LES VIEILLES CHARRUES FESTIVAL – CARHAIX, FRANCE
It's Day 4 of 4, and even though the sun is struggling plenty to crack through the ominous clouds overhead, there's a sense of anticipation in the humid air. Any music festival will be showing a crack or two on its final day, and after showcasing Bruce Springsteen, the Killers, Birdy Nam Nam, and, um, Lenny Kravitz over the past 3 nights, Les Vieilles Charrues is showing its. There's rain, lax security, drunken Frenchmen stumbling by in the early afternoon, and that garbage smell that somehow finds its way into every fibre in every tent camped around the grounds. But hey, who gives a shit, right? It's a music festival!
Around 9:30pm Jules de Martino, one half of British duo the Ting Tings, struts out on stage. With trademark sunglasses on (strange, considering by now it's pissing down rain), he get sampling on guitar, keys & drums. We Walk is the opening track, with singer/instrumentalist Katie White immediately whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Despite the obvious language barrier, everyone has a great time as the duo pull out a surprising amount of familiar tunes. Great DJ, Shut Up and Let Me Go and audience favourite That's Not My Name all get a good going over, and de Martino's sampling of Aerosmith, Queen, and the Ghostbusters Theme Song give the briefest taster of what's to come for the next band.
2MANYDJS. Ghent, Belgium has a lot to answer for. Not only have these guys, under the moniker Soulwax, produced some pulse-bending albums over the past decade, but brothers Stephen & David Dewaele show tonight that they can truly shed some vinyl. The duo, dressed immaculately in tuxedos that 007 would be proud of, work up something of a sweat as they pound their way through 90 minutes of soul-shaking tunes. Everything record they touch, from Bowie (Rebel Rebel) to Beethoven (5th Symphony), the Gossip (Standing in the Way of Control) to Guns'n'Roses (Welcome to the Jungle), has the kids in front of the Kerouac stage busting moves not yet experienced by us mortals in the southern hemisphere.
The loudest cheer of the night, however, was for Michael Jackson, and Don't Stop til You Get Enough & Billie Jean. Which says a lot for the stature of the recently departed, considering the quality of the set's outro, featuring Sgt Pepper, Fire Starter and last but not least, Smells Like Teen Spirit. The French know good DJ's, but it seems the Belgians have it better.
Headlining the final day is none other than the bald dance legend that is Moby. Backed by a six-piece band featuring soul sensation Joy Malcolm on vocals, Moby himself rocks out on a Black SG Gibson, with unsurprising enthusiasm. Pulling tracks from his entire back catalogue, especially 1999's hit-riddled Play, his entire set rocks from start to finish. With a light show to support the most sonic of sounds, it's a true festival set filled with little new stuff, and a real emphasis on the tunes that Moby's fans want to hear. He throws in Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side as the penultimate song of the encore, and to hear 20,000 French people sing the “do duh doo's” that Reed immortalised in 1972 fills the soul with more warmth than the constant rain can dampen.
No matter where in the world you are – from the heat of a 36 degree Big Day Out dustbowl to a rain-sodden patch of ground in western France – music takes no prisoners. And there is no greater example of this than a festival where everyone has a great time. No cares, no inhibitions, no showering. Just amazing bands, sensational DJ's, and a bitching good time.
- Dylan Stewart
