As many Australian bands wave the ‘Aussie Music Pride’ banner at the mecca of all music festivities, SXSW in Austin, Texas, there arrives a fresh wave of Down Under sounds to take to international festival shores.
Pukkelpop, one of Europe’s most celebrated music festivals, has at last unveiled its lineup for the three-night run of 14th – 16th of August. Held in northwest of Belgium in the woodlands of Kiewit, Pukkelpop is a camping frenzy that consistently stuns with both world-class artists as well as handpicking unique emerging artists from around the globe.
Headlining this year’s famously flagged festival grounds is none other than recently reformed hip-hop kings, Outkast (still heavily rumoured for July’s Splendour In The Grass), current Aussie tourers Queens of the Stone Age, Future Music Festival headliners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, as well as the recent touring bloodhound brooders, The National.
Taking hold of the dancefloor contingent is none other than celebrated Stereosonic champions Calvin Harris and Deadmau5, while Britain pair Disclosure (following their headlining slot of this year’s Groovin’ The Moo), also drop their dubby beats for the some 180,000 expected Pukkelpop punters.
Rivalling these dance artists is none other than the unstoppable Sydney electronic producer, Flume. The 22-year old has left 2013 with an armful of achievements, having been crowned the #1 album sales by an Australian in Australia for 2013, not to mention the casual four ARIAs he took home at the start of December last year. Pukkelpop is a camping frenzy that consistently stuns with both world-class artists as well as handpicking unique emerging artists…
Assuring that the Pukkelpop punters are to remain moving and shaking is none other than Melbourne’s favourite ska/jazz/funk/Latin fruity cocktail, The Cat Empire. Set to perform for the astonishing 1000th time at a free all-ages gig in Melbourne’s Federation Square this month, Pukkelpop is just another achievement of spurring thousands to their feet and ‘Steal The Light’ with their infectious fusion of feel-good sounds.
Closing out the Aussie representation of the first line-up release are St Kilda producer Dub Fx and Sydney indie-folk heartfelt charmers, Boy & Bear. At present, the latter five-piece are revelling in the aforementioned Austin streets of SXSW before returning to Australia for their national tour. The year of 2013 stood out as major achievements for the outfit, having released their sophomore LP Harlequin Dream that reached #7 on Triple J’s listener poll for the Best Albums of 2013.
If you’re lucky enough to be planning a Summer stint in Europe this year or you just really want to support our home-grown wealth of talent, ticket sales begin on March 19th and we’ve pieced together a travel guide for the festival here.
Remember that this is only the first announcement, which further includes a vast variety of artists (Portishead, Snoop Dog/Lion, Editors, Jake Bugg, Janelle Monáe, Röyksopp and Robyn, A Day To Remember, Ed Sheeran, Kelis, Bring Me The Horizon, Bill Callahan, and so on) tickets do not last long and are available at http://www.pukkelpop.be/en/.
Pukkelpop is just another addition to the extensive list of Aussies who have etched their name into international festival bills of late, including the heavily US dominated: Bonnaroo, Coachella, Sasquatch!, Firefly Music Festival, as well as Spain’s incredible Primavera Sound and UK’s Field Day.
It looks like Aussie music will pack plenty of heat for the northern hemisphere’s Summer festival circuit.
Pukkelpop 2014 Lineup
