In 5 days’ time, a total of 120,000 people will have descended on the 2014 edition of Pinkpop Festival. With 60,000 people per day (half of those campers, and the other half day visitors) expected to descend on Landgraaf’s Megaland complex, the 45th edition of Pinkpop is a complete sell out, and that’s with good reason. Kicking off on Saturday, this years’ festival is headlined by the legendary Rolling Stones, as well as Arctic Monkeys and Metallica. These 3 names, plus other large names such as Arcade Fire, Avenged Sevenfold and John Mayer, have made it the best line-up in years for the Zuid-Limburg festival. All Things Loud will be there, and here we list you 5 things you can definitely expect at Pinkpop 2014.
1) The Rolling Stones to smash it – Pinkpop founder Jan Smeets is a long-time friend of Mick Jagger, and him and his team have been trying to book the legendary Stones for years. After almost 2 years of negotiations, they finally managed to get them this year. On Saturday night, expect nothing less than a hit-filled set with bags upon bags of energy and a massive crowd hanging on to every note. The band are getting older, and the current 14 On Fire Tour is tipped to be one of the last, making these tickets extremely hot. Day tickets sold out within minutes, with weekend tickets following soon after. The Rolling Stones are going to smash it, that’s a guarantee.
2) A successful major Dutch festival debut for Arctic Monkeys – Arctic Monkeys are everywhere at the moment. Whether it’s on the front cover of NME every week, all over the internet and radio or onstage headlining massive shows, there’s no escaping the Alex Turner-fronted group. The Netherlands, however, has always been slow in responding to the sheer brilliance of the band. Sunday marks their first ever major headline set in the country (they also headlined Best Kept Secret Festival last year, however that was on a very small scale), with Editors, a band who are much bigger in this country, sub-headlining. Expect this set to go down as a turning point for Arctic Monkeys’ relationship with the Netherlands.
3) More variety than before with the addition of Stage 4 – For the first time in the festival’s history, a fourth stage (creatively titled Stage 4) has been added to the site. The small white tent is located where the former open air cinema used to be found, slightly separated from the other three stages. Intimate in capacity, the organisers have booked up-and-coming rising stars such as Nina Nesbitt, AFTERPARTEES (watch out for these guys) and Intergalactic Lovers to play here. Although the names aren’t instantly eye-catching (who are Gecko?), they’re all talented and are sure to entertain the small crowds. Every day is topped off by a selection of Dutch DJs and MCs, including The Flexican & Sef, DJ Gomes and Joost van Bellen. Expect plenty of variety and a perfectly intimate atmosphere.
4) Metal Monday to go down in mosh pit history – It’s no secret that the final day of the festival, headlined by Metallica, has been dubbed by many as ‘Metal Monday’. Alongside Metallica and their special …By Request show, the likes of Avenged Sevenfold, Biffy Clyro, Rob Zombie, Mastodon and Ghost are all appearing. With a Main Stage full of metal, expect mosh pit after mosh pit after mosh pit. The occurrences on the Main Stage are a world away from the 3fm Stage, which has been programmed to cater for the alternative audiences. The sublime Arcade Fire is headlining it, with Jake Bugg, Kodaline and Stromae also appearing.
5) Smaller, more alternative names to make a big impact – Pinkpop wouldn’t be the festival it is today without some of the best alternative names around right now playing there. In the past, some bands have started off low on the bill before headlining a few years later, so the chance that some of the smaller names on the bill this year doing so soon is very likely. Expect fantastic sets from the likes of Haim, Clean Bandit, Portugal. The Man, Taymir, Twenty One Pilots, Young the Giant, The Boxer Rebellion and White Lies to make Pinkpop 2014 go down better than any preceding years.
Pinkpop 2014 is set to be the most successful edition yet, so make the most of it if you managed to get a ticket!
