The day that was supposed to be the day that Eurovision winners Måneskin would perform in Lokeren, never happened. What happened instead was an awesome day full of Belgian rock bands that were sad that Måneskin had to cancel due to the drummer having an injury on his wrist, but also happy that they got the chance to play again after so long. This is a story of respect, a bit of sadness, but also a lot of happiness. 

Ramkot (***)

Opener of the day was Ramkot who had won a contest called ‘De nieuwe lichting 2021’ from the radio channel Studio Brussel. They have one sold out show in a venue called ‘Vooruit’ in Ghent, so they added another date to it. The first of December show is already sold out, the second show that happens the day after still has some tickets left. 

With music that is supposed to make you both headbang and dance at the same time, Ramkot showed their music to us with catchy beats and heavy guitars. To me personally, it lacked a bit of melody and it just didn’t quite get to me. It’s a specific style that needs to be up your ally. If it’s not, then it’s hard to be convinced. 

Listen to them below. Does their music get through to you?

Sons (*****)

Let’s just put it simple: Sons killed it. They absolutely did. It was loud, it was clear, they were in their element and they got the crowd bouncing up and down. There were even circle pits around tables in the crowd.

Their music combines clean and crunchy guitars and at certain moments they go all out with full distorted guitars. Lead singer Robin Borghgraef said: ‘Een dikke merci aan Måneskin voor het cancellen, want dit is echt zalig’. ‘A big thank you to Måneskin for canceling, because this is the best thing ever’. The best thing ever being performing in front of a crowd. Let it be a crowd with not as many people than usual standing at tables, but it was still a crowd and that crowd was just as hungry for live music as the bands were.  

Equal Idiots (****)

I have to be honest, nothing could beat the performance Sons just gave. Equal Idiots had to try really hard to get the crowd going again. And they did it, they did get the crowd going again at the end of their set. Too bad they couldn’t play longer. During their song ‘Put My Head in the Ground’, the crowd started bouncing up and down again. 

During their set, lead singer Thibault Christiaensen even gave his guitar to a random fan in the crowd. The fan, his name was Victor, got to play on stage while Thibault was doing roll overs form the stage to the sound booth. On that point, a lot of people did a few steps form their tables to see what was going on. But besides that, everybody just headbanged and danced at their tables in their own bubble. 

Aftermath

First of all, the organization was amazing. When we waited to get in, everybody was wearing masks. You got to check in and then the staff wrote a number on your ticket. That number was the table you would be seated. There was staff guiding you everywhere. When you went in, you disinfect your hands, and the staff would ask you what table number you got and they took you safely to your table. This ment that nobody had to wander around to search where they had to go. 

Once you were at your table, you could take off your mask and you were allowed to stand beside your table or just sit, of course. When you had to go to the bathroom, you would put your mask back on. At the bathroom there were plenty of disinfectant gels and no waiting lines. Everything was easy to find with big pictures hanging above the entrance and toilets. But the only place where you could need to go was the bathroom. All other stuff you might want to get was served at your table.

On the table were 3 QR codes. One for food and drinks, one for merch and cd’s and one for a 5 euro discount if you were a member of ING bank. Those QR codes would take you to a website were you could select what you wanted. Once selected, you could pay with your phone with the Payconiq app. The QR code contained the table number, so staff would know where to take the order to.

Conclusion

So yeah, this was very different than usual. But I’m so happy we got to see a concert again. This time, the Lokerse Feesten was only a tenth of its usual size. Only 1600 people a day were allowed. Normally, there are about 14000 people there. A great organization COVID wise, but also music wise, since they managed to find bands to play on this day on such a short notice. Everything was explained loud and clear on the website, and everything was easy to find once we were there in real life. Big thumbs up for the organization!

Next year, the festival will take place from August 5 till August 14. Do you think we will get a full size Lokerse Feesten in 2022? For me, I bought tickets to see Sum 41 in 2020 at the Lokerse Feesten, so that would be one of my personal requests. And I sure do hope that we will get to experience the full festival again.