Written by:	Darkside Momo, Deadsoulman
Published:	November 27, 2010
Event:	Dagoba: Death Cruise Tour
Location:	Bikini, Toulouse, France
Galleries:	Dagoba - Benighted, Toulouse, 28/10/2010 by Moocher (15)

The Bikini, or one of the best venues in the world. At least, the best I've been to, with a pool (you can't enjoy it, but still), and a great, great sound.
About 500 persons answered the call of this brutal, French-metal-only night. And like Collin said "a few years ago, you couldn't dream about that for a bill with 100% of French bands". Indeed. Change has been for the best!
Forgive us for the scarcity of pictures, because the Metalstorm delegation was pretty busy doing, well, what people do at metal shows (listening to the music, drinking beers, chatting with friends?) while Moocher was still running around organizing the event.


<b>Dwail</b>

Momo: A metalcore band from Toulouse, who play here as much as they can; for example they opened for Gojira. And their stuff is really classical. Well played, with some good riffs and rythmics, but boring.
Sure, they gave all they got, were professional, everything, but... meh.

Collin: "Typical" metalcore is an easy recipe, and Dwail got it all: the dual angsty/clean vocals, the over-melodic At The Gates-rip-off riffs, the fat breakdowns scattered at thoughtful intervals (that is about 2 per song)... it was all there. But their set was actually ok. What is it that saved them? Enthusiasm, professionalism and tightness. For some reason you're much less eager to dismiss a band when they play tight and are obviously having fun onstage. All in all, a decent warm-up.




<b>Destinity</b>

Momo: Dunno why, but I didn't enjoy Destinity as much as I did two years ago, in a little bar (some pictures can be found here).
The set was good anyway, full of fury and energy, with an obnoxious, almost certainly drunk singer (Mick), who ranted about his hate of? well, I don't really remember .

Collin: Well, copy paste Momo's words about Destinity's set and you get my point of view as well. Except that I do remember what Destinity's singer was ranting about, and it's so stupid that I don't want to mention it. Anyhow, this was an energetic, pissed off show, but something just didn't click. Maybe it was those over-the-top rants that killed the flow, I don't know. What I do know is that I left the room about halfway through to go chat with a couple of friends and drink more beer.


<b>Benighted</b>

Momo: I was there for them, for sure ! I expected to get a big kick in the butt again, but not to that scale, really. It was not a "big" kick, it was an enormous, monstrous, god-sized one.
It was a non-stop orgy of violence, with crowdsurfers and people on stage - who, at first, got pushed off-stage by a security guy before Julien told him to stand aside - and a huge mosh pit below. It culminated with a really violent circle-pit that was as large as the scene, and it left the band awed and speechless (apart from those "vous êtes des putains de tarés", which translates as "you are some crazy motherfuckers"). And Eric (bass) played the last two songs off-stage, in the pit. Yeah!
Icing on the cake, they treated us with no less than three new songs, which came across as great as the others on stage, but even more technical, if that is possible.

Collin: Ah, Benighted... This band brings back fond memories from my insanest, most intensest concert experience ever. I've seen them a couple of times since that first encounter and while not as crazy they always delivered the goods, brutal style. This time was no different. A whirlwind of violence, a tornado of brutality, a big-ass tsunami of savagery that tore through the crowd and had people's brains and entrails splattered across the walls, roof, and other people, with circle pits and walls of death all over the place and people slamming and moshing like there was no tomorrow. The band, while playing as tight as ever, seemed to have been taken completely off guard by this display of violent fun and looked completely amazed the whole time, so much so that it took them some time to realize that some security dude, apparently not familiar with a Benighted show, tried to push back the innocent young fellows who tried to climb on stage. And amazed I was, too. A Benighted show is beyond words. It needs to be seen and felt.




<b>Dagoba</b>

Momo: How can one play after Benighted and win? If you ask me, or most old farts (guess I'm one), you just can't. Anyway, Dagoba did something great, powerful and the audience (the younger part, which was there for them) enjoyed it a lot.
And there was nothing to complain about. Technical, aggressive, catchy, it was. The band easily toyed with the audience too, and we even had another huge circle pit. Maybe a bit bigger than Benighted's, but less rough.
Anyway, I wasn't blown away. Had I been 10 years younger I would have enjoyed it immensely, but now? Let's either call this the 'Benighted drawback', or the 'Old-fart effect'.

Collin: The only problem I see with Dagoba's great show is that they played after Benighted wreaked havoc on Toulouse. Because you know, Dagoba actually did blast away the last few ruins that were still standing in the area. Dagoba live is heavy, relentless, powerful, incredibly catchy, tight as the proverbial duck's ass, with a great sound and charisma all around. They have more than enough great material to get the crowd crazy and most old songs feel like you've been sat on repeatedly by a dozen Shaquille O'Neals (but in a good way). It really, really was a fucking great show. But they played after Benighted.




Conclusion

Momo: Depends on whom you asked, but either Benighted or Dagoba owned the day. It's Benighted for me, no doubts about it.
Collin: Well, if you ask me, Benighted owns almost any band that ever dared step on a stage. Dagoba's awesome but really, Benighted.

Many thanks to Les Souffleurs de Têtes (Marge, Julien, Moocher, Guillaume, and all the others), both for the show and the accreditations!