It goes without saying that Dour Festival is THE festival we at TNC simply can not get enough of. Their line-up this year is out of this world and the festival itself is set to be another highlight in the festival coverage we do every year. We can not stress enough just how great this festival is and how much it is going to change the way you see festivals in the UK after…

As a teaser for the 2011 Dour Festival the guys over in Belgium have sent over a video highlight of the festival which goes some way, a very small way, to give you a taste of just how great Dour Festival really is:

Part One – The Road To Dour 2010 By Bregje van Paridon, TNC Competition Winner

After a year of reminiscing about dour’09 and mentally preparing for dour’10 the time came. July has reached us and we headed off to what I think is one of the coolest festivals of Europe. Although the line up wasn’t as sick as previous years, the atmosphere was perfect as always. Let’s get this party started.

The pooring rain on arrival made sure the smell of the festival was present from day 1. A day with one of the most horrible performance I’ve ever seen by Hadouken, a legendary act by Simian Mobile Disco with brilliant visuals and sound at the main stage and a close to perfect drum and bass set by DJ Hazard.

“I’m a killer that’s why! And killers don’t die that easy” made everyone in the place go crazy and we were welcome to be back. Back to the Belgium festival of awesomeness. Big names that evening were Gui Borrato and Borgore, which I both had seen delivering brilliant shows before. Maybe it were the names whom have played before them that night, or the insane high expectations of the crowd, but something didn’t quite fit during these two. Good thing we still had three more days to go.

First act I remember on day 2 was referred to as the revelation of British hip-hop, Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. A good match, where the beats and the lyrics came together as very danceable tunes. Though there last album ‘The Logic Of Chance’ wasn’t as successful as hoped, the live performance of the songs was well received.

Next thing I wouldn’t forget easily was GWAR, where 40 year old men act like teenagers, dressed up as horror characters while making some really bad music. As we all know, the moment the sound of your music sucks, you just have to put more effort in your act. That is definitely something these guys have done – just youtube it if you want to know what I mean. Leading genre this evening was breakcore, with a absolute amazing show by Chris Cunningham.

This could well be the sickest act I have ever seen. With the visuals by IDM and breakcore tracks accompaniment, he had blown every single person away. With open mouths – literally – the complete audience was flabbergasted. If you ever get the chance to see this guy live; do not hesitate. After this we went to Otto von Schirach who gave away a well suited mix between breakcore and electro, perhaps as a result of the cooperation he had with Modeselektor while making their album ‘Happy Birthday’.

Biggest name for day 3 would be De La Soul, a hip-hop legend from New York. The party was on and every hit song was played, with ‘Ring Ring Ring’ and a cover of ‘Feel Good Inc.’ as encore the made sure everyone would remember them. As the theme genre of this evening was dubstep, the first name that comes up is Emalkay. I had never seen him play before and I was real impressed by the act. Known from the dubstep hit ‘When I Look At You’, Emalkay was one of the promising new artist and has proven this evening that he could be one of the greater dubstep DJ’s.

According to the program it was Benga who would play next, followed by Skream. Then again, that would be like separating siamese twins and so they sticked together. We’d all seen them before and the new material wasn’t as banging as we’d hoped, but the newly dubstep fans for who it was the first time where going pretty crazy.

Dour 2011 can not be beat, there, I said it! Last year Mark and Niger got to got to Dour for the first time in its 20+ years and was blown away by the whole experience. Incredible line-up, perfect weather, great crowd, and stunning place Dour was, for many, a highlight of their 2011 Festival season…and 2011 has raised the bar even higher.

Over the next few months TNC is going to be bringing you some of the biggest and hottest names who are going to be performing at this years festival. And if that isn’t enough we also have 5 pair’s of Tickets for this years Dour Festival up for grabs. For your chance to come to one of the best European festivals email us at Dour@thenewcurrent.com.

The Dub You Know It – Dub, Dubstep & Drum’n'Base Line-Up

There are almost too many to mention so we have included ALL the names, sans a few special surprises, at in our post (something we rarely do) but think that once you read the line up our email server is going to crash…

DIRTYPHONICS

One of my all time favourites Dirtyphonics are Pho, Playte, Capskod, and Pitch-In who are one of Frances biggest electronic bands and who are set to add their mark to Dour this year. Renowned for their incredible productions and breathtaking live shows this is going to be a rare chance to see the guys live, seriously this is not to be missed!

Camo & Krooked

Drum ‘n’ Base has never sounded better and Dour is going to be joined by two of Austria’s finest who have fast established themselves as two of Europe’s BEST D’n”B acts. Reinhard (Camo) & Markus (Krooked) have been together since 2007 and their debut release “Play It” was released in 2008. Last year the guys released their follow up “Above & Beyond” which earned them the Best Newcomer DJ Award at the Drum n Based: Arena Awards.

If that wasn’t enough they have even put together mixes for iconic BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Nightingale…I doubt you need any more convincing about these guys!

Pearson Sound/Ramadanman

David Kennedy aka Person Sound/Ramadanman is a pretty hot producer right now who has just released FabricLive.56 in March which has been going well. There has not been a moment where it seems Kennedy has had time to relax and take it all in since finishing University last year. His inclusion to this line up was inevitable and the crowd is undoubtedly going to be more than grateful!

The Gaslamp Killer

LA based DJ has been prolific in the material he’s been releasing since 2007 and is going to add some American flare to the line-up. Producing one of the best live electronic live shows Bensusse inclusion really compliments and raises the bar tenfold. As for as words go to describe him…not sure I have enough…just sit back in awe at one of the West Coasts most inspirational artists.

With a line-up like this you could be forgiven for thinking your going to be spoilt for choice, well, you are! What makes Dour stand out is their ability to let you take in as much as you like and in your own pace. The layout of the festival is such you can slowly meander in and out of the stages getting a taster or full mouthful of what they have on offer…my advice is to taste as much as possible!

The 2011 Line-Up

Rusko / Caspa / Eskmo / Joy Orbison / Pearson Sound aka Ramadanman / goldFFinch / King Midas Sound / Untold / The Gaslamp Killer / Digital Soundboy Soundsystem feat. Shy Fx / Breakage / B. Traits with Donaeo / Youngman & Stamina Mc / 16BIT / Doctor P / Trolley Snatcha / Reso / True Tiger label presents Sukh Knight, Scandalous unltd, Stenchman, Blue Bear & MC Chunky / Joker feat. Bugsy and Scarz / Pariah / High Tone & Oddateee & Brother Culture / Kaly Live Dub / O.B.F Dub Sound System / Kode9 & The Space Ape / Martyn live / Pendulum live / The Qemists live / Dirtyphonics live / Noisia / Netsky / TC / Camo & Krooked / Murdock / Original Sin / System D dj / Sigma & MC Carasel / Brookes Brothers

Last year TNC was lucky, really lucky, to get the opportunity to head to Dour Festival in Belgium in 2010 where Mark and Niger got to see some of the most insane, wild, and amazing shows that really make Dour Festival one of the best European festivals of 2010. This year is going to be bigger! Belgium is the place to be and if we have learnt anything from last year at Dour is is to expect the unexpected…and then some.

Some of the highlights of the 2010 Dour Festival include Gwar – sensational American shock rockers, Monononix – Israeli musicians who put in the greatest show your likely to see, Belgium folk-pop band Eté 67 and Etienne de Crécy – who’s stage show was stunning!

Dour Competition

Thanks to the guys at Dour we have FIVE pairs of Tickets for this years festival, and we are going to be running two competitions. Comp 1: for your chance to WIN a pair of tickets for the 2011 Dour Festival all you need to do is have a look at the Dour Festival Line Up 2011 and tell us who you MOST want to see at the festival and why. Comp 2: We have 2x pairs of tickets for those who have been to Dour Festival before, we want to know what you enjoyed most, who you saw and why you want to go back.

This is a UK Residents ONLY competition and is not open to any one outside of the UK, full terms and conditions are at the end of the page.

For your chance to win please send your competition entry to dourcomp@thenewcurrent.com stating in the subject box Comp 1 or Comp 2. The Competition closes 10th June 2011

Terms and Conditions

• This is a UK ONLY competition. It is not permitted to give your ticket to non UK Citizens.
• If you have won, you will receive a personal letter to exchange for a wristband at the festival gate after showing a proof of ID.
• If competition winners have not managed contact with us by Monday 12th July, there may not be enough time for us to sort out your tickets, so please ensure you don’t waste any time in getting in touch!
• It is forbidden to try and sell your competition ticket on eBay or another website. It will be monitored and people with such tickets will not be allowed on the festival ground. Ask those who tried last year.
• If you’ve won tickets but cannot attend the festival it is allowed to give them to a friend ONLY if they are UK Citizens and only if agreed beforehand by the festival promoters.
• You need to be over 16 to enter the competition. If you’re under the age of 16 you’ll need to be accompanied by an adult to be given your tickets at the festival door.

If you win, you’ll receive a confirmation email with all the details on how to claim your prize within a week.

N.B. the tickets you’ve won are for the festival entry only – it does not include travel nor camping.