If you come to the Bent Van Looy concert on Thursday 17 October by bicycle, then AB will reward you with a half-price ticket and a fluorescent safety vest upon arrival. Foldable bicycles can be parked in the AB itself during the show.

A notable initiative by Brussels' State Secretary for Mobility, Bruno De Lille, in collaboration with AB.
The goal: to demonstrate that the bicycle also fast and handy when you want to out on the town.
Cycling is fast, fun and healthy. Yet many people still aren't on their bikes. Certainly when people want an evening out, they still fall back on their cars. “Though it's so much more enjoyable to go out by bike.
You know when you'll leave, and you know when you'll arrive: no problems with traffic jams. And you don't waste any time looking for a parking spot or waiting for the next bus.”, according to originator Bruno De Lille.

The campaign also fits right in with the Ancienne Belgique's vision for mobility.
“For years now, we have been encouraging our visitors to use the car as little as possible when coming to a concert. We actively promote the use of public transport but, of course, the bicycle is even easier for people living in the Brussels area and so we're right behind this”, according to general director Dirk De Clippeleir.

Artist Bent Van Looy supports the campaign too: “For me, riding a bike is an easy way to get around in the city. Whether it's Antwerp, Paris or Los Angeles, I ride everywhere. In Brussels I notice a distinct difference with in the past: there are increasingly more cyclists on roads.”

Practical:
Tickets are available as long as stocks last.
Cyclists who head down to the AB on 17 October bearing a ticket should first pass by the monitored bicycle parking that is to be provided in the Steenstraat from 5pm until midnight.
There they will receive an extra token to prove they came by bike.
With that token and their ticket they can then enter the AB to enjoy Bent Van Looy.”


Bent Van Looy is of course that wonderful Das Pop frontman (and Soulwax drummer, and 'slimste mens', and style icon, and wine connoisseur, and 'sock-puller-upper'...*)

But now Bent Van Looy has finished his charming solo-debut: Round The Bend (via EMI.) Personal songs, based on elegant piano melodies. Experts even dare to compare with earlier 70's emo-grandmasters like Elton John, Billy Joel of Gilbert O'Sullivan. That sort of catchy sentiment.

Bent's new songs are no Das Pop leftovers. Developed and tested in Paris (more specifically in David Lynch's Silencio club) and recorded in L.A. with producer Jason Falkner (see too: Air, Beck, Aimee Mann, Daniel Johnston, Paul McCartney...)

Or, as Bent himself tenderly announced about the tunes on Round The Bend:' They tell more, aren't so nicely streamlined in form, don't allow themselves to be packaged in the technicolour wrapping paper of pop, they feel smaller... They're not about the sort of Love that's sung about in Can’t Buy Me Love, Like a Virgin or – why ever not? - Never Get Enough. Here it's about rubber chickens left lying around on the grass after a party (Flowers and Balloons), a well-worn photo-album (First Boy from the Right) or bitter-sweet regret after a long night on the street (Friendly with the Fleas).'

High quality! (*But he's no cobblestone-cyclist or hit-film maker, there are other Van Looy's for that: namely Rik & Eric.)

http://abconcerts.be/en/concerts/p/detail/bent-van-looy-17-10-2013