The Epic Battle: Balthazar vs. Wilco – Who Reigns Supreme at Lokerse Feesten?

Slight confusion about the order of this Lokerse Feesten poster: ‘Why Balthazar higher than the mighty Wilco? Mother, what kind of world do we live in?!’ But after experiencing this evening, I’d like to be the first to call myself a licorice: of course Balthazar was the headliner of the day! Of course the square was filled with the dark adonises of the Belpop. Now I know: Wilco may still be a cozy, beautifully maintained Renaissance church, but Balthazar? That’s the fucking Notre Dame.

Vincent Van Peer11 August 2023, 09:04

Cozy poster tout court, with, in addition to Balthazar and Wilco, also a dash of upcoming britpop violence (Stone’s scousers, who recently also kicked shack at Werchter) and even more Belgian beauty (Sylvie Kreusch, like Balthazar, temporarily said goodbye to the national stages tonight) . Was this – in an attempt to capture the load under one beautifully waving flag – the Great Indie Rock Day of the Lokerse Feesten? Sure!

Stone (★★★☆☆)

Between Yungblud and Sleaford Mods, between IDLES punk and 90s rock, somewhere there is hoisting très British Stone pints. At the Lokerse Feesten they were allowed to open the square, and they did so, as is British custom, by making a lot of noise – that decibel meter! – and uninvited to take off their T-shirt. Pounding guitars, thorny Mike Skinner bluster (“What can I say? / I’m a hateable guy”), an admirable je-me-en foulism. Highlight: frontman Fin Power who coolly solved a Rubik’s cube during a guitar solo. A donkey won’t stumble over it twice: you’d better keep a close eye on this Stone.

Stone.Image Alex Vanhee

Sylvie Kreusch (★★★☆☆)

Kreusch’s temporary, but no less itchy adieu to tour life – she wants to focus on her new record – once again showed great craftsmanship. Great guitar solos! Crackling backing vocals! A bongo player and a drummer who never got in each other’s way! One remark though: as closing throwing kiss I would have preferred the highlight ‘Let It All Burn’ instead of the somewhat abruptly ending ‘Please to Devon’. Not only because of that great line ‘Ladies, ladies, ladies, please be my guest / To whatever I might have left’ (about her ex Maarten Devoldere’s groupies). But mainly because of that almost careless sigh: ‘The only reason why I did it after all / All to be praised by a rock-‘n-roll star…’ She did everything for the compliments of a rock star. And now look, after that triumphant ‘Montbray’ tour tonight, which is slowly fading out: suddenly she is one herself.

Sylvie Kreusch. Image Alex Vanhee

Wilco (★★★☆☆)

Biggest flaw in Wilco’s performance? To get straight to the point: the public! And you had started the day so well! But at Wilco, all spectators seemed to have been replaced for a moment, ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’-wise, by Tomorrowland-fähig terrace folk who were collectively looking for the oyster bar. Splendid songs were drowned out all evening by banter about Tuscan wine. Isn’t there corporal punishment during a beautiful song like ‘I Am Trying to Break Your Heart’? Or at least – I’m just saying – community service and a subscription to Knack?

Wilco.Beeld Alex Vanhee

I haven’t seen Wilco this sharp in years. It became a retrospective that wandered between almost all of their records: ‘Box Full of Letters’ from AM, ‘A Shot in the Arm’ from Summerteeth. ‘Impossible Germany’ out – of course! – Sky Blue Sky. Masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, honored last year with a hyper-deluxe reissue, became the classics ‘Jesus Etc.’ (with fantastic organ) and ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’ picked. But even better were ‘Misunderstood’, from Being There’ and especially ‘Hummingbird’, from A Ghost Is Born. When Nels Cline’s guitar took over the vocal line from ‘humming-bi-ii-ird’ towards the end: goosebumps! If Jeff Tweedy is the head of Wilco, then Cline is the rigid spine that keeps him upright.

Sign of a really good Wilco performance: even the recent material sounded great. ‘Cruel Country’, ‘If I Ever Was a Child’, ‘Story to Tell’… That’s satisfying, pleasant, quiet rippling at the highest level — never to be confused with muddling through. 3.5 stars. There would have been more in one room.

BalthazarSculpture Alex Vanhee

Balthazar (★★★★☆)

There it was: the Notre Dame of the Belgian rock world! And as befits a good Notre Dame, Balthazar was tonight – ‘for the last time in years’, emphasized presenter Stijn Van de Voorde twice – simply on fire.

It started with the sexiest game of ping pong ever: frontmen Jinte Deprez and Maarten Devoldere who bounced the ball with the main vocals song after song. From ‘Decency’ (Jinte) to ‘Wrong Vibration’ (Maarten) to ‘Do Not Claim Me Anymore’ (Jinte) to ‘Then What’ (Maarten), and so on and so forth. Brotherly: no quarrels about the captain’s armband here. ‘Do Not Claim Me Anymore’ shot the most from that opening salvo: just as funky as the phenomenal version of ‘Can’t Stop’ that the Red Hot Chili Peppers played at Werchter.

Everyone has their moment: Tijs Delbeke shone on violin in ‘Decency’ and on trombone in ‘The Oldest of Sisters’, the blistering finale of ‘The Boatman’ was fired up by the heavy strokes of drummer Michiel Balcaen, and meanwhile bassist Simon Casier was firing grooves off like a machine gun.

A single technical difficulty: during ‘On a Roll’ – ‘I must have been on a roll / Kept on losing control’ – not only the control, but also the plug fell out. When Deprez picked up his thread afterwards, something unique could be heard: a Balthazarese who sang with a smile in his voice.

By the way, how good does that chorus from ‘On a Roll’ hold up? Even Elon Musk would have tried it with an aggressive rebranding, but it really can’t be broken.

The binding text of the evening was written by Maarten Devoldere. “Wilco was good, wasn’t he?” he smiled. “We were a bit star-struck just now in the backstage… because Sylvie Kreusch was walking around there.” He still had love to sprinkle in the direction of his ex: during the ‘You Won’t Come Around’ dedicated to her, he even caught all the notes in the height, especially for her.

Balthazar.Image Alex Vanhee

The further the evening progressed, the wider the numbers began to fan out. ‘Blood Like Wine’ drifted to a beautiful, The National-esque ending. ‘Linger On’ and ‘I Want You’ (both from the last album Sand) were given ample time to unfold beautifully. And “Fever”? That was anyway – think of that scene from ‘Pulp Fiction’ – an adrenaline shot straight to the chest. Only that syringe in ‘Fever’ is only filled with coolness – stuff of which Deprez and Devoldere in particular risk an overdose every live show. Then taking a break may only be wise.

A temporary, but above all a worthy farewell: see you in a few years, boyos!

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2023-08-11 07:04:05
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