Original Portuguese version here: http://www.backstageforum.com/t4670-reportagem-alcest-les-discrets-soror-dolorosa-14-02-2012-hard-club

» It was already past midnight when “Autre Temps” kicked off the so awaited ALCEST performance. Right from the beginning, the audience was carried away by such embracing melodies, exploding in applause at the end of each song.

They continued with “Lá Où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles”, also from the album which the present tour was named after (“Les Voyages de l’Âme”), going back to the debut album afterwards, with “Les Iris”.

It wasn’t the first time for ALCEST in our country (although they’d never played in Porto city before), but that didn’t stop them from being as surprised with the reception as their colleagues from the other bands were.

They went through all three albuns of their discography, which the majority of the crowd seemed to know very well. At a certain point, Neige announced that they “didn’t play this song very often” and the first chords of “Sur l’Océan Couleur de Fer” were enough for the audience to make a small ovation – small just because they wanted to focus all their attention in listening to it. Winterhalter, who only takes part of this track more or less halfway, took the chance to step from behind the drumkit and light up a cigarrette while he watched the fans, visibly pleased.

After “Percées de Lumière” they left the stage, and since it was a few minutes after the scheduled ending time, I feared that it was really the end. But ALCEST didn’t let us down and came back for a two-song encore: “Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde” and “Summer’s Glory”. The only thing I disliked was how they exaggerated in “creating the mood”, since I spent a lot of time coughing and with my eyes watering from so much smoke. But that goes away quickly, the memories of a great concert will last. «

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