The Tropic Primates are an Arctic Monkeys tribute band who aim to give you the old-school Arctic Monkeys experience. I have the immense honour of singing lead vocals with these amazing musicians. For months, we practiced our tropic asses off to prepare for our first gig on the 29th of June: Where we played to a crowd of some 2000-3000 visitors bouncing all over the field. It was an immediate hit, even though expectations were high as per the article quote below.

“De afsluiter van Woetstok is dit jaar voor de ‘Tropic Primates’, die de Arctic Monkeys gaan vertolken. Dat belooft een heerlijk dansbaar spektakel te worden, met als leadzanger Bart Mesman die nooit eerder op het festival te zien was – maar zo veelbelovend is dat hij meteen het festival bekroont.”
– Stad Wageningen, 18 Juni 2024

It’s magical to look back to an audience pushing the fences several feet forward in a giant mosh-pit, fans crowd surfing towards the stage, and a thousand voices singing along from the top of their lungs. It’s the height of my musical career to have experienced this and my heart spills over with gratefulness to have had this chance.

To name a few memorable moments in particular; Daan on drums had a massive fanclub raising their “We ❤ Daan” banner high, hearing the crowd sing along with the hits was mesmerizing, and the moshpit waiting for 4 verses of “505” before absolutely exploding was a sight to behold!

Our setlist of 40 minutes consisted of both classics like “Do I Wanna Know?,” “Brianstorm,” and “R U Mine?” as well as some lesser-known bangers like “Knee Socks,” “505,” and “Crying Lightning.” The people loved it, we loved it. Naturally, we were in a state of exhilaration for days after. Yet, now that things are cooling down, we feel parched and thirst for more!

This will not be our last performance. We’re busy collecting imagery and videos to set ourselves up for success and connect with bookers who are in search of tribute bands like ourselves. This page will be updated with the best cuts from Woetstok as soon as we’ve got hold of the video.

Our plans for the future are to improve our repertoire by adding more Arctic Monkeys bangers to our setlist. We also aim to get on stage at other festivals and parties. Exciting news: You may already expect us at local Wageningen pub “Loburg,” whose programmers have already promised us a spot on their well known live-stage.

We thank everyone who attended and organized Woetstok to make this moment so wildly enjoyable!

“Het Wageningse Woetstok festival was weer een groot succes. Dit jaar trokken vooral de nieuwkomers veel jong publiek, waaronder de formidabele afsluiting met de charismatische zanger van De Tropic Primates (Arctic Monkeys).”
– Stad Wageningen, 1 Juli 2024