A 5.30pm slot at a summer festival can be a bit of a graveyard slot: by that time of the day, festival-goers tend to have had their fill of daytime acts, and are waiting impatiently for the main attractions. Credit goes, then, to the Belgian band dEUS for not only drawing a respectable crowd ...
A 5.30pm slot at a summer festival can be a bit of a graveyard slot: by that time of the day, festival-goers tend to have had their fill of daytime acts, and are waiting impatiently for the main attractions.
Credit goes, then, to the Belgian band dEUS for not only drawing a respectable crowd to the main arena in this slot, but for shaking them from their late-afternoon torpor with a strong set that was culled equally from their latest album, Vantage Point and earlier releases. That record’s standout track, “Smokers Reflect”, signed off a well-received and sun-drenched performance that overcame early sound problem, singer/guitarist Tom Barman announcing: “We chose this song to end the show: a beautiful love song to send you off into a night of love”.
The departing crowd, though not noticeably more loved-up than they had been when they turned up to watch the band, gave them a rousing send-off – no mean achievement given that dEUS, whose musically polyglot approach embraces ambient, prog, electro, post-punk and jazz, have confused as many as they’ve enthused in the past.
Commercially, the Belgians’ star is on the wane. Creatively, if their Latitude set is any indication, they remain in rude health.
dEUS’ full set list was:
Instant Street
Fell Off the Floor, Man
The Architect
Favourite Game
Turnpike
Suds and Soda
Smokers Reflect
Smokers Reflect