On a grim Tuesday night every year in February, artists from all over the world find their way towards the student dorms of Middelburg. For one night only, the entire town transforms into the vibrant festival heart of Stukafest, a national initiative organizing performances in student dorm rooms. The performances are spread throughout the town centre, and every act plays three rounds. Surrounded by half full beer bottles, intellectually deep writing on the walls, and gross dishes in the sink, acts such as Creepy Karpis, Bright Blue Gorilla and Gita Buhari perform.
Creepy Karpis is a nearly literally ear deafening tornado; the vocals of the frontman can barely be heard over the happy bouldering of the electronic guitars, bass and drums. Curious housemates come downstairs to catch a glimpse of the source of the dreamy, tropical, and bombastic noise. Rocking guitars, echoing vocals and a catchy bass form the core of songs characterized by a thrilling and exciting buildup, resulting in explosive finales. Creepy Karpis performs with an attitude and mentality that perfectly matches its student audience. The second guitarist has his wounded foot up in the air on a chair, while the drummer burps loudly – it all doesn’t really matter. During Creepy Karpis’ performance anything goes.
Flown in from Los Angeles, musical duo Bright Blue Gorilla finds itself in café Isings. The room, filled with history, stories, and the faint smell of coffee, is the perfect stage for the duo. All three rounds are completely sold out, and the expectations are high as Michael Glover and Robyn Rosenkrantz turn towards the audience. It immediately becomes clear that Bright Blue Gorilla is very much focused on and involved with its audience, while they perform cheerful, exciting and dreamy songs. The music sounds cinematic, narrated and visualized, on the acoustic guitar and ukulele. Alternating between instruments and vocals, the duo sounds happy, colorful and fantastical. Judging from the bright smiles, the audience clearly enjoys the performance at least as much as the musicians do, and they let the duo take them on a musical journey. The duo tells how they sold all their belongings to be able to travel and compose – they have been doing exactly this for 27 years now. They gave some friendly advice to the students in the room: now is the time to make stupid decisions and take chances, so enjoy every second of it.
Somewhere else in Middelburg, the party has already started even before Gita Buhari climbs the improvised stage. The student dorm, magically lit by candles and neon lights, is absolutely packed and as soon as the three band members start their first song, the audience gathers closely together. Guitar, vocals and electronics meld, while the front woman sings about equality, sexuality, and existential crises. Almost immediately the audience is drawn towards the music, which has an airy, relaxed, and romantic sound. The electronic beats, soulful guitar and sultry vocals are mixed together in a sensual cocktail. There’s some dancing: first carefully and subtly, then passionately on the beats from Gita Buhari. Psychedelic and colorful clouds are projected onto the trio, which adds a mysterious vibe to the performance. “I dream of a time when conflict ends,” sings the charismatic front woman. During the Stukafest performance of Gita Buhari, the audience catches itself in such a fantasy, even if it’s only for a short while.
Eden van der Moere, Class of 2017, is a literature, linguistics, and theatre and media studies major from Goes, the Netherlands.
