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Rock en Seine 2009 – preview
Last chance to party before the Rentrée
by Daniel Finnan, Marjorie Hache
Article published on the 2009-08-28 Latest update 2009-08-28 16:32 TU
The main stage at Rock en Seine in 2008
(Credit: RFI/Daniel Finnan)
As the sleepy French capital wakes its head from the quiet, humid days of summer, and Parisians return to the city for the so-called rentrée, when French wardrobes miraculously turn from summer to autumn overnight, and the free newspapers return to newsstands at the metro station, there is one last chance to party: the 7th Rock en Seine festival, just outside of Paris in Saint Cloud!
Oasis
This weekend more than 40 artists will entertain the Rock en Seine audience, including Oasis, The Prodigy, MGMT, Bloc Party, The Offspring, Just Jack, Klaxons, Calvin Harris, Madness and many, many more. Those looking for a slice of musique won’t be disappointed either, with the best in French electro and dance music.
Birdy Nam Nam’s set on Saturday is likely to be a feast for the ears, eyes and feet. Four sets of decks, four DJs and some of the best sampling, tweaking and squeezing of hip hop, rhythmic electro and funky breakbeat!
Vitalic
If you’ve been anywhere near a decent club in the past six years you will have heard Vitalic’s music - whether you knew it or not. From fast dirty beats, to intricate mellow ones, Vitalic produces some of France’s finest synth and riff-laden electro.
Also on Saturday - Cheveu, a Paris-based band who enjoy playing around with instruments to make US garage rock with a French touch. Still relatively new to the Paris music scene - they’ll be there to gyrate onstage.
Ebony Bones
Elsewhere on the programme, Ebony Bones is likely to transport the Rock en Seine atmosphere into a scary, sexy hybrid - a cross between a new-wave circus and mad electro afro-punk parade. The former British soap actress has been playing in France loads this year.
Other ones to watch out for are Sliimy, French pop’s answer to Mika. And Baaba Maal, a Senegalese guitarist and singer, whose fusion of music has been described as elegant and sublime.
Amy MacDonald performing in Köln
(Photo: Flickr)
On the main stage Amy MacDonald, the Scottish folk singer will be entertaining festival-goers with her youthful talent, Keane will be on the Scène de la cascade stage with their piano-heavy pop/rock, and Macy Gray will showcase her unique soulful voice on the final day.
Fans will be watching out for Oasis’s big set on the opening Friday night. The Gallagher brothers from Burnage have been subject to rumours that they might split up and did pull out of the V festival recently due to Liam’s laryngitis. So whether they’ll rock the river Seine with their Mancunian Britpop classics, or have a bust-up, remains to be seen.
Baaba Maal
The Prodigy on the other hand, are going from strength to strength, and they’ll probably bring the house down on Sunday for their evening closer. They’ve been touring across Europe this August promoting their new album, Invaders Must Die.
No Amy Winehouse this year, and despite the bitter aftertaste her no-show left on the French palate last year, the festival organisers are quite rightly refunding disgruntled punters 18 euros each if they missed out on Amy. Well done Rock en Seine!
The gates open at 14:00 on Friday 28 August, and the music continues until Sunday 30 August.
