"When the sun hits", "Mogwai fear satan" and buying a record in the parking lot. Cactusfestival 2018.

Last sunday me and my girlfriend made our annual trip to Bruges for Cactusfestival (we skipped last year because our son was only one month old). It kind of became a tradition to go to this festival together. Just the two of us and some nice music. This year's line up was pretty awesome and I especially was looking forward to seeing Slowdive and Mogwai.

Suuns dissapointed. I didn't get into it. Not a band to see in daylight on a blistering hot sunday (I did like them when I saw them in De Kreun in Kortrijk a couple of times).

I didn't know Strand of Oaks but they were a pleasant surprise. Nice singer songwriter stuff with a bit of psychedelic rock. Perfect for such a hot and dry day. I really enjoyed this.

Slowdive was awesome. They proved that they are still one of the best shoegaze/dreampop bands out there. I was siked to hear their classics like "Allison" and "When the sun hits" live and enjoyed the new songs that I didn't know. Great show. And their singer was wearing a lovely dress with a cactus print. Perfect for the festival.

Slowdive

I have to write something about the food and drinks at Cactus Festival! Because that's an extra reason to visit the festival every year. Together with Ieperfest this is the best festival to enjoy good and healthy food. They offer a wide choice of food and drinks. This year I was a regular customer at a stand that sold fresh homemade iced tea. And I had a delicious vegan pita. This ranks high in my top vegan food list. I enjoyed it so much I had two of them.

Delicious vegan pita

Next up was Mogwai! Third time I saw them at this festival. In my eyes they are still the kings of the post rock genre. I don't really listen to them a lot at home anymore but we were in for a treat live! They played while the sun was setting. A perfect moment to enjoy some Mogwai! I think they are at their best when they really rock out and play loud. Closing with "Mogwai fear satan" was perfect!

Mogwai

In between Slowdive and Mogwai I made a quick walk to the parking lot to meet up with a guy I met on Facebook to buy a record. Pretty old school way of buying a new record and this actually brought back a lot of memories. Waiting outside for someone to show up with a record you are looking forward to buy. I got Shelter's "The purpose, the passion". Definitely not their best record (that's "Attaining the supreme" in my eyes") but you can't deny these are some very catchy tunes and it's nice to add it to the collection (I used to have it on cd). I'm pretty bummed I won't be able to see them at Ieperfest this year but I will be in the Italian sun with my family instead so not too much to complain about!

We didn't stay for Nils Frahm. It had been a long and hot day. 

Great annual visit to the Cactusfestival! Looking forward to next year!