Marijn Posted June 15 Share Posted June 15 Seeing your favorite band play a venue near your own home might seem like a given for many American VC’ers, but as a resident of the ever-so-idyllic village of Berkel-Enschot in the south of the Netherlands, you might think things are a bit more complicated. Or are they? Fortunately, the adjacent town of Tilburg has a pretty vivid music scene, with 013 as its primary venue (Wilco played there in 1999 and 2011 — it’s where I first met bböp, the50ftqueeny and samuel70; needless to say while we were all queueing). It’s not the prettiest building and they tend to book obscure Norwegian metal bands for 90% of the time, but the 90s indie kids like myself get the occasional treat: I recall stellar performances by Death Cab For Cutie, Drive-by Truckers and The Tallest Man on Earth in recent years. And then there are the festivals. Did I mention we have some excellent festivals in the area? There’s Roadburn, which can best be described as “SXSW for metalheads”, there was Woo Hah, that hosted some of the biggest names in hip hop, there’s Rebirth if you’re into what I call “brainless tonedeaf poltergeist riot noise”. And there’s Best Kept Secret, think Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza — all in European proportions, of course. Best Kept Secret is a relatively young festival - the first edition was held in 2013 - which, despite its name, has hosted an impressive number of big-name acts over the years. Wilco played the festival once before, in 2016, sharing the stage with Beck, Editors and Beach House. Other headliners in the past decade include Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Nick Cave and Bon Iver — hardly any “best kept secrets”, even for Dutch standards. One aspect that sets Best Kept Secret apart from other European festivals is its location; the festival site is located on the banks of a lake, part of the "Beekse Bergen"; the largest wildlife zoo in the country. And so, although I'm not entirely sure about the band's schedule on this tour, chances are that Tweedy & co spent their Sunday morning spotting The Big Five in a boat or on top of a bus. Wildlife safari or not, kicking off with Company In My Back, Evicted and Handshake Drugs, the band definitely seemed energized, despite an almost certain jet lag. Then, things started slowing down with If I Ever Was A Child, IATTBYH, and Bird Without A Tail, before picking up the pace again with Box Full Of Letters and Annihilation. Setlist-wise, the best kept secret of the day turned out to be the appearance of Quiet Amplifier, right before moving back to the safe zone: Impossible Germany, Jesus, Etc. and I Got You. “We have way too many songs”, Jeff muttered near the end of the 1-hour time slot. “I’m not gonna talk, let’s play some music!” It turned out to be the only visit to Banter Corner of the day, apart from a short but factual “Beautiful day!” halfway through the set. The band seemed to be drowning on the enormous open air stage (appropriately named “ONE”), being way too high and far away from the crowd, with two giant television cameras blocking the view of a big part of the front area. Those front rows, by the way, were almost exclusively occupied by millennial kids in black, securing their spot hours in advance for the next headlining act, Deftones. Most of them seemed to appreciate the up-tempo rockers, but were visibly disinterested during the slower part of the set. In comparison, Waxahatchee played the smaller indoor stage (“TWO”) earlier in the afternoon; they managed to get way more interaction with the crowd. Which brings me to my personal Hot Take Of The Day™: Wilco is not - and has never been - a true headliner for festivals other than their own. Somehow the combination of an enormous stage and a limited time slot appears to make the band perform on automatic pilot. Some sloppy parts, a couple of lyrical flubs — still the best band in the world, but not the adventurous and innovative Wilco that is enchanting the Antwerp amphitheater at the time of writing. It’s the biggest reason why I’m glad that the band never really took off in this part of the world. Artists with a similar profile, like The National, The War On Drugs and even Sufjan Stevens, have moved on to the big, soulless, corporate concert halls on Amsterdam’s outskirts, whereas Wilco can still be admired in the more authentic and traditional venues like Paradiso, Tivoli and, hopefully once again, 013. Let’s see if my theory still holds up next Sunday in the renowned Royal Albert Hall. Any VC’ers to look out for? Setlist: Company In My Back Evicted Handshake Drugs If I Ever Was A Child IATTBYH Bird Without A Tail Box Full Of Letters Annihilation Hummingbird Quiet Amplifier Impossible Germany Jesus, etc. I Got You 3 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bböp Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 On 6/15/2025 at 10:57 PM, Marijn said: Which brings me to my personal Hot Take Of The Day™: Wilco is not - and has never been - a true headliner for festivals other than their own. Somehow the combination of an enormous stage and a limited time slot appears to make the band perform on automatic pilot. Some sloppy parts, a couple of lyrical flubs — still the best band in the world, but not the adventurous and innovative Wilco that is enchanting the Antwerp amphitheater at the time of writing. It’s the biggest reason why I’m glad that the band never really took off in this part of the world. Artists with a similar profile, like The National, The War On Drugs and even Sufjan Stevens, have moved on to the big, soulless, corporate concert halls on Amsterdam’s outskirts, whereas Wilco can still be admired in the more authentic and traditional venues like Paradiso, Tivoli and, hopefully once again, 013. Let’s see if my theory still holds up next Sunday in the renowned Royal Albert Hall. Any VC’ers to look out for? Ooh, I love hot takes! Thanks a lot for the recap, Herr Marinus...very well done, if I do say so myself. I hope I'll see you at the RAH, and I know there will be plenty of VC representation in that giant room. It's iconic, to be sure, but I have a feeling we'll be longing for the friendly confines of venues such as the 013 soon enough. Anyway, I would have liked to make it down to the Best Kept Secret but if I'm not mistaken, it was not possible to buy just a ticket for the day Wilco was playing? Did you go to all days of the fest, or did I somehow miss out on the single-day tickets being sold? If the latter, well I guess in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't venture down for just a one-hour set. Sounds like it was about as good as it could have been given everything, but I'm glad you'll get to see a longer show in London. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marijn Posted June 17 Author Share Posted June 17 47 minutes ago, bböp said: Anyway, I would have liked to make it down to the Best Kept Secret but if I'm not mistaken, it was not possible to buy just a ticket for the day Wilco was playing? Did you go to all days of the fest, or did I somehow miss out on the single-day tickets being sold? If the latter, well I guess in retrospect, I'm glad I didn't venture down for just a one-hour set. Sounds like it was about as good as it could have been given everything, but I'm glad you'll get to see a longer show in London. There were indeed single day tickets available for a whopping 130 euro + service fees. I grabbed mine earlier this year, so they were probably already sold out when you checked. Fortunately, I did enjoy a couple of other bands during the day: Waxahatchee of course, Elephant (Dutch indie-folk), Blanco White (imagine Robin Pecknold fronting Calexico), Youth Lagoon, and Michael Kiwanuka was a pleasant surprise to end a sultry summer's day on the shore of the lake, right before a nice breezy bike ride home. Anyway, hope to see you next weekend, Paulus! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
50footqueenie Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 Nice review my friend. Your ‘hot take’ is right on the button, though I’d venture they are still growing in popularity in Britain, though hopefully won’t end up playing the arena shit holes. A shame we couldn’t catch up this time around. We had a blast with Mr Bopp and Samuel in Antwerp. Enjoy filling a hole in the Albert Hall. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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