Sweat. Lots of sweat. On the verge of fainting from the heat and the stuffy atmosphere. And all that for I don’t know how many hours before Dolores entered the stage. There was waiting outside the venue, there was waiting inside, there was waiting for the support acts to finish and vanish off stage. And when Dolores O’Riordan appeared the sweating kept coming but nobody cared anymore. Nobody could go back to the level where you can listen to your brain saying “I am hungry” or “I feel very hot” or “I need water”. Now it was the time for the gig.
That day was feeling like a constant twirling. Left Athens in the morning by plane, reached Orly in Paris in the early afternoon, and after we dropped our luggage at the hostel we were staying we immediately took off for ‘Le Bataclan’. Litsa and Kostas were there already since noon, right after they arrived from Brussels. Some very funny (although nasty) incidents happened outside the venue. The crowd gathered there booed us (actually tried to boo us, cause I don’t call a “booo” from 5-6 people that lasts only 4 seconds a real boo, lol) because we hadn’t stood up in the end of the queue. It’s funny cause knowing that the gig wouldn’t begin for at least 3 hours yet I think it’s irrational to suppose I’d go and wait in the back with my friends in the front. Not that I’d take advantage of it and steal other people’s place but I wanted company. Wanna blame me for that? Feel free! Anyway, there was lots of arguing there, and some so civilised French fans told on us to the security guys… How brave of them, wow! lol, just makes me laugh. The really funny thing though is that the ones that were complaining were in front of us anyway and we weren’t taking their place and in the end (after we did move to the back of the queue and got in the venue way after them), we still went to the front of the stage while they, although they got in first, went and stood in some weird places, like the left part of the stage. All this fighting for this? Anyway, enough about this, I have forgotten about it already (well, not totally, I still recall it and laugh every now and then, lol).
The support acts were okay I guess. Who cares anyway? All I cared about was when they’d get lost off the stage. And when that happened… And Dolores came on stage… Wow!
Having never seen her before live, I was really amazed. I didn’t expect to like it so much. She is so ‘petite’ and yet such a strong figure. And her face has something magical, very unique.
The concert itself was fantastic. The sound was great, her voice was almost flawless and the vibe of the crowd was splendid. Everyone (almost) was singing along to every song and we were enjoying it. Dolores seemed to enjoy it too. A lot!
The opener, Zombie, was too good to be true. It was the perfect opener for a great show. Her voice was so breathtaking and she kept letting the crowd sing and that was fun. Other highlights from The Cranberries’ songs were absolutely
I Can’t Be With You and Salvation. Everyone was going crazy with them, jumping up and down, smashing the people around them. lol, savage but also thrilling.Her ballads were mindblowing too, especially When You’re Gone. And then to the new material! I had been waiting to listen to Human Spirit live since I first heard it on that Croatian radio, but when I finally did it was surreal. That song is definitely my favourite from Are You Listening?. And then Black Widow was more than I could have imagined. I never liked that song so much, I mean I did like it but that was all. But live… it was ethereal. Her voice was like it was coming from another world. Almost haunting!Finally, Loser and October were amazing too. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs during those too! So fun. I only missed Accept Things, I think she should bring it in the set too.
All in all, this was a hell of a concert. Why did it have to end? Well, all good things end, and that’s how you can tell that they were good, that’s how you learn to appreciate them. And there is always something better coming up… In this case? The gigs in Thessaloniki and Athens, woohoo!!
P.S. See you there!
http://www.lastfm.ru/music/Dolores+O%27Riordan/+journal