Young and wild - Rockhal celebrates 10th birthday

By Josh Oudendijk

A mix of international and local acts geared up Luxembourg's biggest music venue for a smashing birthday party on Friday night.

The concept was this: 10 euro entry, unlimited pumping live music and DJ sets, food, drinks and surprises. Over the past 10 years, Rockhal has evolved into one of the most respected music venues in Europe, attracting a wide range of international superstars and bands. Now it is time to celebrate!

Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture Maggy Nagel came shortly before the party to give a speech on what Rockhal had achieved over the past years. The venue released an anniversary book, not only putting together the most memorable moments of energetic, intimate and breathtaking shows but also presenting the team responsible behind every gig.

Rockhal opened up its Main Hall, Club and Café to all guests at the same time, enabling free movement between sounds and vibes. This interesting concept allowed people to come, stay if they enjoyed, or move on if they were looking for something else. It was very full, showing that music lovers did not want to miss this one.

One of the first big surprises of the evening was Corbi vs Scarred. The founding member of "De Läb" combined his rap with metal music from the south. Beats and Rap meeting Thrash Metal; a surprisingly awesome combination.

The biggest headliners of the night were the Parisian group “Salut C’est Cool” and the four known DJs from “C2C”, formally known as Coups2Cross.

The gentlemen from C2C were lined up in a row behind their turntables. You would think 4 DJs mixing at the same does not conform to the saying of “less is more”, but the tracks were incredibly tight. The timing of their scratching was exquisite. They used tailor-made LED displays on the front of their turntables to provide a visual representation of their performance with all kinds of shapes and colours. “Down the Road” deserves having been watched over 19 million times on YouTube, and when it was played in the hall, the crowd was swinging and dancing. It was the finest live DJ performances I had ever seen.

Following the French party makers were another bunch of French party makers, this time the electro-punk group “Salut C’est Cool”. Often described as a band with bad taste and ridiculous performances, Salut C’est Cool has been one of the most booked bands at French festivals last year. Sadly, I was quite let down seeing their act at this anniversary party.

You may debate it’s their style of entertainment and music, but the impression Salut C’est Cool made was a childish, messy one. I expected a solid sound and performance, but the performers were more like a bunch of kangaroos on speed blaring fire-truck siren melodies through the main hall. Those were combined with loud, uninteresting beats. It was a chaotic performance, even making me check with the sound technician if I really had come to the right place. I have my thoughts on booking this band in the future. It requires some serious thought. C2C could’ve easily continued for another hour.

Despite being a little disappointed by the low number of balloons to play slow-motion volleyball with, Rockhal's 6-level birthday cake was worth stuffing your face with (compliments to the chef). The combination of the sugar bomb and drinks were perfect.  The four food trucks outside offered some nice warm dishes between beers.

The big winners of the night were Dillendub. The local electro live band played Luxembourgish hits, asking locals singers from the music scene to join them on stage. Olivier Treinen from pop band Metro, that sadly ended their career in 2011, was up first. David Moreira, frontman of Eternal Tango, took to the stage next, singing one of their biggest hits "The Golden City", a track that wrote Luxembourgish rock history. Marc Clement from Hal Flavin was followed by Eric Rosenfeld and Jimmy Leen from Versus you with "This War is like a drug to you". Joelle Gelhausen from the not-so-long-ago Angel at my Table sang the beautiful "Set Your Sails".

Dillendub’s rich, polyrhythmic- structured songs were infectious, with the drummer playing insane triplets to melodic synth sounds and fat bass lines. Dillendub definitely deserved a slot in the main hall.

 At the age of 10, Rockhal is only yet to become a teenager, but after having seen the way this professional venue functions, it is clear the attraction on Rue Rock 'n Roll has long been ready and mature. The line-up overall may not have been one everyone enjoyed equally, but if we step back and look at the overall picture, it was a very successful celebration. See you in another 10 years!

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