The KulturFabkrik in Esch played host to the 20th edition of the Out of the Crowd festival on Saturday, where an array of international musical talent was on display.
The sun was out and visitors were treated to an eclectic variation of alternative music ranging from indie rock to experimental to more underground sounds. As it was the 20th edition, fans could expect a larger than life event and the organisers and artists alike certainly delivered. An amazing venue for hosting such a festival, with two stages, the larger KuFa Stage and the slightly smaller, more intimate Klub stage.
Not only was there music on show, there was also space for some vintage clothes shopping through the AA warehouse who had a variety of pieces that gave the festival even more of an edgy feeling fronted by two very pleasant characters.
Furthermore, adjacent to them was a vast collection of vinyls on sale with records from both past and present spread across numerous genres not only those present at the festival, provided by specific recordings. Food was provided by two exceptional vendors with both vegan by Hervé le Végé and meat options by K116, where I had one hell of a beef sandwich, corrr!
Luxembourg being Luxembourg the crowd was a little subdued but that did not stop the quality of the music that was on display. Having truly curated a lineup that incorporated artists from all four corners of the globe, the day kicked off with the Americans Red Dwarf Star, who are the brainchild of Coley Dennis of Maserati (who performed later) providing a wide sonic landscape. Followed by the local band ironically named Foreigners, serving up some lovely sounding Indietronica.
As the day drew on there was a constant flickering between jumping in and out of the venue to watch some great artists and then heading back outside to enjoy the sunshine (and try and land interviews with the artists). There was a great atmosphere to the place with people doing the same thing, probably having the right amount of people present. There were enough people there to make it feel busy but not overcrowded so there was always space to dance or bask in the sun.
Another early performer, who may go down as my favourite, was the young American band Lip Critic. A performance of which I had never seen the like, two drum sets and two DJ decks ensured a thumping 40 minute set. The amount of energy that the boys brought was a joy to watch and their unconventional setup added to the allure of the group.
For their final song one of the drummers and the singer switched roles making them all the more different to the norm. Speaking to them afterwards, their character reflected their performance being very bubbly and up for a laugh, these young lads could be making waves in the music industry soon enough!
Following them some of the more heavy hitters started to appear on stage, with Maserati, also from the USA, and Tramhaus, from the Netherlands, bringing their own energy. The band that I was most looking forward to seeing was BDRMM (pronounced bedroom), who displayed their musical prowess in front of an unfortunately stationary crowd.
However, this did not stop them from tearing up (figuratively, not like Pete Townshend) the stage and performing all of their known songs among some of their newer stuff. However, more disappointing was Cola, who I was also very excited about seeing. Whether it was their classically withheld indie feel or they simply weren’t appreciating the crowd, they seemed slightly bored on stage…
The main headliners, Gilla Band, who finally got the crowd going, potentially through the copious amounts of alcohol available or simply through their own infectious energy. You could also spot many of the artists that had performed throughout the day, enjoying the music in the crowd too. Which is credit to the general vibe of the festival which made it possible to interact with many of the artists who were willing to.
Overall, it was a great day and the organisation behind it was immaculate with Nicolas Przeor stating: ‘it has been really good, there is plenty of people and the weather is great and basically everything has gone smoothly and it has been an amazing launch to the season’.
The Kulturfabrik will be organising plenty more events over the course of the summer and I would highly recommend getting yourself down to Esch and enjoying a great venue, which really gives off a big city feeling!
