Roadkill Festival – aka one of the highlights of the year for Belgian stoner and  rock ‘n roll fans – is held every year in the first weekend of August, in a little town called Waarschoot.  This year it already was the 11th edition. In the early days, the festival took place in a barn. Nowadays, the festival takes place in a tent, in the middle of the fields and meadows.

Day 1

The first band on Friday was local heavy rock/stoner band Eyes On The Machine (****), featuring members of Idealus Maximus and Badder. They played an excellent set, filled with amazing songs like Thrust, Firewalker, The Scream and Travels. It was a bit of a bummer that they had to play for such a small crowd, being the opening band. Frontman Jonathan Matthys did his very best though, to make sure everyone was awake and having a good time with his enthousiastic and energetic stage presence.

Up next were Huracán (****1/2), dirty sweaty stoner rock from Ghent. Huracán means hurricane in Spanish, and it’s also the Mayan god of wind, storm and fire, which all fits very well with their music. Huracán brings original and innovative stoner rock, instead of being one of those umpteenth Kyuss rip-off bands that seem to  flood the scene lately. In March 2017 the band released their first full album Realm of Instability. Huracán played a really good set. Their music, filled with tempo changes and a mix betweens screams and clean vocals, also works really well live. Those who are familiar with the Belgian stoner and sludge scene, might recognise ex-Drums Are For Parades member Geert Reygaert on the guitar.

 Then Hedonist (****) entered the stage , a no nonsense stoner rock ‘n roll band from Genk, who are signed to record label Consouling Agency. I really liked their raw and energetic set. In 2016, Hedonist released their first full-length The Collapse. I am already looking forward to hearing new work from them. I am curiuous what they’ll have in store for us.

Next it was We’rewolves‘ (***) turn.  Judged by the amount of headbanging going on, the audience seemed to like their dynamic thrash punk. The music is not bad at all, but it is not 100% my cup of tea. It lacks some variation, to hold my attention the entire show.

Raketkanon (*****), the Ghentian noise/sludge supergroup that revolves around Kapitan Korsakov frontman Pieter-Paul Devos, were in excellent shape. They played very energetic, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The first crowdsurfers of the weekend agreed with this. The only ‘negative’ thing I can say about their gig is that it was a bit short, only 50 minutes. They still managed to squeeze in 6 songs in their set however: Judith, Harald, Anna, Elisa, Florent and Herman. Tip for the organisation: put Raketkanon higher on the bill next time, so they can play longer, please!

Acid King (****),  an occult female-fronted stoner rock band from San Francisco, was a worthy headliner. They played very tight and really seemed to enjoy themselves on stage. Singer Lori S. was a bit suprised about the location of the festival. “This is our first time playing in a cow field”, she confided to the crowd. Acid King was on tour to promote their new album Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere, a name that goes very well with the cowfield theme. They brought a varied set, but the focus was of course on the new songs. Setlist: Silent Pictures, Laser Headlights, 2 Wheel Nation, Coming Down From Outer Space, Red River and Electric Machine.

The day was not over yet then. Ramonsters (*****), a local Ramones coverband, took care of kicking off the after-party. And they did an amazing job! They played a great set, filled with all the hits and classics. And in true punk spirit, you can’t buy Ramonsters merch. You can only win it at a show, if you’re lucky to catch one of the T-shirts thrown into the audience.

All pictures by Vincent De Maertelaere. For more pics, look here and here.