Poetic sounds reach Brussels from the heights
The concert’s stage was set up in the sky, seventy meters above the city. Surrounded by mounds of construction road debris, the concrete structure stands tall over the city of Brussels, a silent guarding of the heights: the VRT/RTBF transmission tower in Evere, this time the setting for a unique and intimate musical voyage.
On Tuesday, August 21st, a group of music lovers gathered to attend the second concert in this year’s Hide & Seek Festival, organized by Muziekpublique. The program for the evening: Finish singer Anu Junnonen, accompanied by the virtuoso Belgian accordeon player Tuur Florizoone.
After a security check at RTBF entrance on Rue Colonel Bourg, the Muziekpublique organizers led us to the tower. Inside the elevator there was only one button: a 10-second ride to the communications-room floor.
Before the concert started, there was enough time to walk up the stairs and stand on the tower’s roof. The sun was about to the set in the horizon, the last moments of sunlight reaching our retinas. Below us the city lay open like a map with reliefs. The Atomium, the Palais de Justice, all could be seen in the distance.
Back in the communications room the atmosphere was serene, a semi darkness married to an indirect, pale blue light. Behind the stage, several racks with communications equipment and long lines of cables stood as witnesses, the sound of their fans adding a peculiar element to the experience.
After a brief introduction by Muziekpublique, Anu and Tuur came on stage and delighted the audience with songs from different parts of the world: Finish traditional songs, a rich set of Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB), as well as some compositions by Tuur. « I lived in Brazil when I was seventeen, » he said. « It marked me as a musician. »
The audience was entranced. At the end of the concert, Anu and Tuur had to come back on stage twice to perform additional songs.
Hide & Seek continues this week and until the 26th of August, with more unique settings to discover.
