Last weekend, I attended the Rock Werchter for the first time in years. I mean, I went to Werchter Classic last year to see my boo Robbie Williams, but that's totally not the same thing. I was invited by the organization as a blogger so I was lucky enough to enjoy the festival for free! Prrrrobably at least partly thanks to my sister from another mister Natalia, who has been my bestie for over 10 years, and who has worked her ass off to get an amazing job working for Live Nation Belgium, who are also responsible for Rock Werchter.
I had a bit of trepidation to visit the festival because the news reports had made a big drama about the festival grounds being muddy AF, but after a last minute search for rubber boots finally proved fruitful (sold out everywhere because of the ridiculously rainy Belgian spring weather :/), we were prepared to rock Werchter (HA!). Let me show you my hair, make up and outfit for the day, and tell you about our experience.
Make up: I've been wearing loads of (rose)gold make up looks lately, and my RW look was no exception. I used Makeup Geek In the Spotlight in the inner corner, Grandstand on the rest of the lid, and Etam Bomb Mastic in the outer V and throughout the crease + on the lower lashline. I used Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Drama mascara to finish the eye look. I added some subtle glow to my cheeks with my all time fav blush, Hush from the Urban Decay x Gwen palette, and on the lips I also went gold: I used a nude lip pencil to slightly overdraw my lips, and then I applied the Yves Rocher cherry oil lipstick in Jaune Yuzu, which is basically a sheer, shimmery gold. Such a lovely end result! I also curled my hair with the Sapphire 8-in-1 25mm curling wand (review here).
I didn't manage to take a non-blurry shot of my outfit so you'll have to manage with this one. I had to pick an outfit that went with my wellies, that would work with bouts of sunshine but also keep me warm at night, and that looked sort of cute in a festival-y way. I settled for my grey Noisy May jeggings, floral off shoulder Forever21 top and geometric Lobogato necklace, and I stuffed my backpack with my orange scarf, burgundy hoodie and a longsleeve: light garments that would allow for layering when it would get chilly. Oh, and I also brought a poncho because the weather forecast predicted rain. My motto: be prepared for everything!
The regular parkings were too muddy to use so the RW people had prepared alternatives for festival attendees in Brussels and Leuven. From the new parking spaces, a shuttle bus took us to the festival grounds. Everything was perfectly organized, I'd even say our experience was more pleasant than it used to be when we spent the last couple of miles before the RW grounds stuck in traffic, although I bet it sucked for people who had to get their gear to the camping grounds. Since we had VIP tickets, we were allowed to use the back entrance that took us to RW Terrace through the forest. I loved the lights everywhere, so pretty!
Let me just come out and say it: Rock Werchter Terrace is AWESOME. There's chairs, hammocks, a bar, great food (that haute dog yummmm) and ACTUAL TOILETS aka heaven on a festival. We spent most of our day visiting shows and returning to RW Terrace for a bit between acts to get some more food. My boyfriend went a little overboard and had two Burgerij hamburgers and a haute dog. They were really good though.
Of course, you don't come to Rock Werchter for the food, you come to listen to great music and enjoy the festival vibe. We were incredibly lucky because we had gorgeous sunny weather all day, as you can see in this pic I took while we were watching Iggy Pop. I have to say, Iggy Pop is still the fiercest Iggy. And those blonde highlights of his are on fleek AF. Loved their set.
Of course, Werchter isn't complete without (pleasant as well as unpleasant) run-ins with total randos. This dude was really eager to take a picture with me so there. He was kind of adorable in his geeky Black Eyed Peas shirt, so I didn't mind. I did mind the asshole grabbing me from behind and picking me up as a dare from his friends when I was walking without my boyfriend for half a minute, but I punched him in the ribs so we're sort of even. All jokes aside, I hate how as a girl or woman you can't walk alone for a second without being harassed. Macho culture makes me so fucking angry. Lord knows we still have a bunch of work to do when it comes to the safety of women at events like these. What happened in Sweden was not the first time a woman was sexually harassed or worse at a concert, and it certainly won't be the last. Especially as long as some performers keep thinking calling women whores is funny, or as long as national radio channels randomly share memes along the lines of "have some fun, grab a boob" as part of their "favourite Rock Werchter memories" slideshows.
On to my ultimate high point of the day: seeing The Last Shadow Puppets in concert for the first time. I've loved their music since the very beginning almost 10 years ago, and have developed real, sincere feelings for Alex Turner ever since his style got better, his attitude got more cocky and his voice got more sultry. If you're reading this, CALL ME ALEX YOU LOOK SO GOOD IN YOUR TIGHT PANTS.
Me and my bestie were separated during the show so we spent a lot of the time spamming each other with, uhm, impressions of the show. Let's leave it at that.
I have to say I was impressed with Rock Werchter, not just because of how gorgeous the festival grounds have gotten recently (those lights and hammocks and benches everywhere!), but also because they went above and beyond to deal with the extremely muddy grounds and keep the experience pleasant for festivalgoers. Tons of sand and woodchips were brought in to soak up the water, and this made a HUGE difference: there were some short stretches where the grassy mud was left alone, and those bits were a nightmare to trudge through while the rest of the grounds were no issue at all. Super impressive.
In short, we had a blast! THANK YOU ROCK WERCHTER for having me, I'd love to return some day!
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