Review + Live Media: Dunk! 2014 Festival

Wow... three amazing Days at Dunk! 2014 Festival, Zottegem. Fantastic vibe, great music... everything a Postrock fan can dream of. Watch, listen and read about a lot of live performances by ASIWYFA, Sleepmakewaves,Tides from Nebula, EF, Year of no Light, God is an Astronaut, Indignu, Motek, The Seven Mile Journey, UpCDownC and Steak Number Eight!

 

 

 

Click this link to watch the Dunk! 2014 Playlist

The Festival
Guys, if you CAN go to a Dunk! festival, please do. I have never, ever been to a festival where the atmosphere is this relaxed. Great crew, good facilities, great audience, no disturbances, fantastic sound-quality, great price for tickets, foods and drinks. It's one cozy, intimate, atmospheric, great festival with the best music you can expect for a Postrock fan. Probs to everyone involved in organizing Dunk! 2014, I had a blast!

Below, you'll read mini-reviews of a lot of performances, including some self-made video's. Enjoy!

Friday, April 18

1. Terraformer
The first proper show I saw at Dunk 2014. They played in the woods, supposedly due to some schedule errors, but it was a fantastic show. Think Caspian-esque guitar hailstone sounds, but with extra oomph. This show in honor of their new EP release, could be the best selling EP on the festival. I saw a lot of guys buying their new EP Creatures. They impressed a lot of people, including me. 8/10!

2. Exxasens
Lots of space synths, a prominent and rather interesting moving keyboard guy, but great sounding tunes with high energy. Spain based Exxasens put on an entertaining show with good music. Could use some "rest" sometimes for more emotional impact. 7.5/10



3. Steak Number Eight
I saw them on Paaspop in 2011, which marked my first entry on this website. The last years made them older and frankly... much harder! Post metal / sludge / scream is the deal here. Wicked drumming and tracks with an aggressive impact. Luckily for me, I recorded their most Postrock-esque track "The Sea is Dying" and it's rather good. This show left a lot of visitors exhausted. 7.5/10.



4. And So I Watch You From Afar
Highly energetic and true to some Irish Folklore, the guys from ASIWYFA can make Postrock a fun genre to boot. Technical marvels with loud but positive compositions ensured a party at Dunk! 2014, some guitar troubles didn't put the listeners off. 8/10.



Saturday, April 19

Friday was a loud day with highly energetic and heavy sounding bands. There's hope that Saturday will deliver more broad soundscapes.

5. UpCDownC
These guys from the UK have a lot EP's with a diverse catalog of tracks. True Postrock, heavy indie rock with some metal roots, but their show was surprisingly stable with some great tracks like "Drive" and "Dad Rock". These cool guys put up a great show and it seems they really digged Dunk. I was lost in time and when the show was over, it felt too quick for me. I would have loved to listen to these guys some more. What a surprise and best show of Dunk until now. Check out "Drive" below. 9/10



6. Motek
Motek, an experienced band from the Dunk! label had a great looking stage with big balls projecting some nice visuals and lights. Their music could be in the top of the genre with a diverse and warm sound, but their live show didn't appeal to me. I missed some chemistry in this live set. A pity, because their tracks are up with the best. 7/10.



7. The Seven Mile Journey
Time for some classic Postrock by experienced band "The Seven Mile Journey". These guys are shoegazers pur-sang. No announcement by the band or any form of interaction with the public, just long compositions with an epic finale. A nice diversion from the other bands and proof that classic Postrock can still be damn good. 8.5/10



8. Tides form Nebula
One of my most anticipated performances that did deliver. 1 Hour of great music with much needed quiet segments, getting the audience ready for emotional climaxes that kept me longing for more. Fantastic energy! 9.5/10.



9. SleepMakeWaves
If there was a single dude on the festival with sleepy eyes, the opening of Sleepmakewaves woke him up instantly. Right from the beginning, these guys shredded their guitars without keeping their focus on beautiful symphonic tunes. They played a couple of new tracks and I guess the track below is one of them, I couldn't find it on any album. This perfect dose of musical violence was a great headliner for the second Dunk! 2014 festival day.



Sunday, April 20

Saturday was a fantastic day on the musical side of things. This day marks EF and God is an Astronaut as highlights of the festival. looking forward to it!

10. Lost in Kiev
This is a French based band with lots of potential. Spoken Words, some screams and quiet and very loud segments. As a whole, the show didn't "click" with me. I was tired, that could be a thing too :-) . This band had some amazing visual work of city life in the background, accompanying their tunes. 7/10.

11. Indignu
I entered this show 15 minutes late, because the sun was keeping me outside. On the background, the sound of Indignu hold my attention and I gladly went for a quick peek. That was a good decision, because the combination of the melancholic violin and some great guitars made a good show all-together. I had some "Kwoon" vibes, minus the singing. It was a good show with a high emotional impact. Kudos to the artwork for this band. 8.5/10.



12. Aesthesys
Young Russian band Aesthesys delivered a quite good album on the Dunk label, so my I was interested in this show. The music had some resemblance with Indignu, but less classical. It was a fun and entertaining show with nice tunes. I can see a group of pirates at sea, while listening to this music :-) . 7.5/10.

13. Year of no Light
This was by far the emotionally darkest set of Dunk festival. Long stretches of music with two drummers and lot's of guitars. Alas for me no Persephone from the great "Ausserwelt" album, but a heavy set with big, brass climaxes that sets this band apart.



14. EF
Swedish based EF should be good too. This was an interesting sets due to a lot small and quiet segments, sometimes underwhelmed by some annoying public. Nevertheless, they sound was perfectly balanced and they even had a female vocalist to accompany them on two songs. In an almost non-vocal festival, EF delivers with shimmering and calm vocals that sounded remarkably well in the Main stage. The recorded track doesn't do the vocal justice, so beware! 8.5/10.



15. God is an Astronaut
I've seen GIAA four times now, I've criticized the last album "Origins" as decent, but unremarkable and was a bit skeptic about GIAA being the festival finale. Well.. right after the first notes of opener "Reverse World" I was hooked. Damn, it's as if they supercharged their guitars for maximum effects and the goosebumps were all over my body. What a live set this was, damn.... The band had a lot of energy going for it and even older tracks were supercharged with extra oomph. The audience went insane, and a new-to-be-released track was some of the most heavy tunes you've ever heard them play. I have new found respect for the album "Origins" because on this live show, the tracks sounded fantastic. What a grand finale, what a band.... 10/10. Sounds cliche, but holy shit...!