Rock en Seine Review// La Belle et La Bete

Paris, J’Taime

If you prefer mudpacks to muddy fields, and to drink bubbles not warm beer, then Rock en Seine is the perfect finale to your jet-setting summer. With headline acts starting at a leisurely 3pm, leaving plenty of time for a late-morning rise, shower, and long brunch, and the sights of the City of Lights within a stone’s throw of your tent, this is one of Europe’s more civilised festivals, and the preferred choice for all budding fashionistas and beautiful people.

The magnificent cascade entrance to the Parc de St. Cloud, designed by Le Pautre in early 1660s, sets the tone perfectly. Ambling through the statue-bordered alleys, passing countless bars selling champagne not cider, and cassoulet not fish’n’chips, the accompanying stream of festival goers are more like Charlotte Gainsbourg than Lilly Allen. 

Rock is the Devil’s Music

Yet for all the sophisticated chic and gentile nonchalance, this is not a classical recital in the park, but a monstrous player on the Euro festival scene, comparable to the likes of Benicassim and Glastonbury, notorious for the venue that saw the final end to the protracted debacle that became Oasis. Attracting over 100,000 salubrious revellers in its 8th year, and offering up such a wealth of music acts, not just from rock genres, but dance and hip-hop too. This is not music for the faint hearted; it’s full volume, full tilt, and the Parisians party as hard as anyone.

Vendredi

Friday’s early highlights included an inspiring angular set from math-rock band Foals and a memory laiden return to the big time from hip-hop legends Cypress Hill, before a typically psychedelic set from garage rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The evening then turned over to dance, and Noize found itself throwing shapes to the turbo-paced progressive house beats of Deadmau5 side by side with an ancient sculpture of the Goddess of Justice, before the copious cheap champagne kicked in and a vast sing-a-long ensued to Underworld classics like Born ‘lager, lager, lager’ Slippy. 

Samedi

Saturday followed a similar vain, early electro-pop from Two Door Cinema Club, followed by an early daylight set from US hard rock band, Queens Of The Stone Age, the sound somewhat lacklustre and overly laden with bass.  

Back came the dance though, and LCD Soundsystem launched themselves into a biblical set with classics like New York I Love You and Jay-Z’s Empire State Of Mind, before 2manyDJs, the remixing alter ego of Soulwax, delved into their bag of tricks and pulled out a host of popular classics and kept the crowds bouncing happily until the early hours of the morning. 

Dimanche

After an early warming set by The Temper Trap, more psychedelic rock from The Black Angels was followed by folk rock band Eels, sporting ZZ top beards and shaggy haircuts, and selecting heavily from the recent experimental concept album trilogy, Hombre Lobo, End Times, and Tomorrow Morning. 

Beirut then provided a touching performance of their Eastern European influenced indie-pop, proof that speaking French with an accent can charm even the snootiest Parisian crowds, before finally The Ting-Tings showed how to make the crowd bob and jump like a 12 year old with classics like That’s Not My Name and Shut Up And Let Me Go. 

Bring back Joan, she’ll slay the corporate beast

Despite all the French elegance, there was a notable proliferation of ‘branded experiences’, sitting incongruously with the typically anti-corporate attitude to the sponsorship of most large public events in France. Thus we were treated to the ungainly collection of Renault’s facebook photos, Guitar Hero contests, Heineken’s Green Room and Converse’s ‘art gallery’. 

Every rose has a thorn

On Sunday evening, Arcade Fire finally returned to Rock en Seine after a four-year absence, to a rapturous reception, their set comprising a collection of tracks from Funeral, Neon Bible, and new album Suburbs. 

As the crowd paid homage to these Godlike savours of rock, deep into the set the heavens opened and the rain cascaded across stage and crowd alike. Over zealous organisers proclaimed the sound system unsafe (does it not rain at other music festivals?), and the power was cut. After the longest ten minutes in festival history, the band finally came back onto stage, to tell the soaking assembled masses that they were only allowed to play one last song. Cue a scramble to grab whatever non-electrical instruments they could find, and the resulting impromptu “encore” of acoustic guitars, piano and trumpet played out to a crowd soaking wet, and near silent in disbelief, before the final, accepting, euphoric adoration. 

Words by Laurence Gilardone

Photos by Julian Hayr

Cheap Champagne, the preferred drink of choice

No, we didn’t take the wrong turn to the gardens of Versailles

The French do wellies

“Vive le Roi!’ screams the crowd to their new King and Queen, Win and Regine

The French have never seen cats apparently

Homage to Underworld

Er, pass….

Biblical retribution for a divine Arcade Fire set