Marcus Foster- I was Broken

It’s clearly the year for male singer/songwriters, just take Ben Howard, Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Ed sheeran for example who have soared the charts and have sold out tours, is there room for one more?

Marcus Foster’s latest release ‘I was Broken’ features Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame. She is far removed from the harsh northern scenery depicted in the video, but there is no denying she could break your heart as she seductively poses down the camera lens to the lyrics “I was broken/ for a long time/but it’s over now.” The chorus content could easily be mistaken for The Wanted but I don’t mind, what is lacking in lyrical content he makes up for in vocal complexity. In his video every emotion can be read across his furrow brow, I am utterly convinced by him.

Foster has the ‘boy next door’ appeal and just like his contemporaries he would happily wear a hoody and jeans to his next show. Unlike Ed Sheeran who has the lexical range of a dictionary, Foster’s talents lie in his vocal ability to make even the most mundane lyrics have exceptional meaning. He could have easily made it without the aid of Stewart but has arguably fast tracked his career and paved the way for success in the American market.

Tragedy- Pukkelpop

One of Belgium’s most popular festivals was struck by tragedy this year after freak weather conditions caused the death of five people and multiple causalities. Heavy rainfall during the three day long festival caused staging to collapse, crushing festival goers underneath and chaos to those surrounding. I do wonder whether more could have been done as these conditions aren’t unheard of in Belgium where temperatures typically soar above 40oc during the summer season, heightening the expectations of freak conditions.

I experienced these temperatures first hand at rockwerchter festival in Belgium last year only a short distance from Pukkelpop which attracts some of the biggest names in music. In 2010 two stages were shared by the likes of Green Day, Muse, Pink, Rammstein, Pearl Jam and is also why it’s popular amongst locals who substantiate a large proportion of the audience. Belgium as a city had a lot to offer and is possibly the only place I was served cheese as a complimentary side to my beer. I also managed to catch a short leg of the tour de France as well as see Kelly from the stereophonics wondering around cathedral square ahead of his performance at Rockwerchter.

Unfortunately newspapers have been plagued by tragic stories, the most recent at Pukkelpop this year and those trampled to death at Germany’s love festival the year before. Let’s hope the muddy condition of Glastonbury is all that graces the front pages in the years to come.