The 30th edition of the festival Eurosonic Noorderslag, held on January 13 – 16, once again exceeded all expectations with acclaimed performances by Austrian artists. Seven local artists were invited to perform at Europe’s largest and most significant showcase festival in Groningen and introduce themselves to festival organizers, bookers, promoters and label owners from all over Europe. HVOB, JULIAN & THE FUX, LEYYA, MIEUX, SCHMIEDS PULS, JAMES HERSEY and FILOU all played in front of a full house and an outstanding and highly appreciative audience.
To kick off the festival on Wednesday, the Viennese electronic duo HVOB delivered the perfect opening with melancholic minimalistic house-pop at the venue Vera in Groningen. Supported by a live drummer on stage, the duo was able to live up to the advance praise, bringing the crowd to dance at a further show at the Grand Theatre.
HVOB – Dogs, Live at Eurosonic 2016:
Meanwhile the 18 year old multi-instrumentalist and producer FILOUS presented an energetic live implementation of his feel good electro-pop songs, which have already been streamed more than 45 million times. His peer JAMES HERSEY also put a lot of positive energy on display with his mix of classic songwriting, electronics and indie pop.
The singer and songwriter Mira Lu Kovacs and her band SCHMIEDS PULS charmed the audience at the venerable Grand Theatre with reduced and haunting songs. Max Zeller and Sebastian Reiter from the Vienna-based agency Konvoi (Schmieds Puls, Mieux, Julian & the Fux) are happy about the outcome:
“Eurosonic is an exciting festival for bookers and agencies. It is also really well organized. The scope and output at Eurosonic is quite different than any other comparable showcase festivals. We and our three acts are very pleased with the days and events spent in Groningen. The gigs were well attended and the response was more than satisfactory – not only from the audience. International media, festivals and bookers have approached us and we were able to establish good contacts. On top of that, if you can go home with a few offers for the upcoming festival season, a showcase festival such as Eurosonic just makes twice as much sense.”
The Upper Austrian electro-pop duo LEYYA were highly celebrated at their concert in the venue USVA, demonstrating once again that they are definitely no longer just an insiders’ tip. Not only did the BBC take notice of this young band, Leyya have also been invited to perform in Spain (San Sebastián, at the opening of the European Capital of Culture 2016), Switzerland and at the MENT Festival in Ljubljana.
The German magazine “Musikexpress” listed the young band as one of the highlights of the festival:
“It is of course difficult to make such a bold statement, but Leyya from Austria have definitely earned the crown for best concert. At the cultural center USVA, the duo – live on stage as a quartett – played mesmerizing, experimental electronica, which was particularly enhanced live with depth and dynamic by the shoegaze guitar.”
For the Dutch Radio 3voor12 Leyya played an acoustic session of their song “Brando”:
The Viennese producer duo JULIAN & THE FUX presented their songs of the debut album “Vanilla” with a lot of wit, puns and Viennese charm at the venue Huize Maas and proved that German music can make international legs shake like there’s no tomorrow. Their concert was broadcasted on the Luxembourg station Radio 100.7.
Also performing in a twosome, the Viennese duo MIEUX combined a vast musical spectrum with relaxed dance beats at the venue Platform Theater, securing their place in the hearts of the Groningen audience.
Susi Ondrusova (Radio FM4) sums up the Eurosonic Noorderslaag 2016:
“The fact that seven acts from Austria were represented at the 30th anniversary edition of the Eurosonic Festival is an incredible development. The music speaks for itself!
While venue-hopping in Groningen, everytime I asked other festival visitors, for example collegues from other radios or print media, for concert recommendations, I quite often heard the names of locals bands that we have been supporting at FM4 for years. This means that the people are not only standing in line to see British and Scandinavian acts, but also bands like HVOB, Leyya or Schmieds Puls. As with every festival, the joy of the experience is just the same as the anticipation for the new festival year! I am already curious to see who FM4 will be able to present at the Eurosonic 2017!”
At the conference part of the festival, Austria was addressed in the topic “Greening A Monster”, where Oliver Lingens (ORF) presented the implementation of “Green Policies” at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 in Vienna.
AUSTRIAN COMPANIES AT ESNS 2016
Acoustic Lakeside Festival, Arcadia Live, Comrades, Gazette, Georg Leitner Productions, Govinda Artist Services, InTension Music, ink Music, Konvoi, Nova Music Entertainment, ORF, Radio FM4, Rhythm and Clues 77, Seayou Records, Skalar Entertainment, Szene Openair Lustenau, Waves Vienna.
EUROSONIC NOORDERSLAG FESTIVAL 2016
More than 42,000 visitors, thereof 4,124 representatives of the international music industry from 40 countries, used the opportunity at the Eurosonic Noorderslag Festival 2016 to see 345 of Europe’s freshest talents live for the first time.
This year the festival was dedicated to strengthening the musical landscape of Eastern Europe and offered European radio stations and more than 400 music festivals the opportunity to select the stars of tomorrow for the upcoming festival season. The annual festival program consists of largely unknown names – in retrospect, past line-ups reveal many future world stars such as Franz Ferdinand, James Blake, The XX, Wir sind Helden, Seeed or The Raveonettes. In 2016 seven acts from Austria received the opportunity to present themselves in a large international context. The next edition of the Eurosonic Noorderslaag will take place from January 11 – 14, 2017, in Groningen.
Link: www.eurosonic-noorderslag.nl
