Vitalic in concert at Accor Arena, Paris - March 12, 2022
My first gig of 2022! A quick summary of how it was.
Vitalic
Vita-who?
Alright, I don't expect everyone to know Vitalic, but if you're into Electronic music, then the name must ring a bell.
According to his Wikipedia page, "[Vitalic] is a French electronic music producer, whose career started in 1996, with the first EP Poney released in 2001".
And indeed, this concert in Paris was part of a tour celebrating "20 Years of Vitalic".
I discovered Vitalic quite late, in 2010, thanks to my friend Guitou.
His latest album back then was Flashmob, which was his 2nd album after OK Cowboy (3rd one if you count his live album V Live).
My Vitalic shows so far
I saw Vitalic 2 times:
- First at Paris Zénith (February 23, 2013), which was really awesome and I still have a lot of good memories from this show,
- Second time at L'Olympia (Paris) on March 23, 2017 . It was also a nice gig but I enjoyed it less than the Zenith one. i think it was mainly because of the venue, cause this was for Vitalic's Voyager album which I love, and I still remember enjoying some of those songs during the gig.
So overall a super nice experience so far with Vitalic in concert.
Vitalic 20 years career gig
Vitalic announced he would tour for his latest album(s) Dissidaence in 2021.
I was super happy and this was one of my wife's Christmas gift, even with the special laneyard:
Sadly the gig, who was supposed to happen in March 2021, got rescheduled to 2022 because of COVID.
Accor Arena
Accor Arena (or previously POPB - Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy) is an arena located on the east side of Paris, able to host concerts but also many other types of events (sports, ...).
I've seen a few gigs there, including Radiohead, Coldplay, Muse, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Moby, and more recently The Chemical Brothers.
So far my experience with this venue had ranged from honest to really awesome, so I wasn't really worried about Vitalic performing here.
The Gig
Before
Unlike the 2 previous Vitalic shows, where a few friends came with me, this time only one friend (Winni) could make it.
We met at a nearby brasserie and got some food before heading to the show. We skipped the supporting band.
Let's go!
We had standing tickets, which I find a lot more enjoyable for electro concerts, as you can move and dance. Plus I'm not that old yet! ;)
The stage was nicely made, with what appeared to be moving parts on each side - indeed during the show they would move up and down.
The show started with "Sirens" from Dissidaence part 2, which I took as a good sign as I like it a lot.
The "Bercy's Touch"
Very quickly, I realized that something was not right: the sound! I could barely recognize the songs!! :(
The sound was super loud, with a lot of bass, and muffled at the same time.
We had 2 encore and I still managed to enjoy the show, because hey after all, this is still Vitalic and I don't get to see him live every day!
Here are a few pics - not a lot as I focused on the show, and also not great because... well, it's a gig so a bit dark :)
After the show
I was a bit disappointed by this sound, and a quick search on the Internet and Twitter did indeed return comparable feelings from music fans, who got upset by the Accor Arena sound system.
Which I find weird, as I saw The Chemical Brothers in 2019, and the sound was just fine!
Wrap Up
Not really a great experience, but that won't prevent me from seeing Vitalic again as soon as possible.
This blog post was in my draft for a while (the gig was in March '22, and I am
publishing it just now, in August '22), because I was not sure whether I wanted
to post it or not.
I decided to do it, mainly for me, to remind me of my past gigs when browsing my
blog articles.
Also, I just bought my ticket for the next Archive's gig in... Bercy :)
It was supposed to be in November, but sadly Darius Keeler, Archive's leader, was diagnosed with cancer recently, got surgery which went well, but obviously cannot tour for a moment, so we'll have to wait 2023 - but I bet that it will be even better!
Then I'll be able to confirm whether this bad experience with Vitalic at Bercy was just an isolated case, or whether that's just the way Bercy is.
Tags: Music