Venue: Festival de La Rotonde            Date: May 31st-June 1st 2003

Fast link to Sundays Festival review

After a few months without a foreign trip, I was attracted to this small, but growing festival in Northern France. The lineup was quite varied, including some promising French acts as well as some better-known international artists.

The Saturday lineup was as follows:

14h00: Doors Open

14h05 - 14h30: Amalthys (25 mins / stage 2)
14h30 - 15h00: Dealgood (30 mins / stage 1)
15h00 - 15h30: Yyrkoon (30mins / stage 2)
15h30 - 16h20: Amphitryon (50 mins /stage  1)
16h20 - 16h50: The Cube (30 mins / stage 2)
16h50 - 17h40: Fairyland (50 mins / stage  1)
17h40 - 18h10: Behind Vision (30 mins / stage  2)
18h10 - 19h20: Misanthrope (70 mins / stage  1)
19h20 - 19h50: Burgul Torkhain (30 mins / stage  2)
19h50 - 21h05: Sonata Arctica (75 mins / stage  1)
21h10 - 22h25: After Forever (75 mins / stage  2)
22h30 - 00h00: Paradise Lost (90 mins / stage  1)
 

After a journey by Eurostar to Lille, I jumped into my hire car and promptly found myself exploring the wonders of the French motorway network and then the French countryside. As a result the drive from Lille took over 3 hours and I arrived too late to catch promising French Power-Metallers Fairyland, who were one of the acts I was particularly looking forward to seeing.

The venue itself, wasn't really a venue at all, as such, but a large deserted factory (a cement works, I believe) on the outskirts of the small town of Hirson, close to the border with Belgium. There was one large stage with a powerful sound system in the main arena area and a smaller stage to the side. It turned out that all of the bands playing on the second stage, with the exception of headliners After Forever, were competing for a slot at the Tuska Festival in Helsinki and if the winners, Burgul Torkhain, were anything to go by, then I probably didn't miss very much.

Misanthrope: It was the 2nd time I'd seen this French Death-Metal outfit and the lineup has changed a bit since then. I haven't heard too much from their most recent disk, 'Sadistic Sex Daemon', but I did rather like 'Immortel'. The sound was good and vocalist S.A.S. De L'Argilière was his usual over-the-top self. I do rather like them in fact, since they have a uniquely French character that I enjoy. Unfortunately their countrymen don't seem to care for them very much and they didn't receive a great response from the crowd.

Sonata Arctica: This popular Finnish power-Metal act was the next band on the main stage. They've improved enormously since I saw them play on tour with Stratovarius and Rhapsody in 2000. They chose their material well, mixing popular new tunes like 'Victoria's Secret' and 'Champagne Bath' with plenty of cuts from their debut disk, Ecliptica and slightly less from their sophomore disk 'Silence'. They played all the big tunes, but it was the frenetic numbers like 'Replica', 'Kingdom For A Heart' and 'Full Moon', which went down really well with the French audience. An excellent set and it was great to see the band back in fine form.

After Forever: As Sonata Arctica's set came to a close on the main stage the majority of the audience rushed over to position themselves for these Dutch heroes…(and heroine). As the tape of 'Ex Cathedra' kicked in and the crowd erupted into cheers and further cheers followed as the band members made their way on to the stage. 'Monolith Of Doubt' bridged smoothly into 'Semblance of confusion' after which singer Floor Jansen thanked the crowd for the warm welcome and said how pleased that the band was to be able to play in France once again.

The crowd seemed very pleased to see them too and I was very impressed with Floor's all action, headbanging, and air guitaring display during the first few songs. The band moved very well on stage and Floor took turns to dance with the bassist and both guitarists when not occupied with her vocal duties. On that side, I was blown away with her ability to hit those high notes without ever looking strained. Her voice had plenty of power too when required.

"The next song is from Decipher", threatened Floor "it's going to be nice and hard" – and indeed it was. Unfortunately some idiots interrupted my enjoyment of the set at this point and then by some crowd surfers, who were both dealt with quickly and rather forcefully by the venue security. However I got back in the grove as Floor announced that the next tune, entitled 'Beneath' was from the band's upcoming mini-CD. After that we got a terrific version of Iron Maiden's 'The Evil That Men Do' and another new tune entitled 'Victim of Choices', which seemed to be more in their usual style.

From then on, it was as if they moved up another gear, because the last part of the set was stunning! "Yield to Temptation" screamed Floor to huge cheers. Sander's growling was excellent as it had been throughout the set and Floor got in some serious headbanging, wind milling her hair around in that way that only works if you have really long hair. "Want Some More?" demanded Floor! "Duh! Stupid Question! Of course we did! "We have 2 more … at least" she continued.

'My Pledge #1' followed, then a storming 'Forlorn Hope' as a set closer. As the band filed offstage, orchestral samples closed out and Floor blew a kiss to the audience. There had to be more, and indeed there was as the band trooped back onstage to play a brilliant 'Follow in The Cry' which was cheered by the crowd and when it came to an end, we were all rather reluctant to see them go. All in all a very good set, delivered with a lot of energy. It's always good to see a band genuinely enjoying themselves and it was clear that the musicians really appreciated the warm response that the French crowd gave them. In fact I think that Floor thanked them after every single song. I'd have enjoyed it even more I think if I hadn't been bothered by the small moshing/crowdsurfing minority, but the biggest shame was that the band didn't have a slot on the main stage where they surely would have been even more stunning.

After Forever Setlist

Ex Cathedra
Monolith Of Doubt
Semblance of confusion
Tortuous Threnody
Estranged
Beneath
Inimical Chimera
The Evil that men do
Victim Of Choices
Yield To Temptation
My Pledge #1
Forlorn Hope
Encore: Follow In The Cry.

Paradise Lost: After several fairly inactive years they seem to be gigging with a vengeance this year and I can't seem to avoid them. This was the fourth time so far I've seen them this year and they played pretty much the same setlist as I saw they play in February and March this year. A few changes were thrown in, including a very welcome Forever Failure and the most convincing version of As I Die that I've heard yet. Their show was aided by fact that it was dark by the time that they hit the stage and the light show was fantastic. Good show!

Sunday:
13h50 - 14h20: The Last Embrace (30 mins / stage  2)
14h20 - 15h00: Kristendom (40 mins / stage  1)
15h00 - 15h40: The Old Dead Tree (40mins / stage 2)
15h30 - 16h25: Furia (45 mins /stage 1)
16h25 - 17h15: Headline (50 mins / stage  2)
17h15 - 18h15: S.U.P. (60 mins / stage 1)
18h15 - 19h15: Elegy with Patrick Rondat (60 mins / stage  2)
19h15 - 20h25: Shaman (70 mins / stage  1)
20h25 - 21h30: To Die For (65 mins / stage  2)
21h30 - 23h30: Saxon (120 mins / stage 1)

The second day promised an equally good lineup, featuring a couple of bands that I knew quite well – Shaman and headline and a number of promising acts in the form of The Last Embrace and The Old Dead Tree.

The Last Embrace: One of the bands that I definitely wanted to see, but I was delayed getting into the venue and I missed the first 10 minutes or so of the set. Given that the sun was shining very brightly above the stage, they did very well to generate a real atmosphere with their music. Most of the material was culled from their debut EP, but they also found time to include a new tune and a cover of a Portishead song. The only song I recognized was while You're on Earth. Very impressive musicianship all round and I was really impressed with the powerful, soulful vocals from Nathalie.

The Last Embrace Setlist:

Cold embrace
While you're on earth
Lament
it says
Roads(Portishead cover)

Kristendom: Yet another young French Death-Metal band, they featured some excellent riffing and fearsome growls from their frontman. Not a band I'd have chosen to see, but I did find myself enjoying at least part of the set.

The Old Dead Tree: This was the other young French band that I was really keen to see. They are clearly picking up an enthusiastic following and delivered a polished set, which at just 40 minutes long, wasn't nearly long enough for my liking. We Cry as One stood out, but It's the same for everyone was no less impressive. Great show and fantastic performance from the singer who had great range and switched from 'clean' to growly vocals with ease, in addition to playing a guitar with only 5 strings!

The Old Dead Tree Setlist:

Intro (an instrumental which is neither on their album or their demo)
It Can't Be
We Cry As One
It's The Same For Everyone
Somewhere Else
Joy And Happiness
Quietly Kissing Death
The Bathroom Monologue

Furia: This time it was a French Black Metal band who had a large personnel and who stood out in that they incorporated quite a lot of symphonic elements. Way hey!! They delivered some awesome riffs, the growls came from two powerful shouters and there was a cute girl on violin who was clearly digging the music too. The audience liked them and I'd quite like to see them again.

Headline: A French female-fronted Prog-Metal outfit, which I have followed for a few years and whose 2nd album Voices of Presence I really like a lot. Sylvie Grare has a voice which many don't like and I have to admit it does take quite a bit of getting used to, while the music is heavily influenced by early Queensryche, Judas Priest and even bits of Yes. Unfortunately on this occasion they concentrated on material from their rather dull new album Duality that features leaden, uninspired numbers with titles like Exorcise Me and In High Dudgeon. It was a very disappointing performance and not one that I wish to revisit.

S.U.P. Another French band, but one that I didn't care for very much, so it proved a perfect time to take a coffee break at the local McDonalds.

Elegy with Patrick Rondat I was not a huge fan of this Dutch Prog-Metal band beforehand, but with French guitarist extraordinaire in their ranks, I felt that they would be worth watching. English vocalist Ian Parry has a voice which takes some getting used to - more because it lacks variety and range than anything else. He and the keyboard player arrived 5 minutes after the band's set was due to start, so Patrick Rondat entertained us for a while, before the keyboardist booted up his hardware. They played material from the whole of their catalogue, but since I only own their 'manifestation of Fear' disk, I was largely unfamiliar with the songs.  The band's communication with the audience was poor, (they might have apologized for being late for a start) and overall it was a bit of a dog's dinner of a show.

Shaman: Formed as a splinter from my Brazilian favourite Angra, they were initially the band I would have tipped to succeed. I've now seen them twice and have to admit that I backed the wrong horse as the re-vitalized Angra lineup beats this lot hands down. The band's performance wasn't bad, featuring material culled from the band's debut album 'Ritual' with a few old Angra classics thrown into the mix. Whilst guitarist Hugo Mariutti acquitted himself well on the band's own material, his shortcomings were apparent when it came to playing the Angra tunes and I really think that the band need a better guitarist if they are to be successful, or perhaps to add a second axe-slinger.

To Die for: Once again, another band I was very much looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately these Finns (as often happens when they are away from home) had a few too many beers they night before and they posted a sub-par performance as headliners of the second stage. The vocals were fairly inaudible, the communication with the crowd was minimal and though the bassist impressed, I was ultimately left feeling very let down by this band.

Saxon: - If I hadn't had a long drive in front of me, I might have stayed to watch the full show. As it was I saw the first couple of tunes and then headed for the car park, safe in the knowledge that I would be able to see them again at the Bloodstock festival.

All in all a good festival and a very enjoyable weekend!

Charlie -- November 23rd 2003