Hours before the first night of Botanique's Les Nuits 2022, the venue's festival programmer Thomas Konings sits on the building's steps looking out on the central Brussels park with a big smile on his face, and spread his arms. "This, the location, is what makes the festival unique."
Unlike most other music festivals in Belgium, from Rock Werchter to Tomorrowland, which were completely shut down as a result of the pandemic, Botanique, against all odds, was able to organise Les Nuits during the past two years, albeit smaller editions with more restrictions. This year, the festival can once again focus on its "core business."
"This feels very good of course, it is the first time in a long time that we had much more freedom in the programming, but also it is a great relief practically speaking, as it was always a big hassle to get everything adjusted to the latest measures, which caused a lot of extra work and stress, and now we can just focus on music again, and that is very nice."
Thomas Konings. Credit: Lauren Walker/ The Brussels Times
Speaking to The Brussels Times, Konings explains how this edition mirrors the opening up of society, and how it is once again focussing on giving local and upcoming talent a voice, and stage.
What makes Les Nuits unique and different from other cultural events in the city?
"Firstly, everything you see here in front of you, an outdoor stage in a setting like this, is not something that you normally see in the park. We also have three concert halls inside, the Orangerie, Rotonde and now we are also using the museum as a hall. Especially the tent outside makes it unique, it is much larger than all the inside halls, meaning we can welcome more people here."
Botanique outdoor stage. Credit: Lauren Walker/ The Brussels Times
"We were given the permission by Brussels Environment to use it, and we decided to then put a bar outside which creates this type of festival-like atmosphere, with people sitting on the steps and drinking. That is, in my opinion, what people imagine when they think of Les Nuits. The programme is similar to a festival because there are multiple acts every day, but here you buy a ticket for one hall and only see the bands playing there. In the past few years, we’ve not been able to have as many people take part in the festival as usual, so this year, more people are allowed to attend, and it’ll be a bit of a question of: ‘do we still have it?’"
So artists are grouped per concert hall. How do you decide what bands or acts to group together? Or do you just randomly throw them together in one room?
(Laughs) "We don’t just throw them together, but I am sure you could have guessed that. We made a selection based on the music genre, and what type of audience we expect the bands to attract. This is basically a big part of our job, really. What bands complement each other, what is the right order, as it were, to go from calm to slightly louder music. We look at how we can combine a slightly less renowned act with a more famous one so they can benefit from the larger audience, and melt together the local and international scene. So that’s a few ways we go about it. That local aspect is actually very important, and is maybe even the number one goal of the festival, to give those local artists a chance to introduce others to their music."
Nuits 2022 is described on your website as “a festival that makes discovering and reinforcing musical careers its top priority.” Can you explain this?
"When walking through the Botanique hallway, you see the names of some very well known bands in the “walk of fame" from The National to Bon Iver, and Arctic Monkeys, they have all played here at some point. And that is the special thing about our venue and this festival. For many bands, Botanique is the location of the very first show they play in Belgium. Many of these bands later prove they have what it takes and become bigger. So looking at the line-up now, I think, which of these bands will be the next big thing? It wasn’t so long ago that acts like Billie Eilish and Doja Cat, who are now headlining big festivals, played their first Belgian concerts here. So there are a few names even now that we see that we caught it very early, for example, La Fève, a French rapper, is playing tonight, who also just brought out an album that just blew up in recent months, and suddenly, since we booked him, he has become huge. Les Nuits are, from that point of view, an embodiment of what we do throughout the year, they allow us to really showcase what we always do, with a bit more focus on picking out the real gems, while allowing us to showcase more alternative acts that we really believe in."
To address the elephant in the room: is there still a looming effect of the pandemic?
"There are still some bands that are asking their audience to wear a face mask during the concert because they are afraid of being infected and having to cancel other concerts on their tour. Some are still cancelling, but this is for different reasons. Firstly, everyone really wanted to start touring again after the pandemic, so very early on people started making plans to tour. And now, I think there are a lot of bands that are saying 'we made these plans too soon, and maybe we’re not really ready to tour again'."
Sign asking audience to wear face mask in Botanique venue. Credit: Lauren Walker/ The Brussels Times
"Taking those things and the pandemic into account is needed, of course, but it has all been going on for so long, and the focus has been on the pandemic a lot. I think we are all very proud that we have still organised events and we have always continued to adapt to those measures. But after the narrative being about the pandemic for a long time, it's just great that it can now really be about the music."
Acts to look out for
Reinel Bakole, Monday 2 May 19:30, Grand Salon
For Les Nuits, Botanique has given four artists carte blanche to create a special project for the festival, including Brussels soul artist Reinel Bakole. "She has been rehearsing in our venue for several days and has prepared what seems like a crazy show, in part inspired by the location itself. "I don’t even know what to expect, that’s the whole aim of giving them carte blanche, I guess, so we will see what it gives," Konings said.
Tarta Relena, Saturday 14 May 22:00, Rotonde
Tarta Relena is the project of two Catalan singers who explore combining traditional Spanish singing with a much less traditional electronic twist. "Their voices are amazing, and they have a real edge too. They have played at so many international festivals, but I think this is the first time they are playing in Belgium. They’ll be followed by a whole night of dancing with other acts too."
Wet Leg, Sunday 15 May 19:30, Grand Salon
Born on the Isle of Wight from a shared love of The Ronettes and Jane Birkin, Ty Segall and Björk, this indierock act is known for its lyrics with next to no meaning and its French disco touch. "Wet Lag is another one of those bands we booked when they brought out just two songs, now they have brought out an album and are a big hype, and while they are playing for just 400 people here, they are also playing in much bigger venues in other countries."
Find the full lineup here.
