Despite the graveyard shift of 1.40pm, Tim takes to the stage with a smile, oozing charm and confidence as he enraptures a crowd that grows steadily throughout his 40 minute stage set. Sporting big black Ray Bans and an admirably composed thicket of hair, Tim looks a legend in the making. He certainly seems to have made efforts to refine his look from the h
eady days as frontman to Millionaire, (possibly the best rock band to have come out of Belgium) where hedonism was a strong ingredient in the bands particular rock recipe, and included the use of a censored promo video for single 'I'm on a high'. But it's not his image, a troubadour for the post-Buckley generation, which sets Tim apart from his peers. It's the songs, beautifully crafted odes to loves lost and still to be discovered. Whilst Millionaire provided a soundtrack to what was often an excessive youth, Tim as a solo artist provides a steadier more mature approach to songwriting. I arrive just as the opening chords of new single 'Until I find you' burst from the stage. It's elating, to hear such a euphoric opening to a song that serves to lift the spirits of the crowds that are now gathering in front of the Open Air stage. Something akin to 'Yellow' by Coldplay, this song in time will serve to define Tim as a breakthrough solo artist.
The Halles des Foires de Coronmeuse building on the festival site, which for the purpose of Les Ardentes is home to the HF 6 stage and Aquarium stages, struggles to fit the bill for what a festival requires from its stages. Huge, vacuous, dark, and dingy, I feel that the Hollywood Porn Stars suffer as a result and deserve a better platform, especially at this still relatively early point in the day’s proceedings. Fortunately for Anthony Sinatra and co they come armed with gothic tinged, stomping, indie rock tunes strong enough to burst open the toughest of hangovers, in addition to characterless venues like the Halles des Foires. Having won a battle of the bands style concert in 2002, the 'Stars have gone from strength to strength, conquering indie clubs across the country and beyond, supporting big name acts such as Primal Scream and Kasabian. They clearly have a number of firm fans milling around the festival site today, and it's not hard to understand why. The hotly anticipated release of new EP 'Besides the Satellite' will surely seal their fate.
As enjoyably rocking a prospect the Hollywood Porn Stars are, something a little more leftfield was taking place a five minute walk away on the Open Air Stage. Roma influences have been gradually slipping into the mainstream in recent years in the guise of groups such as Gogol Bordello and Arcade Fire, a very welcome and refreshing musical phenomenon if ever there was one. However, tagging a band like Devotchka with a musical genre is simply inappropriate, and a little rude. Coming from a wide range of geographic and cultural backgrounds, these four classically trained musicians share a common love, and flair, for music – and musical instruments. 
They carry with them eleven musical instruments at last count, not including the often haunting vocals of singer and guitarist Nick Urata. The band lend Les Ardentes an air of the surreal, not to mention the serene, yet according to the group’s website, these lost souls would in fact be happy known simply as a rock band. Having been spotted by the creators of 'Little Miss Sunshine', a film that Dev
otchka then went on to provide a Grammy award winning score for, the group have not had to look back since. The sight of Jeanie Schroder moving swiftly from double bass to a sousaphone seems proof enough that this band can live through an era of obscurity and come through the other side as one of the top eastern European influenced musical troupes currently recording and touring.
By comparison, The Bellrays come across as the musical equivalent of a 1970's Skoda stuck in traffic on its way to a Status Quo concert. Perhaps coming fresh from a performance by Devotchka would leave most punters feeling a little lackluster at the prospect of seeing a band seemingly oblivious to the concept of dynamism, but The Bellrays seem to have settled for pub rock over culture shock. There's no doubting that singer Lisa Kekaula has a voice that could steam roller most of her peers, whilst her stage presence is a sight to behold. It's just that it feels a little like she was joined last minute on stage by her roadies, who went on to insist that they play outdated rock n roll at a festival that clearly prides itself on delivering innovative, contemporary acts. Don't get me wrong, it's not that The Bellrays don't rock. They do. It's just that that's all they do. And that's not really enough these days. Taking a look at current female fronted soul rock bands like The Noisettes, and bands from the past such as Skunk Anansie and No Doubt, it's not hard to spot the difference. A little subtlety may yet prove to be their saving grace.
Back at the Open Air Stage, there's a far more enjoyable prospect emerging. Das Pop by all accounts are a long standing favourite among the Belgians. Originally from Ghent, with the exception of their Kiwi drummer, the band have been recording and playing songs over the last five years that are simply some of the best kept secrets in the world of guitar pop
. Live, it's like watching a house party kick off big time. Vocalist Bent Van Looy is running around the stage, eagerly ensuring that his guests out the front of the stage are having a great time and being kept entertained. He needn't worry. Whilst Reinhard Vanbergen is the more solemn of the four, though wonderfully eccentric in his hillbilly dungarees and mammoth beard, the ensem
ble bring to mind a collaboration between Duran Duran and Franz Ferdinand. There’s the generous helping of 80's nostalgia in Bent's stonewashed jeans and classic Reeboks, bringing to mind somewhat a young Marty McFly from the classic ‘Back to the Future’ series. Then there’s the pop-funk guitar sounds, the synths, not to mention the tight rhythm section to die for, which Bent adds to invariably with his own snare and sticks. They have a serious side too, which comes out on some of their more heartfelt songs, points in their set that only go to confirm our love for these endearingly energetic songsmiths. To find a pop group with great songs, charismatic members, and a genuinely appealing personality is an all too rare a gift these days. With backing from names such as Soulwax and Justice, their future surely is a bright and bold one.
Having missed out on the Doors by a good twenty years, I feel like I have just had a brief taste of what a Jim Morrison experience may have been like. With a familiar rake like frame, long languishing hair, crazed eyes with a face lost to the spirits of abandon, and a general inability to stand still, Julian as vocalist uses time and space as Jim once did to build pressure and tension on stage and for the audience. This is an exhumed Morrison leading The Brian Jonestown Massacre or And you will know us by the trail of dead, surely providing Les Ardentes with the most intense musical shock to the system of the weekend. The anarchy co
ntinues for the duration of the Liars' slot, with one wonderfully chaotic, noisy, yet melodic song after another. All the while, Julian is literally stomping around the stage, flailing to the music produced by his two guitarists and drummer band mates. This is great music, aside from the eccentricities that Julian beholds. 'Freak Out' is outstanding, with its Velvet Underground meets Joy Division sensibilities, though with an unmistakably contemporary sheen. With the intensity there comes humour, Julian clearly being an affable chap in spite of his stage image as a man on the edge. At one stage he declares his affinity for the Flemish language, announces that he has a particular favorite Flemish word, and after a few moments, screams an unintelligible sound into space… Originally hailing from Brooklyn but now based in Berlin, Liars have encapsulated the same sense of abandon and liberation as groups like Velvet Underground and The Stooges, and have made the successful transition from underground noiseniks to the kind of band that fits comfortably into a support slot on a Radiohead tour (they are supporting the band on some forthcoming dates in California this summer).
Jason Pierce is somewhat of an unknow
n quantity. A mysterious, elusive character on the indie scene in the UK for most of his musical career to date, he has produced critically acclaimed music for the past 18 years with his band Spiritualized following the demise of his former group, Spaceman 3. NME named Spiritualized’s 1997 album 'Ladies and Gentlemen, We are Floating in Space' the Album of the Year. Eleven years later, and Jason Pierce (or 'J.Spaceman') is officially the sole member remaining in the band. Incorporating soul, psychedelia, and near gospel infused rock, Jason comes across as a troubled and haunting character. Having contracted a particularly nasty case of pneumonia in 2005, Jason's most recent long play release, 'Songs in A&E', resonates uncomfortably with this near fatal experience. Many feel that the experience has proven in the medium term to have made Jason a more balanced figure, a little more comfortable with himself, a little less evasive. On stage at Les Ardentes, he carries a glow that lends him an air normally reserved for the likes of Lou Reed. He is pale, and appears fragile, as if he may fall and break if one moves a little too suddenly. His voice is a little croaky, but is full of heart and soul. He is a man of few words on stage, and hidden by a pair of sunglasses for the entire set, he simply delivers a heart felt set of songs from the recent 'Songs in A&E' along with a selection of tracks from previous releases. Pierce's lyrics revolve around heartbreak, longing and sadness, and at times his combination between sound and word is ethereal. Supported by two gospel singers plus a full live band, Spiritualized the band has successfully maneuvered itself through a period of obscurity and into a more positive era of creativity and recognition.
Sounding a little like Nine Inch Nails circa 1994, or the inner workings of a factory revolting against its owners, The Kills appear on stage at the HF6 stage at 6.30p
m. A seedy glow of red, then yellow, enshrouds the stage as Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart strut their way through a blistering set of edgy, stuttering, industrial rock/electronica. Like Liars earlier, there are heavy Velvet Underground and even David Bowie and Marc Bolan influences to be heard, but the duo bring a sexual tension more akin to the White Stripes which raises the bar and carves a niche out for The Kills that is all their own. Their sound while minimal fills the stage, and with just two people playing guitar and exchanging vocal duties whilst being backed up by a drum machine and samples that is no mean feat. Undoubtedly Jamie Hince's relationship with Kate Moss has done wonders for the band's reputation, though I suspect the Kills' fan base will stay true regardless of this.
By 8.30pm you can feel that Les Ardentes has moved on at the HF6 stage from being a festival, to a Mars Volta concert. The room is heaving by the time the band come on stage to a track straight from the Desperado soundtrack, complete with rather ostentatious Mexican revolutionary overtones. As the 8 piece settle in behind their respective instruments, Omar (lead guitar) takes the role of orchestra conductor and waves the group into what becomes a five minute fit of musical hysterics as the group blister through a rock out of gargantuan proportions, during which Cedric (vocals) destroys his microphone, unceremoniously demanding two more from an understandably nervy stage hand. Two songs in to their set and I feel as if I am experienc
ing somewhat of a 1970's rock revival with Cedric coming across a little like Robert Plant in his heyday (although admittedly to my knowledge Plant was never quite as able or accustomed to performing handstands on stage as Cedric does today, and by all accounts at many shows). Mars Volta trade in a form of prog rock which musically is astounding in its brilliance. Thomas Pridgen (drums) is simply at the top of his game, effortlessly pounding out the most complex and energized of rhythms for the entirety of the bands set. In fact it seems that Cedric and Omar (the founding members of Mars Volta in 2001 after the self combustion of At the Drive In) have landed on their feet with their current line up. It just feels a little like a Mars Volta show is more about witnessing the sheer presentation of fantastic musical talent than actually enjoying a set of live songs, with the band playing more for themselves as if they were tucked away in a studio somewhere in L.A, enjoying in-jokes and jamming, rather than playing a prime slot at a festival in Europe. Admittedly, it's not often that you come across bands as progressive and experimental, nay, as skilled as the Mars Volta, and so they should be encouraged and ushered on into the future. Just a little more engagement with and awareness of the live audience would really seal the deal.
Brussels, July 2008
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