One of the areas where I mostly stay during my yearly visit is the Thunderbolt Bar. Picture an small old hanger filled with a stage, a bar and of course heavy loud music. Oh and not to forget, beer in glass bottles. It was also the venue of my first Paaspop act this year. During some pre festival fun I had already the time to check Jex Thoth out. A nice Psychedelic band with some awesome Roadburn vibes. Vibes that where clearly present during the show. One problem, the venue was nearly empty and the visitors that were present had some difficulty to understand the music or the vibe of Jex Thoth. You could say that the atmosphere they would create onstage backfired at them. The visitors cleary couldn’t understand what was going on. So when the female vocalist lighted some incense in the middle of the dancefloor she is suspiciously greeted by the audience. Musically a great performance but sadly enough in the wrong place. (Niamen)

 

Truckfighters are one of the only, if not the only, louder act on the first day of Paaspop. From the first note that blasts through the speakers there is a party in the sweaty Jack Daniels tent which is packed with a decent amount of people. Guitarist Dango (Niklas Källgren), who seems to never wear a shirt on stage, is jumping across the stage almost impersonatin Angus Young from ACDC. The stoner act from Sweden is feeling the vibe today and is wrecking the place. Most likely this is caused by drummer Enzo (the 6^th drummer of the band), who is hitting his kit hard from start to finish. During the track ‘Mind Control’ we have to leave the tent to pick up my mom and go see Kensington together. Great start of the festival. (Guus)

 

While wondering around on the first night we decided to drop by a tribute band at the Thunderbolt stage. Most of the day this stage is just a bar and over the weekend just 11 acts play here. The Best of Foo is a Dutch Foo Fighters tribute band and they play Foo Fighters in a way everybody would love to see them one day. In a 400 capacity place packed with people shouting along the big list of hits the Foo Fighters have produced. And then not those slower ballads, but the best songs on full speed. Just the voice is not dead on Dave Growl but that is something we take for granted. (Buzzin Hornet)

 

The Saturday was the day where most alternative music was playing at Paaspop. We arrived way to early at the entrance and even had to wait for it to open. There is always a first at this festival.

 

The big plus of arriving early on the campsite was the use of a clean toilet as well as the opportunity to warm yourself up in Thunderbolt bar. The fact that Shaking Godspeed was also playing at that time was a nice addition. Long hair, blues, psychedelic, stoner and even a hint of Americana is probably the best way to describe Shaking Godspeed. Nice set, but since I still wasn’t really awake. I didn’t do the trick for me. Luckily for the band most of the audience did enjoy their show, at least if I can measure this to the amount of nodding heads. (Niamen)

 

Paaspop is a festival that attracts a huge variety of people from  all different kind of layers and ages. With Therapy it’s pretty obvious which part of that population is aimed at. With a setlist that exists of mostly old songs and the occasional new track it’s  match made in heaven. This obviously has its effect on the band itself which pushes them even further and further.  Certainly one of the better acts for me on this year’s edition and I’m not surprised if they even gained some new fans with this show. (Niamen)

 

There is nothing which havn’t been said about the Dutch rock formation John Coffey. Those guys know how to rock. They once again prove this on Paaspop. After the, more or less, predictable intro

they go full throttle. The energy they produce is addictive and everybody standing in the first 10 rows is forced to move. Beer, mud, no t-shirts and fists high in the air. Everything a good rock band needs. The band plays a lot from their latest  albumn ‘The Great News’which was released in the beginning of this year. ‘Broke Neck’ and ‘Son’ warm up the crowd that explodes with the first circle pit when the band starts with the track ‘Dirt & Stones’. Frontman David Achter joins the audience for a little bit to do the setup for the wall of death to complete the show. The final blow is done with the biggest hit of the band ‘Romans’to which the audience literary screams the songs to this song: ‘Miiiiiiiiiles till the end of the road we walk’. (Guus)

 

I only saw the first couple of songs of Within Temptation and I instantly saw what I saw many times before. An extremely well executed show that is almost flawless due to the many technical innovations this band uses. Extra vocal lines, incredible lip sync video footage and probably the best technical roadies a band in the Netherlands can afford. And is this a bad thing? Yes and no. It is kinda annoying when you see a band not play every single piece live. But still it is an amazing show you are looking at. The moves are perfect, the sound is perfect, they play their audience and the most important thing is that those people in the front were having the time of their live. For me personally I just saw enough after 5 songs and left after one of their monster hits ‘Stand My Ground’. Also, missed the fire effect they had before when they played Paaspop. (Buzzin Hornet)

 

One of the bands that we are going to say goodbye to later this year is the Dutch hard rock formation Vanderbuyst. These guys are known for their straight up hard rock packed in a powerful and energetic set. Always a good party and something I am definitely going to miss at the festivals. And in the relatively short history the band has produced an impressive list of material that works very well live on stage. Today is their last show at Paaspop and one of the last ones before they stop. They will be missed! (Buzzin Hornet)

 

Saxon, anyone? This was exactly the question that I asked myself as well as my friends. I decided to check them out anyway and oh boy was I surprised. Although the tent was half full the band gave it one hundred percent. Beers where raised, fists where pumped and of course their greatest hits where played. Of course the huge amount of alcohol in my body did add some extra’s to the show but if I counted them out I still had a blast. (Niamen)

 

A night in which they prove their still one of the hardest working hardcore band out there. When you share your stage with Saxon and Lacuna Coil you’ll know it’s not an easy game since there won’t be much known faces out there. This transferred into 400 people watching the mighty Sick Of It All in a tent that has room for 2000. But the band took the crowd by storm nonetheless. Of course a hearse statement was made by Lou Koller about where the hell they are. But still the band gave 120% running onstage riffing like hell an firing up the moshpit in front of the stage. (Niamen)

 

 

Standing in the middle of knodding old basters I am trying to process my hangover, which feels like I have been hit by a truck. Outside the sun is finally shining but I am not ready to face it. Thankfully inside it is dark and the smoke machine is working over hours. I am wearing my sunglasses inside, since it can’t be dark enough for me right now.The five-piece stoner/drone band is playing a no bullshit set. No nonsense. The slow, heavy and cumbersome riffs and thundering drums create an intense instrumental mantra. No easy listening for this Sunday afternoon but who surrenders is finding himself in a mantra which can be best referred to as ‘van der Waals force’. Close your eyes and enjoy this 12 minute long song which isn’t dull one single second. It almost felt the show was over before it even started and the guys are already thanking the audience. 45 minutes flew by like it was nothing. When walking outside the sun reminds me of that truck that hit me. But that this was worth it is more than obvious. (Guus)

 

Since their performance last year on the Jera On Air festival was really bad. The band lacked total energy back then. I decided to give the guys an gal of Against Me! a second change and boy what did I enjoyed the show. During this set the energy was a hundred times better than the last times I saw them. With a setlist that focused on their latest effort and included all the ‘hits’ from the band this was certainly quite a surprise for me. (Niamen)

 

If there’s one band that has been on the bill for ages at Paaspop it’s Peter Pan Speedrock but sinds I’ve witnessed the guys for dozens of times I decided to grab a beer at my favorite bar on the festival and watch The Guns ‘N Roses Experience. Indeed a GNR coverband. Like being said before in this review a good coverband could be pretty awesome. Which was exactly what The Experience was. The moves, the lookalikes, the hits for all I care the Thunderbolt bar could be Las Vegas club at the infamous strip in the early 90’s. Getting drunk and shouting along with all those great songs from the ‘Appetite’ and ‘Illusion’ era. Trust me when I say that it certainly continued way passed our normal bedtime.

 More pictures can be found here!