I spent four days at the Charrues, and will tell you all about it, with my own photos (unfortunately taken with my phone as my Canon is too big to be authorised) and official HD videos (no fan videos with a crappy sound, promise).
The Vieilles Charrues Festival, the biggest French music festival, takes place in the small town of Carhaix, Brittany (North of France) and is my favourite music festival of them all. I started going when I was a high school kid and have never missed one edition ever since, flying back to France for the occasion, and coming to my seventh year this summer 2015.
The Charrues pride themselves in being eclectic in their line-up, where all genres have a place. Bagads (traditional Breton celtic music bands), street artists and selected young bands from the region perform alongside music Legends (Bruce Springsteen), Hip-hop stars (Snoop Dogg), metal bands (Rammstein), Chanson Française stars (Jacques Dutronc), the biggest Rock bands (Arctics Monkeys) and DJs (Two Many DJs).... However, this year the lineup was very electro due to 'the artists that happened to be touring at the moment', explained Jean-Jaques Toux, the Charrues' scheduler, in the newspapers.
Every year has its own theme and scenery and festival-goers are always happy to dress accordingly. There are four stages, that for your understanding I shall call the Big one (Glenmor), the Medium one (Kerouac), the Small one (Grall) and the Tent (Gwerning).
The Charrues pride themselves in being eclectic in their line-up, where all genres have a place. Bagads (traditional Breton celtic music bands), street artists and selected young bands from the region perform alongside music Legends (Bruce Springsteen), Hip-hop stars (Snoop Dogg), metal bands (Rammstein), Chanson Française stars (Jacques Dutronc), the biggest Rock bands (Arctics Monkeys) and DJs (Two Many DJs).... However, this year the lineup was very electro due to 'the artists that happened to be touring at the moment', explained Jean-Jaques Toux, the Charrues' scheduler, in the newspapers.
Every year has its own theme and scenery and festival-goers are always happy to dress accordingly. There are four stages, that for your understanding I shall call the Big one (Glenmor), the Medium one (Kerouac), the Small one (Grall) and the Tent (Gwerning).
I took many pictures with some random well dressed and well-behaved people, go and check them out HERE
For this 24th edition of the Festival, 250.000 festival-goers trod upon the fields of Kerampuilh and more than 30,000 of them pitched their tent there. The theme was Alice in Wonderland to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of Caroll's masterpiece.
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One example of the decorations was that tower with a mad clock and distorting mirrors
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THURSDAY
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| Anna Calvi |
ANNA CALVI (British, Rock) opened the ball on the medium stage. I was already waiting in front of the big stage for Muse, so I could only follow her gig from the screen. Unfortunately, she experienced some technical issues with her mic and we could barely hear her from the other side of the field. Nevertheless, shades, red lips and electric guitar were the winning trio for the British singer who was cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd (check the crowd in her sunglasses in the above picture).
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| Soprano |
SOPRANO (French, Rap) then took the (same) stage and delivered a very energetic performance with dancers and several costume changes. Very popular in France, he had no trouble getting a huge crowd of (mostly) teenagers up and moving, singing along to his lyrics.
Soprano - 'Cosmo'
On my side of the field, Muse fans and Rock lovers had to grin and bear with for a couple more hours...
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| Muse |
MUSE (British, Rock) are used to keep the Charrues waiting. Back when they headlined in 2010 (they also came in 2000 and 2004, although not as headline act), it had heavily rained all day long and a storm warning had kept the show delayed and rumors of cancellation circulating until the very last minute. They eventually performed one of the most memorable (and front row) gigs of my life, wearing some peculiar see-through cosmonaut costumes to protect them from the ongoing deluge. It must have struck them pretty hard, as the newspaper reported that they turned up this year wearing wellies, straight from their private jet.
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| Muse |
No rain this year, and it was actually under a burning sun that the show opened on the big stage with the new single 'Psycho', followed by 'Supermassive Black Hole', and a couple more songs during which incessant and violent crowd movements got the best of the show for me. Of course one must expect to be pushed when being in the first ten rows of a concert but this was wild beyond my memories of a teenage-mosher.
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| Muse |
Never mind, I eventually managed to get much closer and although I had totally lost my friends, I thoroughly enjoyed 'Uprising', followed by 'Dead Inside'. For the Final, they played 'Starlight', 'Time is running out' and 'Reapers' under a rain of confetti.
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| Muse |
'Mercy' and 'Kight of Cydonia' were played for the Encore. Overall, it was again an amazing performance. Muse never disappoint! However, I found this second time less good than the first although I knew their songs far less well five years ago. If you want to re-live the show, check out the full video provided by Culturebox:
Muse - Full show
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| Brodinski |
A kebab later, here we were jumping to the excellent sound of BRODINSKI (French, Electro) who was presenting his new album 'Brava'. Good atmosphere and good craic, not much else to say.
FRIDAY
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| Feu! Chatterton |
FEU! CHATTERTON (French, Poetry Slam on Rock music) opened the festivities on Friday afternoon on the medium stage in front of an unusually large crowd at this early hour. As expected (see my French article 3 bands to discover at the Charrues 2015), that band was probably my favourite discovery of this year's edition. The music is good, the lyrics are really excellant and the charisma of dandy frontman Arthur Teboul is on point! As an avid admirer of French nineteenth-century poetry, this was right up my alley. All the ones that dropped the apéro (French for 'pre-meal drinks' but really 'anytime drinks between friends' works as a translation too) to come take a shot of musical absinthe did not regret it.
Feu! Chatterton - 'La Malinche'
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| Fragments |
From Poetic Slam to a Romance sans Paroles, we then moved to the small stage for another band of my initial '3 new bands selection', namely FRAGMENTS (French, Instrumental pop-electro). This young trio is one of the local starting bands selected and produced by the Charrues which is generally speaking a good sign, and here again, the Label Charrues did well. Calm and poetic, Fragments' music is very relaxing, although I do think that some slow vocals would a be nice addition. Their music is perfect for a soundtrack or as background music whilst working (I do listen to them a lot now when writing my university thesis).
Fragments - 'Paperclouds' + 'Our frozen Skies'
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| Archive |
After a quick break and yet another apéro, we went to check ARCHIVE (British, Rock) on the big stage. Despite their two decades of experience, they hardy managed to get the crowd going. Even in the first rows, where we were, people looked a bit bored. The fact that the band did not address their audience at all obviously did not help. Perhaps this is the problem of English Rockstars with slicked-back hair: last year the Arctic Monkeys had barely said three words, but Alex Turner could make up for his silence with some of his signature hip moves that Dave Pen did not (or could not) attempt... I have a couple of Archive's numerous records and was really looking forward to their gig, which ended up being my biggest disappointment of the weekend. Shame.
Archive - 'Feel it'
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Let's take a second to appreciate this shot of a Breton flag being waved in front of Sir Tom Jones!
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It's not unusual to know TOM JONES' (British, Blue-eyed Soul Legend) hits. The Welsh crooner has been around for half a century and certainly knew how to do a good show on the medium stage. He performed his own famous tunes such as 'It's not unusual', James Bond's theme 'Thunderball' and the unmissable 'Sex bomb', after which quite a few people left thereby missing his great covers of 'You can keep your hat on' (Randy Newman) and 'Kiss' (Prince). The whole show was interspersed with his legendary 'Yeeeaaaah' roars. I have to say that I only went because I never miss The Voice UK in which Jones is one of the four coaches and to see 'the Legend' live, but it was much more enjoyable than excepted.
Tom Jones and his musicians saluting the audience before to leave on a 'God bless you all'
Funniest part of the show for me was actually the elderly couple (about seventy years old) right in front of me. The tiny lady only had eyes for Tom Jones while her husband was looking angrily at the youths dancing around. He tried to take her away midway through the show but she would not have any of it. They ended up watching the rest from the side, which was a bit calmer. She looked so happy and he was so pissed off, I wish I had taken a picture.
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| Christine and the Queens |
We only had time to catch the first couple of songs of headliner CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS (French, Pop), but we managed to see her famous mashup cover of Christophe's 'Paradis Perdu' + Kayne West's 'Heartless' and her best known single 'Christine'. The new French superstar is an excellant show-woman, dancing during the songs, talking a lot to the public in between. And she is really funny!
Christine and the Queens - 'Christine'
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| A small part of the team of volunteers at one of the Crepe Stands |
If I had to leave in the middle of the concert, it was because I had to work. Indeed, to afford to come back each year, even from abroad, and stay the whole four days, I work there as a volunteer. I always work at one of the food stands, 4 hours a day, 3 days out of 4 and the rest of the time, I have free access to the festival. It is such a great deal! Plus, since 2014, the small stage which has changed place is right next to the crepe stand where I work, So I can still more or less enjoy the shows even though I do not have to time to watch.
On the way to our stand, we passed by SALUT C'EST COOL (French, Electro-Variété) which are known to do the craziest shows. Kings of kitch, the four Parisians are completely nuts! Their show was a real success in front of a huge crowd and friends of mine have rated it as the best of the weekend. Check out the beginning of their gig on Culturebox Website.
Ez3kiel - 'L'oeil du Cyclone'
The first band to play on the small stage during our shift was EZ3KIEL (French, Instrumental Electro-Rock), which I liked a lot, but did not have much time to enjoy. You can see their full gig here on Dailymotion.
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| Let's admire this quality picture of Boris Brejcha taken from my work place |
The second one was BORIS BREJCHA (German, Electro). The DJ got everyone in our stand dancing, even the oldest were into it, hands in the air and all. The volunteers at my stand are between 16 and 70 years old, although on that day, the oldest were about 50 years old...
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| Dancing to Boris... |
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| Max pretending to DJ using a billig (used to make crepes) |
It was probably one of the best times I had working there. Great craic! Watch his full set on Culturebox Website. (Boris' of course, not Max's)
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| The huge lasers of Chemical Brothers |
Finishing work at 3 am, we got out just in time to catch the last half hour of the CHEMICAL BROTHERS' (British, Electro) set on the big stage. I saw them on that same stage back in 2011 and already knew that their shows, with huge lasers and impressive visual effects are amazing and indeed, it was without surprise that the British duo managed to 'Do it Again'!
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| Crowd during the Chemical Brothers |
SATURDAY
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| Field of the small stage, empty on Saturday before the opening of the site |
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| Bigflo et Oli (beginning of the set, the crowd tripled by the end) |
We were working at the opening of the site on Saturday during which we only saw one band, the young duo BIGFLO & OLI (French, Rap) from the Label Charrue. Long before the start of their set, a lot of teens were waiting for them under the rain. In seven years of Charrues, I never saw so many people for the opening gig on the small stage! The public was singing out loud, clapping along, crowd surfing... Well done to the two young lads!
Bigflo & Oli - 'Comme d'hab'
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| The Strypes |
After work, missing headliner Calogero (French, Rock), we went straight to wait in front of the medium stage because my favourite band of the weekend was gonna be on in a couple of hours and I absolutely wanted to be front row. Being a Dubliner, I was obviously keen to support the only Irish act of this year's lineup, The Strypes (Irish, Rock'n'Roll). As a matter of fact, as I even saw two of them walking around on site and ran after them for a picture!
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| This picture with The Strypes (Left: Pete, Bass / Right: Ross, Vocals) made my day! |
This gig was by far the best of the weekend and one of the best ever of my life! Although I know The Strypes since less than six months, I am completely hooked on their music. I have seen them live already in Ireland at Slane Castle Festival (April 2015) but this time was so much better.
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| Ross, The Strypes |
Starting with 'Now She's gone', the lads put on an amazing and energetic show in front of a very receptive (and huge) crowd with all of their usual tunes, 'Blue Collar Jane' and 'What a Shame' and some more recent ones like '84' and 'Get into it' and even their brand new single 'Good night sleep and a cab fare home'. To my surprise, they did an Encore, which is normally not the case for non headliners. At the end, I got Josh's guitar pick, which I was delighted about although I actually don't really know what to do with it...
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| Josh, The Strypes |
I might write a more detailed review on that gig only later on. I also have many pictures and a few decent videos to publish on Of Bands & Gigs' Facebook page. If you wanna be sure to see it all, don't forget to go and give it a like!
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| The Prodigy |
The Prodigy (British, Electro-punk) were the best electro gig of the weekend. They did some tunes from brand new album 'The day is my Enemy' (also a great song!) and their best known singles, such as 'Breathe' or 'Firestarter'. Very energetic, good interaction with the public, the Brits did great despite the technical issues (at some point, the back speakers stopped working during half of one song, so the sound level dropped considerably and Keith Flint's mic failed for a brief moment).
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| Attempt of a panoramic shot of the crowd during The Prodigy |
SUNDAY
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| Brigitte |
BRIGITTE (French, Pop) opened on the big stage on Sunday. Glamour and clear vocals, the French duo conquered the festival-goers with their lovely smiles. It was however too clam for my punchy mood, so we went toward the small stage where KRISMENN & ALEM (French, Kan ha Diskan = A Capella Breton Hip-hop) had started their second set of the weekend (they performed a 15min gig on the big stage the previous night to open for headliner, French rapper Joey Starr).
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| Krismenn & Alem |
The local duo is also from the Label Charrues. Alem is a world champion of Beatbox and Krismenn raps in Breton (local traditional language). The improbable association of the two turned out to be great and everyone was happily jumping under the rain. Quite a few of us ended up joining hands for an Andro (Breton traditional groupe dance) in a Fest Noz (Breton traditional Festival) atmosphere, it was really cool.
There are no good videos of their performance at the Charrues, but I still put a video below, from another festival (2014, Création Yaouank), so you can check out what it looked like, because you won't see that anywhere else! These guys made me proud of my Breton heritage!
Then it started to rain quite heavily. The fatigue, the hangover and the cold got the best of our motivation...
This is me... backstage... missing the concert of legendary Joan Baez and not even caring about it.
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| Hannah - London Grammar |
We made an effort for LONDON GRAMMAR (British, Pop-Rock) who opened on the medium stage with the famous 'Hey Now'. Hannah (Vocals, Piano), with a cup of tea in hand, looked quite stressed during the first couple of tracks, but it did not affect her vocal performance. Dot (Keyboard and Drums) actually made a mistake on the start of 'Waisting my young years' and she joked that 'It's been two years that I'm putting up with his shit'... Speaking in between most songs, the trio appeared to be very friendly and they thank the crowd several times for coming and staying at their gig despite the heavy rain, 'It means a lot' she repeated.
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| Dot - London Grammar |
Dot spoke several times in French, explaining the next song or about their upcoming album, which immediately wooed all the female audience. Next to me, a couple spent a few minutes debating whether he looks like Harry Styles from One Direction. They even played a song that was so recent, that Hannah had the lyrics printed out with her on stage, 'C'est très nouveau, c'est trop nouveau' said Dot. Dan (Guitar) apologised for his lack of French, and explained in English the origin of 'Nightcall', which is a cover of French artist Kavinsky's soundtrack for the movie 'Drive'. He said they had simply 'fallen in love' with the song. They ended the concert with 'Metal and Dust'. I already liked that band before, but their efforts to connect with the French public was touching and made me like them even more. I would gladly stand in the rain and cold to see them again.
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| Lionel Richie |
Then it was time for headliner Lionel Richie (American, Soul). We had to leave after a couple of songs to go work but to be honest I was not too bothered because he did not impress me at all. His great interaction with the public and positive attitude did not make up for the feeling that he was singing in playback (at least at the beginning), because his voice was staying the same, no matter if the mic was close to his mouth or at bellybutton level...
Lionel Richie - 'Hello'
We worked until the closure of the Festival. Stand High Patrol (French, Dubadub) on the small stage kept us entertained and motivated until the late hours.
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| Stand High Patrol |
See you all next year, rumors on the fields are that Daft Punk or AC/DC might headline...
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| With my BFF Alix |
If you liked this article, please share it and support this blog by liking Of Bands & Gigs Facebook page and following @ofbandsandgigs on Twitter. Much more music news, gig reviews and band interviews are to come. Upcoming gigs I will attend in the next couple of months include All Time Low, Twenty One Pilots and Bry (Belsonic, UK), Fall out Boy, Imagine Dragons, The Strypes, Little Hours, The Academic, The 45s, Nothing but Thieves, The Mighty Stef, The Hot Sprockets... If you are a band in the Dublin area doing a gig soon or looking to be reviewed, do not hesitate to get in touch!
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