[Live Report] Rock En Seine: Finally back!

After two years of absence, Rock en Seine made its comeback during the last week of August. A major event that closes the summer festival season, ReS was spread over 4 days, starting with a spectacular start on its first day mainly devoted to British and Irish rock.     1:30 pm – On the way to the St Cloud estate, I converse with three young women who are also going to this festival opening day. Just like me, this is their first Rock en Seine. The 3 young students from Reunion Island are enthusiastic about the idea of finally discovering the festival they had heard so much about. So do I. They know exactly who they want to see – Yungblud, Idles, Arctic Monkeys mainly – and we discuss it. This is the first time they are in metropolitan France (for their studies) and they jumped at the opportunity to make their first festival. This enthusiasm that they have, I feel it every time I see a festival-goer enter the tram. I can already feel that this Rock en Seine has a bigger impact, perhaps because it is greatly awaited. In any case, for my three interlocutors, this is the case.   3:30 pm – The festival opens its doors and festival-goers present en masse crowd and run to enter the festival. Some flock to the Big Stage hoping to be well placé.es to see the British rockers of Arctic Monkeys. It's impressive to see all this determination but it's also proof of the lack and impatience of the fans who are waiting for them. The question remains: is missing all the concerts on the other stages worth it?   4:30 pm – After taking a tour and interviewing Baby Queen. I arrive just in time at the Grande Scène to listen to the hit "abcdefu (angrier)" by the American artist GAYLE. The young woman succeeds in making the audience sing by taking up her chorus in heart. She has presence and voice and the song sounds really good for a festival. For the short time I would have spent in his set, he was very enjoyable.   5:30 pm – It is at the Firestone stage that I discover the Irish band NewDad. A very young band whose music I did not know – a mix between vaporwave pop and indie rock – which will be my surprise of this festival. The two leaders of the group, Julie and Áindle, seem to be delighted to play their songs and the audience seems to greatly appreciate the set. NewDad is definitely a band whose progression I want to see over time and who deserve a longer set in the future.   6:20 pm – One of the artists I've been looking forward to the most is performing on the Bosquet stage: Beabadoobee. The 21-year-old singer-songwriter was performing for the first time in France and it didn't seem to scare her at all. On the contrary, Beabadoobee was delighted to see that the French public was at the rendezvous – some and some having prepared placards for the occasion – and clearly showed it with the joy that emanated from his smiling face. She and her band were able to take us into her grunge universe and at the same time bedroom pop by playing as many songs from her EPs "Lice", "Lovebug" as from her albums "Fake It Flowers" (2020) and the excellent "Beatopia" released last July. The one-hour set will have amazed me and made me hope for a potential concert of the young Filipino artist in Paris. An artist definitely to follow and support! 6:30 pm – At the Cascade stage, it's the Irish Inhaler who electrify the mass that came to see them. I was lucky to be very well placed and to fully experience the concert. Inhaler is now used to concerts in France – I had the opportunity to see them twice before ReS – and the fervor of the French public. Although many British and Irish had come in large numbers to see them for their set. The presence of the group is still present and their communication with the public always so perfect, even if we did not always understand the words of frontman Eli Hewson. An excellent moment that ends in beauty with the singles "Cheer Up Baby" and "My Honest Face" that the audience hastened to sing in unison. A very memorable set despite its short duration of 45 minutes.   7:30 p.m. – Barely enough time to watch the crowd disperse at the end of Inhaler's set before the race to the Firestone stage begins. There, it is Baby Queen who goes up on the (small) stage and manages to occupy it so well that we would have wanted to give him that of the Bosquet or the Cascade. The crowd fills up as Baby Queen continues her first two songs and manages to get the audience dancing. She is energetic, delighted to be there and in communion with her fans who for the occasion have prepared very nice signs that promote her next single, "Lazy". Easily taken on board by her aura, the audience finds themselves doing exactly everything she says like jumping at a specific moment or pretending to be asleep for a TikTok. An unforgettable set that makes you want to see her again very soon (no regrets about having missed IDLES for her)!   20:30 – Dublin City time at last! If there is a group that I absolutely wanted to see it is Fontaines D.C, and it's worth it. The scenography is as sublime as the voice of Grian Chatten who gives himself body and soul on stage. We appreciate the very hard post punk rock of these Irish who have made the audience of the Cascade scene completely crazy. I shouted during "Nabokov" and I danced well during this set which is – in my eyes – the most successful for this first day of the festival. Too bad that towards the end, the audience missed the superb "Boys In The Better Land" to migrate to the Main Stage and finally see the headliner of the festival…   9:45pm – It's time for Jamie Cook, Matt Helders, Nick O'Malley, Alex Turner and Andy Nicholson to take the stage. The audience is impatient but as soon as the first notes of Do I want to Know are heard it is euphoria. Let's go for a long set of madness where the Arctic Monkeys of Sheffield were able to play the iconic songs of their catalog. All this while presenting us in French their new single "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am" in preview. The set was really good despite sound problems and a feeling of slack at times from frontman Alex Turner. He was still delighted to be on stage and never ceased to thank his audience in French. A concert that absolutely should not be missed and which closed in beauty the opening day of this festival confirming in passing, the importance of Rock en Seine in France and internationally. I can't wait to be in 2023 for the 20th edition, which should already be a celebration of monumental music!