2023-04-22 07:04:37
“We had so many good times here…” Like so many other music enthusiasts, Sébastien will have a twinge in his heart this Saturday evening when he takes part in the “Demolition party” at the Forum de Vauréal. This time is the last. After two years of work, Forum 2 has now been built and the entire concert hall team will be moving in the coming weeks. A real step in the history of this structure born 29 years ago.
The Forum was initially a socio-cultural center in which one could as well learn to build a kayak, meet a guidance counselor or take part in a singing workshop. Musical projects arousing a very strong enthusiasm within the population, particularly high school students living around, the site took a first turn in the 1990s by specializing. It is the energy of its team that has allowed it to become what it is: a recognized and above all very endearing concert hall. “There’s something extra here, it’s the Forum spirit,” sums up Sébastien, who lives in the Yvelines but spends many of his weekends in Vauréal. He has been a volunteer for the hall since 2007. There are so many of them who are regulars that the Forum had to push the walls for its farewell evening.
More than 600 people are expected this Saturday, and many more have had to be put on the waiting list. Among the guests, musicians will come to jam the jam, and some nationally known names could even be in the game. “We are lucky to have strong ties with certain artists,” explains Raphaël Vaiarello, who is in charge of the Forum’s communication.
A new performance hall with 800 seats
In recent years, Cock Robin, Mass Hysteria, Oldelaf, Skip the Use, Vianney and even Shaka Ponk have played in Vauréal. With around sixty dates per year, the Forum has a varied program but is best known for being a reference in terms of rock and metal. “This represents 30% of our concerts but it is a niche that makes us special”, points out Aurélie Vanden Born, the director. It is also thanks to this specificity that the site is about to win the Smac label (current music scenes). “We already meet almost all the specifications, only the room was fishing,” says Aurélie. The move will bring the Forum into a new era. It will go from a gauge of 450 spectators to 800 in the large hall of the new building. Will it lose its character along the way? Not at all hope the team, on the contrary.
The existence of a second room with a capacity of 150 people and a large hall open to the outside should even give the Forum even more advantages. “The Club room will allow us to work even more with emerging groups, explains Aurélie Vanden Born. And we want to make the hall a real living space. Why not create recurring meetings and give amateur groups the opportunity to plug in and play around the bar. People need to take over the Forum. We open the door to all project leaders. It is true that the large bay windows and the clear spaces are more inviting to dip your head in than the building of the old forum, which is windowless and somewhat hermetic.
The Fatals Picards will inaugurate the Forum 2 stage
Even the regulars look to the future. “I will always be there in the new room, promises Sébastien. The premises will be much more convenient. The volunteer will treasure all his memories of previous concerts. “I spoke with the first bass player of Alice Cooper or the drummer of Guns N’Roses, it’s only possible at the Forum! recalls the music lover.
Although the new Forum may welcome more headliners, it shouldn’t lose its soul, thinks Sébastien. “There is a spirit that is very linked to the team, the Forum is a family,” he breathes. The old socio-cultural center must be razed to make way for a vegetated forecourt. The first concert in Forum 2 is scheduled for September 29. And it’s a group with which the hall already has a long history that will come for the occasion: the Fatals Picards, accompanied by Marcel and his orchestra.
#Forum #Vauréal #goodbye #historic #premises