Brussels Summer Festival

Friday

Deportivo

Deportivo have that stereotypical French “pub gig” sound that you would expect from a band with very little publicity on the Internet. Sadly, the first bands on Friday afternoons during the festival are plagued by weak crowds, especially because people are probably still on their way back from work.

Because of the small crowds, there wasn't much bopping going on here, with the notable exception of a handful of die-hard Parisians who obviously came to Brussels with the band!

While the music is good, there's nothing to write home about here. Certainly not yet, anyway. These guys don't seem to have settled on their own style, and have taken the path of least resistance to sound much the same as everyone else. They suffer from slow pacing, and many of their songs seem underdeveloped to me, with many songs sounding like they were aborted rather than finished. This could simply be a sign of lacking experience as a band, because they certainly do have some talent there.

Hollywood Porn Stars

Hollywood Porn Stars are a Belgian band based in Liège who are inches away from being immensely commercial while retaining their indie-pop charm.

These guys were suffering a little from their Friday night slot, but beyond their high quality music they really know how to perform. They have excellent pacing, and know how to rev-up the crowd.

Saturday

Two Star Hotel

Two Star Hotel are a self proclaimed “plastic avant-rock” band, whatever that is. Despite their inability to name their style, their style really is quite cool. They boast strong rhythms and songs catchy enough that you'll find them lurking in the dark recesses of your brain for a few days afterwards.

These guys also know how to perform, and somehow the tiny late-afternoon audience didn't seem to bother them as the lead singer broke away from the stage to perform within the audience.

There's potential here for this little Belgian band, but I think they need a little bit of a push!

Oai Star vs. Papet J

Oai Star are Pretty damn cool. This lot were great during their sound-check, with a few things not featured in their actual performance that sounded very cool indeed.

This French mob, sometimes billed as Oaistar, are some sort of fusion between rock, punk, rap and reggae — and it works! Check them out.

Robert Charlebois

Oh dear, this is sad.

Don't get me wrong, the large band is fantastic, and it's something I would probably like to a certain point. Sadly, the whole thing is let down by Mr. Charlebois himself. You can see that his prime audience are “the olds” and it's a bit like watching David Hasselhoff's ego pretending to have James Brown's innate control over his band. It doesn't work for the band, and it really doesn't for me. Sorry.

Remove Robert Charlebois and you have a really, really good band, but I guess that's not really the point now, is it‽

Barbara Wiernik Sextet

Now here's some Jazz talent that needs to be properly uncovered. Sadly, I walked in at the end of the group's set, but the few songs I heard were really great.

After the band left, Barbara returned for an ad lib solo performance with her and a little digital sampler, using her unique voice to lay down some patterns.

Worth a look, if you can.

Sergent Garcia

Now starting to become quite commercial, Sergent Garcia claim to be the original masters of “Salsamuffin DJ” if that makes any sense.

Apparently “muffin” is actually a style of music these days, and not just a little baked product with yummy tops. To me, these guys are a primarily a mixture of salsa and rock, with a few other influences, so I don't quite know what the “muffin” component is, but whatever it is that must be the secret ingredient because it really works.

These guys are very cool and worth checking out!

Sunday

Ali Harter

Ali Harter was billed as the next big thing in “Oklahoman roots music” to come out of the USA, however all I can see is an immature brat who needs to go home.

This is one of those acts where a girl sings along while playing the guitar, and that sort of thing has never interested me. Not only is her music plain, but she was either very nervous or pissed off about being in Brussels. I can understand that her early slot on a Sunday afternoon wouldn't draw huge crowds, but when you spent most of your set talking about fluff rather than playing music, you're bound to not have anything other than a dozing crowd.

No artist should ever be surprised if half their audience wanders off if you end a song with a comment (in English) like “oh, well about three people like that one then”. There's never call for that sort of attitude.

Personally, given her terrible performance, boring music, and her attitude to her audience, I don't think she's worth the effort.

Puggy

These guys are pretty cool to watch. Puggy is gaining air-play here in Belgium, and as a result they're gaining quite a following. It's understandable too, they really are very talented.

Puggy has a very fresh and highly energetic pop-rock style with strong vocals and their own little twist. The band itself is actually very energetic — they bopped around all over the place during their sound-check, performing quite a few covers to the growing audience before charging forwards with excellent pace into their hour-long set.

Check this lot out before they get too commercial and go all crappy, which I hope doesn't happen.

The Tellers

The Tellers are another pop-rock style Belgian band which is very recent, and despite being so new they've already had their music featured in advertising and video games.

As amazing as their instant fame seems to be, they didn't seem to do it for me. Perhaps I was spoilt by Puggy's performance just prior, but it was a little too much new-wave for me.

These guys have talent though, and I cannot dispute that. They are indeed worth giving a shot.