Skatefest 2013 report : Olen, saturday august 31.

One day prior to the festival, there’s a negative weather forecast.  And I accidentally have a conversation with a visitor of one or more previous Skatefest editions, and he isn’t really positive either.  So, early in the afternoon, I get in my car with all but high expectations, a bag of spare clothes, and even a raincoat just in case…

Right after a couple of hundred meters of driving through a forest, a wide open space looms, a giant concrete flat, in the middle of a pine forest, and all of that, at the time, under a blue sky with shattered white clouds.

And it’s only seconds later, when I spot the actual festival-site at my left, like it’s a scene out of an old world war II movie.  About five huge hangars, of which I can still imagine Spitfires rolling out.  In front of those hangars, an open space that’s fenced as open air festival area, with two stages.  It immediately strikes me as an impressive sight, and there’s more : you park your car, and twenty seconds later you’re inside!!  That’s an awesome advantage…

 

And sunshine with a few clouds throughout the day, not a spot of rain.  This was a lovely summer festival to visit!

I’m gonna skip my blablablaaaah about all the bands I saw, they were all Belgian or Dutch bands anyway, so y’all go and read the full Dutch report I wrote for the amazing rockblog.nl !!  http://www.rockblog.nl/live-recensies/24395/skatefest-olen-2013  Don’t come complaining you couldn’t find it…

Highly anticipated after the release of their masterpiece “Home” in april, Off With Their Heads take the stage.  And that truly was worth the wait, even if I have to admit the first couple of songs sounded rubbish…  There really is no other way of saying it.  Ryan Young’s voice was really off, nothing sounded clear, we couldn’t hear the bass, nor the second guitar.  And there are quite a few songs that really can’t go without.

But!! The sound engineers succeed in straightening everything out, and from that point onwards there’s only awesomeness left.  OWTH will end up playing for over an hour, and with Ryan not being of the talking kind, we were treated to a lot of songs…  That also means his voice does gets warmed up properly and he delivers a magnificent set.  The audience is clearly enjoying the show, a small but dedicated bunch of fans scream along to every word, and the frontstage turns into a crazy, hot, punk rock party.  Only four or five songs off the new album if I’m not mistaken, where personally, I had hoped for a couple more.  But that ‘shortage’ gets amply compensated by the rest of the setlist.  They do play Janie, which is actually a really old song, and almost the entire ‘Hospitals’ EP!!  Also a large selection out of the ‘In Desolation’ album, for instance, Clear The Air and Drive still resonate through my spine…  In that song, Ryan might even provide us with the best advice we’re ever gonna get for those days we’d rather not get out of bed…

So I just drive
It doesn't matter where
I put my foot to the floor let the wind blow through my hair

I'll never stop
There's nothing for me out there
I'll be on the roads less traveled while it all fades in the mirror

To sum it all up : Skatefest’s festival site is top notch, and holds a real potential for growth!!  The combination of punkrock and hardcore does work, and provides a decent audience showing up.  The hangar with indoor skate-park is also perfect ‘gimmick’ to make this festival stand out in the crowd.  So I for one am really looking forward to their next edition!