Stelele Rock-ului Romanesc, Arenele Romane, 16.04.16

This Saturday was a good day to be a fan of Romanian rock and metal, as the „stars” of the genre gathered to Arenele Romane to entertain the fans and prove once again that Romanian rock is not dead (it’s cute that from time to time a group of artists and/or promoters feels the need to do that, even though we all clearly know it’s not dead, judging by concert attendance in general). Anyway, I’m not complaining, the more the better.

If the first edition focused mostly on the legends of Romanian rock, this one trodded to more contemporary territories (sort of, I keep counting them as young bands, but the truth is Altar celebrated 25 years on Saturday, complete with Happy birthday and all, Negura Bunget have been around around for 22 years and Bucovina and Luna Amara are going on 17) and it was an awesome mix of genres, going from alternative rock with a jazzy touch, through death metal, hardcore, heavy metal, folk metal and ending with black metal. Seeing how all the bands were received so warmly, even though they were so eclectic, was lovely to witness and it was a very nice demonstration of respect and open-mindness.

What was also awesome was that there were none of the regular 30-45 minutes breaks between bands, it was a marathon of good music, with pauses of only 5-10 minutes and some bantering from Cristian Hrubaru (the annoying speaking host that kept trying to „warm us up” even though the bands were doing just fine on their own).

Trooper (the non-annoying singing hosts) opened up the show, in a nice display of modesty. I expected their ego to get in the way of being the opening band, but I guess I judged them too harshly. It was a good way to get the party started, seeing how they were probably the most popular band of the bunch and also very lively and enthusiastic. They played a couple of songs, came back before every band to play a few more songs and closed the show, as it was proper for the hosts. I’ve had some ups and downs with the band because certain promotion-related decisions they made in the past, but the other night reminded me their music is still pretty kick-ass. The only less than fortunate exception was when they decided to shoot a live video for the most boring and cheesy ballad ever. They tried hard to make us wave our arms and sing along, but got a half-assed response from the audience, which I’m willing to bet was more out of respect for the filming of the video than out of genuine enthusiasm.

Luna Amara was the first band to play a proper setlist and even though the excitement from the audience could’ve been higher, I was very happy to see them. I love Luna Amara ever since I was a teenager and of course I never attended one of their concerts before because of the silly „we have them here, we can see them anytime we want” mentality that actually made me never see a tons of local bands I love. It was a short recital, of only about 30 minutes (like all the others, for that matter) and I was dying to hear Gri Dorian (which I didn’t), but it was still nice.

Truda and Altar both got a very spirited welcome and I noticed a lot of people going to the front rows especially for these two shows, I got the impression they were very loved. Both bands, although pretty different in style, were pretty similar in message and they fit the Romanian theme very well with their brutally honest protest messages (we are a nation that loves to criticise the system!). They made up the more aggressive pair of the evening, with two very engaging and full of energy shows.

On a side note, I loved the way the bands were combined –  on one side you had Truda and Altar with their pissed off messages about the church, workaholics, stupidity and lack of culture (to name just a few), who clearly love their country, but also seek to change it and have a „tough love” attitude. On the other side you had Trooper, with their concept album about Vlad Tepes and his history and Bucovina and Negura Bunget, who embrace Romanian folklore and sing about mountains, forests and old fantasy tales. I found it a very nice touch to tie the bands together thematically, even though the genres and way of expressing the theme of national love were so different.Then came my love Bucovina, who again tried to make a giant wall of death and a giant mosh pit, but this time there were a lot of parents with their kids, so the reaction was a bit more gentle than at the previous show.  I was saying before that Trooper was the most popular band of the bunch, but judging by the random „Mestecanis” yells on the hallway and the Bu-co-vi-na chanting before their recital, I dare say Bucovina was the most anticipated one. The sound was a bit off during the first song, but they recovered quickly and my/our expectations weren’t deceived, as they were awesome as always. The sad part was that even though all bands had pretty much the same amount of time, Bucovina’s show felt shorter than the rest (probably because the better the moment, the faster it passes).

Negura Bunget were the only ones I didn’t care about all that much, but on some level I was hoping that maybe a live experience will make me understand their charm. It didn’t. All the tracks sounded like a perpetual intro, like the actual song is supposed start any second now, but instead it dragged on and on and then ended. I guess it’s the genre’s problem, I just can’t get into it. It didn’t really help that everyone looked very miserable during their show. I’m sure a lot of people enjoyed it, Negura Bunget is a very appreciated band, but the thing is you couldn’t tell who was enjoying it and who was bored to tears like myself. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think that this kind of apathy is what good music is supposed to produce.

The show fittingly ended with what is considered the founder of Romanian rock, the father of Phoenix, Nicu Covaci. Covaci is a polarising character that has been through all sorts of disappointing scandals in the past few years and who tarnished his legacy a lot, but despite it, no one can forget or deny that legacy. And the second he started singing In umbra marelui urs with that ragged voice of his and everyone joined him in singing, it was clear that he can do and say anything he wants as long as he’s responsible for that beautiful music. I have a soft spot for Phoenix in my heart, it’s one of the bands I feel most connected to, and it’s a joy any time I get to hear their songs played. The last song was another classic, Nunta, were Alin from Trooper took over (considering Covaci could barely speak from the hoarseness, let alone sing properly) and invited all the other bands to join them on stage. I will pretend I didn’t notice Luna Amara was again the Cinderella of the show and didn’t even get called back on stage…

Anyway, it was a beautiful celebration of both our nationality and our favourite music, very discreet (no matter how much Hrubaru tried to make it otherwise) and very warm and friendly. Tons of friends reconnecting with one another, families with young kids on their parents’ shoulders, the bands demonstrating respect and closeness to one another, very good music and a generally relaxed and positive atmosphere. It was a very pleasant evening and I appreciated both the concept and the execution, there’s really nothing I can complain about.