink tents to name a few. - When are we doing something against outrageous prices before we turn into Coachella and the US overall? Food wood was ok quality wise but still so expensive. I don't regret giving this weekend a go, but unless next year offers an incredible line-up, not sure I'll be back.

Pukkelpop this weekend was a bit shocking at times.

Oof, The Killers felt so flat even at the front. Will give a longer report tomorrow but mixed impressions overall. This Sunday was a big deception in the end.

Nabihah Iqdal over Bombay Bicycle Club turned out to be a great choice! boygenius was fantastic yesterday.

Two tap water spots for the whole festival site is incredibly stupid. Long queues to get water.

Oof. Was excited to see her.

Friday 13H25 Royel Otis (Lift) 14H20 Froukje (Main) 15H25 Nessa Barrett or Hannah Grae (Marquee/Lift) 16H30 Ethel Cain (Club) 17H35 Brutus or The Aces (Marquee/Lift) 18H35 TV Girl (Club) 19H45 M83 (Marquee) 21H55 Boygenius (Marquee) 23H00 Billie Eilish (Main) 00H35 Moderat or ascendant vierge (Marquee/Lift) Saturday 12H20 Compact Disk Dummies (Main) 14H50 Bombay Bicycle Club (Marquee) 15H40 RORI (Dance Hall) 16H35 Jessie Ware (Marquee) 17H35 Turnstile or MUNA (Main/Club) 18H35 Nothing But Thieves (Main) 19H35 Limp Bizkit (Main) 20H35 Nia Archives (Lift) 21H45 Luude (Boiler) 23H40 Angèle (Main) 00H45 2ManyDjs and/or BICEP (Marquee/Dance Hall) Sunday 12H20 Kids with Buns (Club) 13H10 Giant Rooks (Marquee) 14H05 Zwangere Guy (Main) 15H00 Mother Mother (Marquee) 17H00 girl in red (Marquee) 18H05 Macklemore (Main) 19H10 King Gizzard or Loyle Carner (Marquee/Dance Hall) 20H15 Florence and the Machine (Main) 21H35 Foals (Marquee) 22H40 The Killers (Main) Provisional schedule for the weekend but I’m sure it will change a lot. Enjoy all!

Great show and atmosphere yesterday indeed! I’d take Hot Chip in Klub C as well.

MEO and San Miguel do not seem to be clashing for the first two days, but on Sunday Arcade Fire is playing at 23.15 and Pabllo Vittar at 23.55? Surely that's an error?

Two golden circle tickets sorted in Lisbon! Lisbon was absolutely not the plan, it was 194 pounds a ticket and I hate the principle of golden circle, but it’s TAYLOR SWIFT anyway.

I would argue they are Lokerse level at the very best nowadays. Did they sold out their day last year btw?

Meanwhile, still no news about the Paris and Lyon sales that we delayed this morning. French Swifties are fuming.

No events planned for the Stade de France in the first half of 2024 as refurbishment works are scheduled ahead of the Olympics. Parc des Princes is quite rare for gigs unfortunately.

Meanwhile on Ticketmaster France, struggling to log in to the website, Paris still on pause with no further info, and Lyon sale due to start in 20 minutes. We are having fun! Oh and the waiting room doesn't work anymore.

Paris sale now paused because of technical issues. Hilarious.

Paris is a mess. They're selling the 4 dates in two timeslots (9 and 11am), with the same queue for both. Which means I'm screwed as I have been in the 500k for the last two hours. 1 million people currently in the queue. Promising for Lyon later on.

Not there this year, but early tickets were at 110 on site last year. I guess with prices increasing they should be around 120/130 which is still a bargain.

Are The National that big in Belgium though? Forest National was their biggest arena and they did not sold out Live is Live last year (it was in Zeebrugge though, not the best location). While Editors have always been a fan favorite in Belgium (Flanders) and Werchter. They’re past their prime but still headlined TW Classic 2018 over The National IIRC? A co-head slot would not shock me at all but with recent talks of expanding The Barn even more to 25k… That does not seem far fetched. Or maybe I’m just totally underestimating their popularity!

Unless they’re playing 4 days in a row, which is very unlikely, Paramore are ruled out (supporting Taylor Swift this summer). My early prediction lasted 2 hours.

Very early prediction (and probably too optimistic or involving touring acts that will end up in other BE festivals) : Dua Lipa / Angèle (The National - Barn) Foo Fighters / Paramore (Lorde - Barn) SOAD / Ghost (London Grammar - Barn) Depeche Mode / Blur (Janelle Monae - Barn) Foo Fighters is a safe bet as said before. Pretty sure Ghost were also considered as a strong possibility. Also going for the Dua / Angèle combo. The National would fit better in that new Barn. They could ask for that co-head slot but they were happy to play in the much smaller Marquee in Pukkelpop 2019 so who knows? Lana del Rey for Boutique if touring (she’s getting too big for festivals, the demand for her mini EU tour this week was almost at Taylor Swift’s level). Reckon Fred again will close the Main in 2025. Sam Fender also a strong candidate to a co-head spot when he’s back with his third record. Not optimistic for LCD as they seem to accept headliner deals only nowadays, and they’re clearly not headliner material here.

Dont like Muse but playing Showbiz instead of just leaving after the technical issues was a proper move.

Don't know if that was discussed on the other thread, but she's added a few dates starting next week! Lido di Camaiore July 2 Amsterdam July 4 Dublin July 7 Paris July 10 Her Glastonbury set took me a few songs to get into, but was really captivating once she really felt confortable. Gonna try the Amsterdam date.

Fred Again.. Brussels show (15k arena) sold out in 1 hour. The Barn will be PACKED.