With one of our absolute favourite European festivals coming the weekend after next (16 - 18 August), we have taken a dive into the line-up to unearth the very best of what’s to come from Lowlands Festival 2019.
The Dutch festival benefits from having staggeringly beautiful countryside (Biddinghuizen) that feels like a complete escape from the city in the way that Glastonbury is.
With 11 stages of music around the clock, the trip there requires a little curation on the festival-goers part in order to draw the best out of it. It’s our belief, however, that if you watch the below artists in the playlist, the journey to Lowlands will be an eye-opening, inspirational one that will give you the energy to propel you forward in life in general. It will be the greatest soundtrack to the other most important joys of the festival: finding knowledge, art and friendship.
These are the Godlike geniuses of Lowlands, we promise. And, if you’re unsure about whether to tune it, here‘s brief overview to tempt you:
L: L is for Louis Cole. The opening track on the playlist goes to him because he is our most anticipated act of the weekend. The LA-based musician's album Time, which is out via Flying Lotus's label, is one of the best of last year. Live, you can witness how much of an insanely gifted player he is on a technical level. You'll also see he brings a love of 80s video game music and self-deprecating humour to make it something a little mad and unique.
O: O is for One Love. Bob Marley’s son Ziggy Marley is performing and we can never tire of hearing him singing ‘Love Is Our Religion’, it’s a hit that will follow him for the rest of his musical career.
W: W is for Weed. Sure you’re in Holland and you may have the chance to explore what varieties are on offer when you’re in one of the cities before going to the festival. The Streets’ argument for weed against the negative impacts of alcohol on 'The Irony Of It All' is genius and remains one of their best tunes years after its release.
L: The second L is for Locals. The best live local act is De Staat, hands down. They have some seriously powerful riffs and their music is tailor made to create some of the wildest moshpits you’ll see, whilst preserving melody and delicate experimentation.
A: A is for ‘Age Of Consent’ by New Order because it’s the best song on this playlist.
N: N is Noosa. The gorgeous Sunshine Coast town in Queensland that gave birth to the funniest and catchiest new rock band going: The Chats.
D: D is for dreams. The melody of Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Every Time The Sun Comes' up is timeless and has the ability to send you in to a transcendent, dream-like state and forget about your worries.
S: S is for Scotland. That Franz Ferdinand debut LP remains a 21st Century classic. We think people will be surprised at just how seductive Franz Ferdinand are in 2019.
Should you enjoy the playlist, we've saved this acts on clashfinder so you can save it to your phone and not miss them. Here's the link.
More info on Lowlands can be found on their website.
