Rock and roll? Check. Stadium sensations? Double check. Day one of Rock Werchter sets the festival off to a flying start.
Kicking things into full swing, Declan McKenna rises through the ranks with a performance to rival the most established of arena acts. His debut album has yet to see release (“you should buy it, blah, blah, blah,” he states in a particularly enthusiastic plug), but as the musician throws himself around the stage in front of a crowd dancing and singing along to his every word, the power he displays is one destined for bigger and bolder things.
Taking their place on the main stage, Savages performance is something like a pantomime of your darkest fears. Jehnny Beth mesmerises from centre stage, prowling and screeching as she tries to decide which side of the audience is best (a question which is never answered). Feeding their anger to the crowd, the band stir up a frenzy with effortless charm, favourites like ‘Hit Me’ and ‘Fuckers’ arriving unhinged and setting the audience’s energy ablaze.
They’re not the only ones to play with anger. Prophets Of Rage take to the stage armed with an arsenal of furious classics. The members of Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy, and Cyprus Hill pull out all the stops for a set packed with all the hits and every rock and roll cliché in the book on a mission to “make Belgium rage again.”
