STRICTLY GLOBAL

Hey, so what are your plans around July 15-18? You gonna be in the western part of Belgium, more specifically, the province of Hainaut?  Really? Then you must be going to the Dour Festival!  Even though "dour" means gloomy person, attendees of this fest are most certainly not, as it is in it's 22nd year and 200 bands from all genres will be there!  No wonder it won the prize for Best Medium-sized Festival at the European Festival Awards last January.

The festival came to this French-speaking village back in 1989 where it started off small with only 5 bands on the bill: Bernard Lavilliers, Gamine, Les Gangsters d'Amour, Les Innocents, and Les Tricheurs.  Since then, the line-ups have grown exponentially, and almost every genre known to man will be represented this year, including dubstep (UK's Skream <this kid is AMAZING!>), pop synth (France's General Elektriks), electro hip-hop (UK's Dub Pistols <love it!>), as well as thrash/punk (USA's GWAR <oh yeah!>)  Even fist-fulls of SG favorites will be performing, like Buraka Som Sistema, the Futureheads, Serena-Maneesh, Chromeo, and more.

And back together after an 11-year hiatus, Germany's digital hardcore band Atari Teenage Riot are making their comeback this summer on the festival circuit, including (obviously) the Dour Fest.  The group, most noted for their anti-fascist and anarchist lyrics mixed with intense techno, have recently added a new American member, CX KidTRONiK, who has previously worked with Saul Williams, Kanye West, and NIN.

Plenty of American bands will be hitting the stages of Dour as well, many of which are a lil' under the radar stateside, with huge fanbases abroad.  Like the hip-hop group from Oakland, CA- Crown City Rockers.  They are more than just hip-hop though, meshing funky grooves with soul samples, and overall old-school B-boy flavor.  And with a live performance that has made their local fanbase grow with every show, they were themselves crowned with the title "Best Hip Hop Group in the Bay" by the San Francisco Weekly and the San Francisco Guardian.

Dang, how does the Dour fest fit all this awesome music into just 4 days? Well, aside from the six-stage set up, the party starts at 12am and goes well into the wee hour of 5am!  Yeah that sounds about right for Europe.  (Well, at least 3 AM is the best time to hit up a club in Spain, fo sho.) And remember, Dour Fest is a camping festival, so if you happen to be flying in, and don't wanna pay the baggage claim fee for your portable tent, no worries.  Leave the tent at home, and take up residency at the Festivillage in a rented Festihut!  These cute little cottages can house up to 4 people, complete with 2 bunkbeds and access to showers, and VIP toilets (which is probably the best thing ever at a music festival besides music-right?)   

Finally, immerse yourself in the worldwide phenomenon that is air guitar, as the Dour Fest once again opens it's stage to the Belgian Air Guitar Championships.  The National Champion will become an heir to an actual guitar (Gibson Les Paul), and go on to represent Belgium and compete against 30 other global winners in Oulu, Finland.  Party!

Check out the Dour Festival's entire line-up here:
http://www.dourfestival.be/en/lineup/


by Dawn Reed