Rock en Seine 2012 - My First Festival.

Ko1tz

France493 Posts

August 27 2012 15:18 GMT

Hello fellow TL'ers!

This weekend I finally attended my first ever Festival, Rock en Seine.

A little about me, I'm mostly a guy who's into the "electronic side of the spectrum"(if that means anything) I tend to enjoy drum and bass, electro, house, you name it, if it is electronic I will love it. I didn't know what to expect at first when my friend invited me, I just thought I was gonna go to listen to boring performances and such, little did I know that I was gonna discover a ton of new bands and that I was going to pass the best weekend in my life so far.

So, for the live performances, I'll try to talk a little about each one.

1) Billy Talent

I've heard a little of this band, it isn't bad mind you, not really sure what genre it is (punk?) but they sure know how to put a live show, the lead singer interacted constantly with the crowd, you could see the guys were having a blast, everybody in the crowd was having a blast aswell, he's one of those dudes that just oozes energy and transmits it to everybody there.

+ Show Spoiler +

Bad side of the show? + Show Spoiler +

I couldn't catch a drumstick.

2) The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Ultimate "feel-good" band, I just had a huge bananna grin on my face during the whole thing, I just had fun dancing around and looking at Mette Lindberg. Couldn't find anything wrong with the performance, it was just good.

+ Show Spoiler +

Fast forward some hours of running around and checking out all the stuff to do in there:

3) Bromance: Club Cheval + Gesaffelstein

Alright, now these guys are more of something I enjoy, it's basicly Techno. I danced my ass off for two hours straight, these guys sure know how to do a live set, it was great and surprisingly enough none of the people complained of the repetitive beats, everybody loved it.

+ Show Spoiler +

4) C2C

Alright, now, those who are into DJ'ing sure know these guys, I was looking forward to their performance the whole day, and it was time to finally listen what they had. Nedless to say, it was the best show, Main Event of the day and the last show of the day aswell. It had one of the best lightshows for the day, music was great, interaction with the public was great, everything.
Some things just made this live a billion times better, the tribute to MCA got me a little teary eyed, and the ending was just amazing.

+ Show Spoiler +

Day 2 in the making.

PS: If any TL'ers were in there feel free to post your favourite performances and such!

EDIT: Well crap, some images are just gigantic.

Ko1tz

France493 Posts

August 27 2012 15:35 GMT

Day 2

Didn't move from the Main Stage at all since my friend was just dying to see Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

1) Of Monster's and Men

Quite a pleasant surprise, I enjoyed a lot this band, it's not something I would usually listen, but if someday I just need to cheer myself up I'll just make sure to play some of their songs.

+ Show Spoiler +

2) Maximo Pärk

Not really sure what genre this might be (punk aswell?). Lead singer was just hilarious inbetween the songs, their music was catchy and he really interacted with all the crowd, I just had a lot of fun in there. Sadly their performance was really short for some reason.

+ Show Spoiler +

3) Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Alright, now, for some reason I just ended up completely depressed after that live, people crying everywhere, fangirls screaming, jesus christ. Music was great, I really enjoyed it despite not knowing any of his songs besides those by Oasis (Whatever).
Also, all the people expecting Wonderwall ended pissed off and began just talking shit. Well crap, dunno how some people can be so ungrateful.

+ Show Spoiler +

4) The Black Keys

This show was just WILD, it was the final show for the day and people just went insane, small pits everywhere, people fainting, jesus. I was lucky enough not to have my organs crushed by being on first row. Now, I knew very little of these guys and I sure was surprised, enjoyed every second. All that energy, the drumming, the lightshow, probably my second favourite performance of the festival.

+ Show Spoiler +

Only bad thing?+ Show Spoiler +

No drumsticks for me again

Was probably the most tiring day, now, time for the final day, Day 3!

Ko1tz

France493 Posts

August 27 2012 15:57 GMT

Day 3!

Kind of hated the last two shows, I'll get into that in a while.

1) Bombay Bicycle Club

What a great performance, really uplifting music and the drummer was incredible, probably the best drummer from all the performances I had seen so far. (as you can see I tend just to focus on the drumming for some reason) So far it is my favourite "discovery" from all the bands in the festival.

+ Show Spoiler +

2) Passion Pit

Very enjoyable, full of energy and people just enjoyed the hell out of it (including myself) I only didn't like the fact the stage was located in such a weird place, it was like a small hill and I had to fight not to fall down.

+ Show Spoiler +

3) Grandaddy

We had no clue who these guys were, we were expecting some crappy show, but to our surprise it was a damn nice performance, not many interaction with the crowd, but there was something about the music that just made you clap your hands and smile.

+ Show Spoiler +

And now's when shit just got ridiculous

4) Foster The People

As soon as the waiting time began I got surrounded by fangirls who just kept stepping on me to get to the first rows, slowly making me get further and further away from my friend eventually sent her a message saying that, fuck, we'll see each other after the performance it's done...then shit hit the fan, music began and a group of like 15 drunk dudes began moshing and punching people, mind you I know that I should be expecting that from a concert, but getting punched in the face and my back was just fucking ridiculous, they just made me want to get the fuck out of there, wich I did they eventually got kicked out cause they began fighting with some other group of guys.
So I just played ping pong in a nearby table next to the stage, I got to listen to the music wich was great, and the confetti rain in the end was hilarious (playing ping pong + confetti flying everywhere it's not something you do every day)

+ Show Spoiler +

For whatever reason I can't find pictures

5)Green Day

Missed it, it was packed with people, so I had to conform myself to listen to some of their performance from REALLY damn far, I just sat down and browsed TL waiting for my friend to arrive.

+ Show Spoiler +

I enjoyed everything but those last 3 hours of festival, I wish I could go more often to this kind of things, it was something I will never forget and to be honest I really want to come back next year, probably I'll get to discover even more interesting bands, or I'll get to see a band I really like.
So that's about it, a little long, but I just wanted to share it, with half assed English mind you, but I hope you could understand most of it.

Cheers!

acgFork

Canada397 Posts

August 27 2012 17:19 GMT

nice blog!

GeckoVOD

Germany814 Posts

August 27 2012 19:22 GMT

Festivals are great man. Here are a few ground rules for your next festival:

1. If you see someone with a guitar at the camp smack him hard. Sooner or later he or she will either harass you with "Wonderwall" or "Zombie". All night, every day. And (s)he will expect gratitude.

2. If you don't dare to smack him, do the Green Day version of eye of the tiger when (s)he is about to start wonderwall. Just do the lyric transfer, it basically works with any song.

3. If you're bored (usually in between 10:00 and 15:00) search a street with a somewhat solid surface that a lot of people frequent. Take a bottle of water/can of beer and empty it on the street. Your goal is to get a small lake. Wait 2-3 minutes so all people that saw what you did are gone. Go 2-3 meters back and wait for new people to cross the spot. Yell "BLEEEEEH" whenever someone accidentally steps into the wet spot. Sit back and enjoy the show.

4. If you're the guitar player and don't want to smack yourself, be at least entertaining. Grab your guitar, chase girls and sing love songs; best would be Robbie Williams - Angels or something. Make sure you actually know the lyrics, it's quite awkward when the girls stop too soon and you need to improvize. If you need to improvize, see 2)

5. Never watch HBlockx live. It's too sad.

Ko1tz

France493 Posts

August 27 2012 21:52 GMT

On August 28 2012 04:22 Gecko[Xp] wrote:
Festivals are great man. Here are a few ground rules for your next festival:

1. If you see someone with a guitar at the camp smack him hard. Sooner or later he or she will either harass you with "Wonderwall" or "Zombie". All night, every day. And (s)he will expect gratitude.

2. If you don't dare to smack him, do the Green Day version of eye of the tiger when (s)he is about to start wonderwall. Just do the lyric transfer, it basically works with any song.

3. If you're bored (usually in between 10:00 and 15:00) search a street with a somewhat solid surface that a lot of people frequent. Take a bottle of water/can of beer and empty it on the street. Your goal is to get a small lake. Wait 2-3 minutes so all people that saw what you did are gone. Go 2-3 meters back and wait for new people to cross the spot. Yell "BLEEEEEH" whenever someone accidentally steps into the wet spot. Sit back and enjoy the show.

4. If you're the guitar player and don't want to smack yourself, be at least entertaining. Grab your guitar, chase girls and sing love songs; best would be Robbie Williams - Angels or something. Make sure you actually know the lyrics, it's quite awkward when the girls stop too soon and you need to improvize. If you need to improvize, see 2)

5. Never watch HBlockx live. It's too sad.

Haha oh man, I'll make sure to do some of those on my next festival. No doubt about it.

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