I allowed myself to have fun

What an evening in a lifetime it could lead to. 20 years after winning Eurosong for Kids, XINK played on the main stage of Rock Werchter. De Kempin sent his sons, and the dream didn’t have to end here. “Os mama has bleating.”

It’s 10:18 am. A camera crew from VTM News follows brother pairs Jonas and Niels Meukens and Thomas and Philip Valkiers through the drizzle over the empty Werchter meadow. A team from the VRT NWS is waiting ten meters away. “There are ten interviews planned,” says tour director Gil Botins, who watches from a distance.

It shows just how distinct the path XINK took last year to end up in the Rock Werchter line-up. “Werchter and Pukkelpop” guitarist Philip Valkyers answered when asked about his dreams on air by Bart Peters in 2003. What followed: one gigahet (‘friendship band’), one gold disc, two albums, and a red kids bike with X stickers!

In 2009, the band, which revolves around singer and guitarist Jonas Meukins, was buried in a youth club in Grobendonk. In the decade since, Kempenaar’s ‘Friendship Band’ has sung once to a live audience, in 2017 during Throwback Thursday From Ketnet and Studio 100 at Sportpaleis. A reunion wasn’t even in the air at the time, until equal idiots Tybalt Christiansen roared.

“We often asked about a reunion, but they always kept the boat a long way,” says Christiansen. In between taking up a lifetime, Studio Brussel’s voice shifted back to guitarist Thomas Valkiers in an evening in a café. He was unwilling to do so, and after pressure from before Popcast of the week The reunion concert at Ancienne Belgique was announced for October 2022. In the end, it turned out that there were four sold-out ABs.

morning sound

10:26 a.m. The plain under the eyes of the XINK members still bears no resemblance to the map of the entertainment field. “However, I don’t feel like I’ve slept at all,” Jonas Mockins says, his voice like a rusty click. “Don’t worry, that’s my morning voice,” he calms down.

Thomas Valkyries adds: “I slept five hours, from 1 to 6.” Of the quartet, the bassist was the least able to keep his cool. “Last week I dreamed that I fell off the podium in Werchter. And this is nevertheless the strongest podium, I think. verdict? “The neck is broken. Dead.” Jonas Meukins asks, “And did we keep playing?” “I don’t know. You’re dead, right?

Two and a half hours before the act, XINK keeps his nerves in check. “This may sound strange to you, and I understand,” says Jonas Meukins, but even though the AB stage fits four times as high as the main stage, it is “just as much a show as any other.” Kempen’s band did another experiment the day before. “A lot of things went wrong, like technical problems and a broken belt. But that’s not why I’m going to worry now. I’m not a death knell.”

lack of sound

12h16. Sound check. After a questionable sonic boom, Jonas Meukens takes to the wings. “My voice is completely gone. Calm down,” my voice coach said. “I’ll sort that out,” he said afterward. “Tiffany (Veys, ELV.) It really can do magic. Thanks to her, I was able to sing for 40 minutes. Now my voice is gone again, but that’s the least of my worries. Without Tiffany, it would have been a different story.”

sound back

13:00. Thomas Valkyers on guitar, Philip Valkyers on bass, and Nils Meukins behind drums begin the song “The Other Side”. Jonas Miukins, let’s go for a while. He said afterwards, “I wanted to take a moment for myself.” Of all the XINK members, he seemed to enjoy it the most. Earlier this week, I read in an article the following piece of advice from Jan Paternoster: “Try to experience everything as consciously as possible from the first step you take on that stage.” I allowed myself to enjoy myself. Stop sometimes and look out into the audience, looking for familiar faces.”

Thomas Valquier also took the advice to heart. He even went to play on the podium planned for Moses later in the evening. Nils Miukens shone in the background. “I still remember my first time as a musician in Rock Werchter, with Warhola. We were two drummers and Simon played beside me. (Roesink, ELV) With a smile reaching his ears. Throughout this show I thought, “I can do this every day.” Today I felt exactly the same.”

Philip Valquiers looked cold-blooded, “but I wasn’t calm inside,” he says. “Sometimes I was too focused,” he realizes now.

lack of sound (repeated)

3:30 p.m. The XINK members open a can of beer backstage. “Playing on the Main in Werchter was not only our dream, but also our father’s dream. We were exhausted by the music bug,” Nils Mokens told us beforehand. Did they spot him in the audience?

Nils Mockens shakes his head. “I visited our parents immediately after the concert. Oh mother dawn. And me. “Well done, buddy,” said our father, says Jonas Mockens—again in a voice like a rusty faucet. Mom and Jonas Just The same. “They’re kind of sentimental,” says his brother, “Father is kind of hard.” “When he says ‘well done buddy’ we know he’s proud of us. We also made his dream come true.”