Last night, the sounds of guitars and drums invaded the arenas! 13 years after their failed joint concert, The Offspring and Simple Plan were finally able to share the stage of the Nîmes festival.
There were many waiting at the gates of the arenas last night. Pink hair, tour t-shirts or even sneakers and Doc Marteens so you can dance in puddles of beer without worry: no doubt, the programming of the Nîmes festival was resolutely rock – perhaps one could even say punk. The double bill Simple Plan / The Offspring, which was already supposed to take place 13 years ago in these same arenas, was finally able to share a stage to the greatest pleasure of the spectators.
It’s the Canadians Simple Plan who open the ball, against a backdrop of the theme of the Star Wars film: if their entrance is noticed, the group is not at their first prank! Stringing together more or less recent hits, they slipped in a few surprises here and there for the public: a medley of covers including Sk8ter Boy by Avril Lavigne (who will perform in a few days on this same stage) or even All star of Smash Mouth , which we know better as the intro to the film Shrek, but also an army of Scooby-Doo, the famous detective dog, which amused artists and the public.
“Tabernacle, the weather is nice here, it feels like Summer Paradise !”, says singer Pierre Bouvier before launching the title of the same name… and giant beach balls into the crowd who will have fun bouncing them for a few songs.
Then arrives The Offspring, headliner of the evening. They also perform their most famous songs, and the audience is very reactive: pogotes, headbangs and horns up all the time. It must be said that everyone, audience and artists, give their all, and mutually appreciate the efforts made. Dexter Holland, the lead singer, will lose his voice a little at the end of the concert, but remains delighted.
With his sidekick Doug Thompson, they never stop commenting on the pleasure they have of returning to the arenas, and of meeting the Nîmes public again: “What’s happening tonight, with the people here, is the best thing that has happened in the entire history of popular music and rock’n’roll! It doesn’t look like we have a Wednesday night audience in front of us!“. Or : “In its 2000 years of existence, this place has never had a better audience than you!”
They will even launch a shouting contest with the public, who obviously had a blast, just like when they had to repeat the “fuck you” sung in various and varied ways by Doug Thompson.
Everyone leaves delighted, sometimes drenched in sweat and/or beer thrown into the audience in the form of glass throwing… with a little thought all the same for those who will clean up today the thousands of multicolored confetti projected during the concerts .
