Sunday 14 August is the date of the maiden edition of HEAR HEAR!, a new one-day music festival set to take place in the Kiewit festival arena. A top-drawer sound and light production, excellent food & drink and, of course, great music. Across four stages festival-goers get to enjoy the likes of Editors, Pixies, Liam Gallagher and Balthazar under optimum circumstances.
MUSIC & FRIENDS
Through this new international one-day event and with the backing of the municipality of Hasselt, the organisers wish to cater to music fans who enjoy indie and alternative music. On the one hand the line-up features recognisable classics that helped shape the genre while also giving a forum to a new generation of up-and-coming artists, some of whom are indebted to other acts. HEAR HEAR! is sharing a cold beer with your best mates and belting out the lyrics of your favourite band. Feel goosebumps crawl up your spine as the crowd takes over vocal duties and you take in a breathtaking sunset during that one guitar solo. What better place to renew old friendships and make new friends for life?
MUSIC & FOUR STAGES
HEAR HEAR! offers four stages: WAH WAH, GIMME GIMME, YEAH YEAH and KNOCK KNOCK. The musical emphasis is on indie, rock and electronica in all its forms. Exact stage times will be announced as soon as the line-up is complete. The first band will take the stage at 11 in the morning and the headliner will finish at 1 am. Monday, the day after HEAR HEAR!, is a public holiday. In other words, plenty of reasons to let loose.
WAH WAH, the HEAR HEAR! main stage thanks its name to the well-known guitar effect. Editors will close this first edition with their poetic indie rock that everyone is so fond of. The love for Pixies is also immense. On their new record, Black Francis and his band sound as fresh and sharp as they did in their early days. Where is my mind? Answer: in Kiewit on 14 August. Put your hands behind your back and zipp up your parka. The legendary Liam Gallagher will also be at HEAR HEAR! with new work and the classics. This timeless trio is warmed up by the English rockers of Wolf Alice and two of our favourite Belgian live bands: Whispering Sons and Sons.
"Gimme, gimme, gimme... I need some more", Black Flag roared back in the 1980s. And there ís more. In the GIMME GIMME tent, the biggest at HEAR HEAR!, we will dive into the night with a live show by Vitalic, raise a glass to Balthazar, go crazy dancing like no one’s watching to Future Islands and Anna Calvi will give us a glimpse into her dark, romantic soul while taming her guitar.
Guitars are the object of affection in the YEAH YEAH tent. Tim Showalter of Strand Of Oaks, by now an unofficial honorary citizen of Kiewit, has love in abundance after two years of pandemics and is eager to share his great new songs with the HEAR HEAR! audience. Living legend Thurston Moore knows how to blend noise and melody and guarantees fireworks with his Thurston Moore Group. And his American contemporaries Girls Against Boys return to Belgium after nine years. Super-Fire!
Knock Knock, who's there? Among others, the Australian sample artisans of The Avalanches, Battles with their progressive rock sound and you can also catch the swirling London post-punk sensation Squid. The wonderful Porridge Radio brings haunting, unruly indie pop and Billy Nomates, like her friends Sleaford Mods, throws everything from Brexit to inequality into the melee and makes a rude but wonderful mess of it. Opening act Meskerem Mees may be a little softer but will be an uppercut regardless. Place to be is the KNOCK KNOCK tent.
As mentioned, the line-up is not yet complete, more names will be announced later.
MUSIC & PLEASURE
In addition to a stellar line-up and entertaining fringe events, you can also stroll through Food Wood, a culinary food-truck paradise with all the alternative delights the world has to offer today. For the party lover whose mouth is already watering from delicious traditional festival food and a fresh beer, there is Beer Shack, the famous alternative party and beer tent. You can also settle in at the PKP Café or drop by the record shop on the festival site for signing sessions and even more musical discoveries.
HEAR HEAR! - HEAR HEAR?
“Hear, hear” is an old English interjection that signals a cheer or form of approval. The expression has its origins in the seventeenth-century English House of Commons. At the time, it was used during debates as an imperative ("Hear him! Hear him!") to draw attention to the speaker. HEAR HEAR! anno 2022 likes to do the same with its artists.
TICKETS & INFO
Tickets are €95 and go on sale on Thursday 31 March on tickets.hearhear.be.
There’s no camping.
All info: www.hearhear.be
