Written by:	Darkside Momo
Published:	May 25, 2010
Event:	The Never Ending Tour Of Orphaned Land
Location:	Le Ferrailleur, Nantes, France
Galleries:	Orphaned Land in Nantes, 15 May 2010 by Darkside Momo (23) Orphaned Land In Paris, 14 May 2010 by Darkside Momo (17)

Orphaned Land? It's been five years since they last toured in France (well, with the exception of the first Hellfest, in 2006), and damn we certainly missed them!
Considering that this is their very first headliner tour in these parts, and that The Neverending Way Of ORWarrior is such a great album, I couldn't resist the opportunity and thus managed to attend not one, but two of their shows: Paris (14th of May) and Nantes (15th of May).


The venues

Both were little clubs, with a welcoming capacity of about 400 people.
Let's say it: I preferred the Ferrailleur in Nantes. The venue is more welcoming, the drinks are far cheaper and with a wider choice (quality and price of booze SURE is an important factor ), and the sound was better. Oh, it wasn't bad in Paris, far from it, but it was just clearer in Nantes.


The audience

Both venues were sold-out (Paris before the show, and Nantes during the evening), so the audience was packed, hot, and ready to party. And it showed: all three bands received a warm welcome, and the crowds often sang and globally reacted very well.


Arkan

Openers Arkan are a French/Algerian band, led by Foued Moukid, ex-drummer of The Old Dead Tree. They play some oriental metal (and Sarah, the female guest vocalist, was there during all the tour), and were invited by Orphaned Land themselves, as the bands already knew each other.
So, it was a pretty sure guess that their music would please Orphaned Land's fans. And it did! But the band didn't act as if everything was already won - even if they were on their home turf in Paris. Far from it: they gave all they had, were pretty active on stage, always interacting with the audience? So it worked, and they left happy smiles in their wake.
A promising band, powerful and nice.




Suidakra

Then came Suidakra. Some more metal with folk touches, but with a different background (more celtic in this case).
Well? They do sound a bit generic, but that didn't prevent them to be enjoyable. Or, at the very least, they didn't let the audience down, as the front rows kept shouting, and moshed a bit too. In fact, the singer asked for a circle pit during one song, and in Nantes said circle pit started even before the song began. The band was so surprised and pleased by the overall great reaction of the crowd that the Arkadius Antonik (vocals) said that Nantes was one of the best crowd of the tour?




Orphaned Land

And now, the band we were all waiting for. First thing to say, Schlomit Levi wasn't touring with Orphaned Land this time, so her voice was replaced by the album's samples. And yes, it's important, with "Sapari" for example?
Anyway, the band was happy to play, for sure, but none showed it more plainly than Yossi Saharon, who was continuously smiling, even when he had those technical problems (more on that just below). Kobi Farhi, with his simple white dress, always said "I am not Jesus Christ, my name's Kobi". Of course everyone cheered. And the others might not be as demonstrative - Matan Shmuely, the drummer, excepted - but they were totally in the show.
And the audiences, of course, went nuts, singing, jumping, shouting, whether in Paris or Nantes. Well, maybe in Nantes they were a bit more crazy.



So, I spoke of technical difficulties, above. The Paris show went smoothly, without incident. Nantes was another matter. First, the computer which played the samples had a bug. So the band had to re-boot it, just after "Birth Of The Three". Not wanting to wait for a few minutes for the PC to be operational again, the band started to play "Sapari". And this version, without samples, with only Kobi (well, without the samples, but with the crowd for sure), was way better than the normal one I heard the day before in Paris.
Then the show went on? until "M I?", when Yossi's guitar sound just went 'poof' and disappeared. No more sound? Well the crowd reacted almost instantly and sung the guitar line! So Yossi's short look of dismay was quickly changing to a smile of surprise and happiness.
After this song, Kobi told us that we would have to sing if there were any more problems? There were. During "The Warrior" solos. Well we did try to sing, but if you've listened to the song, you know it was difficult?
After that, we had a drum solo, while the defective material (an amp or a simple jack, I don't know) was changed, and everything went smoothly again.



Just a short word about Nantes' ending: as it was the last date of the tour, Orphaned Land invited all the other bands' members so sing and jump with them (and us) on "Norra El Norra". One hell of a party it was!




Orphaned Land's setlist

My biggest (and only) problem lies with the setlist. Why on earth did they play "Barakah" then stopped, leaving us without the great "Codeword: Uprising"? Come on?

Anyway, this was the setlist in Paris (I'm not totally sure of the order):



Due to the computer bug, "Sapari" was played 2nd in Nantes. Also, they didn't play "Seasons Unite", but instead we were granted with a nice drum solo. In Paris, "El Meod Na'Ala" and "Seasons Unite" were dedicated to Philippe and Séverine of Holy Records, Orphaned Land's first record label.
And it seems we didn't have the whole set, as "Like Fire To Water" and "From Broken Vessels" were played on earlier shows? Damn! The reason is sad but simple: given the cold and rainy weather holding sway over France this week, Kobi got a little cold and had to be careful with his voice.


Conclusion

Every article needs one, but you probably see it coming anyway?
Let it be said and written, then: Orphaned Land live ROCKS, so next time you have the opportunity to see them play live, just go and enjoy!
Understood?



Many, many thanks to Miriam for the accreditations and for her kindness and help too!

Extra special thanks to Wrathchild and Sylvain too!

Cheers to everyone I met and chatted with during these two shows, including (but not limited to): Ana, Christophe, Collin, Jeff, Nathalie and the Orphaned Disciples, Otto, Syl, White Winter Sun? And of course thanks to the bands for the great shows!