- As I walked along Brussels' Rue Des Chapeliers just before midnight on Friday, April 15th, I saw a stream of people leaving the Epicerie Moderne venue to stand on the rain-slickened cobblestones outside. Epicerie Moderne, a small bar located a few steps from La Grand-Place, was hosting one of several events that night as part of the first edition of a new festival called LISTEN!, with Salon Des Amateurs co-founder Tolouse Low Trax and Vlek affiliate Lawrence Le Doux both set to perform. It emerged that a few minutes before I arrived, the party had been shut down following a raid by a dozen police officers.
It was the kind of luck that organisers of any festival can do without—let alone a festival holding its first showing in a city so recently beset by tragedy. By all accounts ticket sales for LISTEN! had been going well until the events of March 22nd, when two suicide bombers claimed 32 lives and Brussels came to a standstill. When the festival began on April 14th, 23 days had passed and some sense of normality had returned to the city. But that wasn't enough to prevent one of the headliners, Manuel Göttsching, from pulling out due to safety concerns.
Despite these troubles the festival got off to a great start. The opening night on Thursday was dedicated to Music From Memory, with the Amsterdam label holding its first official showcase. The evening concert featured live shows from Suso Saiz, the Spanish artist who's the subject of Music From Memory's latest compilation, and Gigi Masin, the Italian who's enjoyed a career revival thanks to 2014's Talk To The Sea compilation.
First up was Saiz, making a rare live performance (even Music From Memory founders Tako Reyenga and Jamie Tiller hadn't seen him play before). He gently toyed with his guitar as lights turned slowly behind him. Some moments were so calming it felt necessary to close your eyes to fully soak up the sounds. Masin went for a different approach to his recent London show, where he played the piano and sang. This time his performance was more electronic, with Masin providing a glimpse into what his new solo material might sound like. Later that night things moved to Café Des Halles, where Reyenga, Tiller and John Gomez worked through a supreme selection of global boogie, disco and house.
Following the police shutdown on April 15th, the festival moved to Square Brussels Meeting Center, a large multi-room space in the middle of town, for its final day. As I walked along Rue Royale the city was quiet, making the sprinkling of soldiers and armoured cars stationed along the street even more conspicuous. Inside the meeting centre, a record fair was underway—it was Record Store Day after all.
With Göttsching's evening show cancelled, there was a gap in programming until the nighttime, when Harvey Sutherland worked through some slinky live house in Room 3. San Soda followed and kept it deep and jazzy, while upstairs Red D carefully set the mood for Omar-S in Room 2. The FXHE boss went tough, the BPM rarely dropping below 130. By this point a busy, up-for-it crowd had formed in all three rooms, and in Room 2 people began dancing on the raised areas on both sides of the floor. Omar-S played "The Shit Baby" from his 2013 album Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself and everyone cheered along to the track's infectious piano line. It was one of those moments that probably convinced both organisers and festivalgoers that LISTEN! has a bright future.
Photo credit /
Olivier Donnet