Lokerse Feesten - day 1: Hip Hop baby!

click pour le live report en Français + photos

When Chronyx sent me to Lokerse Feesten to write a live report about The Opposites, Wu Tang Clan and Dizzee Rascal, I was very exited! I had never seen any of those groups perform live, so I was all for it. My first time as a real reporter and my first time to Lokerse Feesten. An evening of hip hop in the planning. This had to be good.

As the website of the Lokerse feesten already mentioned, the location of the festival is indeed very easy to reach. Only a 5 min walk from the train station. I saw no signs, so I just followed the crowd. I had read that there was a fair right in front of the festival, so that's the direction I followed. Through the fair, passing a long row of all kinds of food tents for the hungry stomachs and right in you go. I had to keep walking, to find the press entry. After a bit of a search to find out how to go from backstage to frontstage, I finally claimed my spot. Front row on the left of the stage.

19h50. The mainly younger public was patiently waiting for The Opposites to come on stage. They were exactly on time (nice work ethic hehe) and opened the evening in 'The Opposites' style: loud and energetic
It was very clearly they felt really good on stage and partied with the crowd for a full hour. Big2 and Willy made the people jump, sit down, jump up again and sing along their biggest hits. Big2 even took off his shoes when they performed their 'Kom niet aan mijn Nikes' (don't touch my Nikes). As a statement, I guess. And yes, he was wearing Nikes.
They thought the crowd about 'heuken' (a Dutch 'farmer' expression for partying really hard), and they showed a lot of love to the Belgian crowd. They even asked the crowd for requests. Then their time was up, but they didn't feel like leaving the stage. After a last shout-out to the Belgian crowd, they were gone.

By the time The Wu Tang Clan was supposed to start, you could see Wu Tang T-shirts everywhere, worn by a somewhat older crowd. It was clear what a lot of people came here for. Almost a half hour late, they came on stage and the crowd went wild.
Unfortunally no Method Man, no Ghostface Killah, no RZA. Rumor has it that they missed their plane twice on half a day. What are the odds? The rest looked tired and they didn't seem to really feel like performing at first. After U-god told the soundman to play the music louder, they got more into it.
They were basically doing the show they had been doing over time and time again. They did show the crowd love by shouting 'Brussels we love you!'. First time is a mistake, second time too, but after 45 min it just got funny. If you're not sure about the city you are performing in, just stick to the name of the country. But they are the legendary Wu, so they are forgiven lol.
One of the - for me personally - highlights in the show was Mastah Killah's 'Hip Hop is' mix of rap and spoken word. That was deep.
Inspectah Deck and U-God pulled the crowd, Raekwon did his thing every now and then and the tribute to ODB had the public keeping up their lighters and cellphones. They basically performed their biggest hits, but the show was lacking a few great tracks. And energy. They wrapped it up with 'The Gravelpit' which made U-god and Raekwon have a party on their own on stage.
The Wu hand signs were in the air the whole time and as some point the people were rhyming louder than the rappers.

Only 10 minutes after the WU left, Dizzee Rascal ran on stage with the energy that the Wu was missing. Heavy bass pumping through the speakers and with the typical London style, he immediatly set the tone for the rest of the show. His flow with that famous London/Brixton accent sounded amazing and it was very clear that he was ready to make the people go crazy. Watching him going back and forth on the stage would make you think that he was born on there. He is most definately born to BE on stage. With his song 'Bonkers' there was not 1 person that wasn't jumping and partying. Even though I personally prefer the real hip hop of The Wu, Dizzee Rascal proved that he is an amazing performer.

All by all, it was a great hip hop night with a fun crowd and great performers.

Oh, and a big shout out to Lien, Wesley and Stijn, the tattoo loving hip hop heads from Torhout who were so friendly to give me a ride home. We'll stay in touch, no doubt. West Flanders rules!