Haldern Pop’s 2nd day started off well. Soothing my tiny hangover with a little bit of Tramhaus seemed like a good idea, thus I squeezed my way into the tiny Pop Bar in Haldern’s village centre for a bit of Rotterdam’s finest post-punk. It turned out to be the start of a very solid music day.

I only managed to see 5 acts during the Friday which seems decent at first, but is nothing compared to the 28 acts in saw in 3 days of 2000trees earlier this year. I think I often average around 10 acts a day at a festival, to be honest. Well, it doesn’t really matter as long as the acts are of fine quality and they certainly were during this day. Fat Dog was my obvious favourite but given that every single release by the British dance-punk act has made it into the playlist already, there’s simply no songs left for me to talk about. 2nd favourite Fontaines D.C. have been featured on the blog many times before too, and they didn’t play there latest single ‘Here’s The Thing’ either so no point in me blogging about that one already. Speaking of songs they didn’t play: it’s definitely worth pointing out how – even though “Is it too real for ya?” had been Haldern Pop’s slogan this year – they completely ignored the ‘Dogrel’ classic ‘Too Real’ by not including it in their set. Ha!

Right. Three acts left to highlight. Tramhaus was great and I really enjoyed their set in the Pop Bar, but I have been aware of them for a while now and have even seen them live before. Therefore, I’d rather focus on a new discovery. mary in the junkyard could’ve been that discovery if it wasn’t for the fact that I thought it was quite, well, boring. So, yeah. I think we have found a winner in Ebbb. An English trio consisting of a producer creating minimal techno, a wicked live drummer going nuts (without any cymbals!) and a singer who’s vocals could’ve been featured on plenty 10s indie bangers. The most original mix of sounds I’ve heard all weekend! It’s pretty dreamy, too, which makes for a mesmerizing debut EP ‘All At Once’, released in June on the renowned Ninja Tune. ‘Himmel’ is the EP’s flag-bearer but ‘Torn’ will give you the best impression of what you’d be in for during an Ebbb gig.

In chronological order, all acts I’ve seen live on the Friday of Haldern Pop 2024:
– Tramhaus
– mary in the junkyard
– Fat Dog
– Fontaines D.C.
– Ebbb