Pukkelpop 2014

[Semprini]

Safe travels and have an excellent weekend!

Just looked through a fair number of weather sites and they are all in agreement that we will have rain. Thursday afternoon seems the most likely, with possible showers on Friday afternoon and even some on Saturday (this was always the dry day whenever I checked last week). Hopefully it won't be enough to do any damage to the ground (or the atmosphere). I only want to watch a couple of bands on the Main Stage so it will just be when moving around the site that I might get wet.

Edit: The map is now on the official website. You have to download it, rather than the one that comes up on the page. Not too many changes, although the Petit Bazar is now opposite the Boiler Room.

Double edit: Just seen a picture on Facebook of what I'm pretty sure are the three blue circles on the map outside the Boiler Room. Looks like each one is a big, round light tower but it's hard to describe exactly what they're like. The lights are at the base and the top and together they form shapes in the middle. Looks pretty mad whatever it is!

Edited August 11, 2014 by Semprini

[johnybegood]

I hope that all of you will enjoy Pukkelpop'14!! This year I will be again in Express by HI hotel in a couple of days!! Can't wait!! Have a safe travel and a great time there!!!!

[Trufflehound]

I'm off to Hasselt on my bike in 15 minutes. Have fun everyone.

[Semprini]

Safe travels Trufflehound, very much looking forward to sharing the first of many beers with you both tomorrow night!

[TheNewUnion]

Quick Q. Should my mates waterproof jacket turn out to have gone mouldy in the garage, he may need to acquire one on arrival. Is there anywhere in Hasselt where he could buy a cheapish waterproof jacket? C&A, outdoor shop or supermarket would cover it I suppose?

Cheers

[Stretchryan]

Enjoy all!! Wish was going this year. Fantastic lineup. Will make it to Paris the following wend.

[Dietediet]

Apparently the Club tent collapsed this afternoon (no injuries). Not sure what they'll do with that on such short notice...

[DDave]

Wind damage to the Club tent, no one has been hurt. More information will follow through our official channels.

Not great.

[Semprini]

Just seen a picture on Facebook of the Club stage and the roof of the tent has blown down! Hope they fix it in time.

[TheNewUnion]

That's not ideal. Glad no one was hurt. Hope they can organise something, or reorganise the programme in there as there are a lot of acts playing in the Club that I want to see.

Must have been frightening though, after the big storm the last thing you want is to see that the wind can get up and take a stage down again.

[TheNewUnion]

Here's an update

http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20140812_01214556

I translated it using google translate but I get that it collapsed during construction due to a brief storm.

Looking at the pictures, and with the "during construction" from the headline, I am (perhaps optimistically) given to thinking the tent wasn't fully up and the storm caught them on the hop. Hopefully should be an easy fix.

Twitter update says "Wind Damage to the Club Tent. More information will follow through official channels."

Edited August 12, 2014 by TheNewUnion

[Semprini]

The tent's completely destroyed, will be surprised if they can get it back up and operational in under 48 hours. Sincerely hope so. As far as I know the tent was fully complete as they used it on Saturday for the Summer Swing festival.

Strange to think this was where we sheltered in 2011 and it stood up that day.

[johnybegood]

Every year some strange bad things happen in this festival. 2010: one musician suicide + BRMC sound technician passed away due a heart attack. 2011 the terrible storm with some peopled dead. 2012 a tropical heat wave that made Saturday a hell day. 2013, Neil Young cancels the week before and no way to find a replacement. 2014: a stage collapses 48 before the festival.

Unbeliveable, really bad luck for Pukkelpop Team!!

Edited August 12, 2014 by johnybegood

[Snorefest]

Yeeeeeeeesh talk about bad luck! PkP just can't catch a break can they. Glad to hear no one was injured though!! That'd be the last thing PkP needs. Sounds like wind caught underneath it somehow and took the whole thing down while it was relatively vulnerable from construction. There's a pic going around Twitter which doesn't leave me with much hope. Link: https://twitter.com/simoniven/status/499190164787589120/photo/1

Seems like the stage part & rigging are still up but the whole canvas is down and I don't see any supports up either. Would be surprised if they managed to get that all up safely before Thursday; worst case scenario the whole thing might be too damaged to ensure safety. If they need to get a new stage moved in then I'm gonna say we proooobably won't see the Club at all this year. Or maybe the last day, but you gotta wonder if that'd be worth it.

Anyway scary to hear but I won't let it ruin my fest. If that means 'only' 7 stages will be up, I'm still gonna have a blast! Not really feeling the more panicky tweets going round right now. Have a great one regardless, everyone!

[Dietediet]

Every year some strange bad things happen in this festival. 2010: one musician suicide + BRMC sound technician passed away due a heart attack. 2011 the terrible storm with some peopled dead. 2012 a tropical heat wave that made Saturday a hell day. 2013, Neil Young cancels the week before and no way to find a replacement. 2014: a stage collapses 48 before the festival.

Unbeliveable, really bad luck for Pukkelpop Team!!

You forgot the roadie stagediving head first onto the gates in 2009.

But it is a fact that Pukkelpop is in a period and region where such heavy storms aren't abnormal. Even before 2011, there were editions where the sky suddenly went from clear to pitch black in the afternoon. I recall half of our tents in the camping site being trashed after a storm that lasted merely 10 minutes. They just happened to be unexpectedly strong today and back in 2011.

[DDave]

A tropical heatwave sounds ace to me at the moment.

[Semprini]

Just seen some video footage from a helicopter, doesn't look pretty. Can't see how they will be able to salvage that tent so only hope is that they clear it away and bring in a new one. Reckon they could get one up in 24 hours but it will then depend on how much damage has occurred to everything else e.g. Stage, lights, sound system etc. Health and safety will then have to clear it of course. I'm hopeful but like Snorefest said, there's still loads to see even if the Club doesn't pull through.

@Snorefest: will text you for a meet up during St Lucia. We will be on the barrier in front of the speaker stack, left side as you face the stage.

[TheNewUnion]

Selfishly, I really REALLY want to see the Club up and running by Friday, so many bands I want to see in there. Wonder, if push came to shove, if they could change the running order elsewhere to accommodate at least some of the acts?

From here: http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/104279-nieuwe-tent-op-weg-naar-pukkelpop

This: .....but the organization has now announced that there is already a new tent is coming tomorrow is set up

If anyone can speak Dutch they'll get a lot more sense from the article than my google translate efforts.

[DDave]

Good news then.

[Snorefest]

The New Union, a quick translation:

"Belgian Weather Institute had issued a code yellow, so no huge danger; this was a very local, unexpected & unpredicted dropwind [dunno about that word, but the same type of gales took down the Chateau in 2011]. The tent had been up for a week and had been approved by independent firm. The organisation has announced a new tent is being drafted in and will be constructed tomorrow."
[The rest is more 'emotional' speculation; "last week at Summer Swing a kid's band played there. It would of course have been awful if this had happened then." In my view that's a little sewer-reporting; sure it's an awful thought but I don't need 'what if' scenarios in my news. ]

Be interesting to see if they can pull up an entire tent & stage in a single day, but now I'm hopeful it will probably be running by Friday... Fingers crossed though!!

@ Semprini: got it, will look for you there!

[TheNewUnion]

Hope so Dave. Couldn't watch the report from the site as it's geo-restricted, could get round it to be honest but it'd still be in Dutch and I'd have no idea what was being said.

Thanks for the translation, sounds pretty positive I think/hope.

Edited August 12, 2014 by TheNewUnion

[Semprini]

They've just posted on Facebook that the festival is going ahead as planned. Campsite opens at 12pm and then the Boiler party from 6pm. Guess that means the Club, a bit like the Death Star in both Star Wars; A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, will be fully operational by Thursday.

[TheNewUnion]

Mint, good news.

Not sure of the plans yet, I assume we'll be going to the Boiler Party then busk it from there depending on how much we have to drink.

[Snorefest]

They've just posted on Facebook that the festival is going ahead as planned. Campsite opens at 12pm and then the Boiler party from 6pm. Guess that means the Club, a bit like the Death Star in both Star Wars; A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, will be fully operational by Thursday.

So you're saying this wind managed to somehow get into the Club's thermal exhaust port?

[Semprini]

Mint, good news.

Not sure of the plans yet, I assume we'll be going to the Boiler Party then busk it from there depending on how much we have to drink.

We'll probably go to the Boiler Party for a bit, most likely to coincide with the opening thing at 10.30pm, and then back into town. Will give you a shout at some point.

So you're saying this wind managed to somehow get into the Club's thermal exhaust port?

That sounds like the only possible explanation!