Festival Season is Upon Us

Not long to go, peeps.

Which are your favourite festivals? What makes them special? Do you go for the music and the acts? Or do you go to be with your mates? To get sloshed and end up in a ditch? Or is it all of those things?

I want to know - please send me your thoughts either via Instagram or email - nicole@rockculture.net

If you’re a person who travels, which countries do you think pull off the best festivals and why?

Rockculture are particularly fond of Rock im Park and Rock Werchter. Both always have incredible line-ups and the hospitality is good. This year we’re also looking to attend some British festivals, like Lytham Festival, so watch this space.

The line ups for these festivals are insane - Babymetal, Dogstar, Green Day, Corey Taylor, Machine Head, While She Sleeps, Queens of the Stone Age - dude! that’s only Nuremberg! Werchter have Foo Fighters headlining and Lytham Festival have Madness, Rick Astley, James and Johnny Marr.

Here’s some photos from some of our faves from last year’s Rock im Park which was epic, to say the least.

Architects at RIP 2023

Turnstile @ RIP 2023

YONAKA @ RIP 2023

Hot Milk @ RIP 2023

Festival Season is Upon Us

What better way to kick off the festival season than to fly to Boston?

Boston Calling has been an institution for decades, starting off as a tiny venue and evolving into a huge spectacle with four stages.

Local acts have always had their place and new artists will always get a chance to perform. With Boston being the home of Berklee College of Music, the competition will always be tough but it’s a delight to see the variety of talent each year.

We’ve come to explore but also to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It’s been too long.

We may be extremely excited to see the Foo Fighters, too. Their new drummer Josh Freese will absolve his probatory time during the next few gigs. With his resume of drumming for A Perfect Circle, The Vandals and Devo, I think he’ll be alright.

Saturday brings us many more acts, though we have come for Alanis Morissette. She is a queen. Full stop.

And Sunday we end with Queens of the Stone Age and Paramore, though we are also intrigued to see King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - it will take magic for us to fly from stage to stage.

Following Boston we are intending to attend Rock im Park. The line up looks promising. For now, Boston is Calling.

Boston Calling 2023

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.