Catch up on Day One of Rock Werchter here – The Barn’s Too Small for Charlotte De Witt’s Techno Party

The cover often performs well at a festival, including Sam Fender on the main stage. Last year he had to cancel his show at the last minute at Rock Werchter, but he will be there this year. With his version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” who played here himself two weeks ago at the TW Classic, he’s signing a huge sing-along moment on the main stage. His “oh-oh-oh” moment comes a bit later on the show, during his own hit “Seventeen Go Under”.

Last year Martin Devolder was still on the main stage at Rock Werchter 2022 with Balthazar, and now he’s at The Barn with his solo project Warhaus. In the early evening this led to the movement of half the population on the meadow. Also present today were drummer Michel Balcaine and multi-instrumentalist Tijs Delbke.

Devoldere—tight in a light-coloured suit—plays a very elegant set about his breakup record “Ha ha heartbreak,” which begins and ends with organ riffs. The decor is made of a sober canvas, where the shades of the ensemble take on a life of their own.

Devoldere plays with Warhaus one Attractive He appears and sometimes lashes out vigorously with his voice. In his slightly understated style, he flaunts across the stage like a singer. He is happy to give his band members room to shine musically in solos, giving the performance an experimental edge. In this way, the flute also gets to the hip side again.

During one song, Devoldere walks around with Spotlight, which puts her in the spotlight. Multi-instrumentalist Tijs Delbeke and musician/producer Jasper Maekelberg give the group extra warmth and atmosphere. “They look a lot like Balthazar tonight,” says one festival-goer.

Halfway through the set, Devoldere goes on an intimate guitar solo moment, during “Falling in Love with Me,” a song he sang with ex-girlfriend Sylvie Creoche at the time. “We’re keeping track of how many couples have told us during this tour that they’ve broken up to the music of our breakup record ‘Ha ha heartbreak’. The counter is now at seven. This is the perfect soundtrack for your party: Whoever wants to go away from each other, this is your moment.”

On “Love’s a stranger” sung together by Devoldere and Kreusch, the other band members take care of the backing vocals. The closing track “Open Window” is drawn to a grand scale, giving the performance—including its warm trombone solo—a deeply somber finale.

Michèle Cuvelier was able to speak to Compact Disk Dummies half an hour before their performance at Canvas today. Find out how they felt in this video: