19-20-21 November

Crossing Border is a music and literature festival in Antwerp. It takes place in the Arenberg. On four stages are performing simultaneously from four a clock, new names and big names in the music and literature. This weekend was the second edition of Crossing Border in Antwerp, it already exist for 17 years in The Hague. In The Hague it is larger and they also make a bigger crossover to film and visual art.

I have been only Sunday the 21 of November.

My main opinion about Crossing Border:

A nice and peaceful festival, that gives a chance to a lot of new bands.

The bands or people I saw:

Field music: It took place in one of the smaller rooms of the Arenberg. At first sight it look like a normal band but when you look closer you discover a complexity of structures and rhythms. In the end a little bit boring.

The Villagers: This band had a performance on the main stage. This group reminded me of Mumford and Sons.

Ronald Snijders: One of the few speakers a saw. Ronald brought 10 minutes of absurdism. It’s absurd, confusing and bizarre.

Ganglians: They played a combination of Lo-fi, psychedelic, folk and punk. But I really didn’t like it.

Low: I fell a sleep in my chair. But nice sound.

Basta!: One of the coolest things I saw. It was just one bass player that works with loops and delay. It’s nice that one guy can perform you for a half an hour and it never gets bored.

Local Natives: An American new-folk band that is also in my top three of best acts on CB. They played an energetic show with beautiful vocal harmonies.

Spoon: I've only seen two songs. Those were also the two best songs of the festival. Nice group with an excellent sound and light performance.