FESTIVALS anyone?

Is it just me, or are there more festivals than ever before? At Rockculture we tend to stick to the ones we know. I think for the most part, the festivals are a nightmare for the artists. They only have super limited time to play and the technical side of things can be challenging. For the fans it is equally challenging because there’s a whole cult of festival goers who go just to enjoy the festival rather than the musical acts. The organisers, for the most part, make sure there’s enough to go around for both though.

Still. We are lined up to go to these festivals in 2019- Rock im Park and Rock Werchter.

Highlights on Friday must be Architects and Bring Me. The latter got so much hate from their old fanbase for their last album “amo”, which is a technical masterpiece and has raised their ballgame. They have been able to truly grow as artists and even the hardest metalhead’s guilty pleasure must be to rave to some of BMTH’s dance tunes. Both bands have incredible live sets and I am in awe of the Architects to return to the stage where Tom Searle performed his last concert.

Saturday….Saturday….Saturday. Another band who got a lot of hate for going in a more melodic direction is Slipknot. Cannot wait for the intellectual of all metalheads, Corey Taylor, to prove to the crowd in Nürnberg how Slipknot are alive and kicking, knee- and spine surgery and all.

Sunday is going to be exhausting for us at Rockculture and we hope we make it all the way to Tool cos having to see some of our favourite bands in history, Smashing Pumpkins, Beartooth, While She Sleeps and Alice in Chains (!!!!!) will surely make our hearts race and our throats sore. Cage the Elephant could prove to calm things down, but then again, too many good tunes to stay still.

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We literally only have a few weeks to recover from Rock im Park before we head off to Belgium for Rock Werchter. We were not going to go back to Belgium for any festival for personal reasons, but the line-up has swayed us.

Thursday kicks off with a band who should be seen live before you judge their music, Deaf Havana. Their last album “Rituals”was too poppy for some (there is a theme here, with bands venturing into more melodic tunes and getting abuse), but it has opened them up to so many new fans. Live they are truly amazing, so don’t miss them. They are still pretty rock’n’roll, you know. P!NK is one of those acts, too. Yes, I am actually mentioning P!NK and Deaf Havana in one paragraph. Whilst Deaf Havana convince with their musical talents on stage, P!NK does so as an artist on a whole. Her live shows are phenomenal and her personality will grip you wholeheartedly.

Friday I am in Love- guess who we are here for. Yes, some of our favourites are here, Bring Me, SWMRS, Weezer and Snarky Puppy. But ultimately Friday I am in Love because….The Cure. Come on. This is the highlight of anyone, but especially us at Rockculture, and I don’t care if that is showing my age.

Saturday and Sunday is bound to be interesting, too, but who knows if we are still up for the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, Parkway Drive and Greta van Fleet. Send us loads of pics, in case we miss Saturday and Sunday due to exhaustion from the epic Friday at Werchter.

SPRINGing into Action

After a long hibernation it is time to hit the clubs, concert halls and festivals again. 

We are going to start slow, but strong with Trixie Whitley honouring her commitment to do the shows she had to cancel last year. The Belgian Boss Lady is taking her new album “Lacuna” on road with her and true to her form and cosmopolitan genius, she will mesmerize you with her very unique mixture of Soul, R’n’B and Indie Rock. Little Shalimar’s epic sound on her new album will hopefully be translated into something magical in her live shows.

German Dates are as follows:

21.05.2019 Frankfurt - Brotfabrik 

22.05.2019 München - Orangehouse 

- and then back again in the autumn-

07.11.2019 Köln - Studio 672 

08.11.2019 Berlin - Musik und Frieden 

 

Always quite fond of geeky guitarists and clever musicians here at Rockculture, we will of course be seeing Trivium on their very short tour of Germany in June. We can’t wait to hear their eighth album “The Sin and the Sentence” live, but we have to be honest…we are actually a little more excited about Cane Hill supporting them on both of their shows. 

Cane Hill’s last German tour was amazing- lesser than Witt having his Morrissey T-Shirt stolen in Cologne. Bands like Cane Hill and While She Sleeps, who will only support their Hamburg show along with Power Trip, leave us in awe, never getting tired of delivering metal at its best.

Go see them

18.06.2019 Hamburg – Markthalle (with Cane Hill, WSS & Power Trip)

19.06.2019 Berlin – Kesselhaus (with Cane Hill) 

 

One of our absolute favourite bands is coming back to Germany for an exclusive concert, we are assuming they loved the German fans that much. And to be fair, they’ve been good to SWMRS, but SWMRS have been good to their fans.

SWMRS’ new album “Berkeley’s on Fire” is part of our daily playlist, the influence of Tom Morello is more prominent than that of The Ramones, but whoever thought punk rock is just a matter of three chords better listen to SWMRS. Pure punk rock class!

If you are quick enough, you may be lucky enough to grab your ticket for 

25.06.2019 Düsseldorf – Zakk

 

Another favourite act here at Rockculture- actually, one of the really, really deep routed LOVES here at Rockculture, are coming to Germany for a one-off gig, as well.

Alice in Chains always stood out in the grunge scene in the late 1980’s and all through the 1990’s, also because they never really fit into any one compartment. Layne Staley’s voice mesmerized millions. His untimely death almost killed the genius of what Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney had created with it. In finding William DuVall, the band have come back around. Following their epic success of their numerous Grammy nominations, platinum and gold records of the 1990’s, their album “Black Gives Way to Blue” featuring William DuVall as their new singer put them back on the map. Alice in Chains’ latest album “Rainier Fog” has truly manifested them as one of the finest rock bands ever.

See them live, with Special Guests Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in

04.06.2019 Hamburg – Stadtpark Open Air

 

Gee, and if you fancy a little lighter fare, here’s one more American band we really love, coming to Germany for an exclusive concert. I am sensing a trend here.

With their fifth album “Social Cues” Cage the Elephant are touring the European festival circuit and are playing

11.06.2019 Berlin – Musik & Frieden

Most of the bands mentioned above will also be at a festival near you during the summer, so be sure to look out for them!