Belgian music scene
The cultural heartbeat of Flanders
The Ancienne Belgique in Brussels is the cultural center for the Flemish community in the capital and is the leading venue in Flanders. The AB has three auditoriums and regularly hosts local and international acts. It also organizes a number of festivals and projects which promote Belgian bands and bridge the cultural and linguistic divide.
Crossover kings
Antwerp rock band dEUS is one of the few bands which have truly been accepted as a Belgian band, rather than Flemish or Walloon. The Flemish band has also achieved international fame, another rare feat for a Belgian band, and are the biggest act in the country, selling out venues on every side of the perceived cultural divide.
Garden of delight
Le Botanique, the French community's cultural center in Brussels, is housed in the former Royal Botanical Gardens complex. Here it is seen during its annual Les Nuits Botanique festival which features Belgian and international acts, and includes a special Nuit Belge event which aims to promote Belgian bands while ignoring whether they come from Flanders or Wallonia.
All together now
The AB's main hall has played host to many international acts (here US rock band Eagles of Death Metal play to a packed house) and has given many Belgian acts their first taste of a pulsing crowd.
Time will tell
The Tellers are a young duo currently finding out about the way things work in Belgium. They are following the tried and tested route to local fame; signing with powerhouse label Bang! and playing regularly around Wallonia and in France. Initial forays into Flanders have yielded the usual results, but watchers say these guys could have the magic quality to make a cross-over.
Swimming against the tide
Francophone band Sharko have been around for some time now and were given their first big Belgian audience during one of Le Botanique's Nuit Belge events. Since then, while becoming established and widely known throughout the country, they still suffer from the hindrances that come from being from the French-speaking part of the country. Their story shows that longevity is often no guarantee of breaking through the barriers.
Rotating promotion
The VK Club in Brussels is one of the participating venues in the ABClub Circuit initiative, which aims at promoting bands which struggle to reach an audience in their neighboring region. By rotating the bands on the bill through a number of venues in certain cities around Belgium, the ABClub project puts bands on in venues they may not get to play otherwise. Here, Hickey Underworld play the VK during this year's festival.
Selective success
Ghinzu are a typical example of the success enjoyed by Francophone bands. In Wallonia, they are huge and regularly sell out the biggest venues in the region. In France, they do the same. But in Flanders, the venues and crowds are rarely as big. However, the Francophone band have recently enjoyed sold-out nights at the AB in Brussels as part of a cross-over promotion campaign executed by the two communities.
Girls and boys
Francophone popstars Girls in Hawaii are the latest band from the French part of Belgium to make in-roads into the Flemish region - with sold-out nights at the AB on their last tour. But the band, despite their growing profile, still suffer from the age-old problem of being a French-sounding band trying to reach a Dutch-speaking audience.