With extreme giddy anticipation I’ve been looking forward to the 2024 edition of Brakrock on August 2nd and 3rd. Perfect time to look back on the previous year and get you guys equally excited with my tribute to the best festival in the world. The best bands, most idyllic location and greatest organisation made for two days that won’t easily be forgotten!
Ready for part four in my love song to the Brakrock festival? FINALLY time for some actual words about the performances!
DAY 1: Fuck that planning, follow the music & the people
The good thing about arriving well in time for a festival is that you’ll be one of the first in line to get through the gates. The drawback is that you might have to wait for what seems like hours (to my extremely enthusiastic mind at least) to actually get to walk through the doors. After a gruelling wait, I get access through the crew entrance. Way to make me feel special, Brakrock! ❤
Just in time to quickly grab a much needed drink and on to the first band of the day!
The Stitches bring some old school vibes to the Wood stage and help start the day off with a BANG. The band has a no fucks given punk rock attitude and attack the stage full of energy. Loud, fast and heavy, just the way we like it! I didn’t know them before seeing them live, but they are now proudly featured in my playlists.
I see some first row dancers on mobility scooters and with walkers full of punk rock patches. This leaves me hopeful that even if my body breaks down before my mind and love for music does, I can still be rocking the festivals.
Even though I came prepared for the worst kinda weather, I am now getting a sunburn and move to the shade of the trees that this lovely location offers. Time to wish the singer a happy 68th birthday, noting how spry and energetic he is at that age and it is already time for the next band.
So far so good on following my meticulously planned out schedule of the bands I wanted to check out, I think. Buuuut then I decide to follow the spirited recommendation of Nick and tag along with him and his friends towards the Ruin Stage. (Sorry, We Outspoken.) I might be missing something at the River, but I can’t say I am very disappointed. On the absolute contrary!
I am greeted by the screaming ska core of the heavy, fast paced and feral sound of Public Serpents. I’m pretty ecstatic I followed Nick here, because boy oh boy I would have hated to have missed this. I quickly write down ‘Ska Metal?’, ‘What a band, what an atmosphere, such energy, that sound, what an absolute party!’ and then put my little black & white book away to enjoy, dance, smile and admire that beautiful sax in the corner. Ear plugs? Meh, I’ll gladly take the hearing damage for this.
Pictures courtesy of the talented Lad and Misfit photography, one of the other Purple People I met day one!
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUCEMENT: Want to see these guys live? (Spoiler alert: YOU DO!)
Mark July 12th 2024 in your calendar and get to Kortrijk for the show by Doomed Punx Bookings & Upstroke Records. They’ll be playing alongside Random Hand (UK) and Mise*En*Scene (BE). I haven’t yet discovered these other two, but reading their intros is already triggering me. In good Julie fashion, I will let myself get surprised by the sounds there.
Fun fact, I first learned of Doomed Punx and Jordy (left in above picture) on the 2nd Brakrock day, late in the evening. (Though we were both happily grinning and rocking out to the band at opposite ends of the stage as evidenced here by this picture by Lad and Misfit Photography.) We were hiding from some drenching rain in the merch tent, with the wonderful Koenraad of The Toy Dolls and got to talking about the Doomed Punx events. It nearly took me a year, but I’ll finally be able to attend one of their amazing events!
After the Public Serpents show I rush off to the stage and tell them that they’re now my favourite band and I WILL BE WRITING ABOUT THIS. Singer (and ex Choking Victim drummer) Skwert Gunn and the current Serpents drummer Keith Leming are being barraged by others wanting selfies, so I venture on over to Ty Miller who jumped off stage into the circle pit and kept playing his guitar while jumping along. He’s a full time musician and I discover he’s also part of Nomad Punk band Trying to get By and politically charged punk band (are there any other?) Voice of Addiction. As you can see by the pictures of their set, he goes ALL in while playing and is obviously one of those artists made for and by music!
We’re met then by incredible sax Player Eric Molina who is part of Latin Ska Core band Los Mal Hablados & self styled Satanic Ska Band Mephiskapheles . He had just met Public Serpents a few days earlier and filled in for their sick sax player. I love running into these people who just live for the music and seem to be on the road all the time to follow their passion.
Suddenly the three of us realise we’re missing The Slackers, next on my list, and whose Dave Hillyard is actually Eric’s sax teacher. We run in unison to The Wood stage to discover we’ve only missed a few minutes. Phew. The Slackers provide such danceable vibes, I completely forget to take any pictures during their set. Luckily the lovely Lad and Misfit photography has got me covered again!
They offer a chill reprieve from the mayhem we witnessed before. A perfect soundtrack for a great summer day. Their cover of Attitude by The Misfits is absolutely lit and the sax and trombone solos in between were fantastic. I wrote down they were ‘Fucking magically awesome’, as befits one of the bands who put Ska back on the map in the early 90s. I’d been meaning to see them for so long and they did not disappoint! The audience is bouncing and singing along, as the full band sings and plays their hearts out. A truly amazing experience I would HIGHLY recommend!
After their show and in searching for food, I run into Dave and get to yell at him a little how much fun I had during their set, that was frankly way too short in my opinion. See my sweaty happy face for reference.
Alas, I am too tired to run towards the River, so I stay near the Wood stage where I discover Funeral Dress is filling in for H20 who unfortunately couldn’t make it to Duffel.
Read all about the two times in two weeks I saw that legend of a Belgian punk band in the next throwback post to Brakrock!
Brakrock – Kasteel ter Elst – Duffel – August 4th & 5th 2023
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