The Back to Live Pop Music Festival was held in Bedinghuysen on Sunday. For Chef Special Representative Joshua Nollet, it felt “weird and surreal,” but at the same time “like coming home” to be back on stage after a year and a half.
“Above all, it was totally insane, after not doing it for a year and a half, to be on stage with 1,500 men who went completely crazy,” Nollet says in a conversation with NU.nl after the band’s performance. “On the one hand, there was a very familiar feeling at the festival, and on the other hand it was very special because you are so used to the procedures.”
It was crazy for the singer to see everyone now “totally intertwined”. “You feel so longing for it. I saw that everyone was amazed the whole time and thought, ‘Oh yeah, it’s all possible now.'”
Usually, Nolley, who says he hasn’t landed yet and can’t find the right words, always goes out to the audience during performances. “This is some kind of impulsive reaction. Now I had to tell myself I’m allowed to.”
Chef’s special during the Return to Live Festival in Bedinghuysen. Photographer: Ben Houdijk
Chef’s special during the Return to Live Festival in Bedinghuysen. Photographer: Ben Houdijk
Photo: Ben Houdijk
“Like coming home to a house you haven’t visited in a long time.”
Guido Joseph, the band’s guitarist, says the musicians were very concerned about their performance. “I think the nerves came mainly from the fact that they were a while ago. Then you want to show that you can still do that. But the moment you play the first note and look at each other, they are instantly very familiar again.” Nolet just confirm that. “It was like going home to a house you haven’t visited in a long time.”
It hurts for the band members to take some time after the audition event before they return to the stage. “You usually have a festival again next week.”
They are hoping for the entire industry that there will be more soon. “Today I also noticed everyone behind the scenes that this is what they prefer to do,” Nolet said. “We are very happy that the guarantee fund has been introduced so that the festival organizers can get started.”
What the rest of the year has in store for this range remains logically uncertain. “We have a number of shows, including the AFAS Live show in December, which has already been moved three times. It remains to be seen, we are ready anyway.”
Nervous defecation
Bilal Wahib also sang at the festival today. “My voice was so loud,” says the singer, “I can’t explain it with words. My voice is totally hoarse.” “I sang well, I sang wrong. Everything was possible and everything was allowed. I’m still totally adrenaline-filled.”
Waheeb admits that he was very nervous before his performance. “When I’m nervous I always have to defecate, but once I get on stage it always seems like my body has lied to me because I don’t have to at all anymore. They had those wheeled toilets here and I wouldn’t go on them.”
Luckily, she instantly felt familiar on stage. “You can’t do too much wrong because these people really come to celebrate. When I came immediately everyone started screaming. I’m so happy that I started singing, I now really realize how beautiful the profession is.”
Worn by the public
Since Wahib’s biggest songs appeared during the Corona crisis, he never realized how many fans he had. “I couldn’t feel it yet. So I had two people on the stage for every number. He hugged us, because that’s allowed now.” The singer also says he ended up in moshpit and that the audience has worn it.
The singer clearly enjoyed it. “I want to do thousands of additional shows if I may.”
Visitors wore mouth and tag caps
The Corona Experience event is organized by Fieldlab Events, a joint initiative between the public events sector, companies and the government.
Saturday I found one Dance festival Place on the same site. There were 1,500 visitors on the day of the festival. All visitors wore a face mask and a tag, which later analyzes, for example, how long they spent near other visitors.
Visitors were pre-tested and also had to handle all kinds of checks, such as taking the temperature, at the entrance. Then they were allowed to move freely around the festival site and act as normally as possible.
