“Guys, now is the time to go crazy,” Goldband singer Boaz Kok announces when the fire alarm sounds. Everyone knows what’s coming when they hear the siren. “This is an emergency! 112”, the bulging Alpha tent roars along. “This was our biggest hit so now you can go,” jokes Boaz afterwards.
In 2019 the plasterer band from The Hague already overwhelmed the Sexyland tent at Lowlands. Now they are back on the main stage. The hype about their spectacular live shows has clearly accelerated them and the entire Lowlands area, hungover or not, is ready.
Their set, laced with playful jokes, has guest appearances by their friends Maan and Sophie Straat with whom they play the politically engaged ‘Tweede Kamer’ (I don’t vote for you anymore, I vote for a woman) and builds cleverly from the semi-ironic singer-songwriter track “Kinderwens” to trance bangers like “This Is For You”, “My City”, the inky black “Requiem”, new single “Psycho” and bouncer’ White laundry’.
The beats climb up, the synthesizers flicker with the stroboscopes and then suddenly a gigantic inflated bag of stucco floats above the audience. Singer Karel Gerlach takes a run up and surfs over the crowd on the air mattress version. “Why is coke so fucking expensive?” everyone roars passionately. After three albums in three years, Goldband breaks through in 2022 and Lowlands is the crown on their work.
Nice discovery: Nova Twins
Nice discovery in the afternoon is Nova Twins. The female duo flatten the X-Ray tent with a combination of rock, trash metal and dub. Amy Love and Georgia South take the stage and whip the crowd up with empowering lyrics. “My body, my mind, do what I want with it,” Love screeches as she yanks at her long braids. Live they play bass, guitar and the drummer thrashes his drum kit while the steam is already blowing out of the X-ray at 6 pm.
Furthermore, the search for highlights. Why is Glass Animals on the Alpha Stage? With obligatory ‘how are you doing with this side’ questions, electropop singer Dave Bayley tries to initiate some interaction. But even though he climbs up the racks, the singer lacks the charm of Harry Styles and overwhelms himself during the rippling songs. “This could take all day!” he yells. Well, I’d rather not.
Trailer trash, now superstar
Things really get going again when Jack Harlow is in the Bravo tent, who has been a superstar since his hit with Lil Nas X (“Industry Babe”). The rapper from Louisville, Kentucky is also surprised about it. “The Netherlands”, that’s how he addresses the audience (Biddinghuizen turns out to be a bridge too far for any rapper). “I started writing songs in my bedroom when I was 12, 13. The fact that I can catch a plane to the other side of the world to hear you guys sing along to my lyrics means I made it.”
He glorifies his trailer trash story, his humble origins as a white boy from America. But he raps more like Drake than Eminem. His style is smooth, he sings boastfully and confidently, smoothly and seductively over trap beats. He smoothly connects each song for a minute or two, in front of a static wall of stardust. Real stage design is lacking and he’s not a songwriter like Kendrick Lamar, but it works.
Fred Again.. scores with his slowly igniting emotional house with live vocals. Long breaks with warm synthesizer tones build up to epic climaxes that set the room on fire. We now see recordings of Fred Gibson’s phone: FaceTime images of The Blessed Madonna with whom he wrote the song ‘We’ve Lost Dancing’. It’s about how we can find the sense of community on the dance floor. Fred showed how on Saturday in the Heineken tent.
The big name of the evening
The real headliners of the Saturday are the Arctic Monkeys. The great British rock band delivers a varied show: the first part consists of the somewhat gloomy, gritty down-tempo songs from their latest albums. The big hits like ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’ and ‘Do I Wanna know?’ saves frontman Alex Turner for the second half. But he delivers it with his cool rock chic and Hollywood charm – dressed in a suit, Rayban Wayfarer glasses – with so much persuasion that it makes up for a lot. In any case, illuminated by a yellow circle of light, he knows how to reach the fans with band shirts.
#Hague #plasterer #band #Goldband #shows #Lowlands #year