TBT (30) : Soulwax is playing at my house

Every Thursday I look back to the past.

Because this is the 100th (!) post on my blog soulwax.be, I want to share with you this amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

Reading, Leeds, Werchter, Glastonbury… Soulwax have played on some iconic grounds in their career. And yet, one of the more peculiar places where they have put on a show was in the tiny Belgian village called Denderbelle. More precisely: in the backyard of my parents’ house in Denderbelle. It may sounds crazy but it’s true! And it happened on August 15, 2000.

About a year earlier I got to know Dave and Steph, because my girlfriend Joyce and I went to see them play several times in Belgium and The Netherlands. They just started to get some attention as The Flying Dewaele Brothers and there were plenty of parties in the summer of 1999 where we went and danced to their dj sets.

It was the early days of the internet so with the limited technical knowledge I had, I built a website dedicated to The Flying Dewaele Brothers. To be honest: the site looked alright. Joyce’s sister had a fancy capture card, which meant I could take screengrabs from the @lter8 episodes on our VHS (!!) tapes. Yes, in 2000 recording on VHS was still the most convenient way to tape stuff.

Around that time Het Volk, the local newspaper from Ghent, ran a competition: ‘Win Soulwax live at your house!’. All you had to do was collect some vouchers, which my lovely aunt Monique did, send them in and give the band a reason why they should pick you as a winner. Because Dave and Steph already knew me and Joyce – and must have thought we were quite alright 😉 – it was decided they would come and play at my house.

It took another twelve months or so, but finaly on August 15, 2000 Soulwax turned up with their large tourbus in our tiny street in Denderbelle. Around thirty of my friends were invited and they did a full set, wearing their vintage suits, using the mic stands with the neon lights… the real deal.

It was a night to remember, and we all have fond memories of this gig.
Who could have thought that we would still be here, 24 years later, still following Dave and Steph.


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