From a critical perspective, Saturday at Rock En Seine proved to be something of a wash, as a hastily-organised jaunt into the centre of Paris with Mark and Paul Jenkins (from Fried My Little Brain and The Shaved Head) meant that I ended up seeing only two acts that day. Fortunately, they turned out to be pretty impressive.
The Offspring have a special place in my heart. I’d probably go as far as to say that Americana was the album that got me into rock music. Forty-five minutes before the band were due to come onstage, an enormous crowd was already forming, and as the Californian punks stepped out of the wings, a truly deafening roar went up.
Eager to prove that, even a quarter of a century after they formed, they haven’t lost it, the band powered through a set that ticked all the right boxes. While they brought out some tracks from their last album (Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace), the set paid due deference to their back-catalogue, particularly Americana- and Conspiracy Of One-era material. Classic Offspring anthems “Have You Ever?” and “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You” prompted a moshpit so lively that it caused a minor dust-storm, while the sardonic encore (“Self-Esteem”) hauled half the departing audience straight back into the pit.
The semi-acoustic slow jam of “Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?” didn’t seem to fit the vibe, and the show could perhaps have benefited from greater interaction between stage and audience. When you have 20,000 people’s rapt attention/complete devotion,the least you could do is chat to them a bit between songs. Strangely, the band requested not to be photographed, but after 25 years surely we can forgive them their little quirks? Theirs was a massively enjoyable set from true rock legends, and probably one of the absolute highlights of the festival.
I have never been a fan of Calvin Harris. Something about the song “Acceptable In The ’80s” offends me – it’s probably because I was born in 1990, so I feel like he’s just trying to exclude me. However, from what I saw of his Saturday night show on the Scène de la Cascade, the French are fans. Big fans, in fact.
With some flashing of our press passes, and a little bit of light blagging, we found our way backstage and ended up in the wings as Harris played. The vista from his side of the monitors was startling: thousands upon thousands of fans singing back every word, dancing like maniacs, and doing just exactly what he told them. My ears are still ringing from the screams that went up when the first bars of “Ready For The Weekend” rang out, and I doubt I’ll ever forget the view from that stage. Harris’ music may not fit my tastes exactly, but it’s hugely infectious and he’s a superb performer, who seems to genuinely enjoy doing what he does, and you can’t argue with that.
Marcus Kernohan is the founding editor of Stereokill. 
