Rather than a single album, this week I’m highlighting the Left of the Dial festival that we visited this weekend. This 3-day showcase festival is a big discovery trip of both Rotterdam, and artists you’ve never heard off, and perhaps never will. Around 160 bands are each playing 2 or 3 shows, at over 20 venues across the city, ranging from small clubs, large theaters, 3 churches and a boat. We managed to see around 15 bands in total, usually just by going to a place without knowing what to expect. And in many cases we were positively surprised.
Highlights include:
- the north - 4 very young kids
- lemonsuckr - Young guys with real UK swagger, that made the crowd on the packed boat explode.
- ropeburn - Emo in the style of American Football.
- August - Highly entertaining art-rock.
- pushbike - They need time to become more tight, but the Hüsker Dü sound and energy did it for me anyway.
- Tracey Nelson - Americana from the MJ Lenderman inner circles. This is the one that’s linked below, as I got the vinyl after the show.