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ELITE DARK METAL EVENING
Agalloch + Alcest (20th of March Brasov, 21st of March Bucharest - 2010)

 

I’m glad to see that people wrote and are still writing about Elite Dark Metal Evening…  some of them in a subjective way, other less… the opinions are of all kind, from superlative to acid critics… some had seen the bands for the first time, others listened to them in exclusivity… some came to see if the bands’ live sound is identical with the one from the albums, others to count the musicians’ mistakes… some to enjoy the created atmosphere, others to get to talk to their friends and also the bands… some came for AGALLOCH and left fascinated by ALCEST, others came to see how this new wave of Shoegaze Metal is to be assimilated and left with the impression that such sonorities are best listened at home, or the bands don’t  provide the same feeling live, this leaving possible marks of disappointment… therefore, after all, I can say that ELITE DARK METAL EVENING gathered, in 2 evenings, more than 1000 attendants! A great deal for these times… and for 2 bands which could be classified as anything but mainstream! And the interest of this Special Evening composed of 2 parts was incredibly great, if I am about to look how many YouTube posts exist, but also the large number of views!

Let me tell you some details which lead to me think they would capture your interest. Both bands were eager to play in Romania, to walk up on stage together and to greet the public in the most sincere and friendly way! Things which happened at the end ! Both bands were quite nervous in this Special Evening, each of them having their own personal reasons: the ones from AGALLOCH haven’t played for over 6 months and had no chance to rehearse together all this time, because each of them lives in towns not quite close to each other… Ever more, the Americans can’t really brag with too many yearly concerts, AGALLOCH being considered a studio band! And the commotion of playing in the First Part in a theatre hall in front of an atypical audience was obvious when I’ve met them in Romania. ALCEST was about to go on stage for the first time in history and the honor of playing for the first time with AGALLOCH made NEIGE  anything but talkative, if not stressed!

But still, at Brasov, AGALLOCH offered an immaculate concert! Starting with the long intro of approx. 15 minutes, followed by that “healing” ritual and to “The Lodge (dismantled)”, the song when the guitarists threw themselves on Reduta’s stage in the most dramatic way… everything sounded perfect! Contrary to the fact that the Americans’ videos couldn’t be used, the background scenery resonated perfectly with what AGALLOCH wanted to express!  The 2 hours of Dark Metal are going to remain splendid memories for the public, but also for the organizers and the band… including ALCEST, who sat in the first row of the theatre’s hall. Its hard to find words to describe what kind of pressure and rumble was felt behind my back, me being in the first row, when, during “Not Unlike The Waves”, the public stood up from the comfortable chairs and started moshing in the most Metal way possible! I wouldn’t have been surprised to see some chairs flying around… obviously, the idea was rather appealing to me, but it’s better that nothing similar happened… “Bloodbirds” was the song which really succeeded in entirely detaching me from everything happening that night, the guitar solos outlining me a levitation I’ve never experienced at a Metal concert! Thank you, AGALLOCH, you were ravishing! After the concert, the Americans were assaulted by the audience, with whom they talked a couple of hours, including the time spent in Musik Café… sadly for them and also for us, we had to end everything somewhere around midnight, because the second day has the same importance!

At Bucharest, at the announced hour, Costin pushed the play button for NIGHTPRAY new album’s audition… there was a certain confusion among the public, especially among the ones who haven’t read the specific press releases, maybe it was our fault that we haven’t thought about posting on the monitors that “Dreamocracy” was being played, but, even so, I’ve seen many people who seemed interested in those sonorities! Especially because the album is 40 minutes long, the last song being more dynamic and, implicitly, liked after a superficial audition!

At 19:15, ALCEST went on stage… and totally rocked! By far, it was the evening’s revelation! The 60 minutes interpreted by the 4 French won’t be forgotten too easily! With a Silver Church buzzing with people, with 2 chandeliers required by ALCEST and heavy blue lights, enveloped in a smoke controlled by the bassist Fursy, the mysterious ALCEST concept discovered its identity! And it was heavenly, dreamy, melancholic… but also energetic, especially the passages where Neige’s growls exploded!  The songs’ combination from both albums was extremely inspired and the audience was unexpectedly receptive starting with the first song! Even though an encore was ardently asked, Neige told me backstage that that was it. I saw on his face tension together with satisfaction, his first step under the highlights of ALCEST’S banner being an indisputable success!

AGALLOCH hadn’t been offered that perfect sound on the first 2 songs, because technical issues occurred and the musicians didn’t hear their instruments in the monitors… From this, a little irritation, too much nervousness and a couple of misfires in execution, unavoidable live but wished by no one! Despite those small lacks of synchronizations during the first songs, the Americans held a long concert, longer than I initially expected, they had an explosive encore, with a new, more dramatic and more vivid performance of “The Lodge”, ending with the throwing of guitar strings and picks, including Aesop’s drumsticks into the audience! The communication with the fans was outstanding, the ones from the first rows fully enjoying the approx. 10 minutes of noisy craze… the sad thing was for the ones from the back, who didn’t see much of it and probably didn’t get to understand too much, especially when the band were horizontally on stage, killing their instruments ! But for the next similar concerts we’ve already found the solution, so we will be able to project on screens everything happening on stage!

The band finished their recital, left accompanied by the fans’ cheers, most of the public headed towards the wardrobe and exit, our sound technician put music in the background… and still, in front of the stage there was a huge mass of fans that refused to leave, yelling and acclaiming: AGALLOCH, AGALLOCH! I held a short discussion with John and this time we agreed on the spot for another song (at Brasov they didn’t even want to hear about another come back), so the 4 returned on stage, this time with ALCEST, thanking everyone for this beautiful Special Evening ! Suddenly, the public heading to the exit was seen returning, everyone being pleasantly surprised by the artists’ will, friendship and a marvelous evening’s satisfaction! They played “Of Stone, Wind and Pillar”, song which put an end to the bands’ recital from the 21st of March… An autograph session followed, photos, discussions (a little bit stiff at first because rows of people willing to speak to the artists was formed) and then free dialogues in the whole room, the Special Evening ending somewhere around after midnight.

For the bands, the trip to Romania was an unique experience! For the fans who came from the outside, as well… for the larger part of local attendees, it was a Special Evening where it was easy to see that the underground spirit continues to triumph, unconditional! For the ones who couldn’t be convinced now, but attended the event, all my thanks, and I hope that in October, at Labyrinthic Metal Evening, DonisArt will live up to their expectations!

...underground will never die!