To promote Eurostar‘s Little Break, Big Difference campaign the media agency We Are Social invited myself and nine other UK music bloggers to experience this year’s Rock En Seine festival. With 50 international and local acts playing over three days the Parisian event is starting to establish itself as a sunny substitute to the wet British festival season.
Having examined the festival in the build up to the trip I felt the line-up was a little obvious perhaps but there was still plenty of emerging talent, illustrious veterans and buzz names to keep me excited. Besides, our all access passes meant we could watch the bands and crowds up close giving an entire new outlook on the festival experience.
Our group have hardly stepped off the Eurostar train but I found myself surrounded by a large crowd all worshipping at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ altar. I was surprised to see the band so early on the bill but this didn’t influence from the energy invested by the three musicians on stage.
Inevitably the attention turns to Karen O as she switches between screaming like a banshee and graceful singing. Whilst her performance is incredibly captivating it would not be possible without guitarist Nick Zinner and drummer Brian Chase. Even live the 2 weave unrelenting melodic textures giving the charismatic frontwoman the freedom to swagger her stuff.
As expected their set relies heavily on material from this years shining ‘It’s Blitz’ yetfan favourites from ‘Fever To Tell’ and ‘Show Your Bones’ also get an airing. The crowd give the band a rapturous send off and I am starting to like this French audience.
Next up I catch Passion Pit on the smaller Scene de l’industrie stage. I have to hold my hand up and admit that when the band’s tracks first started circulating on various blogs I wasn’t completely convinced. Frontman Michael Angelakos’ vocal delivery aggravated me and I didn’t give them more than a passing listen. The release of ‘Manners‘ earlier this summer had me re-evaluate my initial opinion and eventually they grew on me.
Watching them live now it is obvious his singing style is distinctive to say the least, but it also truly complements the melodies. The Boston outfit announce that this is their first performance on French soil and reward the vocal following that has gathered with an energetic showcase of their best tracks. With the sun shining up above and everyone, on stage and in the audience, dancing Passion Pit’s synth led dreamy pop has found its ideal setting.
Vampire Weekend made my top picks of 2008 thanks to their self titled debut which I described as”an instant classic that will be eternally linked to the sound of 2008“. So how do they fare in the live arena?
With the festival organisers using ‘A-Punk‘ as the soundtrack to the Rock En Seine‘s web trailer i had deduced Vampire Weekend would be quite well known in this part of the world and as more and indeed a sizeable crowd is waiting in anticipation. The band jump straight into their set playing the tracks from their debut album flawlessly and even offer up a couple of new songs sparking mass pogoing.
If some criticism can be laid at their door I could argue that the band are a little too professional if such a thing is possible. The songs sound virtually like they do on record and perhaps could do with a looser delivery. Having said that in my shorts and flip-flops and with the sound of ‘Oxford Comma’ coming over the speaker I was finally on Summer holiday again.
Special mention must go to Roger Federer lookalike Ezra Koenig whose stage banter and grasp of the French language was the most impressive out of all the international guests over the weekend. A star for the language skills, B for the performance.
With the night falling there is an unmistakable buzz in the air as people pile up to see Bloc Party‘s evening slot. The London band represented a bit of an enigma for me with ‘Silent Alarm‘ being an album I wholly enjoyed. In contrast I felt both ‘A Weekend In The City’ and ‘Intimacy’ were characterised by some incredible highs and some filler.
Tonight I was in luck because on the band play all my favourite tracks from their discography relying heavily on material from ‘Silent Alarm’. There are memorable renditions of ‘The Prayer‘, ‘Mercury‘ and ‘Helicopter‘ that send everyone into a frenzy and the energy is captivating.
With the audience eating out of his hands Kele Okereke could be forgiven for sounding cocky so his initial proclamation that he “didn’t want any fucker to say Oasis were better than Bloc Party” is a good laugh. However, his glee at breaking the news that Oasis have cancelled their performance is a little infantile. Even considering the fact I am not bothered about seeing the Manchester lads myself I still felt a little more respect should be shown to the people who travelled solely to see the Gallaghers.
Despite this Bloc Party were a tight unit and put in an impressive show. Perhaps next time they can let the music do the t the talking.
Kele Okereke made one more mistake when he proclaimed “I guess, by default, that makes us the headliners“. Clearly he hadn’t looked at the lineup otherwise he would have seen Vitalic‘s scheduled 23:20 performance.
With the few tracks I heard prior to this show and some of the other bloggers singling him out for particular attention I was really looking forward to this one. For over an hour and a half the French master pumped track after track of electro and trance turning the field into a massive rave and giving the night a justified climax. Job done!
TRACKS:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Soft Shock
Passion Pit – To Kingdom Come (Artwork Remix)
Vampire Weekend – I Stand Corrected
