Pukkelpop 2018

[Stef_P82]

Everyone who likes heavy music should check out Amenra tonight. Your Friday won't be shit. Trust me. 

Have fun. 

Edit : absolutely loved Shellac yesterday. What a band.

TWOD and arcade fire were also great. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Stef_P82

[TheNewUnion]

On the sweatiest Train in Belgium, airport bound. Great to catch up with everyone, another great edition - even Friday! Despite saying it was likely my last PKP, we'll be checking if we have the holidays to do it again. 

[johnybegood]

Next year Pukkelpop will be from  August 15th to 18th.. from Thursday to Sunday!!!! Maybe one of the headliner that hey have already booked must play on Sunday, so from the first time (at least in the last 10 years) pukkelpop will end on Sunday!!

Edited August 19, 2018 by johnybegood

[DDave]

3 hours ago, johnybegood said:

Next year Pukkelpop will be from  August 15th to 18th.. from Thursday to Sunday!!!! Maybe one of the headliner that hey have already booked must play on Sunday, so from the first time (at least in the last 10 years) pukkelpop will end on Sunday!!

Someone has said on the festileaks website it will be the Saturday headliner from next year's Lowlands. 

Waiting for the plane home, had a great edition and very lucky with the weather.

From a Belgian website:

During this new edition the Pukkelpop welcomed no less than 216,000 festival-goers. The organizers estimated Sunday the day after the closing of the festival that the event was held in a "flawless and carefree" way.

 

On Wednesday, nearly 40,000 festival-goers were already present at the event. On Thursday, there were 60,000 on the plain of Kiewit (Limburg) and 50,000 on Friday. On Saturday, the event was sold-out and brought together nearly 66,000 spectators.

The organizers felt that the festival went well. "The atmosphere was excellent and the weather was ideal, except for a night shower. "

Edited August 19, 2018 by DiscothequeDave

[arcuse]

You're not gonna convince me that Oscar & The Wolf and N.E.R.D. moved that much tickets on Friday, no way. Fyi Oscar & The Wolf have played Werchter Boutique subbing Bruno Mars earlier this summer and are scheduled to play twice in the Sportpaleis later again this year. On top of that, don't forget that Travis Scott canceled aswell. Ill believe the other two numbers tho, but not the Friday one.

[DDave]

10 hours ago, arcuse said:

You're not gonna convince me that Oscar & The Wolf and N.E.R.D. moved that much tickets on Friday, no way. Fyi Oscar & The Wolf have played Werchter Boutique subbing Bruno Mars earlier this summer and are scheduled to play twice in the Sportpaleis later again this year. On top of that, don't forget that Travis Scott canceled aswell. Ill believe the other two numbers tho, but not the Friday one.

I think it's accurate. If it is, that's I reckon at least 2 million Euros in lost revenue. Could have really made it probably the best edition so far if they'd have got the wallet  opened and booked the Friday differently. 

Still, the Friday was still a decent night. Mostly spent in the dance side. Goose were incredible, totally unexpected. And A-Trak and Todd Terje were highlights too.

Will post more of a review when I'm feeling more human. Could take a while.

 

[Chimme]

I had a great festival, again. Had to miss the meeting on Friday though, due to a small medical emergency. But no permanent harm done ?

My top picks of the 4 days:

1. Sons Of Kemet (Friday)

2. Arcade Fire (Thursday)

3. Amenra (Friday)

4. Sleaford Mods (Saturday) --> there was a very tall British-looking guy in front of me, maybe one of you guys?

5. Shellac (Thursday)

6. Trixie Whitley (Thursday)

7. Rhye (Friday)

8. Nakhane (Friday)

9. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (Saturday)

10. Cigarettes After Sex (Saturday)

Also enjoyed Mauro & De Kempenzonen, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, James Holden & The Animal Spirits, Jungle, Ho99o9, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Confidence Man, Sudan Archives, Angèle, Phoebe Bridgers, dirk.,  La Dispute, The Black Angels, Whispering Sons, Hockey Dad, Madensuyu and The War On Drugs. 

Disappointed by Kendrick Lamar, Maribou State and Kiasmos.

Watched, but was not moved in any way by the likes of Fleddy Melculy, Yungblud, Novastar...

Major improvements this year: the new Check-In, the lovely Lift and Marquee tents, the Beer Shack, the Underground after parties and the Record Store.

Looking forward to next year! 

Edited August 20, 2018 by Chimme

[arcuse]

2 hours ago, DiscothequeDave said:

I think it's accurate. If it is, that's I reckon at least 2 million Euros in lost revenue. Could have really made it probably the best edition so far if they'd have got the wallet  opened and booked the Friday differently. 

Someone on Festileaks said that Friday wasn't even close to 50k and that he heard it was a lot lower number behind the curtains. Tho, I think they had a pretty succesful edition regardless of all the negative comments re: the line up. Someone else mentioned they already got a headliner set for next year hence why they had to change to Fri-Sun, I'm curious as to who that might be. Must be a big get, no? 

Looking forward to read all of your stories!  

[TheNewUnion]

If they've moved days to get a band then I'd have to be something (at least subjectivity) big. NOS Alive added a day a few years back for Coldplay I recall. I'm just not sure what constitutes big fur Pukkelpop standards. Your standard Muse, Coldplay, Killers type acts would probably justify it. U2 and the like are probably to big. 

[Chimme]

18 hours ago, TheNewUnion said:

If they've moved days to get a band then I'd have to be something (at least subjectivity) big. NOS Alive added a day a few years back for Coldplay I recall. I'm just not sure what constitutes big fur Pukkelpop standards. Your standard Muse, Coldplay, Killers type acts would probably justify it. U2 and the like are probably to big. 

Daft Punk and Tool would be nice. ?

[Death By Sexy]

Or it could be shite with Drake or Beyonce. 

[SarahEmpre]

I can see Florence headlining PKP’19.

[Chimme]

2 hours ago, Death By Sexy said:

Or it could be shite with Drake or Beyonce. 

Beyonce's sister Solange was amazing last year. 

 

[TheNewUnion]

4 hours ago, Chimme said:

Daft Punk and Tool would be nice. ?

Daft Punk are on the eternal wish list for festival headliners, who knows. Would be ideal for PKP

59 minutes ago, SarahEmpre said:

I can see Florence headlining PKP’19.

Me too. Again an ideal headliner

 

2 hours ago, Death By Sexy said:

Or it could be shite with Drake or Beyonce. 

Saw Beyonce at Glastonbury. It was OK (are barely OK at that). I don't care for Drake at all, but like Kendrick he would sell tickets.

Edited August 21, 2018 by TheNewUnion

[DaveRSV4]

4 hours ago, Chimme said:

Daft Punk and Tool would be nice. ?

Been waiting for ages for Tool to appear in Belgium and would definitely love to see Tool at Pukkelpop, but ...it won't happen. Tool doesn't fit in the PKP-line-up-strategy (anymore). If Daft Punk decides to tour again, which would be a dream come true for a lot of people including myself, they'll be at Rock Werchter instead of Pukkelpop. Live Nation will make sure of that. 

[TheNewUnion]

Just because I always say this when Tool are mentioned, I saw then support Rage Against the Machine in Manchester in 1993.

[Death By Sexy]

Arctic Monkeys are apparently a possibility due someone from festileaks.

By the way, it was nice to meet you guys at the PKP Bar

[DDave]

37 minutes ago, Death By Sexy said:

Arctic Monkeys are apparently a possibility due someone from festileaks.

By the way, it was nice to meet you guys at the PKP Bar

They are my top prediction. Did Best Kept Secret so if they do another year of touring which looks likely, then it'll be either Pinkpop or Lowlands in the Netherlands and most likely Pukkelpop. 

Can see it being Florence / Arctic Monkeys and the Weeknd, unless they go for Twenty One Pilots as an outright headliner.

[DDave]

Finally felt back to normal yesterday afternoon. On the last night I was well and truly done, could barely walk or talk

Had a great edition personally and would put it in the top two, 2016 being the other one, definitely enjoyed it a lot more than last year - the weather does make a big difference to me tbh though.

Arrived on site on the Wednesday for a couple of hours, after spending the day travelling and boozing in Leuven, nothing special band wise, although the speed of getting the wristband was very noticeable, thought that and the security were spot on this year, not that there's normally a massive problem.

Onto Thursday and most of the bands I saw first thing were pretty terrible in all honesty - Kelly Lee Owens was ok but nothing mind blowing, and Death From Above were late and were like Royal Blood without the songs. Saw bits of Brockhampton, Rag N Bone man and Superorganism - all shit. I like Superorganism on record but Christ they're dull as dishwater live. It may have got going but I thought if the leader singer can't be arsed then why should I, and left after a couple of songs.

All kicked into life with UMO who were brilliant and then the night really kicked in with Dua Lipa, TWOD, a bit of a walk around the site as the Dance Hall was rammed for Jess Glynne and then Arcade Fire who were absolute top draw as per usual. Martin Solveig and then Eppo and his friends finished off the night. Touched on it before but the War on Drugs were really stunning, easily the best set of the weekend for me. A proper headliner.  I and other people I know were expecting to be a little bored by them and was expecting to dip in and out but they could have played another hour for me I was enjoying them that much. Credit to the sound people for that and the Arcade Fire set, I've never heard the main stage sound as it did on that night. A great start.

Got to the site about 5.45pm on the Friday, did the backstage tour (not in English this time unfortunately), saw a bit of the atrocious Papa Roach, then an odd mix of Dimenson, Ho99o9 and the back end of Yungblud's set. Dimension, bearing in mind I'm not the worlds biggest d'n'b fan was pretty good as was Friction the day before, at least they put a bit of effort into it. Ho99o9 was a bit mental. Yungblud, although his music wasn't to my taste has the potential to be massive. Big stage presence and catchy songs. He's playing R&L and will go down very well there. NERD were decent enough. Fair play to Pharrell for getting the fans on stage and giving them a night they'll never forget. A-Trak really kicked the night off for me and as I've said before, absolutely blown away by Goose, in a packed out Dance Hall. Band of the day by a country mile. Todd Terje played a great set ending with a bit of Supertramp. Saw a bit of Charlotte De Witte beforehand but it just didn't translate that well on the main stage. Poor replacement for an already shit headliner. I'm amazed they didn't get more shit for the whole Travis Scott thing. They must have known about the cancellation way earlier than they let on and it seems to me like they've done the easiest/sneakiest thing to make the most amount of money out of it. If it had been AF or TWOD that had pulled out, I'm sure they would have tried a lot harder to get a proper replacement. As it stands, as it is who it is that's cancelled, I think they'll get away with it with their reputation fairly intact. 

Got up to the site the earliest in 8 editions for the Saturday purely for Confidence Man who were absolutely outstanding. Probably the most fun I've ever had at a gig. Smaller crowd than I thought to begin with but filled up nicely towards the end. I had really high expectations of them which were totally exceeded. Everything about it was ace.

Ron Gallo was ok, Chase Atlantic (who we'd only gone to see as we met one of them in Hasselt the day before) were ok, but again not my thing. RBCF were great and then a few bits of popping into Maribou State, Sleaford Mods and Gogo Penguin. Then a straight run of Vitalic (brilliant), King Giz (good, but I was a bit fucked by then) and then the Mighty Justice who were amazing. Didn't think anyone would top Confidence Man but they did. A massive tick off the list for me, thoroughly enjoyed it, and the Marquee wasn't as ram packed as I had feared. Watched a bit of George Fitzgerald but was seriously flagging by then so watched the first 15 minutes of Kendrick who was pretty average and then fucked off home.

Organisation wise, thought it was fairly faultless. The boardwalk and getting rid of the gates in between the dance and main stage side was a big plus, and the beer shack was a really welcome addition. Handiest place to get a beer if you're in the Castello too. Liked the new stages and thought placing the Castello and Lift near the entrance were good moves. As per usual, getting a beer and having a piss was dead easy and getting home of a night was a breeze. Noticeably less people heading back to Hasselt this year as well.

Good meeting the usual suspects from this forum who we've been good friends with for a while now + @TheNewUnion who it was nice to meet after all these years!

As for next year, of course it is line up dependent but I'd like to think we'll be back next year as we did have a great time (apart from those fucking wasps!) and on the whole, for me - they did a stellar job of the line up barring the Friday, and hopefully they'll act on the feedback. I'll probably just do the 3 nights (Fri, Sat, Sun) as the extra night really took it out of me this year. Just getting too old for this shit ?

 

Edited August 23, 2018 by DiscothequeDave

[arcuse]

16 hours ago, DiscothequeDave said:

Saw bits of Brockhampton, Rag N Bone man and Superorganism - all shit.

Why was Brockhampton so shit?

16 hours ago, DiscothequeDave said:

I'm amazed they didn't get more shit for the whole Travis Scott thing.

They actually did get a lot of shit tbh, not only on their social media but also Belgian press didn't seem to enjoy their poor management. 

Thanks for sharing, Dave! Looks like a lot of people had a blast despite the kinda poor line up and the organisation being a bit to easy and the, sometimes, odd changes they've made leading up to the fest.

[DDave]

4 hours ago, arcuse said:

Why was Brockhampton so shit?

 

To be fair to them, I only caught the last bit where one of them was doing a bit of shredding on guitar at the end whilst the other gawped at him, then got up to rap after a bit. Probably unfair to call them shit but the bit that I saw definitely was.

Thought they'd have a bigger crowd as well. The thing I noticed this year that there was barely any performances that were completely crammed. Jess Glynne and Goose were the only noticeable ones for me. For the majority of sets we managed to get good views with relative ease.  

[arcuse]

2 hours ago, DiscothequeDave said:

To be fair to them, I only caught the last bit where one of them was doing a bit of shredding on guitar at the end whilst the other gawped at him, then got up to rap after a bit. Probably unfair to call them shit but the bit that I saw definitely was.

Thought they'd have a bigger crowd as well. The thing I noticed this year that there was barely any performances that were completely crammed. Jess Glynne and Goose were the only noticeable ones for me. For the majority of sets we managed to get good views with relative ease.  

That song was probably SUMMER, you should check it out maybe it didn't come out great live but the studio version is imo a great track. 

Isn't that always the case with PKP? I've been there twice but in those two times there was never a set I had to go to 20/30 mins beforehand to get a great spot. Front row is something else ofcourse but even that is fairly easy, I think.

[Salva]

I am 48 years old and if you would believe all comments you read (especially on dutch speaking fora) you would think PKP has become sort of a burning hell for us oldies. Well....we had a blast!

My top 10

1: Shellac! What a band! If next year's line-up consists of Shellac and 149 Travis Scott like acts, I will still buy a ticket. Steve Albini is a legend and Todd trainer is drumming...well...in a league of his own. Credits to Eppo for booking these heroes!

2: Jungle. Much better and more consistent than a couple of years ago. Incredible atmosphere in the Castello. 

3: Nakhane. Best voice of the festival (sorry, Trixie), great music, great performance.

4: METZ. Very energetic! This is how punk rock should sound! Discovery of the W-E for me.

5: Steak Nr 8. Even better than last year. Very curious about their career switch.

6: Kiasmos. Just like I expected them to sound: heavy base, beautiful melodies + They played all my favorite tracks!

7: Protomartyr. I didn't care much for the frontman's attitude but his voice and the band's performance more than made up for that. Best postpunk show in years for me.

8: Amenra. surprised by the big crowd in the Marquee to be honest as they aren not really a crowd pleasing band. I managed to get to the front rows after the first two songs and this is where you had to be to really enjoy their show.

9: Justice. Party from minute 1 till minute 70. Too crowded in the beginning but got better as lots of people left early to get a good spot for Kendrick.

10: Sofi Tukker: managed to put a smile on my face for several hours after their show was done. Got us in the mood for the rest of a very good friday.

Credits also for Kelly Lee Owens...she had serious problems with her voice but still chose to show up. She tried singing the first 2 songs but her voice went all ways except the right one. So she switched to sort of a boiler room set and frankly, I had a good time. If her voice would have been OK I am almost sure she would have been in my top 10. 

I also liked James Holden (didn't see the whole show) and thought Sudan Archives and Superorganism were intresting.

Also saw the first 40 minutes of TWOD and Arcade Fire and although I am not a MainStage man...I like both shows a lot. Very good sound!

NERD was fun...more a friends come together party than a real concert though.

All in all, the Castello was the place to be for me this year! The proximity of the new fabulous beer shack will probably have helped to that

On the downside: contrary to previous editions, the hiphop let me down this year. I don't understand the hype around Brockhampton. Suicideboys started OK but I got bored after about 3 tracks, that means 4 minutes (they chased me towards the Lift where I saw a very decent show from RBCF so actually...thank you Suicideboys). Saw a couple of songs from leafs and Glints...couldn't keep me interested either. And than Kendrick...I expected better from him. The first half of his show was just not enough for a PKP headliner. The second half was much better. The "encore" was unnecessary.

Other letdowns were David August, LA Dispute and BORNS (new Tame Impala? Excuse me?).

Due to transport issues I had to miss Madensuyu, Bearcubs and Confidence Man.

If I'm in the country I will for sure be back in 2019. 

 

[Trufflehound]

1 hour ago, Salva said:

I am 48 years old and if you would believe all comments you read (especially on dutch speaking fora) you would think PKP has become sort of a burning hell for us oldies. Well....we had a blast!

My top 10

1: Shellac! What a band! If next year's line-up consists of Shellac and 149 Travis Scott like acts, I will still buy a ticket. Steve Albini is a legend and Todd trainer is drumming...well...in a league of his own. Credits to Eppo for booking these heroes!

5: Steak Nr 8. Even better than last year. Very curious about their career switch.

7: Protomartyr. I didn't care much for the frontman's attitude but his voice and the band's performance more than made up for that. Best postpunk show in years for me.

8: Amenra. surprised by the big crowd in the Marquee to be honest as they aren not really a crowd pleasing band. I managed to get to the front rows after the first two songs and this is where you had to be to really enjoy their show.

 

Youngster...! I've been to 9 Pukkelpops since my 48th birthday...

Agree with you about the above though. Shellac & Amenra were probably my two bands of the weekend, closely followed by Protomartyr. Protomartyr wouldn't be Protomartyr if Joe Casey didn't scowl all the way through...

I was right at the front for Steak Number Eight when the jets of flame started exploding from the front of the stage - I think my singed eyebrows are still growing back.

And it was Chokri who was responsible for Shellac. He was stood next to me during the show and I asked him as much. He said Steve Albini is one of his all-time heroes (he's one of mine too).

You missed a treat with Confidence Man though.

 

Oh yes, almost forgot, Ho99o9 and The Fever 333 were my other two big highlights. So much energy, both of them...

 

 

Edited August 27, 2018 by Trufflehound

[Salva]

37 minutes ago, Trufflehound said:

Youngster...! I've been to 9 Pukkelpops since my 48th birthday...

And it was Chokri who was responsible for Shellac. He was stood next to me during the show and I asked him as much. He said Steve Albini is one of his all-time heroes (he's one of mine too).

Oh yes, almost forgot, Ho99o9 and The Fever 333 were my other two big highlights. So much energy, both of them...

 

 

I sincerely hope I will still be going there 9 years from now. I've been going since 1990 (have missed a couple of editions though) and have always enjoyed the festival.

Well, credits to Chokri than...allthough I'm confident Eppo will not have opposed to that booking.  

The choices I had to make on friday were pretty hard...missed HO99O9 but saw METZ instead. Also extremely good. I doubted between Moaning and SN8 as well but think I made the right choice there (red nowhere about Moaning's performance). Not so sure tough of my choice for NERD over Sophie.