I had a strange dream last night. I was an old man, sitting on a bench in front of a retirement home. There were others too, musicians, writers, music lovers. The nurses wore band shirts and there was a rock band playing somewhere. We ate pizza and drank beer. We were in our seventies and eighties. Some of our limbs and intestines had been replaced with 3D-printed ones and nanobots kept the blood flowing in our veins. Obviously, it was a not a normal retirement home. It was one for elderly people who became literally sick when they had to listen to 'The Macarena', 'Gangnam Style' or whatever other old people's homes called "musical entertainment". It was a home for those gentle misfits who had spent their lives looking for alternatives. We laughed our old asses off with jokes from the good old days. We remembered the gigs, the festivals, each others company. We remembered the others too, the ones with enormous tattoos, the one who became friends with a root block named Sam, the one who looked like a younger Weird Al Yankovic. We wondered what had happened to them, where their lives had lead to. 

"So, did anyone figure out the meaning of life yet?"
"Of course. That's easy."
"Yeah? So what is it?"
"Live it."

They were silent for a few minutes. They had lived it. They had enjoyed it and they were still doing so. Here on that terrace in front of the retirement home, we were all being thankful for the memories.

"Do you remember Dunk 2017?"

Of course I remembered it. I remembered every edition of Dunk festival. It had always been more than just another rock festival. It was a happening, three days in a place that came closer to magic than the mega festival Tomorrowland could ever have. At least for us, lovers of atmospheric music, nothing came close to the small but legendary gathering in the Flemish Ardennes. For three days, the forest of Zottegem was occupied by fans of post rock and related styles.

I left Antwerp at eleven. Juul gave me a ride, something I sincerely appreciated. I was packed for two since my wife was unable to make it the first two days. Two beds, two mattresses, a big tent and a heap of Sultana cookies, I was happy to put all of that in the back of the car instead of having to drag it to the nearest train station. We arrived around noon and assembled our tents at Australian temperatures. I was sunburned before I saw the first band, and bitten by some annoying little insect. My sweat poured like a Kärcher and guess what, I forgot my soap.

La Ciencia Simple came all the way from Chile to open the festival. I felt sorry for them. I was not the only one who was already sweat soaked from building up the tent. Most of us were just thirsty or getting acquainted with the different set up of the festival area. For the Chileans, this was not an easy task, especially not since the main tent was already a sauna. Still, the Dunk audience welcomed their warm and gentle post rock with open arms. I was having my doubts about the main stage. The tent also contained the merchandise and the whole thing looked cropped and packed almost continuously. But, like everybody, I got used to it and decided to enjoy the last few songs of the concert.

The Stargazer area was also different. I loved it and many shared that idea. From all over the food court, you could watch the concerts, like the one by Mexicans Run Golden Boys. Their gig was enjoyable, perhaps somewhat generic at times but hey, that's post rock, one of the few genres where the generic variants are nice to listen to as well. 

Back in the big sauna, Lost In Kiev were a surprisingly early highlight. From the moment they stepped on stage, the we-are-at-Dunk feeling appeared. I had not expected that. I loved their music but in this heat sitting in the forest was a very appealing alternative for watching gigs. But, there was Lost In Kiev, a band that did an amazing job and really kicked off the whole thing. Their gig would eventually turn out to be one of my favorites.

Flash The Readies and Mutiny On The Bounty also did a convincing job, just like Terraformer and Spurv. I spent my time between watching a few songs and cooling down in the forest, where you could still hear the music clearly. Some sort of vacation had begun and I was in the best holiday place imaginable, Dunk!.

But their passage on Dunk! festival was close to perfect. It was dark, sombre, introvert and explosive, proving that this band is yet another example of the sheer quality of Belgian alternative music. For a gig of this magnitude it was still too early, or in other words, it's time for The Black Heart Rebellion to headline festivals like this one. In fact, I liked this concert way more than I liked Swans or Earth.

In the forest, Ashtoreth had one of his most frustrating sets ever. His concert was visited by Roger De Festivalman, a legend, loved by many, annoying to some. Furthermore, a burnt cable caused the music to disappear. Finally, the sound check from the big tent was audible to everyone who attended the intimate concert, including Ashtoreth himself. Somehow, however, Ashtoreth managed to grab and maintain the attention of the audience and to me personally, this was certainly a top five of the day thing. Other reviewers used the concert to enjoy a sandwich, I used it as inspiration for a book. Around that time, I had seen Ashtoreth more often than I had seen my mother-in-law, and every concert had been different. From soothing ambient tunes over shamanic ritualism to intense noise, he can do it all and he did it, regardless of the occurring issues. But at the end of the concert, he suddenly reminded me of his brother in arms, Stratosphere, or at least his music did. Somehow, both projects had been inspiring each other, which I thought was a great evolution. On a lighter note, I enjoyed the impromptu interplay between Ashtoreth and a nearby singing blackbird.

For me, the final of plenty of highlights on that first day, was PG.Lost who delivered a smashing set of post rock sounds. You'd think that by now I was getting tired of post rock but nothing seemed less true. Just like on their latest album, these Swedes blasted off with heaps of energy and easily grabbed the audience's attention. The decibel meter claimed they were playing at around 104, and for me, that was good enough.

The forest stage was the place to be when you wanted a little bit of variation and that is exactly what Worriedaboutsatan brought. With their techno driven sound, they had some people dancing. For a few moments, even I engaged in a few careful dance moves but halfway through the set I decided to see how good Steak Number Eight was in replacing Emma Ruth Rundle. Steak Number Eight  was probably a worthy headliner, judging from the big amount of people who showed up. But there seemed to be something wrong with the sound. Nonetheless, this was an explosive finisher, loved by many.

My day ended there. When Swans kicked off their set, I walked to my tent and started writing down some ideas for the review. I knew a lot of people will disagree with me but I found the whole Swans set unnecessary, ridiculous and stale. I could hear it clearly from my tent, even with earplugs. The only thing I could think was "Why? Why 115db? What are they compensating for?" It reminded me of Manowar, another band that musically just isn't that great so they blast it out of the speakers with a massive amount of volume. The next days, I compared their extremely loud trunk of drones and shamanistic vocals with the musical ingenuity of bands like Meniscus or Mooncake. I quickly realized that being legendary is not the same as being any good. The best thing about the Swans concert, was the reaction of the other people on the camping. Whenever Michael Gira started uttering his chants, the entire camping followed. At some points, there was a strange, occult atmosphere, as if the haunted spirits of the Zottegem forest had been awakened. 

I was up early the next morning, even before the free coffee was ready. I decided to take a walk in the beautiful surroundings. I was already sunburned so I strolled around in the shadows of the forest, enjoying the bird sounds. That beautiful forest sure was an extra plus for this already fantastic festival. I met a girl on a horse and her father on a bike. They were nice, friendly. I probably looked like crap after merely two or three hours of sleep.

Soon after my walk, I met up with Juul and David, my two main festival companions. We talked about the day before. I noticed that I was not the only one who hadn't been extremely fond of the Swans concert. Furthermore, there were some severe doubts about the quality of the next headliner, Earth. For now however, it was time to drag our tired bodies to the main tent to check out what All We Expected were up to.

Apparently, these youngsters were not willing to be just an opening band. They turned that ungrateful task in the earliest Dunk! highlight ever. Ok, it was post rock/metal but they blasted with so much energy that the entire festival was awake. This was a brilliant set, certainly one that proved that All We Expected are on their way up. Immediately after their gig, I imagined them being back the following year, only higher on the bill. After them, Time To Burn pretty much destroyed the tent with a blasting concert, which I mostly heard from inside the forest.

In the Stargazer, Belgian space rock trio Kozmotron took a small part of the audience on a journey throughout the universe. They could count on a number of loyal followers and the part that I had heard was pretty interesting. However, for me it was time to meet up with the people from Meniscus, a band that I have been promoting heavily in my preview for this festival.

In the big tent, Dumbsaint was doing something interesting with post rock and cinema. Used to these temperatures, these Australians brought a convincing set but in a way, the movie distracted me from the music. So after a while, I left the tent to enjoy the music on its own, which worked pretty well. 

By now, the festival area was already incredibly hot, which made me seek refuge in the forest. There, I heard Aidan Baker and Karen Willems do something interesting with drones and drums. Their cooperative release 'Nonland' had been a refreshing album and in a way, this concert too was a nice thing to listen to, even from a distance.

Meniscus was everything I had predicted. They started out somewhat nervous but in no time, the big tent was packed with enthusiastic people. Just like Spoiwo the year before, Meniscus easily catapulted themselves into Dunk-superstardom, aided by a perfect sound and a flashing light show. I enjoyed every single second of this gig and I was far from the only one. David was next to me, equally mesmerized by the sheer perfection that floated through the big blue tent. We were all sweat soaked, and somewhat smelling, but it was damn well worth it. Meniscus had won Dunk, exactly like I had foreseen.

Of course, such brilliance comes with a cost. In the next few hours, I was in Meniscus heaven. In the shelter of the forest, plenty of audience members tried to hide from the crushing heat, including me. By now, fatigue and heat caused me to listen to most of the bands from between the trees. We Lost The Sea seemed to follow Meniscus' example and blasted some brilliant atmospheric post rock through the speakers. Ilydaen did something earth shattering with noise rock, math core and whatnot, apparently much to the delight of the audience who had filled up the area in front of the forest stage. 

And so I listened to And So I Watch You From Afar from afar. I was tired and not feeling too well so it was time for a little laydown. After all, I have seen this band a few times in the past. What I heard was good, and I think the audience in the tent loved the concert, but halfway through, I dozed off and disappeared into dreamland for half an hour.

After I woke up, I grabbed the Dunk! booklet and read about Malämmar, a Spanish three piece doom mongrel. They were about to rip the forest stage to shreds with their harsh, abrasive and insane performance. Fucking shitwaffle, they were good. This was the exact amount of energy I needed to get me through the rest of the day. I had to by a t-shirt.

And then it was time for Earth, another legendary band. The tent was not packed and in a way that was no surprise. With their slow and lingering doom metal, Earth played a decent set, pretty much the same one as I had seen at Desertfest earlier. It wasn't bad, on the very contrary, but the Dunk audience seemed either too tired, too hot or too used to post rock to fully enjoy the concert. Halfway through the gig, I walked towards the Stargazer area where the legendary Dunk! fries guys had started a party. I met up with David again. We talked and laughed with stories about the polonaise, Manowar, post rock and my upcoming book. The dj's played 'Too Many Puppies', 'Master Of Puppets' and 'The Number Of The Best' but when they skipped to 'The Macarena', we left.

We left to for a good night sleep but that proved to be a huge fail. On the camping, people had started partying themselves, singing along with songs by System Of A Down and others. It sounded horrible, none of them could sing and none of them could talk about anything interesting. They were drunk, annoying and loud, so loud I wished for Swans to return. I wished for a silent camping, one where radios and noise weren't allowed, one where the people who wanted to sleep, could fucking sleep.

There was another highly frustrating aspect to the audience. As I woke up early again the next morning, I noticed how the forest had been transformed into a rubbish dump. Cans, bottles and coffee cups were everywhere, along with empty bags of chips, tobacco and cookies. During my short walk, I collected the porcelain coffee cups and brought them back to the catering area. I advised one of the crew members to equip the forest with garbage bags. On the other hand, if this and the camping noise would be the biggest points of frustration, this was a bloody good festival.

We sat down in the Stargazer area for a while and watched one of the fries guys kickstart a barbeque with a lot of noise and a lot of drama. It sounded as if a plane was about to lift up. The audience treated him to a loud applause, as if it were an impromptu noise act that had been booked as a surprise. 

During the first three bands, it was time to pick up my wife from the station and guide her around the area. We returned when Halma was almost finishing their set and quickly rushed to see what this Briqueville was all about. Some say Briqueville is a gimmick band. They arrive with their robes and masks on and they leave with their robes and masks on. Very few people really seem to know who these guys are. Nonetheless, this was an amazing concert, gimmick or not. Everything fitted extremely well together, shattering my doubts about this mysterious band.

But then, suddenly, it seemed over. The lack of sleep and the worrying pain on the left side of my neck made me think about leaving the festival sooner than planned. For a few hours, I longed for my own bed and perhaps a doctor. It was the hottest of the three days, way too hot to take a nap in my tent so we seeked shelter in the shadows of the forest once again. There we stayed for a while, enjoying Xenon Field and Set And Setting from a distance and making arrangements to leave the festival later that day.

The next concert I did see, was The Void Of Expansion, a drone/free-jazz vehicle by Dirk Serries and Thomas Järmyr.  Not many audience members saw that gig, since most of them seemed to prefer the somewhat more accessible music of Barst, who was playing at the same time in the forest. For me personally, Dirk and Thomas really saved the day. The energy coming from the drums was infectious and Dirk's drones truly lifted my spirits. This was a majestic performance, certainly a top-5 one.  Soon after this concert, I decided to buy everything Dirk had to offer. Money well spent!

In the forest, Syndrome played a rather unconvincing set but that was not his fault. I can't say that it was Stearica's fault either, but their heavy tunes leaked through the silent and modest performance of Syndrome. My wish for a bit more variation on Dunk festival had now turned against me, or so it seemed. Perhaps the setup of the forest stage was not as perfect as it could have been, but it was still a very nice addition to this festival.  Little later, CHVE would eventually solve that problem by overpowering the incoming sounds. A lot of people came to see his magical concert and with good reason too. CHVE had asked for this concert himself and in the darkness of the forest, we all went on an incredible journey.

The energy just kept flowing, obviously aided by the absolute headliner of the festival, the majestic God Is An Astronaut. For them, it must have been a normal gig. Headlining festivals is not new to these Irish blokes. But what they did was fantastic and set the big blue tent ablaze one final time. I knew them. I had heard them before, at Incubate for example, but I didn't expect this concert to be this overwhelming. This was the worthy headliner Dunk festival needed. 

In my dream, we talked about the festival, about the massive ups and the minor downs. We were still sitting on the terrace of the retirement home, sipping from healthy fruit juice mix, called 'Forever Young'. It were memories like these that we lived for. The music, the environment, the people, for us, that was the meaning of life. We had lived it and in our mind, the many brilliant concerts still resonated, along with the nice conversations and the hilarious moments.

"I still wished I had more sleep."
​"I think we all did."

Note: If I may end with some blatant self promotion, I'd like to mention that Dunk! festival has become the main source of inspiration for a festival in a book that is currently in the works. The book, titled 'Cecilia's World', is a novel about alternative music, about a sixteen year old girl who discovers the musical wonders of the underground while also coping with turbulent times in her new city. 'Cecilia's World' will be released somewhere in the next few months. Alongside Dunk, my work for this website has also been a huge influence. So if you like my Dunk! review, you might want to keep an eye on Merchants Of Air. More details will be announced when they become available...

I like to thank the good people at Dunk! Festival for another amazing weekend, possibly one of the best festivals I have ever been to. It's events like this one that keep me going, maintain my interest in the impressively varied world of music. There will always be minor issues, but in all Dunk! is an example of how to set up a fantastic experience for a lot of people, even in difficult times. This edition was great, well varied and full of pleasant surprises. I will see you next year, or at least hear you...


Serge

* Words by David (Wayward Bound)

Wim went to see Belgian's electronic dance music pride Praga Khan who presented their new album 'Mind Games'. Judging from these pictures, this gig was a blast. You can also find the photo's on Wim's flickr page.

Back in April, Wim went to see some heavy stuff at Magazin 4 in Brussels, namely Angakok, Birushanah and Monarch. He came back with these photos. You can also watch them on Flickr (click here).