The city where I live played quite an important role in the history of rock music in Belgium, and music festivals in particular. From its inception in 1965 until its demise in 1981, Jazz Bilzen was one of the most important rock festivals on the continent, bringing bands like AC-DC, Deep Purple, the Police, the Damned or the Small Faces to our neck of the woods.
For a long time, Jazz Bilzen worked together with Humo Magazine for the promotion of the festival, which makes for a direct connection between the town and illustration superstar Ever Meulen.
To commemorate the town’s glorious history, a series of sculptures were commissioned based on Meulen’s artwork featuring musicians and performers, the first two of which were presented to the public on midsummer’s eve. They really manage to convey the energy that Ever puts in his artwork, with bright colors and inventive forms. And, as each sculpture features a different character on each side (including one of Ever’s famous Elvises), every sculpture counts as two!
