For hundreds of years, the city of Tilburg was best known as the wool capital of The Netherlands. More recently, it became famous for its 10 day funfair held in July every year and especially Pink Monday, it’s LGBT-themed day.
Music fans might know it for Stranger Than Paranoia, the brilliantly-named jazz festival, or Incubate, the left-field indie festival formerly known as ZXZW (until SXSW complained).
For the metal connoisseur, however, the open-minded lover of gourmet metal and all of it’s weird sub-sects, Tilburg is the home of Roadburn. Since 1999, Roadburn has been the metal festival with a difference, more likely to play host to world music or folk than the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica or Judas Priest. Instead, Roadburn is a carefully-curated festival that’s only too happy to follow metal’s eccentrics and pioneers down the rabbit hole.
TeamRock’s Phil Wallis traveled to Tilburg and interviewed organiser Walter Hoeijmakers, this year’s guest curator Lee Dorrian (ex Napalm Death, Cathedral and owner of Rise Above Records), Metal Hammer’s Editor At Large Dom Lawson, members of Paradise Lost and more to get to the heart of what makes it such an essential part of the rock calendar.