Festival // Les Ardentes

Where? Liege, BELGUIM When? From 04/07 to 07/07

Want to experience the best possible and unimaginable experience bringing together the best artists from the French and International urban scene? Look no further, everything is happening here in Liège at the Les Ardentes where the famous festival is considered one of the best Hip- Hop festivals in Europe.

It's quite impossible to tell you everything about this dazzling festival without giving our sincere thanks to Gaëlle – from the festival’s press team – who took care of us in the best, sweetest possible way with endless kindness!

With a ticket office sold out, the 14th edition of Les Ardentes is once again a huge success. More than 100,000 festival-goers were indeed present during these four days of festivals, and it can be said that the exceptional headliners – from Nekfeu, Roméo Elvis to Black Eyed Peas – did the heavy lifting. We've selected our best memories for this festival

Hamza

Hamza

We have a BIG weakness for Hamza and his sweet R'n'B world. No need to explain that we were in the front row of this lively gig to admire the author of ‘Paradise’ on stage. Having nicknamed himself “Sauce God”, he doesn't fail to involve his audience; delighted to recite his verses like a large choir. The songs ‘HS’ and ‘Dale x Love Therapy’ provoke an impending energy surge in the audience. Giving his crowd his best hits from 'Vibes' to '1994', no need to say that he was dazzling on stage.

Nekfeu

Nekfeu

We would like to remain neutral, but at the same time, our sense of honesty obliges us to admit that Nekfeu's gig was probably the best concert of the festival with overflowing energy and without limits! We can say that the rapper, who came back last June with a double album of 34 songs in total, named Les Etoiles Vagabondes: Expansion, and after more than two and a half years of silence, has lived up to his reputation. Nekfeu came to interpret his new sounds from ‘Cheum’, ‘Sous Les Nuages’ to ‘Dans L’Univers’ in duo with Vanessa Paradis. Always so willing to share the stage, he let his faithful squad from the S-Crew and L'Entourage – two of the groups of which he's also a member – sang solo songs from their respective projects. From his most recent hits to his classics such as ‘Egerie’ and the legendary ‘Humanoïde’. No doubt Nekfeu smashed everything on this night.

Remy

We must say that we were really pleased to see an artist who we haven’t seen in concert recently performing with such energy on stage! The gig was already at its peak when he played one of his biggest hits 'Rappelle-Toi' which starts with the powerful 'Yeah, it’s Rémy, I tell you the truth, my rhymes are to meditate on'. We watched the audience rise in pressure until the unmissable 'Bella Ciao', which repeats the same melody as the series La Casa De Papel. We congratulate this deserving rapper who made his way from the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers to the stage of this Liégeois festival.

Sofiane

A Mediterranean wind blows over the festival when Sofiance, a.k.a Fianso, arrives on stage before igniting the audience with passion. Less than a few minutes later, an Algerian flag was thrown to him – as he's Algerian as well – and he retrieved it and declared “Belgian, Moroccan, Algerian, French... everyone is accepted here”. Fianso was able to delight his audience by interpreting his classics such as ‘Longue Vie’, and adding surprises such as the arrival of Heuss L'Enfoiré for ‘Khapta’. Fianso is above all an endearing and funny rapper, who leaves an air of good mood after his appearance on stage.

Chilla

Chilla

She is, without a doubt, our female hero from the festival. who has not failed to dazzle us with her biggest performance! This one has left her mark with her #Balancetonporc hashtag, and made it possible to get people to react to the harassment that women endure everyday, and was able to bring this into an amazing concert. Chilla’s album, which has just been released, reinforces the fact that we feel lucky to have been able to see this singer-songwriter artist, who’s ready to denounce the inequalities between men and women like in 'Si J'Etais Un Homme' and to shake the conversation!

Roméo Elvis

Oh Romeo, holy Romeo, you hit hard! Announced as one of the most anticipated artists of the festival, this Belgian rapper has not failed his eternal reputation as a showman. Back in force with his last album named Chocolat, released last April, the rapper started to make people talk about him and made his fans mad with impatience by dispersing real chocolate on the festival site to continue the promotion of his album. He came on stage boiling with energy, ready to light a fire in this crazy audience. We must also point out that the energy became even more insane than on the other gigs because Roméo is Belgian – just like the festival – and we felt this love for his nation on the title 'Bruxelles Arrive'.

Lomepal

He was already there in 2013 and 2017, and he's here again, to our great pleasure. His latest opus, named Jeannine – in homage to his grandmother – has made him one of the best artists of our generation thanks to his seemingly unlimited innate talent. It’s impossible to sum up this concert that made us go through all kinds of emotions and that ranks as the best concert of this festival just after Nekfeu. So humble and grateful, as if he did not realize the extent of his talent, Lomepal was moved by his words and hits such as 'Trop Beau' and 'Yeux Disent' or 'Plus De Larmes'. We have always known our boundless love for this rapper from Paris, and once again we are not afraid to say that Lomepal is much more than a rapper, he's first and foremost the leading artist of a generation.

Ninho

The overall point of this dazzling festival from its thousands of fans, to its good food – from regional products such as the famous Liégeoise waffle to the hot dog and the ice cream stand – the Ardentes is above all a festival that puts everything in place to satisfy its festivalgoers. A huge gaming space equipped with game consoles, with the latest technologies of immersive 4D, used throughout competitions of Mario Bros, or even Just Dance Karaoke, it was impossible to be bored a single second!

We were able to go to the make-up stands, challenging ourselves at rapping at the Keakr stand and end up dancing in a Silent Party without paying a penny. What more can one ask for? Special mention for this stand named #Yapasmoyen, which aims to raise awareness among young festival-goers of the behaviours to adopt for boys and girls. Indeed, when someone says “No”, it's no and we thought it important to remind that fact. This is the first time we have seen a stand of this kind on a festival and we found the concept great, especially since Les Ardentes had nearly 70% of male festival-goers.

As is often said in France, “All good things come to an end” and the Ardentes adventure ended after four days of memorable and bountiful festivals. This is definitely the best festival we’ve been able to attend this year, and we’re already looking forward for next year!

Words © The Magazine Team Photography © (1,3,4) Roxane Peyronnenc (2) Alexis Vassiviere