Festival La Route Du Rock
Text: Aidan Mac Guill Image: Stephane Lecoq
Held in and around the picturesque walled seaside city of St. Malo in Brittany, about two hours from Paris by train, La Route Du Rock is a laid back music festival that has a reputation for showcasing exciting artists on the verge of the big-time, alongside big-name headliners. Over the years it has played host to the likes of Grizzly Bear, Four Tet, Camera Obscura, Fuck Buttons, The Dodos, Sigur Rós, Animal Collective, The XX and Justice. This year marks the 20th birthday of the festival and the organisers have bagged a line-up of internationally renowned artists, including Massive Attack, The Flaming Lips and The National, to help them celebrate. Thirty bands in all will perform over the weekend on the beach, at the Fort de Saint-Pere, an 18th Century Vauban (Louis XIV's foremost military engineer, obviously) castle, and at Le Palais du Grand Large, all for the bargain basement price of €80.
Highlights on the opening night will include French composer Yann Tiersen. Tiersen entered the mainstream with his acclaimed soundtracks for the films 'Amelie' and 'Goodbye Lenin!'. However, anyone hoping for a glimpse of those magical piano-led tunes will probably be disappointed. These days Tiersen tours with a group, Dust Lane, and they make loud, guitar-driven noise. Certainly unmissable will be Canadian violin/loop-pedal sorcerer Owen Pallett. Having arranged the strings for the likes of Arcade Fire and Beirut, Pallett emerged in his own right under the moniker Final Fantasy. He's since reverted to the name his parent's gave him with a live show that’s nothing short of mesmerizing, as he records and loops his violin live onstage, to thrilling effect. Another Canadian appearing on Friday night is electronic musician Caribou. He's been producing superior electronica since his days as Manitoba, and his latest effort 'Swim' is one of the albums of the year.
Saturday brings English legends Massive Attack, promoting their album 'Heligoland', remarkably only their fifth studio album since 1991's seminal 'Blue Lines'. Expect a big, visual and emotional live show. At Le Palais, exceptional American artist DM Stith plays alongside Hope Sandoval and her Warm Inventions. Stith's debut release, 2009's 'Heavy Ghost', is an atmospheric, beguiling and occasionally menacing masterpiece. Former Mazzy Star frontwoman Hope Sandoval will no doubt pop up onstage during Massive Attack's set, as she appeared on Heligoland. Meanwhile Anglo-Greek electro-indie darlings Foals will bring their high octane show to the main stage, as Belfast bright young things Two Door Cinema Club get everybody moving to their shuffly, radio-friendly pop.
One of the most reliably entertaining bands in the world, The Flaming Lips always bring their A-game and have enough crowd-pleasers in their set-list to keep the main-stage audience enthralled for the duration of their headline set. Elsewhere expect lots of brown corduroy jackets and facial hair-stroking as The National take the stage. Their combination of cerebral, literary lyrics, pulse-quickening hooks and anthemic choruses makes for a heady brew. Finally, having lost a little steam with 2007's 'Pieces Of The People We Love', The Rapture are back with a new album recorded right here in Paris. Their stompy disco-punk is the perfect accompaniment for some reckless dance-floor abandon, and in 'House Of Jealous Lovers' they boast one of the classics of the last decade.
In
keeping with La Route Du Rock's tradition of bigging-up the next big
things, there’s a host of other performers over the 3 days. Step forward
Liars,
The Black Angels, The Dum Dum Girls, Little Red Lauter, Round Table
Knights, We
Have Band, The Hundred In The Hands, Martina Topley Bird, Archie Bronson
Outfit, Serena Maneesh, Ganglians and Karaoke. Festival perennials the
Magnetic
Friends will be Djing before, during and after the sets, meaning it will
be
possible if you so wish to dance without pause for the duration of the 3
days.
Complimentary camping on-site and a free bus-service every 30 minutes to and from St.Malo train station, and throughout the city will come in handy. More information on travelling to the festival here.
Here's a playlist of some of the artists performing over the 3 days.
LA ROUTE DU ROCK by La Route du Rock
Festival La Route Du Rock13 - 15 August
St. Malo, Brittany
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