When: 19 – 21 October 2022
Where: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Is Rotterdam’s Left of the Dial the perfect multi-venue festival?
I have to admit I fell in love with Left of the Dial even before I arrived in Rotterdam. The wealth of information, the quirky pre-festival information videos, the line-up, and the creativity in its delivery made it impossible not to. We’ll get to the festival proper in a moment, but briefly this is what else was on offer:
Bands on a Boat – for an additional 15 Euros (£13) there was the opportunity to take a 1-hour trip around the harbour while a band (or two) played plus a free bar and complementary sailor hats thrown in.
A Brief Description – this is provided on every single artist to assist decision-making.
The Gym – with sustainability in mind, visitors can generate electricity by cycling and so the bands can play.
The Merch Church – an innovative response to Brexit. Because it’s an important source of income for artists, the festival came up with a solution. Bands send a design and at the festival shirts can be printed for visitors on the spot. Thus favourite designs are available in any size and colour. Of course, the proceeds of the T-shirts go to the artist in question.
An Official Unofficial free day programme – even if you didn’t have a ticket for the full festival you could still see live music over the weekend in Rotterdam.
The Post Pub – here you could send letters while enjoying a beer, leaving messages for the bands, other visitors, or even one of the employees of the festival.
Video Information – a number of information videos from Dom of Fake Turins were sent out on social media ahead of the festival on everything from how to get around, the venues, Rotterdam itself and tips on how to get the best out of the festival.
Sustainability ethos:
– Visitors could only eat vegan burgers on the square of Arminius, in the coming years the festival aims to expand the range and turn the square into a vegan food court.
– Where possible, the festival works with reusable water bottles for the artists and sustainable plastic glasses for the visitors.
– The festival attempts to use as little paper as possible, and all promotional materials will be reused as much as possible.
– The most taxing part of any festival is the travel of the artists. Where possible, they try to avoid air travel and house the artists in sustainable hotels. Left of the Dial also encourages foreign bands to do more shows around the festival. The idea is simple: if a trip is made to the Netherlands, the CO2 footprint is reduced by immediately playing in multiple places.
The price of the 3-day ticket was 45 Euros (£39), a ridiculously cheap price for the quality of music participation. Having bought my ticket, booked travel and accommodation, completed research into artists I didn’t know and armed with the Festival App which was constantly updated with inevitable amendments, I was all set. Checking in to collect the wristband was dead easy and smooth. So let’s get the Left of The Dial party started!!
DAY 1
The first day was slightly shorter which was great to get your bearings for this first-time attendee. Peaness (England) was a joyous way to begin in the modern space De Doelen, with their harmonies, relaxed chat with the crowd and even audience participation. Next up was Gurriers (Ireland) in Worm. This is a quirky venue with two stages separated by a curtain. Gurriers are fierce with an energy the crowd responded to. A dash to Rotown, the largest capacity venue to see Soup! (England) before back to Worm for Yabba (Scotland). Another band with an exhilarating sound, and hilariously when the singer asked for more bass in the monitor in his broad Glaswegian, the sound guy very politely said “Sorry, can you repeat that please“. A step to the stage on the other side of the curtain, and Hallan (England) ripped the place apart. Their set had their kit flying everywhere as they interacted with the crowd. Last band of the day was Cucamaras (England) one of two bands from Nottingham. What a start to the festival.
DAY 2
This I had been looking forward to ever since I signed up for the festival, the Bands on a Boat. Arriving at the embarkment point I still could not believe what was about to happen! With everyone onboard we moved off. Eades (England) took to the makeshift stage and delivered one heck of a set. Standing still was not an option with the combination of the music and the boat. The sound quality was superb and with the complimentary sailor hats, and a free bar the atmosphere onboard was such fun. After a short break deep tan (UK) followed with their unique brand of post-punk with its challenging themes and bass-driven grooves. deadletter (England) in Rotown were their usual storming intense selves, although it is interesting to see how audiences react in a different country. Lead singer Zac’s request for everyone to move forward gained little movement initially in the room and it took a couple of attempts for the crowd to shuffle forward. The crowd was rewarded with the fire from this band.
Public Body (England) in Worm was a new band for me and with their combination of synths plus three guitars and drums it was such an enjoyable set. This was followed by a 15 minute walk to Perron, which was a maze of a venue with three stages, two in the same room. Holiday Ghosts (England) were fabulous although the lighting was terrible. A shuffle to the other stage in the room for Kaputt (Scotland) who were cramped onto this small stage which was unfortunate. High School (Australia) have just released a single on Speedy Wunderground and their synths give them a real 80’s vibe. However, they were almost completely in the dark for the whole set. Gallus (Scotland) played a short set but still rocked. But it was The Byker Grove Fan Club (England) who were one of the sets of the day. Absolutely wild scenes to thrashing music from the trio who were rewarded with a mosh-pit going crazy.
A move to the smaller room in Perron saw Hotel Lux (England) also generate a frenzied mosh-pit. They had tons of fans in the room and it didn’t take much encouragement to get the response. Lead singer Lewis was grinning from ear to ear, clearly delighted by the mayhem in front of him.
A run back to Rotown to catch Gurriers (Ireland) second show and they delivered another rip-roaring set, making tons of new fans. Mosh-pit madness was again in full flow. Final band of the day was Humour (Scotland) who went down a storm. Like quite a few of the UK bands here it was their first time playing outside of the UK and they could not believe the response of the crowd, the majority of whom probably didn’t know their music.
DAY 3
En route to the Band on a Boat, I saw another band playing randomly on a boat docked in the harbour entertaining passers-by for free. How cool is that! Today it was a bigger boat for Divorce (England) and being the last day of the festival I was recognising others in the crowd and chatting to strangers. There was a party mood already as I suspect alcohol was fuelling high spirits. Wonderful songs from Divorce who had great banter with the crowd. This bigger boat was definitely going faster than yesterday.
Bo Ningen (Japan) were in Arminius, a church. I have never seen anything like this band before. With the most charismatic lead singer they rocked and it was simply extraordinary. It was impossible to look away. Heading back to Perron I saw Folly Group (England). The percussion of this band is staggering. How on earth the drummer and the percussionist are so in sync. Folly Group were one of a number of bands today who couldn’t believe they had a full room. Into the main room next for a band that came highly recommended. Snayx (England) did not disappoint. The only singer in the whole festival to get in my face before they even started! The room was bouncing, at 6pm. How do a trio generate this amount of energy? Yet also mindful of those not comfortable moshing, and asked everyone to move in and start bouncing – again.
Lambrini Girls (England) were another band I saw for the first time and their set wasn’t like a gig, more like a massive punk hug. What a joy, such exuberance and connection with the crowd. The Bug Club (Wales) had a full room and they were staggered. Having seen them a few times before I hung at the back to take in the atmosphere of this packed room. The did have a dance to myself to ‘The Fixer’. If there was anywhere to dance like no-one’s watching it’s at Left of the Dial.
Being at a festival like this I did want to try to listen to bands I had no knowledge of whatsoever. Sacrificial Chanting Mood (Netherlands) are a 5-piece with four guitars and their riffs-driven music kept the energy levels of the day high. Remember Sports (US) were a gentler style of guitar music but then we were right back at it with Lassie (Germany). All I can say is that it was wild, crazy, frenetic – and the crowd were lapping it up. Timings and location meant I saw Public Body (UK) for the second time and in this later slot they quite rightly dialled up the energy. By now the mosh-pit was a given and the band fully appreciated the response. Maruja (England) Manchester son’s ended the festival on one heck of a high. They were in the smaller room and it was mayhem. Their music is an utter skonking punk fuelled joy with a saxophone in the mix giving this band a unique sound. When they said it was their last song, there was cries of “No” from the room which said it all. The band were given the luxury of an encore as they were last one, and the band were completely overwhelmed by the crowd’s rapturous response. A fitting end to an extraordinary three days of music.
I must also add that the artists themselves are very well looked after by Left of the Dial with free accommodation, free bar and food. In addition the technicians, bar staff, security, all involved were chilled, friendly and helpful. It ran like clockwork. The atmosphere was pure joy with everyone focused on enjoying the music. There were no headliners as such, every band got a 40minute slot. Personally, this was the first time abroad for a festival and not even an English-speaking country but that was no hinderance whatsoever. We were sent daily emails with information during the festival. Add in a beautiful safe city full of interest away from the festival, this is a highly recommended festival.
Will I be back in 2023? Do you really have to ask……
Limited tickets for Left of the Dial, Rotterdam for 2023 are currently on sale here at the early bird price on 40 Euros (£34.71).
