Pukkelpop 2016

[MathiusGBSBI]

Cheers for the reply! Much appreciated. 

Sounds like a great festival. 

My idea for getting there will be car on the eurostar to Calais, then drive straight to the festival on Wednesday morning. Then leave Saturday night and have a couple days in Brussels afterwards. 

Is there a problem with traffic into the festival? Can't be much worse than the 6 hours it took to get out of reading fests car park!

[DDave]

2 minutes ago, MathiusGBSBI said:

Cheers for the reply! Much appreciated. 

Sounds like a great festival. 

My idea for getting there will be car on the eurostar to Calais, then drive straight to the festival on Wednesday morning. Then leave Saturday night and have a couple days in Brussels afterwards. 

Is there a problem with traffic into the festival? Can't be much worse than the 6 hours it took to get out of reading fests car park!

Can't answer that specifically as I don't know of anyone who has driven to it. The public transport situation is so good that most people use it, the fact it's included with your ticket price really helps! A hell of a lot of people use their bikes as well. 

Put it this way it won't take 6 hours, I'd imagine you'd be off the car park straight away on Saturday night.

Personal recommendations would be to spend some time in Hasselt in the day. We normally stay in a hotel there. I love it for a meal and a few pre festival beers on the Grote Market. The Irish Times is there if you need to watch any sport. If I attend this year I'll be in there for the Stoke game.  You can get the free shuttle bus to and from the site or a taxi will take you straight to the site for 15 euros. 

Other advice would be to buy at least some of your drinks and food tokens online beforehand. The queue is never massive for the token kiosk but it still saves time.

[Trufflehound]

18 hours ago, MathiusGBSBI said:

My idea for getting there will be car on the eurostar to Calais, then drive straight to the festival on Wednesday morning. Then leave Saturday night and have a couple days in Brussels afterwards. 

Is there a problem with traffic into the festival? Can't be much worse than the 6 hours it took to get out of reading fests car park!

I stay in Hasselt nowadays, but a few years back I drove home a couple of times after the festival on a Saturday night. Granted it was less busy in those days as it never sold out, but I don't recall hanging around in traffic queues more than 30-45 minutes longer than the normal journey time would have taken. The traffic was well marshalled.

However, as was mentioned a few posts earlier, this year is a bit of an unknown as the traffic system will be different for the first time. The road past the festival entrance will be closed, 1) for security, and 2) because there are major roadworks on the bridge that crosses the railway just south of the festival site. They haven't yet announced what the new traffic system will be, so keep an eye on the official site, but at some stage you'll have to decide whether or not to approach from the north or south side. There's a massive parking place just south of the railway, but I'm guessing most people will approach/leave from the north, partly because that's where the bulk of the parking spaces and both the big campsites are, but also because the closest motorway (quickest access/getaway) is on that side.

 

 

Edited July 20, 2016 by Trufflehound

[Semprini]

Tokens are also slightly cheaper if you buy them online beforehand - that kind of thing is becoming more important this year what with the useless £. Think that has to be done by 30th July so best not hang around if you want any.

As for any advice, I love the fact the site is pretty small so if you're prepared to leg it between stages you can see loads of bands. Like Dave said, it's an added bonus that you can usually get right on the barrier for almost all of the bands (except the Main Stage of course but it's better to stand a little bit back imo). Atmosphere is very relaxed and there's virtually no dickheads there - big bonus compared to UK fests.

So I finished work today for 6 weeks and I can now get properly into PKP mode!! Been watching quite a lot of the Iplayer coverage from Glastonbury and T, particularly bands who are at PKP. Wasn't overly fussed about LCD if I'm honest, as I saw them a few years ago in the Marquee, but they're now a 'must see' for Saturday. Can't remember the last time I really wanted to watch two headliners so I'm looking forward to getting in the thick of it for them and The Chems.

If anyone's looking for more bands to check out then some new 'discoveries' for me this year are Bob Moses, DMA's, The Vryll Society, Fatima Yamaha, Gogo Penguins, King Gizard, Let's Eat Grandma, SG Lewis, Lone and Ezra Furman. If there's any others then please feel free to share!

[TheKiewitGuy]

Haven't posted here in a while. The festival site is slowly being built up, only the Club is more or less finished. Could post some pics every now and then if anyone is interested?

Chokri gave an interview today. Most interesting things he said were that he will let his team take full control in x years, he doesn't like to ask 3€ for a beer because he's worried that the festival will become something for "the select few" and he also mentioned that he's happy with the line-up but that he misses an extra rock headliner on friday (which is according to him because of the lack of rockbands available at that time).

Has he opened the door for another big name on friday?

The interview: http://www.dezondag.be/chokri/

[DDave]

4 hours ago, TheKiewitGuy said:

Haven't posted here in a while. The festival site is slowly being built up, only the Club is more or less finished. Could post some pics every now and then if anyone is interested?

Chokri gave an interview today. Most interesting things he said were that he will let his team take full control in x years, he doesn't like to ask 3€ for a beer because he's worried that the festival will become something for "the select few" and he also mentioned that he's happy with the line-up but that he misses an extra rock headliner on friday (which is according to him because of the lack of rockbands available at that time).

Has he opened the door for another big name on friday?

The interview: http://www.dezondag.be/chokri/

Said a few posts back that a really good guitar act would be a great addition in between Noel G and the Chems. I just can't see it at this late stage. 

Looking at the dates here's my theory behind the missing Rock headliner.....Rihanna was offered to Pukkelpop for a very decent price but only for the Thursday as she's doing V festival on the Saturday and Sunday and wanted enough time to prepare for those shows. Pukkelpop booked her as she's a big name, fits the profile for the young uns and was I'm assuming relatively cheap for such a big name. Lowlands got in there first with Muse on the Friday hence why Pukkelpop couldn't book them as the only day available would have been the Thursday and there's no way Pukkelpop would have acts the size of Rihanna and Muse headlining the same night. If Muse were available I can't see Pukkelpop turning them down.

As for an additional act to bump up ticket sales at this late stage I can only see it being someone like the Kings of Leon who are doing a couple of shows in September. Personally I think they've dropped a bollock by having Chase and Fucking Status as closers. At least if they did find a rock headliner for the Friday they could have bumped the Chems up to the last slot as they did with Deadmau5. If the rock headliner failed to materialise they could have had the Chems in the headline slot and then announced Chase and Fucking status or whoever as the closer later.

Edited July 24, 2016 by DiscothequeDave

[Semprini]

Good to see you back on the forum KiewitGuy and I'd love to see some pictures if you have them? Did read something on Facebook about 'pints' being 3 euros this year. I'll be buying plenty of tokens beforehand (as it then works out at 2.50 each) but loads of people were kicking off about it. If each drink was an actual pint then it wouldn't be a problem but 3 euros for 250ml is a rip off really.

Hard to know exactly what happened with the whole Rihanna/Muse situation? As you said Dave, I think the timing of the offers possibly worked against them in that Rihanna became available before Muse. Wouldn't be completely out of the question though that they did have a choice and went with Rihanna thinking she'd shift more tickets. Not convinced either that we'll get another decent name for Friday as everyone is pretty much booked already. So many festivals going on that weekend.

Anyway, been enjoying the live stream this weekend from Tomorrowland - properly getting me in the mood for the Boiler Room, Dance Hall and Castello! Currently knocking back a few beers whilst watching Sven Vath do his stuff. Can afford to push the boat out as I don't have to get up for work in the morning!!

[TheKiewitGuy]

1 hour ago, Semprini said:

Good to see you back on the forum KiewitGuy and I'd love to see some pictures if you have them? Did read something on Facebook about 'pints' being 3 euros this year. I'll be buying plenty of tokens beforehand (as it then works out at 2.50 each) but loads of people were kicking off about it. If each drink was an actual pint then it wouldn't be a problem but 3 euros for 250ml is a rip off really.

You probably figured or know, but a "pint" is just a more informal word for beer in Flanders :D. Nobody asks for "5 beers" or something really. And yes I'll gladly take pictures in the coming week, even though there is not much to see atm other than some bobcats, a couple of cabins (those red/white things), fences around the site and the Club.

Guess we'll get the timetable either next week or the week after, along with the last names. Other than Kings of Leon I don't see anyone available either (not even bands like Foals or Sigur Ros), but at this point I'd gladly go watch them. 

[Semprini]

14 minutes ago, TheKiewitGuy said:

You probably figured or know, but a "pint" is just a more informal word for beer in Flanders :D. Nobody asks for "5 beers" or something really. And yes I'll gladly take pictures in the coming week, even though there is not much to see atm other than some bobcats, a couple of cabins (those red/white things), fences around the site and the Club.

Guess we'll get the timetable either next week or the week after, along with the last names. Other than Kings of Leon I don't see anyone available either (not even bands like Foals or Sigur Ros), but at this point I'd gladly go watch them. 

Yeah, I did know about the 'pint' thing but it just feels like they're teasing us Brits by using the word!!

Apparently Lowlands are releasing their timetable on Wednesday so I think you're right that we'll also hear something. Reckon we'll get the final names this week and then maybe the timetable the week after. The Strokes and The Killers are both playing Australian shows this weekend (Splendour in the Grass) but don't think they've got anything planned for Europe?

Would love it if Foals played but they've been booked up by other festivals. Only day they have free is Thursday and the Main is full. Only 8 announced in the Marquee though (compared to 9 on Friday) so very slim chance they might come in. Here's hoping!

[DDave]

11 hours ago, Semprini said:

Yeah, I did know about the 'pint' thing but it just feels like they're teasing us Brits by using the word!!

Apparently Lowlands are releasing their timetable on Wednesday so I think you're right that we'll also hear something. Reckon we'll get the final names this week and then maybe the timetable the week after. The Strokes and The Killers are both playing Australian shows this weekend (Splendour in the Grass) but don't think they've got anything planned for Europe?

Would love it if Foals played but they've been booked up by other festivals. Only day they have free is Thursday and the Main is full. Only 8 announced in the Marquee though (compared to 9 on Friday) so very slim chance they might come in. Here's hoping!

The Strokes and the Killers were the other 2 bands that I thought could potentials for a late big addition. The Strokes charge too big a fee I reckon. Not many other rock bands out there would fit the bill of being the right draw for the right fee, maybe you could put the Pixies in with the ones mentioned. Only other options I can think of is the Cure, who you could imagine they'd be holding back on announcing due to their Belgian show in November and possibly Morrissey or the Libertines who are free and on tour but I doubt they'd draw the crowds in tbh. All very doubtful though looking at who they've been booking in the last couple of years....there's always Placebo!

 

Anyhow, Thursday sold out. Wonder how much further away the other 2 days and combis are? 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2016 by DiscothequeDave

[Dietediet]

Yesterday afternoon, they replied to someone on Twitter that the timetable will come 'very very soon'. Which sounds like this week to me. 

[Heerecomesyourchampion]

Hey everyone, few of us coming over from Ireland this year for the first time, very excited about the whole LCD Soundsystem, biffy clyro, bloc party, chrvches line-up. But we are wondering are you allowed to bring your own alcohol with you into the campsite, (we are staying in camping relax) as this is usually the case with festivals in Ireland but not usually the case at most European festivals we've gone to! Would appreciate some help from those who have been there before (Irish and drinking jokes appreciated haha)

[Semprini]

4 hours ago, Heerecomesyourchampion said:

Hey everyone, few of us coming over from Ireland this year for the first time, very excited about the whole LCD Soundsystem, biffy clyro, bloc party, chrvches line-up. But we are wondering are you allowed to bring your own alcohol with you into the campsite, (we are staying in camping relax) as this is usually the case with festivals in Ireland but not usually the case at most European festivals we've gone to! Would appreciate some help from those who have been there before (Irish and drinking jokes appreciated haha)

Welcome on board, you're in for a treat as it's an amazing festival!

I've never camped but I know you can bring your own alcohol in. Main restriction is on glass so if you want to have some spirits then you'll need to transfer them into plastic bottles. Think there night be something on the website that says each person is 'only' allowed to have 24 cans but from what I understand they don't check. They won't allow you to bring anything into the arena though and I suspect it will be very difficult to smuggle this year what with the extra security checks.

Looking forward to LCD too, as well as loads of others across pretty much all the stages. The diverse choice of music on offer each year is one of the main reasons why I go.

If you've got any other questions then fire them over - there's a few of us who've been a number of times so we should be able to help?

Fingers crossed the timetable is kind tomorrow.....

[Furious-Red]

Last time i was there in 2010 there were people selling crates of beer from their driveways (which was deadly to see) , Do they still do this . 

[Semprini]

7 hours ago, Furious-Red said:

Last time i was there in 2010 there were people selling crates of beer from their driveways (which was deadly to see) , Do they still do this . 

Yeah, that still happens. Although many of them have pretty professional set ups now and look more like a shop/takeaway.

Had a quick scan through the Lowlands timetable and there's a few 'big' bands playing early in the day. Always interesting to see where they place people in comparison to Pukkelpop. The late night DJ line up in Bravo is amazing for all 3 days.

[DDave]

14 minutes ago, Semprini said:

Yeah, that still happens. Although many of them have pretty professional set ups now and look more like a shop/takeaway.

Had a quick scan through the Lowlands timetable and there's a few 'big' bands playing early in the day. Always interesting to see where they place people in comparison to Pukkelpop. The late night DJ line up in Bravo is amazing for all 3 days.

Just been looking at that. I think with the exception of the Chems, Lowlands has got a better line up this year.

[DDave]

No new additions.. disappointing.

[DDave]

So, first thoughts...

Looks like there will be an opener still to come on the main on the Friday and Satuday and possibly one more in the castello on the Thursday although they have said the schedule would be announced when the line up is complete.

Mastodon are on ridiculously late for a tent headliner. 

Mad dash from the main to Dance Hall from LCD to Soulwax, they should be on the Marquee for logistical purposes.

Looking at the timetable just makes me realise how poor the Thursday is, one of the weakest days i've seen at PP.

 

 

 

 

 

[Semprini]

Reasonably happy with that, although Saturday has a few unpleasant clashes. Quiet start to Thursday but I'm looking forward to spending some time in the Food Wood. Ezra Furman and Beach Slang are a direct clash (will go with the former) and could do without Dusky and Loco Dice overlapping but will still get to see both.

Circa Waves and Anne-Marie on Friday is a bit annoying as there's nothing I want to see for the next hour and a half. Got a really nice run though with GoGo Pengiun, Mura Masa, Sleaford Mods, Jack Garrett, Fatima Yamaha, Craig David and Bob Moses one after the other. Probably won't get to see Scuba, due to The Chems and M83, but love the fact the Castello is now on until 4am. If I'm in a fit state then Seth Troxler and Job Jobse will be a fantastic way to end the day.

Got a nasty 4-way clash on Saturday between The Avener, De Sluwe Vos, King Gizzard and Lone. Then it's going to be tough choices between Dua Lipa vs Audion, Soulwax vs Damian Marley and George Fitzgerald vs Prosumer. Won't get to see much of Tale of Us because of LCD and Pendulum will be a similar story.

Dave - sure you've seen it but LCD and Miike Snow!

[DDave]

14 minutes ago, Semprini said:

Reasonably happy with that, although Saturday has a few unpleasant clashes. Quiet start to Thursday but I'm looking forward to spending some time in the Food Wood. Ezra Furman and Beach Slang are a direct clash (will go with the former) and could do without Dusky and Loco Dice overlapping but will still get to see both.

Circa Waves and Anne-Marie on Friday is a bit annoying as there's nothing I want to see for the next hour and a half. Got a really nice run though with GoGo Pengiun, Mura Masa, Sleaford Mods, Jack Garrett, Fatima Yamaha, Craig David and Bob Moses one after the other. Probably won't get to see Scuba, due to The Chems and M83, but love the fact the Castello is now on until 4am. If I'm in a fit state then Seth Troxler and Job Jobse will be a fantastic way to end the day.

Got a nasty 4-way clash on Saturday between The Avener, De Sluwe Vos, King Gizzard and Lone. Then it's going to be tough choices between Dua Lipa vs Audion, Soulwax vs Damian Marley and George Fitzgerald vs Prosumer. Won't get to see much of Tale of Us because of LCD and Pendulum will be a similar story.

Dave - sure you've seen it but LCD and Miike Snow!

I know, why would they do that?? thought it'd be a straight run of MS, LCD and Soulwax. Didn't notice the Castello was on till 4, result!

[TheKiewitGuy]

First thing I checked was how much time LCD would get. 1h30, so my favourite song Home will probably be skipped like they did at Glastonbury. Hope they just play until 11. Maybe I should just spam some band members on Twitter ?

Anyway, some nasty clashes! But it's good to see there's going to be at least 3 people at LCD. I just can't make my mates to really like them, but at least they are willing to come. Probably going to drop them at the special beers tent or something so I can go to the front and don't let my uninterested friends spoil the experience for the others.

Edited July 27, 2016 by TheKiewitGuy

[Muppetmark]

12 hours ago, TheKiewitGuy said:

Anyway, some nasty clashes! But it's good to see there's going to be at least 3 people at LCD. I just can't make my mates to really like them, but at least they are willing to come. Probably going to drop them at the special beers tent or something so I can go to the front and don't let my uninterested friends spoil the experience for the others.

More than t in the park

[johnybegood]

I think that LCD Soundsystem will have even less people than Stone Roses one in 2012. I am not a big fan of electronic music, but I dont understand why they are headlining material in 2016 in big festivals like Coachella... Maybe I'm wrong and the Main Stage will be packed during the show... God knows

[Dietediet]

46 minutes ago, johnybegood said:

I think that LCD Soundsystem will have even less people than Stone Roses one in 2012. I am not a big fan of electronic music, but I dont understand why they are headlining material in 2016 in big festivals like Coachella... Maybe I'm wrong and the Main Stage will be packed during the show... God knows

This. Their last 2 Belgian gigs before the split were a non-packed Marquee at Werchter (which could hold about 8000 people at the time) and a non-sold out club venue (so less than 2000 tickets sold). How on earth did they think it was a reasonable decision to make them major festival headliners a few years later? 

Definitely going for the 'honor' of drawing the smallest crowd ever for a headliner performance. Perhaps they'll draw a lot of people checking out what the fuzz is about. But with Damian Marley and Soulwax starting during/right after LCD's show the crowd size will likely be smaller at the end than at the start too.

Edited July 28, 2016 by Dietediet

[DDave]

Well I'll be at the front anyway (if I go, still not decided yet!) 

So now it's complete, what would everyone give the line up out of ten, and what are your general thoughts on it?