Hey guys!

It's been a while (tbh we totally forgot about this post, oops) but in June we went to Rockwerchter, the biggest 'live' festival of Belgium. Though we are Dutch, we didn't want to go to Pinkpop, it's a bit too 'pop' for us haha. Last year we also went to Rockwerchter, but only for one day because we had school. We had such a blast this weekend. Read further for our favourite performances, our festival camping experience and a lot of selfies!

So today we will show you how this year's edition of Rockwerchter was. The stages, the food and of course the artists themselves. It was our first real music festival that lasted for more days. We arrived on thursday morning and left on monday so we had to stay on a camping for four/five days. Well, that was quite a task. Later we will give you some tips on how to survive that ;)


First we'll discuss the stages. The area was quite big, but the stages were not more than a 5-10 minute walk from each other. It depended on the crowd though. First, you have the main stage, which is the biggest one and is outside. You can see it on the first picture. The most popular acts played there. Next up you have Klub C and the Barn, two big tents with a stage. The weather was really good, which is nice of course, but in these tents the heat is worse. The air conditioning was bad and you could see the sweat on everyone. When many people showed up for an act the heat was even worse. We recommend you to claim a seat or place like an hour before the actual act is starting. Oh, and bring loads of water with you. You will prevent yourself for passing out and stuff.



Next the area itself. There is loads of grass to sit on, which is nice. There's enough food and drinking stands, but it is not very special. It is the same food you can get on every festival and the prices are also abnormally high. Outside of the festival site there are stands where you can pay in euro's instead of in food tickets. We'd recommend doing that if you want to save money.
There are also a lot of things to do when you are bored or when you have to wait for an artist. You can make your own signs for free, as you can see above. Karlijn made one for the band Royal Blood. Sherilynn made one for Pharrell Williams with the line 'Hi Amsterdam!' (because of his mistake at Pinkpop ;)). You can get them at the paper 'DeMorgen' stand. You can also make your own picture at the Spa stand or get a cap, which we also recommend since the sun can give you a headache. Other brands who represent their selves are Cola, Lipton and some Belgium telephone company. The last one was not really relevant for us since they only help people from Belgium...


At the picture above you can see the North West Walls, a huge piece of art made especially for Rock Werchter. It was a great place to chill out and to enjoy the great weather.


Then we have the camping. We were very lucky with this. We bought regular camping tickets and ended up at the more expensive 'Hive' camping. We had an after-party every night and some facilities like breakfast and kitchen furniture. We were able to make noodles which was very nice! We had to eat in cups though as you can see on the picture. The showers were one big drama though. You had to wait in line for over an hour. Maybe even two hours. We decided not to shower and wash ourselves with soap and water. So another tip: bring towels, bottles and throw away washing cloths. There is a sink on every corner to fill your water, so that was good.


Last but definitely not least, the artists. Above is one of our favourite moments of the festival, during Florence + The Machine. It was so much better than we had expected it to be. Florence was so energetic. We met some (Dutch, whoop!) guys and Sherilynn sat on a guy's neck during 'Ship to Wreck'. After that she convinced Karlijn to go for it too and then the guys offered to take us both on their necks! We sang together and the atmosphere was so amazing. You can watch the video of 'You've Got The Love' above.

Florence + The Machine

A list of the artists we've seen this weekend: Royal Blood (2x, they came on Thursday as well on Saturday), Rise Against, Florence + The Machine, The Chemical Brothers, Mumford and Sons, Pharrell Williams, John Newman, Balthazar, a bit of Damian Marley, Kwabs, Lonely the Brave, Lenny Kravitz, The Prodigy, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Hozier, FIDLAR, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig (it means The Youth of Today in Dutch) , Kasabian, The Script, Muse, The Vaccines, Leon Bridges and Catfish and the Bottlemen.

Unfortunately this was the year of a lot of cancels. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl broke his leg, Sam Smith had voice issues, Ben Howard was sick and Jessie J had a surgery. It really sucked, because they were four artists we were really looking forward to...

Kwabs

Hozier

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Front row at Catfish and The Bottlemen!

Karlijn's top 3:

1. Muse
2. Royal Blood
3. Florence + The Machine

Well Florence, I have told you about them earlier in this post. Muse was not only just amazing because of who they are, but it was also the last act of the festival. So there was confetti and balloons.

 I have known Royal Blood since their debut album is out. I loved it immediately but I could not go to their concert in March. And now they performed twice at Rock Werchter. Oh and I also did not know the singer was handsome haha.

Sherilynn's top 3:

1. Muse
I knew some songs of Muse before we bought our festival tickets, but since we bought them I became a huge fan. I love their style so much, theatrical with heavy guitars. And after Rock Werchter I've become an even bigger fan. They've proven that they are amazing musicians and can give an unforgettable show. It was definitely the best way to end this weekend full of good music. If you have tickets for their 2016 tour, have fun! I wish I could go, but I got some cool stuff of University at the same time.


2. Lenny Kravitz
Of course Lenny has to be number 2 of the weekend! Although he's 51, he can still sing and play that guitar like a funk rockgod! My dad has played his music a lot in the car since I was a little girl, so I know a lot of his songs for a long time now, which makes it more cool to see it live! I loved the way he interacted with the crowd. He made an extra long version of 'Let Love Rule' and the audience kept singing the chorus without him, I had goosebumps all over my arms.



3. Royal Blood/Florence + The Machine 
I seriously can't choose between these two acts. They had both amazing shows and were so freaking good. I really want to go to a concert of them soon, to experience it again. We saw Royal Blood twice during the festival and we stood second row at the Saturday show! And about Florence, well we've already told you that, but now I understand why people sit on each others necks, such good vibes! If you don't know them yet, you should go listen to them now!

Of course we had to take some selfies and pictures of ourselves! We didn't make pictures of our outfits every day, we're sorry for that! But we would say, wear what you want as long as you feel comfortable in it! Check out the weather so you know what to expect. Also bring a cardigan or sweater with you to the festival area for when it's getting colder at night. Wear sneakers and shorts or jumpsuits, if you are like us and like to jump around and watch rock artists, you might end up in a moshpit haha. ;)


Hope you have a good impression of the festival! Let us know if you were there too this year, or maybe years before.

Oh, and our last tip: practice with setting your tent up if you have a new one or have never done it before. It will take less time and you will not miss Years & Years because of that. ;)

-xxx-

Karlijn & Sherilynn