Last weekend I visited Arras, France to attend the Main Square Festival. I was able to catch M, Gomez, Ben Harper and Pearl Jam. M was a terrible French band for a lame type of hipster. Not recommended.
Gomez was surprisingly good. The band really tried to get the crowd going, and introduce the French crowd to their music (even though I read they have been around since 1996!). As much as they tried, they were not too succesful as the crowd was atypical of a concert crowd… Maybe too mellow? In any case, some people did recognize their hit song “How We Operate” and sang along. All and all, I thought they were a solid act. See below below for a picture from my phone:
Then we saw Ben Harper! What a great show! I had not seen Ben Harper before, but he did really well. He performed mostly newer stuff, with a bluesy feel to it. I was hoping for some of his work with the Blind Boys of Alabama, but it was great nonetheless.
Finally, we saw Pearl Jam! I have seen them before in NYC, but not in Europe. They performed mostly from their new album, and a series of greatest hits songs including Porch, Black, Alive and Jeremy. The set plus one encore was only 90 minutes, which seemed short for Pearl Jam. I noticed that they had their typical two encores at the Werchter Festival in Belgium the next day, so they may have been playing to French sensibilities… See some pictures below:
All and all a great show, and Arras was actually a nice looking town. I hope to catch more concerts soon!
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I didn’t expect this on a Wednesday. This really is a terrific history. Gives thanks!