An unlikely venue to showcase the best of European music, Groningen in the Netherlands has been pulling in the crowds. Jim Carroll went along
One can only hope that the Groningen tourist chiefs treat the Eurosonic organisers to a slap-up meal to say thanks. This pleasant Dutch city has many appealing features, but, in truth, little to attract a couple of thousand free-spending visitors on a freezing cold January weekend. That is, until you put 178 bands and assorted music industry high-rollers into the equation. In Groningen, the January blues could well be just another band playing upstairs in the Grand Theatre.
What attracts 15,000 people to various venues over three nights is an event that could well become a European mini South By Southwest. Like Austin, Texas, Groningen has the ideal infrastructure for such a festival, with two dozen excellent clubs and venues in the city-centre and a large student population to provide a natural audience for the shows. No wonder, then, that this European showcase festival, which began initially as an European Broadcasting Union (EBU) outing called Eurorock over 20 years ago, decided to locate permanently here in 1999.
While the daytime activities and panel discussions consist, by and large, of the Dutch music industry chin-wagging about downloads and copyrights, the nights are where the borders are flung right open. You quickly realise the sheer quantity and quality of European music and, by extension, how much Anglo-American rock and pop dominate the airwaves back home.
For example, a band like Têtes Raides, with their dramatic mix and match of chanson, punk, grand orchestration and brass-band mischief, are megastars in their native France, but you won't hear them on radio beyond their home territory. It doesn't matter that they're powerful live performers with an impressive sound; they sing in French and so are seen as having only limited crossover potential.
Eurosonic, then, is an attempt to redress this by showcasing all manner of sounds from all manner of places. The festival works because acts as diverse as We Insist (the French Mars Volta complete with two saxophonists blowing merry hell), Maskesmachine (post-modern Flemish folky hip-hop), Soldout (sleazy electro-funk from Belgium by way of France) and The Go! Team (sounding more like four bands than one) play to full rooms and send away suitably impressed audiences.
Perhaps Eurosonic's most innovative dimension is the awkwardly-titled European Talent Exchange Program (ETEP) which brings dozens of festival promoters to Groningen each year to spot new talent. Festivals taking part in ETEP include Glastonbury (UK), Benicassim (Spain), Lowlands (Holland), Pinkpop (Holland) and Roskilde (Denmark). No Irish festivals or promoters are yet part of ETEP, to the bafflement of the organisers.
Irish bands, however, do appear at Eurosonic, thanks to the longstanding participation of 2FM in the event. Each year, the station selects and supports a number of acts (this year, it was Hal and Iain Archer who travelled to perform), while other Irish bands head to Eurosonic under their own steam.
It quickly becomes apparent that a trip to Groningen will be of little use to any act still struggling with the rudiments of live performance. As you swing from one venue to the next, you may not find yourself lingering long to watch a Dutch opera-metal act (their description, not mine), but you can't fault their musicianship.
It's easy to see why an act like The Blue Van attracts so much attention. A Danish powerhouse playing howling blues-rock. Similarly, there will be room on open-air stages throughout Europe for German duo Mediengruppe Telekommander's remarkable electro-shock attack, the soaring epics of Dutch band Alamo Race Track, the fuzzy guitars and melodies of new Brit contenders The Subways and the euphoric space-rock of Danish noise-oiks The Blender Group.
Those who prefer music of a less frantic pace are also catered for. There's Lise Westzynthius, a wonderful Danish diva whose piano-fronted tunes blend Nick Cave drama with Stina Nordenstam-like emotions. It would be quite easy to describe Aberfeldy as the new Belle & Sebastian, the young Scottish five-piece walking the fine line between twee and tremendous. Meanwhile, anyone looking for singer-songwriters with something a little different to offer should have been pleased by Warp act Gravenhurst's eerie melodies.
Something, then, for everyone. The countdown for Eurosonic 2006 has already begun.
More information from www.eurosonic.nl
