What nicer way can there be for spending the first ‘over 20-degree Celsius’ weekend of the year than at a rock festival with a varied line up, cold drinks and lovely metalheads? Having taken place in the picturesque village of Bomal-sur-Ourthe, Durbuy Rock Festival was the perfect festival season opener.
Durbuy Rock Festival – Day 2
Saturday, 7 April 2018
FRACTAL UNIVERSE (FR) / DIRTY WOLFGANG (BE) / LETHVM (BE) / VANAHEIM (NL) / HEADCHARGER (FR) / GRIMNER (SW) / CELLAR DARLING (CH) / DEEPSHOW (BE) / MONOLORD (SW) / IGORRR (FR) / KADAVAR (DE) / ORANGE GOBLIN (UK) / ENSLAVED (NO) / AMENRA (BE) / ELUVEITIE (CH)
Second day started way earlier than the previous one but everything was perfect: Mr Sun was shining up there, happy faces everywhere, so at 11:45 I was already back to the fest ready to discover new bands and continue the ADVENTURE of concert photography (adventure = later in the day, got hit in the head by crowdsurfer’s legs and spilled water – I like to think it was indeed water – all over me and the camera) which I love more with every focus and click.
The indoor stage was the opener today and hosted considerably good quality progressive death metal, sludge, black and heavy metal adding up a selection of folk, Celtic and viking metal and even stoner doom. Also today I discovered a lot of bands that I did not know or just heard about.
Personal favourite from this category are the day openers, Fractal Universe. A progressive death metal band from France with two albums in their discography, they sound live absolutely incredible.
One of the acts I was most waiting for on the inside stage was Enslaved. They played three songs from their latest album E, and also from RIITIIR, Monumension, In Times and Isa. The sound was excellent with everything coming through well balanced and sharp (unfortunately can’t say the same about the pictures because I have to admit the lightning was quite poor).
The outside stage offered a good selection of stoner, grind metal and pagan-folk metal, although the opening band Dirty Wolfang was a delicious mix of blues, rock, stoner, heavy progressive, gypsy punk and Nudeath ‘n roll. A funny band, offered quite an exclusive show.
One of the most uncommon appearances I have ever seen, Igorr, is a four member band – one female singer, a male singer, a DJ and a drummer – that plays a crazy mix of drum’n’bass, folk, opera, black and death metal. If I would have to define weird I would say Igorrr but if that is your thing you might wanna check them out.
Favourite acts from this stage were for me Orange Goblin (even given the above-mentioned incidents), Grimner and Vanaheim.
The band everyone waited for, Eluveitie, ended the 22nd edition of Durbuy Rock Festival. Despite having started with some technical difficulties, the show went on and the band performed a memorable act with songs like “Your Gaulish War”, “King”, “Nil”, “Omnos” and “The Call of the Mountains”. The crowd begged for encores and they got spoiled with the best songs that could be, “Inis Mona” and “Rebirth”, as they cheered their hearts out.
Final Thoughts
Durbuy Rock Festival, thank you for having me. Small but cozy, this festival was a great experience; it was a pleasure to be there, I had a lot of fun and met extraordinary people. Organization is also very in-place with regards to all I can think of (maybe only the outside stage pit space could be a bit bigger). I am looking forward to meet again at the next edition!
