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No shortage of emotion during day 1 of Rock Werchter

There was no shortage of emotion during the first day of the Rock Werchter festival in Flemish Brabant. Top of the bill was the American rock band Pearl Jam. The group performed its greatest hits of the past three decades. The group’s lead singer Eddie Vedder remembered the tragedy at Roskilde Festival in Denmark 22-years ago to the day on 30 June 2000. Then 9 people died after being crushed in the crowd that wanted to see Pearl Jam perform on the festival’s mainstage. 

Earlier the festival staged a moving tribute to the singer Arno who died earlier this this year. Thursday evening’s heavy rain did little to dampen the spirits of the festival goers at what was the first fully-fledged Rock Werchter festival for three years. 

The coronavirus pandemic meant that no festival at all was held in 2020, while in 2021 a much smaller scale “Werchter Boutique” festival was held at the festival ground. 

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