I've never thought I would take the decision to fly for a festival so easily as I did in May.
Dauwpop 2026 has been stuck in my head for some time since seeing its poster and lineup. I know most of the people called it not so interesting as in the years before. It missed bigger names, but had a certain vibe and artists which helped to follow it. Especially Saturday. It felt like it was built for me after seeing nearly all of the artists before in some way. It made sense to go to the Netherlands for a day of bands and artists playing after each other nearly like it was me booking them and creating the lineup or timetable. But it was not a very normal trip - likewise most of my ideas.
I took a plane to Maastricht and went to Amsterdam for day one - as it was my first time I acted like a normal tourist with tasting fries with walnut sauce, going through the canals and looking at city's most important places. I had to add a bit of me there: went on a 40-minute trip to find a fresk remembering Johan Cruijff. It was very emotional to finally see it and realise I'm in an area where litterally everything started for him. That day was for another hero of mine: Antony Szmierek. I enjoyed seeing him, making his biggest club one yet in Melkweg, for the third time this year. And even more that I would see him next day, back to back. "Restless Leg Syndrome" hit different that night, marking itself nearly in "end of an era" vibes for "Service Station At The End Of The Universe". Little did I know how much I would enjoy start of "Decoding Birdsong".
I imagined Dauwpop similarly to as it is in reality. Small festival with its unique vibe, stages close to each other but also having own souls and representing what you can experience here. As I walked through the entrance I already heard Honey I'm Home playing in The Barn - what will grow on me to be the most iconic stage at the whole festival. Their wall of shoegazey-dreampopy-rock sound made another great impression on me as I watched them on Reeperbahn 2025 twice. I would say they were better than at fritz kola buhne opening the Hamburg's showcase but slightly worse than in small Top10 Bar which I admire. It was nice reminding myself of how such band can make its way onto your head and get stuck there until you listen to them more in the next weeks. That's exactly what happened.
But leaving The Barn and heading to King King I was already excited for Sarah Julia. They were one of the biggest reasons I came to Dauwpop. I discovered this sweet sisters duo - playing with a bigger band when possible - like HIH, at Reeperbahn, but in 2024. Saw them twice there and fell in love. The funny fact is that the day before Dauwpop they went to play in my country but the lineup of the whole festival was so shit I didn't scrap my plans of coming to the Netherlands. Also, speaking to them in Germany two years ago I made a promise to come and see them in their motherland. And I made it happen. Concert itself was amazing. Only issue was that at the barrier all you could hear was the bass so I quickly went a bit back to enjoy the music in its full glory. A real treat was to get "How Do You Fall In Love So Easily?" and "Juliette" - still unreleased joyful track that reminded me a bit of The War On Drugs. At the end of the set I got to hear how good "Whatever It Takes (Break Your Heart)" sounds live and what a sort of a banger it is, but also enjoy my all-time favourite from them: "Cairngorms". I'm still not really over the fact I met the sisters after the gig and got to tell them this whole crazy story of making it to the Netherlands for them.
Later I reached the Bud Mainstage for the first time and watched Bente., local rising pop artist. She sounded quite nice and had a nice scenography with a house in it, but I had only three things in my head. First: still processing that I finally saw Sarah Julia one more time. Second: thinking how good would be a Turnstile concert here at the main stage. Third: I couldn't help but jump to what will happen in some minutes.
A comeback to King King for Chloe Slater's set was another highlight for me. I saw Chloe last year at Uebel & Gefarlich at Reeperbahn and was left with a bit of insufficiency. To be honest after second time I still feel it, but this one was just a bit different. Chloe was in a kind of middle-phase before releasing her debut album and I could feel she's just getting to know better the tracks she was debuting live. But "I've never felt so hated" sounded brilliant, just like her best known singles. I got a feeling that when she'll have this first proper release of an album, I will get to hear and see her full potential at a concert. Here it was good but maybe I just want to see even better from her. Still, new band made all the material sound fresh and my anticipation for concert in Berlin at beginning of December now is quite high.
After Chloe I went to see another stage: Hotel Vegas. Really interesting in detail, you can be surprised to see what's on each wall. Kaat van Stralen, Dutch chaotic punk, didn't really convince me fully, but it was nice to catch a local sound with was a bit out of my box.
I was in my world just collecting more and more artists that I love so I had to go back to The Barn. This stage was like built for the set of Master Peace. In 2024 I saw him in Hamburg three times same day (!) and now in 2026 in my hometown making a support act for 5 Seconds Of Summer. And the one at Dauwpop was the best of them all, by far. Energy in a small, crowded but very specific space was fantastic. A bit of bumps around which later formed a small mosh pit, especially when Peace went to us to sing "Home" like a national anthem. But all the others, with "Los Narcos", "Loo Song", "My Guitar" and "Spin The Block (written as "Spin The Cock" on setlist) went really loud, cheerful and stunning. I'm still in awe of his style and sometimes I just feel like he can resists more on his live voice but it's a small detail. Each move he makes during the performance takes it higher in terms of the atmosphere and its vibe. I just hope with the new album he'll still keep the rock and indie vibe all around. Special thanks to Hattie for a photo after all the dust went down.
The Wombats were never really a band I followed much but they have some bangers along their catalogue. And they delivered. Main stage went flying at least a few times during that set - just like some beer cups at the front. Maybe it had a potential to be even better but they kept the role of that one more popular act of the evening just fine. Trumpet player in a special costume, a bit of circle pits and that British groove in the air. It had just everything you wanted from more and more experienced band which definitely knows where to put accents in their live show.
But I was standing a few rows back at that concert for a reason. Just as they finished I turned and went straight back to King King. It happened to be the most important place for all day long. This time for a cardio training with Fat Dog. From start to finish it was just hard-to-describe controlled chaos in motion. "Shit Love", "All The Same", "King Of The Slugs" and "Go And Fuck Urself" - each of these felt like a little earthquake with people moving around each other as if they would be kept inside a tornado. When I watch videos today the mosh pit itself doesn't look like the most intense ever, but it really felt back then. This and realising Joe was nearly all the time in the pit with us, interacting, headbanging, jumping or just yelling, were driving the whole time there to be remembered for months. And considered one of this year's favourites. I slowly realised that this is exactly what I love the most about live shows and music - its intensity and what emotions it can unleash during one hour slot. But this unique experience at Dauwpop didn't finish here. As came the grande finale - "Wither" and "Running" - I noticed somebody in the crowd. Turned out I was moshing with Chloe Slater - and even managed to film the exact moment of meeting her in the pit, took a pic afterwards and had a small nice chat. That was like a cherry at the top of ten-layer tasty cake that I was fed with for the whole time Fat Dog played. It had different textures, explosions of flavourness and was a dish like no other. One that you get tired from, but a one you won't throw out of your head quickly. Loved every second.
I was too tired to rest at Sugababes and I'm not a huge fan, so I stayed under King King stage to find myself next to Antony Szmierek. He went to have a chat and photo with one fan at a wheelchair but noticed me and just didn't believe I made it for the second night in a row. Back in that moment maybe I also didn't understand that fully. But with each song I felt it in the whole body. Starting off with a small train entry and straight into "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Fallacy" - maybe first time as an opener in months. Then catching speed and vibe with "Big Light" and "Twist Forever" which Antony spent in full with the crowd - "lending" drinks, sunglasses, dancing with randoms or Chloe Slater and then changing one of his lyrics in honor to her. Well, couldn't go better. And finished off with a big jump moment on "Circle Of Light", which he said was never done before, then getting up to bar with a small water fountain on it on the other side of the whole area during "Rafters" and, as usual, making everybody feel like it's a new start at "The Words To Auld Lang Syne". It made me feel a little like at Open'er 2025 - second and arguably the best time I've ever seen him. Maybe the craziness of taking him through the crowd on my shoulders in Prague or making some nice concert actions with fellow fans in Warsaw took a bit of it - but it was once again his power in festival mode. Pure glory and satisfaction.
After that I didn't really have much expectations. Tired I went to catch a glimpse of Basht., the band that fascinated me after reading a lot of positive reactions on their recent live performances. And I can now add one myself. It was another portion of punk chaos put inside an even smaller fire ball than King King - as the gig was just in front of the trees creating space of mosh pits at Hotel Vegas. One of the sets that I can later remind myself when the band will grow to take larger stages. I know they will. They absolutely proved it here.
To end this long, but extremely enjoyable day I walked to King King the last time to see what was described as a home run of local masterclass act Paceshifters covering lots of Nirvana's most important tracks. I've never thought I would mosh to full Nirvana set in my life and I actually enjoyed it very much. I was asking myself before if I will not fall into a trap of comparing it to other acts doing similar things with legends' discography and here it was not important at all. It sounded like it was reinvented just a tiny bit to make it fit to band's style. Played with class, pleasure and fun. All my favourites in the setlist. I didn't have to ask for anything more.
After finding my legs somewhere in this whole mess of beautiful concert Saturday in the Netherlands I came back to the bus and then to Enschede without huge problems. I don't know if I'll ever be back here, but if it was a one-off, it really felt like I chose the right one. I wouldn't change a single thing in that day and it was just fullfillment brought to some of my concerts desires that grew throughout last few months. It felt incredibly nice to get rid of them and to replace them with fantastic memories.
Dauwpop was a crazy, but spot-on decision. It will always have one special Setlist Note in my heart with what happened there this year.
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