Pukkelpop 2009

[Semprini]

So not too bad for me so far and there's plenty of acts that I haven't heard of so will investigate and then there's about 100 or so more acts to be confirmed!

I'm looking forward to it.

[ourkid1984]

I hope the Manics play, they are amazing live! One of my all time favourite bands.

I've had a look on a couple of websites and there seems to be chances of a couple of these acts playing.

Kaiser chiefs - Put on a good live show but not great

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - 2 good albums would want to see

Vampire weekend - Saw them at Werchter last year, quality

Courteeners - Quality first album

Eagles of death metal - Anything Josh Home does is good

Glasvegas - I'd imagine they will be a good festival band

Friendly fires - Brilliant live show and great for a tent

Jamie T - New album out this year and a good performer

Killers - Playing Lowlands and are fantastic live

Ocean colour scene - Brilliant live, great albums, very under rated

[lifelessfool]

I hope the Manics play, they are amazing live! One of my all time favourite bands.

I've had a look on a couple of websites and there seems to be chances of a couple of these acts playing.

Kaiser chiefs - Put on a good live show but not great

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - 2 good albums would want to see

Vampire weekend - Saw them at Werchter last year, quality

Courteeners - Quality first album

Eagles of death metal - Anything Josh Home does is good

Glasvegas - I'd imagine they will be a good festival band

Friendly fires - Brilliant live show and great for a tent

Jamie T - New album out this year and a good performer

Killers - Playing Lowlands and are fantastic live

Ocean colour scene - Brilliant live, great albums, very under rated

[ourkid1984]

Yeah I realise that Yeah yeah yeah’s have had 3 albums , just haven’t heard their newest one yet, looking forward to hearing it though!

I thought that the Killers were a bit unrealistic but thought it was possible, with the festivals they’re playing this year.

I’ve got a few other possible’s with Lilly Allen, the wombats, band of horses and ladyhawke.

Does anyone know when the next annoucement will be? Not worried too much because I'm going to be buying my ticket next Friday but it would be nice to see who else is coming.

Cheers

[Semprini]

Two more self-confirmations:

Aug 21: Glasvegas

Aug 22: Cadenza Æther

As for the next announcement, there doesn't seem to be any pattern as to how they release the names so it could be anytime really. I don't think it'll be for at least a couple of weeks though but then again tickets go on sale this Friday so they might throw out a few more names to boost sales.

[inspectedinspector]

Following Lowlands suit do you think Pukkelpop may sell out much quicker than expected? This question is in particular aimed at Semprini as you seem to know your stuff

Edited May 4, 2009 by inspectedinspector

[rabhartaigh]

Following Lowlands suit do you think Pukkelpop may sell out much quicker than expected? This question is in particular aimed at Semprini as you seem to know your stuff

Edited May 4, 2009 by rabhartaigh

[Semprini]

Rabhartaigh's right in that Pukkelpop has never actually sold out. Last year they had their record attendance of 57,000 for the day Metallica played but there were still tickets available so I don't know what the maximum capacity is.

It's hard to say whether Lowlands selling out will have an impact on Pukkelpop but I don't think it's any real cause for concern. Lowlands pretty much sells out every year, although I can't remember it happening this early before. If you want to be certain then get one on Friday but there's no danger of it selling out in a couple of hours like some UK festivals

For some bizarre reason Pukkelpop seems to fall under the radar when it comes to coverage/exposure of major European festivals - no one seems too interested in it outside of Belgium. If you speak to your average festival goer in the UK they will have heard of Rock Am Ring, Beni, Roskilde, Rock Werchter, Exit etc but very few know anything about Pukkelpop or have even heard of it. It gets no coverage in the NME and I've yet to even see a news feed on efestivals when there's a line up announcement. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining as I think it's a good thing - you only need to read what the locals think of some of the Brits that go to Beni and Exit in particular to see how it can be spoilt by the annual mass invasion from our shores.

[inspectedinspector]

Thanks rabhartaigh and Seprini.

I think I'll hold out for a while, but have also noticed the strength of the Hurricane line up in Germany, so thats a possibility now. But I think Pukkelpop will have a much larger line up, so need to wait for a couple of announcements before I decide.

I know what you mean about being under the radar and think its a good thing too. I think I'm put off the festivals that loads of Brits go to, the whole binge drinking thing and the differences in behaviour under the influence of it (between Brits and most Europeans) is just embarassing to be honest.

[rocksteady]

Hey all, just bought my tickets today.

Wanted to go to rock werchter or lowlands, but everything sold out! so this was the last choice.

I went in 2006 and it was amazing (with radiohead headlining) but am not impressed by this years line up so far... hopefully there iwll be more announcements.

I noticed people were saying that booka shade had confirmed... but i cant find proof of that anywhere, i hope its true though...

Also how come no-ones staying in the campsite?? its great fun and part of the experience.. sissy's!

I have a feeling this will sell out this year since there are very few other options now. Reeeaaaallly hope they make the boiler room open 24 hours a day, always hate it when the music stops but you dont want to.

Cya there!

[Semprini]

You make it sound like you're settling for second (or third) best with Pukkelpop, kinda like going out with a friend for the night only because everyone else was unavailable Only joking of course, you've been here before and obviously know the form and what to expect!

I wouldn't be too concerned if the line up isn't to your liking so far as we're not even half way there yet. As for Booka Shade, they've self-confirmed on myspace.

I don't personally have anything against camping but given the choice I'd rather stay in a hotel and PP offers that choice so it's a no-brainer for me. As I think I've mentioned before in this thread, I treat PP as a holiday each year so don't mind paying for a hotel. Maybe it doesn't give the 'full' festival experience and makes me a sissy but I can live with that

[Semprini]

There's going to be an announcement, bizarrely at 5am tomorrow morning, that will include new names and a day by day breakdown. I can't translate the info too well from the Dutch forum I saw it on but I'm also pretty sure that The Get Up Kids will be playing.

If you look at the line up poster some of the names at the top have been moved around and the size of the font changed - the four 'headliners' are now Arctic Monkeys, FNM, Kraftwerk and dUES. I do remember from previous years though that they often do this so it could (and most probably will) change again. Mew have also disappeared from the line up but they still have a profile page so not sure what's going on there??

I'll keep checking a few sites this evening to see if anything comes out early but if not we'll find out in the morning

[rocksteady]

Haha nah im excited for pukkelpop it is a great festival, just wanted to check out the other festivals in the area since ive never been. I do find pukkelpop crowds to be a little tame sometimes though, its good because you can get to the front for anything, but the atmosphere isn't as wild as other festivals i've been too.

I've been checking the booka shade myspace, the only gig they have in august is in england.... am i missing something. tell me i am.

ARGhhhh I have exams right now, I cannot wait for this to be over, the thought of festivals is keeping me going..

[inspectedinspector]

ARGhhhh I have exams right now, I cannot wait for this to be over, the thought of festivals is keeping me going..

[Semprini]

It's all unconfirmed and I don't know where the people got their info from but the rumours are that Face to Face, Razorlight and My Bloody Valentine will be amongst the bands announced tomorrow.

[millionaire]

I'd really LOVE to go to this festival (dEUS 2 nights )but no-one I know will come That and I am poor

Just as I was looking at this thread I got an email from pukkelpop, surely its a sign I should go

Anyway the new names are:

My Bloody Valentine

Razorlight

Crookers

Air Traffic

Dinosaur Jr.

Booka Shade (live)

Klaxons

Squarepusher

Dizzee Rascal

Glasvegas

Birdy Nam Nam

Asher Roth

The Get Up Kids

Face To Face

Buraka Som Sistema

The Airborne Toxic Event

Puppetmastaz

Tortoise

Blood Red Shoes

Yuksek

Zombie Nation

Patrick Wolf

Peaches

Passion Pit

The Temper Trap

Hanne Hukkelberg

The Juan MacLean

Kissy Sell Out

Jon Hopkins

Kap Bambino

Telepathe

Port O’Brien

Soap & Skin

The Invisble

Metric

Micachu & The Shapes

Delphic

[millionaire]

and the day splits are...

Donderdag 20 augustus

Faith No More

The Offspring - My Bloody Valentine

Razorlight - Deftones - Beirut - Wilco - Bon Iver

Crookers - Cavalera Conspiracy - Eric Prydz

Opeth - Booka Shade (live) - Dizzee Rascal

Asher Roth - Andy C & MC GQ - Busy P - Zero 7

Bring Me The Horizon - Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar

Yuksek - Zombie Nation - Simian Mobile Disco (live)

Grizzly Bear - Magnus

Passion Pit - The Subs - Aeroplane DJ set - LA Riots - Vetiver - James Yuill - Howling Bells

Sub Focus & MC Jakes - Baddies - Jon Hopkins - The Ghost of a Thousand

Port O'Brien - Soap & Skin - Golden Silvers - This City - ...

Vrijdag 21 augustus

Kraftwerk

Snow Patrol - dEUS

Vitalic - Air Traffic - Squarepusher

The Ting Tings

Glasvegas - Birdy Nam Nam - Phoenix - Grooverider & MC ID

The Get Up Kids - The Black Box Revelation - Face To Face

The Hickey Underworld - The Jesus Lizard - Black Lips

The Bloody Beetroots - Buraka Som Sistema - Blood Red Shoes

Paul Kalkbrenner (live) - Hank III & Assjack - Puppetmastaz

The Airborne Toxic Event - The Count & Sinden - Alter Ego

Crystal Antlers - Patrick Wolf - Fake Blood

Health - The Soft Pack - The Juan MacLean - Dananananaykroyd - Fight Like Apes

Metric - The Chapman Family - Kap Bambino - Ebony Bones! - The Invisible

Kissy Sell Out - Delphic - Congorock vs His Majesty Andre - Partyharders Squad

And So I Watch You From Afar - Brookes Brothers - ...

Zaterdag 22 augustus

Arctic Monkeys

dEUS - N*E*R*D - 50 Cent

Dave Clarke - Dinosaur Jr. - Klaxons

Martin Solveig (live) - Tocadisco

Anti-Flag - Ellen Allien - Life of Agony - Brodinski - Steve Aoki

The Whitest Boy Alive - Don Rimini - Ed Rush & Optical

Mad Caddies - Magnetic Man feat Skream and Benga

Peaches - Florence and The Machine - Moderat

Enter Shikari - Tortoise

Fennesz - The Temper Trap - Hanne Hukkelberg - Deerhunter - Noisia - The Bug

The Parlor Mob - Shadow Dancer - Yo Majesty - Telepathe - Rusko Live

Hudson Mohawke - Micachu & The Shapes - Rolo Tomassi - ...

[anx]

I'm looking at going to this but I'm travelling on my own so holding off until closer to the date

The fact it doesnt sell out sounds really appealing! I should still be able to round up some randoms along the way to go with me

[inspectedinspector]

Donderdag 20 augustus

Faith No More

The Offspring - My Bloody Valentine

- Deftones

This part is awesome!!

[ourkid1984]

I'm going to the festival, having brought tickets on Friday and with this addition to the line up I'm really pleased!!!

[rocksteady]

Lineup is looking siiiiiick

Shame there's still no reggae or dub though!

[inspectedinspector]

I'm sorry for being lazy here; but did I read somehwre in this thread at one point you have to que to see popular bands outside entrances...? Or was that another festival If so how bad is the que length/ time?

[Semprini]

With the exception of the Wablief?, there's no queuing at all to get in for any of the stages at Pukkelpop. Most of them are open nearly all the way round so it's not like it's one in one out or anything. The Club was very busy for the Ting Tings last year and the Dance Hall was the same for Pendulum and Hot Chip but you could still get in if you didn't want to stand outside and watch.

I typed this up last weekend in answer to a question on the official forum about what the stages were like but for someone reason it wouldn't let me post it??? Excuse the length, there were a few beers involved during the writing process

Main Stage - now the only proper open air stage at Pukkelpop. As you would expect it holds all the big headliners but there's always a good mix of bands playing each day.

Marquee - is pretty much the '2nd' stage at the festival. Like the Main Stage has a bit of a mix of music but is predominantly rock/indie. It's undercover and part of the dance floor is covered too. You probably know but dUES are headlining two nights this year.

Shelter - just round the corner from the Marquee. It used to be open air (and was known as the Skate Stage) but was a tent last year. When I say tent, I mean like one of those posh marquee's with proper walls rather than a circus tent (I'll come to that in a bit ). Is home to the harder/heavier sounds at the festival and probably the only place you'll see a moshpit or crowdsurfing during the weekend (which, by the way, is strictly verboden).

Club - at the back of the Main Stage and probably the smallest of the eight stages. Has a covered floor and is surrounded by food stalls and bars (including the Belgian beers and Cava tent), which is always a good thing. You'll find a lot of up and coming bands playing here, which you'll curse yourself for missing when you look back at the line up afterwards.

Dance Hall - joint 2nd favourite stage of mine (tied with the Boiler Room, which I'll come to next). This is home to all the 'live' dance acts but they occasionally have a big name DJ to finish off the night - Boys Noize last year for instance and Erol Alkan the year before. It's the same sort of proper building as the Marquee and Shelter but has a fully covered floor, which is a bonus. I've seen some of my favourite sets within these four walls and it never fails to deliver over the weekend - Digitalism and Justice in 2007 and Girl Talk, Midnight Juggernauts and Hot Chip in 2008 come to mind.

Boiler Room - the only stage that has continuous music (provided exclusively by DJ's) from when it starts to when it finishes at 4am. Adjacent to the Dance Hall and slightly smaller, the Boiler Room is the kind of dance tent that other festivals can only dream of. The line up each year is eclectic to say the least - where else would you get the likes of Jazzy Jeff, DJ Hype, Armand Van Helden, 2manydjs and James Holden all playing alongside new talent like SebastiAn, Bloody Beetroots, Chase and Status and the Crookers (OK, they didn't all play the same year but you get my drift). The freshest sounds complemented by a superb lightshow and hedonistic atmosphere makes this a stage worthy of the admission price alone.

It's worth adding at this point that there is an outside stage between the Dance Hall and Boiler Room that takes on a life of it's own when the sun goes down. The music is mostly filtered out from the Dance Hall (essential when there was virtually no room at the inn for the likes of Pendulum last year and Groove Armada the year before) and there are video screens, lights and lasers everywhere to add to the experience. Even if you're not really into dance music it's worth taking a wander up there late one night to see what's going on and feed off the atmosphere.

The Chateau - my favourite stage at PP. I've thought long and hard and can't actually give a definitive answer as to why this is the case. Maybe it's the rustic look of the place? Maybe it's the tiered seating around the outside that has been my saviour on many occasions late into the night? Maybe it's the cutting edge/eclectic/crazy music on offer? Maybe it's because I saw my favourite PP performance there from Balkan Beat Box in 2007? Maybe I'm analysing it too much?!?!?!? Situated just across from the Marquee, the Chateau is a circus style tent that is guaranteed to provide at least one new favourite band/DJ from the weekend. You can't put your finger on a genre for this tent, although 'dance music' (and I use this term loosely) tends to dominate the later hours each day. There's bound to be at least one band each day you want to see playing in the Chateau but my advice is look at the line up and choose some bands you've never heard of but like the sound of their name - you won't be disappointed

Wablief? - situated up near the Dance Hall and Boiler Room, this is the only stage at PP that I have ever seen closed due to being too full. Ironically, this is also the only stage each year where I've never actually heard of any of the bands playing (aside from Henry Rollins who did his spoken word thing a couple of years ago but you guessed it, I couldn't get in as it was full). They have comedians on for the first few hours each day and that's often when you'll see the queues forming outside. Even more eclectic than the Chateau (hard to believe that's possible really), the Wablief is another circus style tent with seats that is well worth popping your head into during the weekend if you have some downtime from the other stages.

There's also a couple of other areas at the festival you can explore if you fancy such as the Petit Bazar (cinema and theatre) and the Arabian Tea Rooms (with loads of hammocks and stuff) but I personally struggle to see all the music I want each year so tend to give the other stuff a miss.

[inspectedinspector]

Thanks Semprini, very useful

[pumpkinprincess1]

holy moly man i wish i was going again!!!!

this is torture.