GRAUZONE FESTIVAL DROPS 15 NEW NAMES FOR 10 YEAR EDITION 2023
The Hague festival has been nominated for a prestigious award for best festival: ‘IJzeren Podiumdier’
With performances by DJ Ellen Allien, Drab Majesty, Death Valley Girls, POL, Lesley Woods of the Au Pairs and many more, Grauzone almost completes the musical program of the festival. From Friday 10 to Sunday 12 February 2023, the tenth anniversary edition of Grauzone will take place in The Hague. Today, the festival adds another 15 acts to the line-up. Earlier the arrival of synthpop band Drab Majesty was announced. More big news: Grauzone has also been nominated by the VNPF for an 'Ijzeren Podiumdier’ price' in the Best Festival of 2022 category.
FIFTEEN NEW ACTS FROM TECHNO TO POST-PUNK
The legendary Berlin techno DJ and producer Ellen Allien will play a special DJ set during Grauzone. The German artist made various remixes for artists who can also be seen during Grauzone, such as darkwave act Lebanon Hanover and Rosa Anschutz, both of whom are represented on her own label BPitch. With her arrival, the DJ program is considerably extended. Poppodium Paard, one of the locations, will be converted into a club setting after midnight to allow the DJ acts to come into their own.
Exclusive to Grauzone is the American synthpop act Drab Majesty, who return after a very successful performance at Grauzone 2018. Lesley Woods, frontwoman, guitarist and songwriter of the legendary feminist post-punks Au Pairs -who played at Pinkpop in 1982- , is back in the Netherlands after 40 (!) years with a solo show with classics from Au Pairs and new work. Woods is also part of the symposium program.
Psychedelic garage punks Death Valley Girls from LA mix psych, goth, surf, and post-punk. The band has strong influences from Iggy & The Stooges (Iggy even appears in one of their videos) and The Cramps and their new album Islands in the Sky will be launched in February so expect a lot of new songs!
The Spanish post-punks from Belgrado are coming exclusively to Grauzone with a brand new album that will shake the foundations of The Hague. More post-punk with a touch of shoegaze comes from the Swedish Makthaverskan and is reminiscent of a mix of Siouxsie and The Banshees and Cocteau Twins. The rougher guitar violence sound comes from the Australian Clamm and is extremely suitable for fans of IDLES and Thee O Sees.
From Dutch soil comes the duo POL, consisting of twin brothers who play a mix with analogue synths in the style of Japan, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran. Besides Grauzone they will be at SXSW next year and the reactions of foreign listeners are very positive. The rousing Utrecht trio Daisy Daisy takes you on a post-punk trip of dirty guitars and electronic drums.
Ever imagined hearing a mix of traditional sitar music and Neue Deutsche Welle? The Pakistani - German duo Ashraf Khan & Viktor Marek do it with very infectious results. Khan and Marek (who is also the owner of the legendary Hamburg Golden Pudel Club) mix psychedelic sitar jams, electronic beats and heavy Asian drones: this has to be seen to be believed, according to the Grauzone organization.
The London cellist Jo Quail uses innovative loop techniques, effects and vocals. Quail performs solo but also plays a number of songs with Emma Ruth Rundle. The Turkish-Berlin trio Kara Delik mixes Anatolian psychedelic 70's rock with kraut and post-punk, resulting in an exciting and innovative sound.
The German electronic trio Rue Oberkampf serve up a danceable, dark sound with rave and techno influences and strong female vocals, reminiscent of French synthpop acts from the 1980s.
Neu Romancer is a Berlin producer who provides the synths for Alison Lewis, better known as DJ Zanias of Fleisch Records. She will have her debut release on Fleisch soon and will play a DJ set with influences from Italo, EBM and sexy beats.
Grauzone Festival takes place in the popvenue Paard, Het Koorenhuis, The Grey Space In The Middle and the Paardcafé. In addition, there will be an extensive GRAUKUNST exhibition, performances, film program and seminars that will be announced at the beginning of January.
AWARD NOMINATION ‘IJZEREN PODIUMDIER’: CATEGORY BEST FESTIVAL
The so called VNPF has announced the nominations for the 24th edition of the ‘IJzeren Podiumdieren’. Grauzone festival has been nominated for the award in the category 'Best Festival'. The IJzeren Podiumdier is a professional award for, among other things, the best Dutch festival and best popstage of the year. These prizes will be awarded on 21 January 2023 during Eurosonic Noorderslag in Dutch city Groningen.
Multidisciplinary festival Grauzone owes the nomination to its distinctive profile within the Dutch festival offer with high-quality, state-of-the-art artistic expressions aimed at the broadest possible subculture, which they present in an overarching context. Where music, art, film and literature meet and inspire each other, rooted in the underground. For years, the festival has been a springboard for acts that grow big later, such as Idles and The Murder Capital. Grauzone profiles and distinguishes itself from other festivals by bringing together different (niche) target groups and age categories on a large scale, but also by the current and groundbreaking programming and the stubborn interdisciplinary character. From day 1, Grauzone has given sustainability a high priority (such as exclusively vegan catering) and a 50/50 male-female ratio in the program.
Grauzone festival
Grauzone brings an engaged, diverse and broad audience into contact with disciplines rooted in underground culture. The past editions attracted thousands of visitors worldwide. Grauzone believes that counterculture creativity is a necessity for discourse in society. The multidisciplinary festival aims to be a haven for free thinkers of all ages and orientations. An alternative universe for creative people that inspires and brings together. Each edition, we work to deepen the programming and the cross-fertilization of visual arts, film, literature and performance. With monitoring of substantive and artistic quality and new developments in sight. In doing so, Grauzone looks at quality, originality, experimentation, idiosyncrasy, urgency, inclusion and diversity.
Tickets:
Early Bird Weekend tickets: 85 euros excl. service costs sold out
Regular Weekend tickets: 95 euros excluding service costs
Group passepartouts (4 per order) 88.75 excluding service costs
Tickets are available here.
More acts TBA on all days, plus films, art, symposium, DJ's and performances.