- Rotterdammers are a motley bunch and REC. Festival tries to cater to everyone. Last year it debuted with Santigold, SBTRKT and Skepta as headliners alongside a swathe of club and experimental acts. This year looked even grander, with US stars Joey Bada$$, Banks and Danny Brown, as well as showcases from Ostgut Ton, Hessle Audio and Amsterdam outliers Strange Sounds From Beyond. The lineup was bold, but the production was not. From the outside it looked like any other weekend for the host venues—BAR, Transport, Annabel and Perron—which all sit on the same block, about a five-minute walk from Centraal Station. Biergarten, a hip outdoor bar and grill, completes the block, and on Friday it hosted its own party right on REC.'s doorstep, a disruptive oversight that could have been handled better.
The after-work drinkers were out in force on Friday—not the ideal crowd for an Ostgut Ton party at Perron. The club, which has been in limbo for years, opened especially for the weekend. It was a claustrophobic crush of loud, pushy people. I felt like there was very little musical appreciation going on, which was a shame because Answer Code Request, Ryan Elliott and Terence Fixmer were all on fire. Answer Code Request closed his warm-up set with Shed's rapturous new single, Elliot was charismatic and mercurial, and you had to be listening intently to Fixmer to pick up the details. It was one of the strongest techno bills Rotterdam has seen in a while, ruined by the wrong vibe.
By comparison, Annabel was a joy all weekend, with Danny Brown and Swedish pop group Little Dragon the highlights. Rather than trotting out a load of tracks from Atrocity Exhibition, Brown leaned heavily on older material, much to the teeming room's delight. He opened with "Die Like A Rockstar"—aptly dressed in skinny jeans and a fur jacket. Little Dragon, on the other hand, did play a lot of new stuff, including the ravey "Push" and the lush "High." After the early evening concerts, Annabel then switched into club mode. Speedfreax, Holland's longest-serving UK garage night, were Saturday's hosts, with local veteran Jeremaine S followed by Killian Sawn on the decks. The party was great, but it should have been a rip-roaring success—they'd even brought dancers with them in Leigh Bowery-esque attire. In the end it was shutdown early, unable to compete with the other club nights running simultaneously.
The only time I stepped foot in Transport all weekend was to briefly see Dutch bubbling pioneer DJ Moortje on Friday. REC. might have been better off putting the Perron programme in here. BAR probably didn't need three rooms open either—the basement and the main room would have sufficed. Inga Mauer suffered because of this in the early hours of Sunday, when it was clear that REC. had overstretched itself. Nevertheless, Giant Swan (who followed Mauer) delivered one of the best live sets of the festival. They were late setting up, but it was well worth the wait. The floor had filled up again and everyone was really going for it. Acid Arab were also incredible in the same spot several hours earlier. They performed live with keyboardist Kenzi Bourras, whose fingers moved at sensational speeds.
Musically, REC. was a success. The team knows its city and the programme was refreshingly diverse, with a decent mix of homegrown and international acts. But if they're going to compete with the rest of the Netherlands and make a real impact, they have to invest in the details. The sound was poor across all four venues, which at this level is unacceptable. Annabel's schedule ran late on Saturday, and Joey Bada$$ was delayed by 30 minutes more due to soundchecks. Unlike last year, when they closed off the carpark in the middle of the block and filled it with tents, there was no effort made to dress the site. REC. have made a good start but they still have a way to go. After all, there's so much more to a festival than the lineup.
By comparison, Annabel was a joy all weekend, with Danny Brown and Swedish pop group Little Dragon the highlights. Rather than trotting out a load of tracks from Atrocity Exhibition, Brown leaned heavily on older material, much to the teeming room's delight. He opened with "Die Like A Rockstar"—aptly dressed in skinny jeans and a fur jacket. Little Dragon, on the other hand, did play a lot of new stuff, including the ravey "Push" and the lush "High." After the early evening concerts, Annabel then switched into club mode. Speedfreax, Holland's longest-serving UK garage night, were Saturday's hosts, with local veteran Jeremaine S followed by Killian Sawn on the decks. The party was great, but it should have been a rip-roaring success—they'd even brought dancers with them in Leigh Bowery-esque attire. In the end it was shutdown early, unable to compete with the other club nights running simultaneously. The only time I stepped foot in Transport all weekend was to briefly see Dutch bubbling pioneer DJ Moortje on Friday. REC. might have been better off putting the Perron programme in here. BAR probably didn't need three rooms open either—the basement and the main room would have sufficed. Inga Mauer suffered because of this in the early hours of Sunday, when it was clear that REC. had overstretched itself. Nevertheless, Giant Swan (who followed Mauer) delivered one of the best live sets of the festival. They were late setting up, but it was well worth the wait. The floor had filled up again and everyone was really going for it. Acid Arab were also incredible in the same spot several hours earlier. They performed live with keyboardist Kenzi Bourras, whose fingers moved at sensational speeds.
Musically, REC. was a success. The team knows its city and the programme was refreshingly diverse, with a decent mix of homegrown and international acts. But if they're going to compete with the rest of the Netherlands and make a real impact, they have to invest in the details. The sound was poor across all four venues, which at this level is unacceptable. Annabel's schedule ran late on Saturday, and Joey Bada$$ was delayed by 30 minutes more due to soundchecks. Unlike last year, when they closed off the carpark in the middle of the block and filled it with tents, there was no effort made to dress the site. REC. have made a good start but they still have a way to go. After all, there's so much more to a festival than the lineup.