31 October 2021: Wavefest in Rotterdam

31.10.2021: Wavefest in Rotterdam

On Halloween 2021 the famous Rotterdam venue “Baroeg” saw a nice little one-day fesival of six bands. Unfortunately, the originally scheduled Test Dept. and Actors had to cancel ue to Covid-related travel probems, but the lineup was great nevertheless.

Up first was RADERKRAFT, a one-man synthwave project from Amsterdam. With sometimes not-too-subtle 80s elements and driving tunes, it wasn’t long before everyone was moving.

The second band was ZWARTE POËZIE from Utrecht, who I had seen a few times before, and who again put on a cracking set – and this time I finally managed to film two tracks from their latest album “Zelfportret”.

They were followed by another one-man act, SYDNEY VALETTE from Paris, wo showed that single-person electronic acts don’t have to be people pushing keys on their laptops only. The audience of the sold out festival liked it, and there was a lot of dancing going on.

From Berlin came NNHMN (read: Nonhuman), a darkwave duo who made good use of the strobelighs on stage – nice for ambiance, difficult for taking photos 😀 Nevertheless, they put on a good show and their set went down well.

Another act from Paris were up next – I have seen MINUIT MACHINE a few times before, and they never failed to deliver a great set, and this night was no exception – Amandine’s singing and Hélène’s music (she is quite well-known as Hante. as well) go really well together, and they are not loved by so many people for nothing.

Headliners were LINEA ASPERA, whose final gig before temporarily disbanding in 2013 I had seen at Grauzone festival in Amsterdam. Now they are back again, and probably better than ever. Alison’s singing (also known from her other project Keluar and her solo output as Zanias) is impeccable and powerful, and the analogue synth sounds provided by Ryan are completing the atmosphere. I am also a big fan of the often science-heavy lyrics!

Conclusion

A very cool one.day festival for a reasonable price with great bands in a nice club. Only two little things that I noticed: as in many other clubs, while the sound was great in the iddle of the room, the vocals were a bit too low at the front. And for the final two bands there could have been a little more light on stage. Apart from this, it was a great night, and I am already thinking about going there again in April.

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Updated: Saturday May 20th, 2023 — 23:33