Belgian music is booming!
In the top 25 of Best Festival Acts at Eurosonic (a major showcase festival in Groningen) we see the Belgian flag in particular waving firmly. All the more reason to highlight all this Belgian goodness during Belgian Music Week.
AB features new and ‘to discover’ Belgian acts all year round. Vive la Belgique! From Monday 30 January to Sunday 5 February, we serve up the following acts on a bed of braised Brussels sprouts with a slathering of fries & mayo:
OSAMA ABDULRASOL & LODE VERCAMPT
Osama and Lode have been musical brothers for years. But when they play together as a duo it becomes really clear how much they are each master of their instruments.
NISIA TRIO
Nisia came about from the meeting of disparate musical universes: the traditional music of Southern Italy and European jazz and folk. From that encounter emerged a repertoire rich in emotion, humour, passion and joy.
MARVARA
Marvara performs sprightly folk written by bagpipe player Marieke Van Ransbeeck (BE). The music expresses her experiences and memories of a breathtaking musical adventure in the Far North.
ABOUBAKAR TRAORE & BALIMA FOLY
Aboubakar Traoré, hails from Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso. He is a virtuoso on the kamale n'goni and experiments with Brussels musicians, mixing traditional and contemporary music.
DJs: RAQL - Bona Léa
Flanders Folk Awards - TUE 31 JAN 23
Third time’s the charm! Following two online editions, the Flanders Folk Awards can at last be held live once more! Come along and find out which bands will take home the awards for best album, best live band and most promising act of the past year.
Naragonia
Naragonia play quirky folk with a refined, sturdy energy. The duo of Pascale Rubens and Toon Van Mierlo formed spontaneously in the summer of 2003 at the Andanças festival in Portugal.
Broes
are a quintet known for their rock-solid virtuosity, varied arrangements and dazzling interplay. All these things can be heard on their new album ‘Botanist’ which consists of their own compositions; highly diverse but, thanks to their specific sound, they unmistakably form a single whole.
Hot Griselda
Hot Griselda is the international collaboration between Belgian folk innovators Jerome Geerinck and Toon Van Mierlo and top Dutch musicians Kaspar Laval and Stijn van Beek.
+ The Guru Guru, Quentin Sauvé
“Belgian post-hardcore beauties Brutus continue to dazzle on brilliant second album…" That’s how Kerrang! described the new Brutus album. Metal Injection awarded it an 8 out of 10, and New Noise Magazine headlined "Great band. Outstanding record. This has been on repeat". ‘Unison Life’ garnered high praise all round and steadily continues the rise of the Belgian trio (Stefanie, Peter & Stijn). This success should be celebrated and Brutus does just that with their biggest AB show to date. The Main Hall is hopelessly sold out and we think that’s more than deserved!
Extinct Birds, new album + Antidote 30th anniversary, so PS: PJDS party!
Pieter-Jan De Smet has been playing music for more than 40 years and will celebrates the 30th anniversary of his debut ‘Antidote’ with a new album: ‘EXTINCT BIRDS’.
Aside from brand new songs, the band will also perform quirky versions of older work for the occasion.
