"July 23
Dour festival 2009
On Monday evening I returned from Dour Festival with probably the worst cold I've had in ages. Sadly not Swine Flu, which would have been much more satisfying and also rather dramatic. Nonetheless, now that I'm 25 it seems that spending 5 nights/6 days camping at festival which involves not 3 but 4 days of live music, until 5am each morning, is going to take its toll on my already flagging immune system and stamina levels.
After a day of setting up camp and exploring the nearby Lidl on the Wednesday, the festival started officially on the Thursday with Meshuggah doing a good job as 'first live band of the festival I saw and amazing in-synch headbanging'. They played 'Straws Pulled At Random'. If you've heard me rant about this song before then get video evidence here that from 4.02 onwards that this song is PERFECT. If we hadn't had enough HEAVY METAL to last us the weekend then Isis followed after. You know, people find it easy to diss Isis as boring and I've seen them a few times now, but the first song off their new album sounded EPIC and closing with 'In Fiction' was nigh-on perfect.
Next I should've been watching Friendly Fires but like Monotonix who were basically supposed to open the festival for me, they pulled out. Instead this may or may not have been the time I went to check out the food and got some veggie curry. Santigold was on the main stage with literally THE BEST DANCERS AND BACKING SINGERS I've seen in a long while. Some of her more dancehall stuff is great but the MOR/pop stuff can be pretty boring IMO. At this point it began to rain so it was into a tent to hear a bit of MSTRKRFT and watch Belgians dance (they're dancers, they love to dance) before steppin' over to Joker, retiring relatively early before N-Type sadly.
The Friday began with us missing Sky Larkin because they were on at some ridiculous time, ie before 5pm. Post 5 o'clock though things were chocka, alternating between the Clubcircuit tent and the metal on the main stage. Marnie Stern was on much better form than Primavera, blessed with much better sound and getting all euphoric and uplifting and widdly at the same time. EPIC. Then it was time for a Sepultura-shaped break although let's be honest, if there's no Max, who cares? Deerhoof were actually probably more metal than Sep, churning out the kooky rock which included a Ramones' cover and another song Kitty, Daisy and Lewis did too. I do love a good cover.
There are a few bands I don't really get bored seeing and Dillinger Escape Plan are definitely one. Playing a Nine Inch Nails cover is also a good way to spice things up. Then it was back to tent for ...Trail Of Dead. If I could've written a setlist for them to play, there would only have been one or two small changes. Despite the evident frisson and perhaps a half-arsed attempt to smash the kit up, 'Another Morning Stoner' and 'Caterwaul' sounded almost perfect. After glimpses of Killng Joke (lol) and Mercury Rev, the evening, like all the others, was a massive dance party in the tents. I think I spent most of the evening watching Rusko, which was great, and Diplo, who was not quite as good as I hoped.
By Saturday I was truly feeling the burn and feeling the effect of camping, although luckily for me it was perhaps the quietest day line-up-wise. I caught moments of U-Roy, just to get my daily dose of dub, and The Dodos, who looked and sounded better than they had previously on record. 65daysofstatic played Dour for the second time and went down like loved-locals, with a mega-massive lights show and a huge sound to match. Sadly I didn't get to see the whole of their set as I was dragged off to see The Pet Shop Boys who were predictably very boring on the main stage with pathetically quiet sound. Roots Manuva was enjoyable if a bit shambolic, but Crave and Klever more than made up for it, playing perhaps slightly predictable party anthems. I don't really remember but I'm told that's what happened. It was probably the most fun night of the whole festival, although whether that was down to the music or excessive gin drinking I'm not sure.
Sunday started at the obscenely early hour or 4pm to swoon over John Reis with the Night Marchers. They were on form and he looked lovely but the tent was a bit empty, so it lacked much spark. An Albatross followed who I do still enjoy but they are definitely one of those bands who you don't exactly need to see more than once. I'm trying to remember the last time I saw Rolo Tomassi and I really think it was about 10 months ago. At Dour they played to a packed tent and even managed to get a good old-fashioned circle pit going. After a well-deserved falafel wrap (my favourite food of the festival, no doubt, 9/10), we caught my favourite new discovery of the weekend, Bob Log III. A one-man band dressed in a gold sparkly space suit with a space helmet on, his twangy bluesy garage rock was F.U.N. Like a lot of other acts at Dour, the dancing and general reaction from the audience enhanced the atmosphere so much more than I've really seen at a UK festival like Reading. Like I said, they love to dance. After this high we watched bits of Crystal Castles (too hot in the tent though) before I had a bit of a nap during Boss Hog's set. I thought I might have to retire to the tent, especially after watching a few minutes of Aphex Twin's flat and lifeless set on the main stage. However, Dour had a final trick up its sleeve with the 5 Elements of Hip Hop collaboration featuring members of The Roots, Cypress Hill, Rock Steady Crew and the Beastie Boys. Mixmaster Mike played hit after hit including notable some Rage Against The Machine and, obvs, a lot of Beasties. He was the only element we saw since 5 hours is pretty excessive, let's be honest.
All in all, Dour was an IMMENSE festival experience. Generally, it seemed cleaner and more organised than UK festivals, with a much more varied line-up and live music on all stages til late. Sure, I may have showered every day and actually eaten properly for the first time at a camping festival ever, but Dour is a festival UK music fans should definitey consider checking out. They do love a lot of crappy drum 'n' bass over there though. Shout-outs to falafel wraps, pack-a-macs, boomstankin, BBQ parties, tent collapsing losers, Belchium, and the Lidl shopping trips."
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