The tenth-anniversary edition of Le Guess Who? Is approaching, and if the quality of the ninth is anything to go by (our thoughts on that, by day: I, II, III, and IV) , we are in for a treat. Carrying on with the recent for day format, this time around, the Utrecht festival has not one curated program but four of them, courtesy of Wilco, Savages, Julia Holter and Suuns. The festival will take place between November 10 and 13 in a myriad of venues which you can check here, with tickets available here. The full line-up and day distribution can be seen below.
A few pre-emptive highlights are thus in order, right?
- Thursday will feature curators Wilco along with their choices of Fennesz and Deerhof, whilst from the general program, an appearance by the ultra productive drone artists Nadja is set to take place.
- Friday brings the whole Savages curated event, featuring the mighty Tim Hecker, the electric Bo Ningen (whose show last year was a definite highlight) and Beak>, giving us a chance to see Geoff Barrow work his magic live which is naturally unmissable. From the general program, there will be two Church Of Ra appearances by The Black Heart Rebellion and Wiegedood, as well as dutch outfit Ortega, something to satisfy those like us who yearn for heavier sounds.
- On Saturday, most of Julia Holter‘s program will take place, with names like Laurel Halo and Circuit Des Yeux promising an eclectic event to say the least. It is, however, the general program that is set to bring the goods, with performances by legendary Brazilian protest singer Elza Soares, Dinosaur Jr. or Black Mountain. In the department oh heaviness, note another Church Of Ra incursion, this time featuring Oathbreaker (i.e. a chance to see live why “Rheia” is getting so much rightful praise) and Chve, alongside the Italian doom overlords Ufomammut, Dutch outfit Ggu:ll as well as Portugal’s own Névoa, whose show at Ampliefst presenting the recent “Re Un” displayed a stark evolution in the band’s live performances.
Sunday equals Swans. I’m sorry to say this of a line-up containing Anna Von Hausswolff, Tortoise and a bunch of other good names, but it’s fucking Swans on the last European tour of their current inception. So I’ll stick with it, Sunday has Swans and we are all bound to go home happier because of that.