Rock En Seine - Give Glasto a miss in 2012!

I'll let you in to a little secret, nothing sordid honest, but when I'm not availing myself of the delights of Dundee [I'm told there are at least two, although if anyone can let me know where they are It would be greatly welcomed] I spend my time in and around, and please don't blame me, Leeds. So where did I spend my bank-holiday weekend? It's obvious really. Paris.

Yes, Rock en Seine is over for another year and as I write this I'm winging my way [as much as anyone can 'wing' on the East-Coast national rail train] back towards the warm [cold], loving [hating] arms [fists] of Scotland after a weekend of great music in the French capital. I'm tired. I'm somewhere near Berwick upon Tweed. But here is my diary of Rock en Seine 2011.

Continuing my path of crushing, if slightly boring, honesty I have to let you know that I didn't really tackle this festival head on like I have in the past. I stayed in a hotel, I had frequent and warm showers and I even visited that giant pointy tower thing every one talks about. It's an odd way to attack the whole festival experience and while being completely free of mud is nothing short of fantastic, I have to say I kind of missed out on the whole being cripplingly uncomfortable in a tent. Perverse? Maybe, but it’s true.

Friday musical treats started with a taste of shortbread, sorry Scotland, as Biffy Clyro kicked of the festival in style. Strewn in skin tight purple trousers the group brought out the sun and played a quick set mainly comprised of songs of off latest album ‘Only Revolutions’. However, the personal highlight for me was when the group went further into their back catalogue with ‘Whose Got A Match’ and a track off ‘Infinity Land.’

I spent the majority of next hour wondering why, despite how enjoyable their music was, I didn't recognise any of Wolf Gang's music. The reason? They were Wolf Gang and not the band Phoenix, makers of the album ‘Wolfgang Amadeus.’ Admittedly that one was my bad. But Wolf Gang’s music was fun, if a bit 80’ for my taste. However thy passed the time till…

The Kills. Who killed. Who for an hour were a non-stop storm of crashing guitars and incredible Alison Mosshart vocals and who were, for me, the pinnacle of the festival. They had been a band I'd wanted to see for the longest time and didn't disappoint in the slightest.

The Foo Fighters headlined the main stage  on Friday night and played a set that, if it was there greatest hits album, you would buy without question. All the way from an insane and incredible version of "Monkey Wrench" [which saw Dave Grohl 'chill' out during the middle of the song, bringing the house lights down all the way to pitch black before that famous scream tore across the Parisian night] and "All My Life" to tracks from their latest album "Wasting Light". It was nigh-on two hours of hit after hit, anthem after anthem. There are headliners and then there are HEADLINERS. Foo Fighters were the latter and as the last few chords of "Ever long" rang out there was no need for an encore: you couldn't have wanted any more.

Saturday was disappointingly and frequently interrupted by rain and by the time Interpol took to the main stage it appeared that the crowd might not warm to the band's brand of melancholia. But, and this has baffled me every time I've seen Interpol, people really want to shake their derrières to the New York depress-rock [not a real thing] group. It also strikes me at this juncture that more bands should wear suits. A suited band is a good band. This may also be the only like between Interpol and Ska-jokers [maybe not a thing] Madness.

If there were people doing anything else other than watching Arctic Monkeys when they headlined the main stage on Saturday then I'd be shocked. I haven't properly listened to an Arctic Monkey record since, I think, their debut way back when [though a coach ride from London to Paris gave me chance to change that]. So a set that drew heavily from albums 2, 3 and their latest "Suck it and See" wasn't perhaps ideal for myself, but I have to admit, while I would have liked for them to have played more 'classic' stuff, their new material is musically a hell of a lot better, if lyrically a bit dodgy, so there was plenty to enjoy. Their headlining set ran shorter than the Foo's but was packed full to the brim, only letting the crowd room to breathe with the final song of the night "505." It took me a while but they won me over, which was a pleasant feeling to have at the end of the night.

Sunday's varied, random and overlapping line-up shone a light on one of the main problems that I had with Rock en Seine. Although it was a very nice, if tiring, problem to have. We spent most of the day jumping between acts, running up and down the length and breadth of the festival. The Vaccines were a fine cure [see what I did there?] to a late night and early start, then as the group played their final song we headed to see Cat's Eyes, latest band from Horror's front man. Sound problems on the smallest stage hampered my enjoyment of the new group which is a shame, but there were three more stages to enjoy so that's exactly what we did. However, enjoyment is not what we found. I don't want to hate on any band, because I am only one man and my opinion is one in a ocean of both love and hate, but we saw the end A Simple Plan's set and not only were they God-awful, playing horrible sub-Blink 182 music and murdering Cee-Lo Green songs, but the lead-singer had the audacity to do all this while wearing a Joy Division t-shirt. Am I a snob? Yes. Do I care? No. They were terrible.

My Chemical Romance were up next and while not anywhere close to my cup of tea I'm reliably told by the person I went with that they were "great", so that's all that matters in the end, right? I know I'm a hypocrite but neither of us liked A Simple Plan, OK? Tired from headlining my hometown and Reading festival over the same weekend, MCR played a short [wrapping up at the 40 min mark] set that stuck to their singles and tracks from their latest album, "Danger Days."

So what to make of Rock en Seine, and should you go next year? Overall, Rock en Seine is a great small festival and perfect for those who want the outdoor music experience but might not want to camp or have the camping experience. Get ready for long queues to get into the festival however, as more so than most festivals there are a lot of people travelling in and out of the venue every day. Public transport around the festival is excellent though, and this is to be expected. It gets busy at peak times so be warned. They say a change is as good as a rest so when Glastonbury takes a break next year why not try something new and try Rock en Seine.

Daniel Raper