Les  Eurockeennes De Belfort - Part Two

PHOTO: ATARI TEENAGE RIOT
BY SIMON PILLARD

As the name implies, this festival does occasionally feel the need to get down and dirty with some heavy riffing - and today saw the Rock firmly planted into the line up.

With the sun shining and the temperature comfortably hot, The Plage stage served as the ideal setting for the Nick Oliveri featuring Kyuss Lives! With heavy, stoner-rock riffs being served up nice and steadily, it served as being the first head-bang-encouraging session of the weekend.

However, it wouldn’t be long before the rock die-hards had the opportunity to find another, as Motorhead graced the mainstage soon after. The Lemmy-led led trio have undoubtedly etched themselves into the annuals of time as being classic rock ‘n’ roll hellraisers, and this evening they fired out a series of fiercly riffing tunes, ending on their most famous song, 'Ace of Spades'.

Today isn't all about the rock: House of Pain remind us just how many times their songs have been cut up and sampled into global smashes, proving themselves a thoroughly underrated ensemble. Predictably, the alternative club anthem ‘Jump around’ encouraged those in the audience to comply with their request.

After this, the festival's undisputed headliners Queens of The Stone Age rolled out a set that began with the stomping ‘The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret’, soothed with ‘Make it with chu’ and raged with ‘First it Giveth’ - all of which have been firmly etched into the minds of a generation by this hardworking and equally hard rocking group.

The night drew to a close with a good sized crowd turning out for the abrasively noisy Atari Teenage Riot.