First, let me say what a great conference Eurosonic is. I spent 4 days in Groningen, NL meeting with artists, talking with promoters about working with them for the 2009 season, and seeing some great music. For those of you who aren’t aware of the conference, Eurosonic is a three day conference in the Netherlands that provides a unique opportunity for European acts to showcase their talent directly to some of the largest music festivals in Europe. Sonicbids has worked with the conference for the last 3 years helping to subsidize selected Sonicbids artists with a $1,000 stipend to travel to the festival and perform at the festival for these festival buyers. This year, Sonicbids helped 8 bands travel to the conference and perform. You can check out these great acts here through their EPK’s.
Nina Kinert (Sweden)
The Ghost (The Faroe Islands)
Baskery (Sweden)
Sharko (Belgium)
Vincent Van Go Go (Denmark)
KAKKMADDAFAKKA (Norway)
Lonely Drifter Karen (Austria)
Hjaltalin (Iceland)
While the first two nights focus on European talent as a whole, the last night of the conference is known as Noorderslag, which is a celebration of Dutch music and the entire bill is comprised of Dutch artists with the festival being held exclusively at De Ooserpoort. Beyond that, There are literally hundreds of bands playing at clubs across the city for the first few nights. There are some great venues in Groningen if you’ve never been there; Shadrak, Vera, Vindicat, De Spieghel, and my personal favorite, The Huize Maas. There are a number of amazing theaters across the city as well, The Grand Theater, St Muziekschool, and the beautiful Stadsschouwburg theater.
Besides the Sonicbids acts that performed there, I saw some other great European acts. In no particular order they include Baddies (GB), Triggerfinger (BE), Barbie Bangkok (BE), The Experimental Tropic Blues band (BE), and The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (DK). On the Noorderslag night, there were some amazing Dutch acts including Lucky Fonz, Roosbeef, Daily Bread, Pop Award, Jiggy DJE, Hotel, zZz, Elle Bandita, and my personal favorite of the night, Kyteman’s Hip Hop Orkest, but hey, that’s the old school hip hop guy in me.
So that’s a wrap folks. If you’re in the Netherlands, and looking for something to do, (other then kick around Amsterdam), I’d highly recommend taking the 2 hour train ride north to Groningen. Better yet, gear your trip around Eurosonic and go see some great music. Over and out.
