the festival at a turning point in its history?

Ben Barbaud also hinted at this on Sunday, when he gave an initial assessment. “I wouldn’t say no to having a Muse, a Placebo or a Green Day in the next lineup. On the other hand, Taylor Swift, that’s a no.”

The founder and boss of Hellfest has clearly changed his mind since in 2017, at the same place and at the same time, he declared: “I was asked if Muse, Foo Fighters or Coldplay were going to come. We will never go that far.”

Seven years later, the Foo Fighters closed the festival on Sunday with a show that lasted almost two hours, full of energy and generosity. “We’re an old band,” Dave Grohl said with a bit of mischief. “Some of you don’t know us, but you can sing along,” before going on to perform hits that have been listened to tens, hundreds of thousands, or even a billion times (Everlong).

It was the last day of a long weekend that began on Thursday afternoon and the succession of more or less 180 bands on six stages. With ups and downs. Pluses and minuses. As always. Everyone will do their sums, but it’s still difficult not to recognize that Hellfest remains a rare experience for any rock fan in general. The headliners kept their promises. Avenged Sevenfold on Friday, Machine Head on Friday, Metallica on Saturday and therefore Foo Fighters on Sunday, largely lived up to what their fans expected of them. Metallica, who were returning to Clisson after a highly anticipated first visit in 2022 (“This year, they were the ones who called me to come,” Barbaud said), did the job. A solid, massive performance with no surprises, except for this equally improbable and massacred cover of “L’aventurier” by Indochine.

Reprises

In this deluge of concerts, we can mention that of Tom Morello. Unlike his Californian compatriots, the former guitarist of Rage Against The Machine had the good taste to cover a few songs from the group that made him world famous. The instrumental “Killing in the name” sung in unison by the entire audience, will remain a highlight of this edition. And since we are talking about covers, that of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys, played on the electric banjo by New Yorkers Show me the body, was a rare moment of rage and pure energy.

Why not post-punk?

But let’s get back to this “mainstream” rock that the festival seems to want to rely on to last.

It must be said that in a world where the majority musical genre is rap, rock is holding its own, but is aging. For a good ten years, Hellfest has been wondering who will be able to take over from the legends it has been programming since its beginnings: Kiss, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept, Slayer, Motley Crüe, Iron Maiden are retired or close to retiring. In 2022, by convincing Metallica to travel to Clisson, it added the last big name (apart from AC/DC) that was missing from its collection of legends. But then? Muse? Green Day? And why not the new wave of post-punk (Idles, Fontaines DC, Viagra Boys, Yard Act, The Murder Capital, Shame, Squid, Amyl and the Sniffers, etc.)?

One thing is for sure, this first foray into the world of “mainstream rock” has already significantly changed the festival and its audience. The metal geeks who made up the bulk of the troops ten years ago are now less conspicuous. The happy tourists who have come to have fun in the land of metal are a little more so.

This is probably the price to pay for this festival to last for a long time.

In the meantime, you will have to pay 339 euros on Tuesday, July 9, to get a 4-day pass for the 2025 edition. With perseverance and a good internet connection.