Hello everyone,
So among my hobbies are two I love in particular: music festivals and Rock Band authoring. And I got to combine them both in a pretty big way – and for you, that means a lot of new songs in the library.
This year, me and my girlfriend were lucky enough to go to Best Kept Secret in Hilvarenbeek, the Netherlands. Set in the woods around a beautiful lake, it’s unlike any festival we’ve attended before. It has an incredible atmosphere in a beautiful setting, chill vibes and great music. We’ve booked mostly for the headliners and the experience, but then comes the discovery part: diving deep into the lineup and looking for your new favorites.
So as I was diving into all those new songs and artists, and maybe as a way to make sense of it all, I just started authoring the tracks that stood out to me. And I kept going. And somehow, I ended up with about 70 new songs, which are all going to be released in this upcoming series.
So for each day of the festival, there’s going to be a pack. Today we focus on the first day of the festival – Friday, June 12.
So this is a major project, and also it’s a major milestone for me – it’s my first ever project with multitracks! 16 of my 21 songs here have full multitracks. And also, all songs have custom venues, so hopefully those batch should be closer than ever to HMX DLC quality.
Note: the 5 songs with no multitracks aren’t less good (in fact – “The Black Bat Licorice” is probably my favorite song in this entire pack…), but just songs that I couldn’t get good enough separation between different instrument parts, mostly when I couldn’t separate two guitar parts. So don’t think any less of those!
Enjoy the songs! And a very special thanks to doa – who contributed 4 songs to this pack!
Trailer here:
So as we left our Amsterdam hotel, took a train from into Tilburg, and a shuttle – we finally arrived at the festival site. We stayed in one of the premade tents on-site – an awesome small city of tents. It’s been chilly and muddy and we hoped the weather will clear up soon. As the time arrived, we started walking through the campsite and across the bridge into the festival grounds, ready for the first bands of the weekend.
NewDad
Our first stop was TWO, the festival’s second-largest stage, where Irish band NewDad opened our musical weekend. They’re a dreamy indie rock band with shoegaze influences, very much in my ballpark. Think Wolf Alice, Slowdive, or Beach House wrapped in catchy indie-pop songwriting. I present three tracks from them – the catchy “Sickly Sweet”, “Angel”, and my pick of the bunch – the angry closer “Roobosh” that got me screaming “HAATE!” with them.
Pacifica
Next, we headed over to The Casbah for one of my biggest discoveries of the entire festival: Pacifica. The Argentinian girls duo blends indie rock, power pop and infectious hooks into songs that are incredibly catchy and fun to play. Some serious bangers in here! If you enjoy The Beths, Beach Bunny, or The Strokes, definitely give them a listen.
Also, in Trackflow I noticed that doa was already working on a pack of their songs – so we joined forces together to make this pack, 4 songs each. So thanks doa! And enjoy the songs!
- Misled · preview
- What You Doing · preview · multitrack
- Fixer Upper · preview
- With or Without You · preview · multitrack
- Away · preview · chart by DOA
- Premature Rejection · preview · chart by DOA
- Closer · preview · chart by DOA
- Anita · preview · chart by DOA
Curtis Harding
The weather became a bit less cooperative by the time Curtis Harding took the main stage, the only stage not under a roof, but the rain added to the vibe and the brave people who stayed outside to dance. Harding mixes soul, blues, funk and psychedelic rock into something that feels fresh but also could be released in 1971. If you’re a fan of Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, or Alabama Shakes, you’ll probably feel right at home.
- There She Goes · preview · multitrack
- Need Your Love · preview
So, we have a few hours to drink, eat, rest… and get a spot in the main stage for the main event.
Jack White
So as Friday night fell, the rain stopped, and Jack White treated us to an epic career spanning set of rock and blues. He played stuff from his excellent album “No Name”, which is heavily featured here (actually, this is kind of an unofficial Album Series release for it!), White Stripes and Raconteurs classics, and also stuff from his then-upcoming album Frozen Charlotte, including single “Dollar Bill” which was released 3 days before the show. The show was amazing, those songs rock soo hard and they’re all a blast to play in Rock Band. so enjoy them!
Songs
- That’s How I’m Feeling · preview · multitrack
- Old Scratch Blues · preview · multitrack
- Dollar Bill · preview · multitrack
- Hotel Yorba · preview · multitrack
- G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs · preview · multitrack
- Broken Boy Soldier · preview · multitrack
- Archbishop Harold Holmes · preview · multitrack
- Cannon · preview · multitrack
- What’s The Rumpus? · preview · multitrack
- That Black Bat Licorice · preview
- It’s Rough On Rats (If You’re Asking) · preview · multitrack
- Underground · preview · multitrack
For an even fuller setlist, here are the other songs Jack White played that night that are already in the library:
- The White Stripes – Icky Thump (official DLC)
- Otis Rush – All Your Love (I Miss Loving) (covered by Jack White live, custom by FujiSkunk)
- The White Stripes – Fell in Love With a Girl (official DLC)
- Jack White – Lazaretto (official DLC, Rock Band 4 only)
- The Raconteurs – Steady, as She Goes (official DLC)
- The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army (official DLC)
That’s it for now – but this was just day 1 out of 3! I’ll see you guys here in a week, with another huge pack, this time for Saturday of the festival!
