Listen Festival has established itself as Brussels' premier electronic music festival, animating the city with a programme that extends across multiple venues. The week-long schedule returns for its seventh edition, with around 25,000 visitors expected this year.
The six-day music festival started on Tuesday 26 March and will run until Sunday 31 March. A total of 27 events will take place at 17 different locations, involving 173 artists from Belgium and abroad.
The festival has a history of hosting exceptional evenings in unusual spaces, a tradition that continues this year with a night at Church of our Lady in Laeken (Tuesday 26 March) and one at Brussels-Central station (Saturday 30 March). The festival will close with an unprecedented "rave" in two Brussels tunnels on Sunday 31 March.
The festival's artistic director Lucas Vandervelde explains that organisers have aimed to give a platform to the whole Brussels electronic theme. "We see this happening in other big cities, such as in Amsterdam with ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event)," he told The Brussels Times. Listen Festival was born out of a shared vision "to take local talent to the next level and support a local alternative music scene."
Belgian artists (L-R) Mambele, Otis, Erykah, AliA and Azo wearing Uniqlo clothes. Credit: Listen Festival / Uniqlo
Listen bills itself as an eclectic festival that showcases the diversity of the electronic music scene. It encompasses a breadth of genres, with concerts and club nights ranging from hip-hop to house and techno of various strands.
This year, the festival has teamed up with Uniqlo to release a T-shirt capsule collection under the festival's theme: "United in Music and Diversity." A photoshoot features artists on the lineup and highlights the community as the driving force behind the Brussels music scene.
Unusual locations
This year, the festival will again take place in unusual locations. "The main highlight is the tunnel complex below Place Louise," which will host an all-night rave, organisers enthused. This will take place on Sunday (Monday is fortunately a bank holiday) and will involve several artists including VTSS and left-field Belgian DJ Nosedrip.
The Tunnels, Louiza. Credit: vandenbussche-vandenbossche
The festival's 2023 edition saw the Brussels-Central station used for the first time. The site will again be used on Saturday 30 March with a lineup featuring Bibi Seck, Mambele and Young Marco.
More conventional venues include Fuse, Brussels' most established club. "The festival is also about showcasing what happens in Brussels. "20–25% of our tickets are bought by visitors from outside of Belgium and our goal is also to display our venues to people that aren't here every weekend," Vandervelde explained.
Brussels-based and international talents
As well as giving local acts a platform, the festival brings prominent artists from the electro scene to Brussels. Among them are LSDXOXO – a Philadelphia native who is now blowing up on the European stage – who plays at Botanique on Saturday. He will premier a liveshow that will blend techno, electro and house, whilst incorporating pop and rap hooks.
Meanwhile, local star Lefto Early Bird will present his new album 'Motherless Father in Movement' at Bozar on Saturday in a special show featuring dancers and prominent British jazz artist Joe Armon-Jones. Lefto himself won't be on stage during the show, allowing the dancers to become the focus: "I have always said that when I close my eyes, I see dance," he said of his album to RTBF.
DJ Lefto pictured during the benefit festival 'UnitedForUkraine' organised by the Brussels nightclubs, events sector and festivals, in Brussels, Thursday 10 March 2022. Credit: Belga
On Friday at Brussels' #2 club C12, Belgian rising star AliA will join forces with Le Motel. "Their audience is growing internationally and it will be a key moment for them to play together during the festival," said Vandervelde.
For more information on the Listen Festival, see here.
