• achtergronden
• DE 7EVEN
• video's
• agenda

ernaast

Rock Werchter 2002: One for the books!

Greatest hits, video art, and an exciting lineup . . . Rock Werchter had it all.
30 juni 2002, Festivalgrounds, Werchter (Be)

Tekst: Sven Schlijper

Publicatiedatum: 27 juli 2002

A very promising lineup got expectations steaming for this year's edition of the biggest rock festival in Belgium. As always, the main stage was packed with big names, some of which can be considered to be today's super-bands, while the Pyramid Marquee side stage hosted a gathering of lesser-known up-and-coming and cult acts. The Stella Artois beer never tasted so good in the peaceful atmosphere of a relaxed crowd of 70,000 and a nice warm bath of splendid sunshine and amazing performances.

On the first day, Belgian's nu-metal power rockers .calibre were permitted to open the festival by throwing uninspired, brainless, infantile Limp Bizkit-ish rubbish onto the pitch. To get the three-day wonderland really up and going, Dropkick Murphys [photo] were up next and played a fast and furious set crammed full of Irish, folky, powerful, punk rock songs, with the addition of traditional bagpipes. Classics Amazing Grace and The Wild Rover got the crowds into the right party mood and inspired a massive sing-a-long. In the Pyramid Marquee, The White Stripes put on a brother-sister act of amazingly fat-sounding garage rock 'n' roll. But apart from the wall of noise this two-piece band managed to produce, the song material has little originality to offer. Its obsolete, bluesy rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley style, blended with some modern-day Detroit guitar, sounds as bad as the much-hyped, but zero-quality band The Strokes. Even the cover of Jolene didn't get things going; or, on the contrary, even — how bloody awful! From the youngsters to the geriatrics department of Rock Werchter, it was proto-to-post grunge band Sonic Youth who next took the stage, in the side tent Marquee. Sonic Youth's melodic songs that have a clear foundation in '90s guitar rock alternated with avant-garde rock, which we now might call post-rock. Never outdated, Sonic Youth are still the true Godfathers and -mothers for much of present-day music. Great songs transposed from the early nineties to 2002, without a care for en vogue musical trendiness. Sonic Youth might be a cult act now, but deserve a main stage spot.

Another old-school artist was Belgian's chansonnier Arno. After the split of TC Matic, Arno proved he can still entertain with Paris cabaret-style chansons, raw rock, poppy tunes, and his Tom Waits-style rasping vocals. This man was supported by an audience of thousands, loudly singing along to most of the songs, nearly turning the festival grounds into a cozy, warm, and welcome atmosphere, like the French capital's jazz bars are renowned for. The first day's headliner was the reunited dEUS [photo]. Playing a greatest hits set, all the old-time favorites were present: Suds & Soda, Via, a cool, reworked version of Hotel Lounge, the stunning Serpentine, and Little Arithmetics. Show-highlighting centerpiece was a superb rendition of the rock frenzy called Fell Off The Floor Man. Theme From Turnpike was brought to a conclusion with a blowout incorporating a short snippet of Get The Party Started. DEUS revamped songs from their back catalogue in true super-group fashion. The fact that the master volume was far too low, was somewhat made up for by the arty visuals behind the band and on two big screens beside the stage. Guitars were over and done with when Chemical Brothers delivered a set in four acts, each consisting of two to three live remixes/reconstructions of songs from every studio album. With a perfectly timed light show and VJ act, a clever piece of rough-and-ready house, and intelligent psychedelia, Chemical Brothers clearly got the masses moving, dancing into the early night.

The doom-laden, gothic fairy tale, pop metal of Dutch sensation Within Temptation accompanied next day's rise-and-shine. With Sharon's red Victorian dress, inflatable trees onstage, and a test-run of fireworks (already installed for a certain German group higher on the bill), the band's image was nicely presented, even in the splendid sunlight. Norway's Madrugada had to hide behind their sunglasses, but nonetheless their powerfully hypnotic rock with a touch of The Doors, some haunting and tense moments, and a fair share of pure and unrefined energy, were early Saturday's highlights. Continuing the winning streak of superb rock, Queens of the Stone Age [photo] erupted into a set of massive and dirty stoner rock jams. Their star-filled lineup of Nick Olivieri, Josh Homme, Dave Grohl (on drums), Troy van Leeuwen (slide guitar and keyboards), and Mark Lanegan showcased songs from the killer forthcoming album, but the main focus was on tracks from the first records. A strong set (though not as intense as at De Melkweg a few days prior), Queens of the Stone Age gave an entertaining performance with some of the loudest and yet sophisticated rock of the festival. Japanese artful weirdo Cornelius combined kitsch, bubblegum, avant-garde, edgy rock, electro, and abstract visuals to form an eclectic amalgam. Strange, but highly enjoyable! In the same Pyramid Marquee, Calexico's sleepy blues, with southern and Mexican country and rock, missed the balls to capture and hold everyone's attention for the full length of the set. Still, there were some rather lovely, sweet and warm feelings, courtesy of these "nice guys." Mixing David Gray's songwriter talent with up-front beats, Ozark Henry held the capacity crowd in and around the Marquee in pure awe. A surprisingly honest and refined musical language, this guy speaks. His words find their way to the heart without obstruction, going deep as a dagger. Ozark Henry is getting more airplay on the video stations now and seem to be on the verge of a major breakthrough: deservedly so.

Already huge are the Kraftwerk-gesture-imitating, emotionless, stupid, blunt, East-German metal actors called Rammstein [photo]. Musically an absolute low, the pyrotechnic show actually had some very neat tricks in stock. But lyrically and rhythmically militaristic with a Teutonic-like Wagner bombast, the acoustic pollution of Rammstein can't be taken seriously and makes for a good, loud laugh. The band and its fans don't mind the lack of irony at all. Fists clenched in the air, slavish crowd shouting . . . It all brings back thoughts of a lesser side of German history. But let's not put all these people in the wrong political corner. With uninspired, dull metal, and truckloads of effects, it's all so grotesque and over-the-top. A show by Rammstein can best be viewed as a musical counterpart to, and on the same level as, the Jerry Springer show: Entertainment brought to you by white trailer park trash, for white trailer park trash; but entertainment. Nothing more, nothing less.

Absolute favorites, not only on the second day but for the whole festival, were Red Hot Chili Peppers. Just like dEUS, the sound was weak but the band was awesomely energetic and precise. No mistakes, no out-of-tune singing. The amazing Flea on bass and the even more stunning Johnny Frusciante on guitar proved all critics wrong. All right, their last shows in the area might have been disastrous; but this one ranks amongst the very best concerts I've had the pleasure to witness in a very long time. New songs alongside old hits, like: Scar Tissue, Californication, Under the Bridge, All Around The World, with comedic interludes provided by the ever-witty Flea. That show turned out to be one heck of a greatest hits concert by one of the few, really big super-bands left. By the way: Was it fear of another festival drama, like colleagues Pearl Jam experienced at Roskilde, that drove the Red Hot Chili Peppers to use enormous screens displaying the band members and — again — video art? Whatever the reason might have been, with a superb set list, a tight-playing band, and cool visuals, it was already one of this year's best gigs.

Two days filled with musical action took their toll on Sunday. Sleepy-eyed, we undertook the trip to the festival meadow yet again. Barely in, Michael Franti & Spearhead's [photo] positive tropical cocktail got the spirits up and running in no time. Long live versions of his politically charged songs propelled the audience into a summer dancing feast with the band feeding off the crowd reaction. A duet with Lamb's Lou and Gary (Gary on djembe), Franti getting the audience to literally sit down in a soul-cleansing ritual, and a short blurb cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit and Television (The Drug of a Nation) by his former band: All were remarkable moments during a set that rocked the house. But it was the anti-war song with the chorus line "You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace" that really stood out and sent shivers down my spine.

After that, the Sunday got a little boring with a lot of "pretty" pop bands. The first was Arid. Disappointingly, the rough feathers with touches of Smashing Pumpkins early-years rock dynamics that I witnessed several years ago are gone, as Arid now applies the formula of fairly easy safe rock. Surely, the band plays great, and Jasper is a good singer and all; but from the epic and pretentious compositions, neither sparks nor a shotgun blow to the heart ever emerged. Safe, plain . . . just like yet another Heather Nova set, whose predictable, half-warm, dull, and weak show had preceded. Armed with a thermos of tea, An Pierlé did showcase all of her talents in a set of extremes between sweet and tender ballads and rocking noisy anthems, off her most recent release Helium Sunset. Then back to the "better safe than sorry" bands it was, yet again, when Coldplay played the main stage. It's about time festival directors stopped booking acts like these opportunistic, halfhearted, cowardly soft rockers sans taste or bite. A quartet of these acts (Arid, Coldplay, Heather Nova, and Starsailor) is just too much non-descript trash for one day.

Before the last day of this festival went totally downhill, accomplished festival favorite Faithless [photo] was on, and in yet another very standard set, relied heavily on professionalism and routine. Faithless gave the amassed audience what it wanted and dearly needed: the first excitement of the day since Michael Franti & Spearhead. Alas, the magical spark of the first Faithless shows might not hit me anymore, basically because I've seen way too many of their shows in the last year, but a Faithless show can still knock you off your feet when you see this inspirational spiritual band pound their strong anthems into the crowds. Especially touching is the simultaneously felt emotion of unity and peace with climaxes, displayed in thousands of people testifying their belief in oneness.

Looking back, this year's Rock Werchter is definitely one for the books! A lineup of new and exciting acts for the future (Cornelius, Madrugada, Ozark Henry) and big names (Sonic Youth, dEUS, Faithless, Red Hot Chili Peppers) enabled the festival to grow to become one of Europe's very best of 2002. Rock Werchter 2002 was the festival of greatest hits sets and visuals, as I have never before heard so many well-known tracks and never before seen so many bands bring along beamers, screens, and VJs. Festival music is no longer restricted to simple band-and-stage settings: It has become a far more interesting gesammt Kunstwerk. This edition of Rock Werchter will long be talked about, that's for sure.
photo credits: www.rockwerchter.be

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/rock-werchter/rock-werchter-2002-one-for-the-books/1724/
Meer Rock Werchter op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/rock-werchter