Heavy Weekend - Live Report Day 2
- Jenny Jen
- Jul 10
- 9 min read
Tired from the night before? Yes, but fatigue is quickly forgotten when it comes to spending another day in what is, for 3 days, our home, our bubble, a world made exclusively of musicians and good music, and given today's programme, we already know that the day is going to be a daydream!
Back in the village, we've got our bearings, we're off to the merch and we're off to the press area to find out when the interviews are going to take place and to set the schedule for the evening.
Wings Of Steel, echoes of the 80s in a new lease of life
Photos : Eden Bisiot
At 5.30pm, Eden is in the photo pit and Laurent and I are in the pit, ready to take it all in and, once again, to share our stories with you. The crowd is denser than yesterday, and we're meeting faces from the day before and discovering new ones, but we can still feel the crowd's willingness to be there to take intense pleasure in the heart of a festival run by a master! The stage lights come on, the first notes ring out...
Bandanas in long hair, leather and chains, you can feel the 80's version of metal when the musicians take to the stage, a first peck of drums and they're off! Wings of Steel open this second day with passion and fervour!
The singer arrives wearing a ruffled shirt to complete the ‘old-school metalhead’ look of the whole band, the music starts and as soon as Léo Unnermark starts his first verse, everything falls into place. This is good old-fashioned metal. The musicians are on fire and get us into the mood, and despite the still small audience, the singer jumps around and gets us shouting, bravo, he sets the tone and the crowd follows! He creates and sets the mood, constantly coming to get his audience, making us clap our hands, and the smiling musicians do the same, they move, they play with people, they set up a good mood and an interaction that will remain uninterrupted with us.
The crowd has grown copiously in 15 minutes and the vibe the band gives off encourages them to take part in the concert more and more. It's a sight to behold, really, the singer's voice swaying over the notes, the musicians enjoying themselves, chasing after each other, fiery solos over steady rhythms, the audience clearly under the spell of Wings Of Steel.
It's a set designed to please purists and old-school metal fans alike, and old-school metal does indeed have a new generation! They then treated fans to a brand new single recorded a few days ago, Wings Of Time. A small problem on the drums, the technical team intervenes in the second! The band carry on as if nothing had happened and the audience, for the most part, don't notice a thing - a fine example of professionalism from Heavy Weekend and the band! The new song starts off with a rhythmic beat and a long, controlled guitar solo that's much more committed to metal. The set was fabulous and varied!
A great concert that proves that you can be young (the band has only been around since 2019), have solid references, and prove that you can take the recipe of the greats and adapt it to today's taste without losing anything, and even better, by adding some flavour! A great opening to the evening, and mission accomplished for Wings of Steel.
After meeting them in an interview, I can say that this group has an incredible culture, a fabulous sense of humour and a fantastic humanity! They're great musicians and great people, and we can't wait to see them again in the future. Incidentally, as an anecdote to their humility and closeness to the fans, they willingly took selfies during the Europe concert later in the evening.
Vanden Plas, progressive rock icon !
Photos : Eden Bisiot
It's 6.30pm and the legendary progressive rock band arrives straight away with the first track, a song from the first album, performed to perfection! The guitarist clearly shares the lead with the singer, and deservedly so, with the solos included here and there responding perfectly to the vocals and the intense drumming supported by impeccable bass. The concert has just begun and we can already gauge the band's technique and the pleasure that spreads through the crowd.
"Thank you very much Nancy! Are you all right?" says Andy Kuntz. As the second song gets underway, the crowd immediately start clapping their hands - the fans are there and they're delighted!
The more the solos go on, the more I'm left speechless. The singer calls for a standing ovation for his guitarist, Stephan, who also sings with a more velvety voice that perfectly supports his own.
The musical tone is very metal, a little aggressive but still keeping us in a dark, timeless atmosphere with tracks that take us elsewhere. No set-pieces, no calculated show, just pure songs, pure sound and an ecstatic audience - simplicity is the winning formula, leaving technique to do the talking and emotion intact.
And there's emotion in spades... There's depth in every track... They've got their own distinctive sound, which makes them unique, and it's clearly working on the fans!
That's the beauty of metal too, a world for each band and one at the crossroads where everyone comes together, resulting in very different reactions from the fans and a magical union in spite of that.
Here I am watching them, attentive and passionate, furiously well inside the bubble built by Vanden Plas. It's like being under a spell, this band charms and takes its audience into its own unique, soaring world. Stephan will regularly smile at us and call on us to support them with our hands and our voices, and Andy will do the same, each time provoking a strong reaction.
The rain returns as we are asked to welcome Alessandro Del Vecchio, the newest member to join the band in 2023. One last song, Postcard to God, and we're left on this note of daydreaming. Progressive rock may be less aggressive, but it's as technical and spellbinding as ever, and Vanden Plas have been at the top of their game for a long time now.
We also caught up with them later for a very interesting interview, with an incredible dose of humour! These are musicians who are more than happy to share their memories and their vision of the metal world with us. Are all metal musicians so humble and human? Well, you'd better believe it! This was the case once again, with Andy even offering me a heartfelt goodbye hug as he shared memories of their first concert in France with my mate Laurent, who was there, and Olivier Garnier, who was, of course, already part of the organisation.
To end on this humble and human note, Andy will also be playing the Wings of Steel game and, during Europe's set, will be taking selfies with the fans. Unforgettable!
Europe “Carrie” on !
Photos : Eden Bisiot
It's 8pm, a mini musical intro and Europe goes straight in with the first track. The fans are clearly there! The crowd has grown even bigger, and gives them a standing ovation that must have been heard from miles away! They're on fire, the singer's on fire and he's determined to give us an explosive concert, you can tell that straight away! The second track followed without a break.
"Alright Nancy! Oh putain!" says Joey Tempest, who has apparently picked up a few words of French. His voice has lost nothing and the musicians are right there with him, Europe hasn't aged a bit! The flames accompany a singer who is clearly ‘on fire’, making the audience sing along and clap their hands. The crowd are ecstatic and Joey clearly knows how to keep them in the mood! He jumps, he sings, he plays with his microphone stand, he gets the screams and the hands and it works!
‘Merde’, as Joey told us, but have they taken an anti-ageing potion? The band's energy is impressive, the singer's voice never fails and the musicians play one track after another - a lesson in the will to be a rocker for life that you can't help but take in your face! I didn't expect so much! It's good, it's professional, it's straightforward, you can't help but admire it and join in, as die-hard metal fans.
"You guys look good! Not as good as we do"
Joey is having fun and teasing us, he's not letting up, he's purely happy to be here and it's infectious, the crowd is too, it's palpable!
"New song, we like it, we hope you'll like it too"
And they begin a new song which they describe as "groovy and purplish" and which is extremely well received by the audience.
Then the first notes of Carrie rang out and the crowd went into a frenzy, singing the chorus at the top of their lungs.
The singer picks up his guitar and starts playing, getting the fans to sing along. With a smile on his face and an electric guitar in hand, Joey carries on with an incomparable drive and the band deliver a magical moment of pure rock! They even give us a revised version of No Women, No Cry! The atmosphere is insane, the recipe still works, and there's a timelessness to it all that's just incredible.
The Final Countdown kicks in and the crowd responds immediately. An essential track, a real hit from the 80s, this song has left its mark on several generations, and after the show we've just seen, I can swear that there's more to come for this song, as there is for Europe, long live their musical life and thank you for this magnificent moment!
And I'll leave the last word to Joey, who delighted and amused us with his French words and his inimitable, eternally impeccable voice:
"Incroyable, putain, merde! You've been beautiful, see you soon!
Dream Theater or the triumphant return of Mike Portnoy
for the band's 40th anniversary!
Photos : Eden Bisiot
The pit is invaded, the fans are there, feverish in front of the stage prepared for Dream Theater and feverish in front of the still-covered drums of their returning idol... You can feel the impatience of the crowd, stamping their feet, jostling to get to the front row. The bleachers are also more crowded this evening. We're expecting something big, and we already know we won't be disappointed, the quality and emotion will be there, it's obvious.
It's 8pm, and after the music of psychosis against a black background, we move on to an incredible cinematic sequence... Each cover appears chronologically and each key track from the album has been carefully re-orchestrated symphonically to blend in with the next, creating a smooth, polished whole, giving us the very history and essence of the band.
When the first musicians take to the stage, the audience is jubilant! The long-awaited comeback also provoked a great reaction. The drums are uncovered and the fans howl! Mike Portnoy arrives and the crowd goes wild!
We don't have to wait and we go straight into the first song, Night Terror. First the music, then the drums, then the singer, James Labrie, and the first song, and it's off, the fans go crazy, a big smile on their face and the voice that follows, what an immediate impact!
First solo and we know who we're with, we're not going to lie, we expected nothing less from the great Petrucci! There's no denying it, being in their presence is impressive! Technique like that can't be invented!
"Hello, how are you? Are you with us ?" says James.
They go on, and it's so good! The crowd is ecstatic and more numerous than ever, reacting as soon as Mike Portnoy gets up from his drum kit and treats us to some standing up as he knows so well how to do.
One song followed another, and the audience was in total trance! We might have known it beforehand, but Portnoy's drumming is insane - the biggest set-up of the fest! With the keyboard lighting up and spinning, they put on an incredible show and all the stagecraft goes into the instruments, which is only to be expected when you see how technical this band is, regularly slapping us in the face with the kind of mastery we love!
The songs are unique in their construction, complex and breathtaking. And it's the bassist, John Myung, who opens the next track with his hands roaming over his bass in a masterful slap. Petrucci's solos seem endless, and he swings his guitar with virtuoso ease. Poignant videos of soldiers' testimonies lead us into the next track, The Enemy Inside, set against a backdrop of war footage. We are clearly told about the soldiers' PTSD, and the audience is taken to the heart and soul. James tells us about the latest album, thanking us for the way it has been received and announcing Midnight Messiah.
Despite Dream Theater's reputation for calmness, the crowd were treated to some great circle pits that exploded in several parts of the pit. The set design is magical, even going as far as the lasers on As I Am.
It's time for the last song, Dancing In The Rain, and nobody has seen the time! We were out of time and space... a theatre of dreams. I'll always remember the unique atmosphere in the pit, and the audience's communion, totally enchanted by Dream Theater's unique and bewitching style!
It's 11.30pm and it's time for us to set off again, our heads in the clouds from this second day of celebrating, as Prince would say, ‘real music by real musicians’. We slowly make our way back to the hotel, bumping into the same crowd as a few moments ago, queuing at the merch or having a drink while discussing the day's concerts.
We have no desire to get back to the car, but tomorrow is going to be another long, beautiful day, and we can't wait to tell you all about it! So good night metalheads, and see you tomorrow for new adventures!
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