Pukkelpop 2006
20 Aug 2006Pukkelpop festival
Pukkelpop is the last of the big summer festivals, and for me, the best. It might be the Limburg influence, something in the water, or the relaxed guidance of its founder, Chokri Mahassine, but everyone working at the festival seems to be so happy and aiming to please.
I spent most of my time there at the press lounge, in the pleasant company of Clo, Zabine, Bart, Ben, Gunther, Sylvie, Lien, Vanessa and so many others. I also received a much-too-short massage from Tamara at the Coca-Cola booth. Clo has pictures, so they’re bound to show up at some moment.
Friday
The first concert I saw on Friday was incidently one of the best of the festival: Scissor Sisters. Disco will never die, and they’re quite convincing proof of that.
Checked out the An Pierle concert, but was not too fond of that. I liked her better when she was less loud.
Massive Attack was a disappointment. They have written some brilliant songs, but the show was boring. And what was that “Teardrop” singer wearing?
Saturday
Para One – in the Boiler room – was a discovery: not a DJ set, but live remixing with lots of knobs and faders. Check out the Daft Punk remix on his myspace site to get a feel of that. He played quite early (14h), but that didn’t keep him from controlling the room with his energetic techno/house trip.
I have wanted to see a Zita Swoon show for a long time and at last I’ve seen that piece of heaven. Stef Kamil Carlens seems to have it all: abundance of talent, heaps of charisma, top notch musicians and stunning backing singers. I had the privilege to be close enough to snap almost a hundred pictures of the band (mostly the beautiful Gijsels sisters, Kapigna and Eva). A 350D and a 300mm lens are a joy forever.
Daft Punk was headliner for a reason: their concert was absolutely amazing. A all-electronica setlist (might have been a CD, for all we know) and a overwhelming lightshow presented by two helmets in a piramid (maybe Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, maybe two roadies), that might sound like an improbable recipe for success, but the vibe in the audience was incredible.
My Nokia N91 video does them no justice, but you can get at least get a feeling of how the crowd reacted:
And other people’s videos on Youtube: Daft Punk @ Pukkelpop
My full photo set can be found on Flickr: Pukkelpop 2006 (with Scissor Sisters, Zita Swoon, Daft Punk)
