Day 1
4pm.
I circle around looking for parking C while the 5 stages of Dour Festival are already filled with music lovers from all over the world.
First steps in what they call “La Plaine” (The Field) and two things directly come up to my mind: “it’s hot!” and “cute girls everywhere”!
I run and try to catch the last moments of Bony King of Nowhere’s show. I get backstage, take a quick picture of him and go back wander around in “La Plaine”, enjoying the weather and the unknown but awesome music coming out of “The Magic Tent”, one of Dour’s 5 stages (5 stages on Thursday and 6 stages for the other days).
Today’s line-up is full of reggae/ska/French music. I decide to go see Fatals Picards playing on the main stage (Last Arena), a French ska/reggae/punk band who represented France at 2007’s “Eurovision” contest (it’s like the World Series but for European Music). They’re definitely more of a “fun band” than anything else but the crowd seems to like it, especially the hardcore punks who jump and moshpit despite the sun. I go backstage, take a quick photo. The singer won’t look at me, he’s too busy complaining things that bothered him during the concert. I finally get a little bit of his attention and click, it’s in the box: nothing extraordinary but it’s better than nothing.
The next band on that same stage is called Saule Et Les Pleureurs, a band from.. here, right here actually. Their set is flat and repetitive. Because it’s a local band the crowd is relatively small though they all seem to know the lyrics by heart.
I leave the “Last Arena” and go back to The Magic Tent where Cocoon, a French folk band again, is playing a really cute and romantic set.
No time to take picture, I go back to the Last Arena where Tryo is about to take the stage. Tryo is, again, a French reggae band. They became famous 8 years ago with their tube “La Main Verte” (“The Green Hand”), a militant song about marijuana. The crowd is going wild, screaming their lungs out and even singing along on the most famous songs.
End of the set. The next band is American, from Philly. I don’t think I need to give you a detailed description of Santi White’s band: Santigold. She seems really motivated and plays with the crowd. Santi and her band play all the tubes from Lights Out to L.E.S. Artistes. It starts to rain but the crowd will not leave the open-air stage: Santigold is here to warm everybody. She leaves “La Plaine” after an energetic set.
1am. MSTRKRFT is about to go crazy in the Club Circuit Marquee. I get a little bit disappointed by their performance. It feels like I’m in a Webster Hall party (New York famous club in the East Village) more than a set of two of the most famous DJs in the world in one of the world’s biggest festivals. Too bad, I leave and wander around. La Plaine has turned into a big electronic party: MSTRKRFT here, Dr. Lektroluv there, some Drum’n’Bass here, some Dub there. The loud bass is resonating in my ears.
5am. It’s time to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a big day. What I’ll remember from today: the nice people, reggae is actually really cool in a festival like this, the beer is actually really good, the food is okay, lots lots lots of people, good music, good vibes!
Day 2
4PM. The sun is up and Walls of jericho are rocking the stage with the most energetic set I have seen in a long time. I run to the Dance Hall stage to get pictures of Starving and hang out with the band for a while until I realize that Sepultura is taking the stage in less than 5 minutes.
I run my ass off to the Last Arena to try to get a couple shots … Sepultura definitely knows how to drive the crowd insane, people are literally jumping and moshpitting to death.
I leave a little bit early to try to catch the last song of Au Revoir Simone but I get there way too late. I get backstage and find them and take a couple pictures before they go back to their dress room. No time to waste, two awesome bands are playing on two different stages: Dillinger Escape Plan and Does It Offend You, Yeah?, tough choice, but I decide to go to Dillinger Escape Plan. Superb set, from super-hardcore to super-psychedelic and back to super-hardcore. I go backstage and take a quick snapshot of them on the street then go straight to the Dance Hall to get a snapshot of the British band Does It Offend You, Yeah. Warm welcome from the York band, one of the guys kisses me on the hand and says “I love you”.
10pm. You think that time flies too fast? Well, try Dour Festival. Time is like a super-private jet. Already 10pm and I feel like I have been here for an hour at last! I kind of promised to myself I would not go see Killing Joke but I finally decide to check them out anyways and make my own opinion. Results: not for me. Jaz Colemand, Killing Joke’s lead singer looks like an undead and the music doesn’t take me anywhere. I take a couple shots and run off to Mercury Rev who are playing The Red Frequency Stage (second “main stage” of the festival). I hear “… And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead” on the way but time is not to waste, I have to run.
Jonathan, Grasshopper and his friends give a really heavy set that shake the whole festival and the sky too as it starts to pour on our heads. Jonathan faces the sky and asks for more rain: wishes granted, now the rain is pouring hard. Part of the crowd leaves but the hardcore fans are still here. I get backstage and take a snapshot of the band without Jonathan though, too tired and hungry to stay for a photo shoot.
Next step: Animal Collective playing in a tent next to the main stage (Club Circuit Marquee). I have a hard time getting into it, though I love their albums. I just can’t focus, too much going on at the same time. Again, I go backstage and take a quick snapshot, and then head to the main stage for a backstage picture of Vive la Fete, a famous Belgian electronic/rock’n’roll band; then switch to Shameboy, another Belgian DJ couple). It’s crowded like crazy and everybody’s going insane! Shameboy is playing at home, and we know it!
Last hour on “La Plaine”, a quick photo shoot with Digitalism is set up. They don’t seem to really like it but they play the game anyway. I take a couple shots and go back in the tent for 20 minutes and listen to their set. The rain is back. I decide to go back too.
Day 3
What can I say? Dour Festival is just that crazy thing you wish would last forever. Third day already and it feels like it just started, but that may be because I’ve been running between the 6 stages and definitely because I have had way too much fun!
I get there at 4.30pm and run my ass off to get Comeback Kid playing in the Magic Tent that has become the “hardcore stage” today with bands like All Shall Perish, Surge of Fury and Cro-Mags, so the crowd knows what they’ll get when they enter the tent.
The Canadian band link up their most famous songs with the underground ones, giving an eclectic set while The Gaslight Anthem is about to take the stage at the “Last Arena”. I get there pretty fast but they’re late anyway. They start 10 minutes later in front of… 100 people maybe?! It’s definitely not the kind of band that they like at Dour, I notice that 60% of the crowd for The Gaslight Anthem is either Flemish, Dutch or British.
I stay for two songs and then go back to Comeback Kid, get backstage, get a picture and go straight to La Petite Maison Dans la Prairie to see the amazing Brooklyn band O’Death, a mix between folk, country, goth and celtic music. The band is just awesome and even though the tent was pretty empty at the beginning it got packed and super energetic. I go backstage after they totally rocked the tent and get another awesome picture of them. Then I go to the Last Arena to see…..
IAM. What is IAM? IAM is one of the most successful hip-hop band in French speaking countries. The crowd is going insane screaming their guts out, and I found out that a lot of those people bought tickets (about $55 each) just for IAM.
8pm. The Dodos are about to take stage. They’re awesome as always, humble but efficient. The Dodos remind me how good it feels to just chill and listen to good music. They play mostly new songs from their album “Time To Die” (yet to be released) produced by Phil Ek, best known for working on the albums of The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill and Band of Horses.
Time now for some real fury: Dropkick Murphys are about to play on The Last Arena (capacity of about 20,000 people, just like Madison Square Garden). I get there way too late and the (small) frontstage is overcrowded but I try to get a couple shots anyway. Two minutes later I get thrown out and try to shoot from the crowd but it’s just too crazy in there. The crowd is definitely having a blast. I notice a lot of people wearing Dropkick Murphys shirts.
And then it’s time to go back to La Petite Maison Dans la Prairie for the incredible British band 65daysofstatic. I discovered them because of The Cure with whom they toured the US last year. Their set is totally insane, varying from techno to destroy rock’n’roll or just straight “dancing electronica”, 65daysofstatic is definitely a must see band. I notice my friend photographer Olivier from Vice Magazine getting backstage so I follow him and get a picture of the band in their locker room.
The next band is from England (again) and is one of the headliners of this festival: The Pet Shop Boys. Everybody (or not) knows them, one of the first electronic bands who have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. First surprise: they don’t want any photographers on the right side of the fronstage: Pet Shop Boys only want us to shoot from the left side. Why? I have no clue. It doesn’t matter: Neil Tenant, lead singer, and his two lady friends are wearing big masks. The beats are repetitive, there’s a big probability that Neil is not really singing (playback) and it’s raining. These are my three excuses to leave after two songs and catch a much better band from Sweden: I’m From Barcelona playing “La Petite Maison Dans la Prairie”. Even though the Pet Shop Boys are playing at the same time, the tent is packed and everybody is jumping and sings along with the band. To cut a long story short, I’m From Barcelona is a really effective band that make smile everyone an that’s good for a rainy Saturday night. No time to take pictures, I go straight to see Gojira, a very successful French metal band (have played with Metallica and others). They’re not like most metal bands I know, they’re more than that. Why? Cause they don’t take themselves too seriously, they’re here to play and have fun and that’s it. I go backstage and get a picture of them in a container (awesome). This will be my last backstage picture as I decided that Sunday was resting day.
Going back to your car is always fun at Dour Festival. In 10 minutes you see all kind of people, from fucked up people sleeping on the ground to young children having a blast with their parents, Dour Festival is probably the most eclectic festival in the world. It’s 6am now and it’s time to sleep. Good night.
