At the beginning of July, the 22nd edition of the Astropolis festival was held. Justfocus was there. Story of a night in Brittany.
It may be the oldest French electronic music festival, but it is nevertheless one of the best. Every year we heard about Astropolis as the event not to be missed. If the reputation of its hosts precedes it, its programming easily completes to convince any self-respecting electro enthusiast. It was time for the Parisian editorial staff of Justfocus to take a look at what is happening in Brittany.
Saturday, July 2nd, the electro team goes on an expedition. Paris-Rennes, Rennes-Brest. Boots on your feet and K-Way in the bag.
After 7 hours of travel, direction Beau Rivage, the perfect spot for a late afternoon overlooking the harbor, close to the castle, to the (very good) sound of AZF, which seems, without difficulty, to seduce a very eclectic public, who came in large numbers for this event in free access.
The clock is ticking and it's time to head to the main evening, thanks to the shuttle service set up. It is that there is a road to reach the wood and the Manor of Keroual, which traditionally host Astropolis. Derived from the raves of the 90s, the festival keeps its free spirit and madness by taking us into the night, deep in who knows where.
And it feels good.
After a bus ride and a few minutes of walking, here we are. No time to explore the place, we save it for later and we go to see DNGLS aka Maxime Dangles who starts his live. The darling of the editors, the talented young producer did not come alone: his modular wall is there and in the courtyard of the mansion, the public is carried away by the impressive performance of the artist.
It's only the beginning of the night, but the rain is already keeping us company. It's time to take out the raincoat, protect the camera and pass between the drops to go around the owner. Beyond the five scenes, the organizers know how to touch our child's soul. Between a Ferris wheel, bumper cars and a crazy luminous decoration in the trees, Lewis Caroll is not far away and here we are in wonderland, with eyes big like that. The rain becomes anecdotal and if there were puddles rather than mud, we would gladly jump with both feet.
After a passage through the Tremplin stage, head to the Chill Out stage, left, for almost the entire night, in the hands of the German label Kompakt. A haven of peace in the hustle and bustle of the festival, it is the ideal spot for wet and tired partygoers.
On the Astrofloor stage, Len Faki takes the lead. It's time to sneak under the huge marquee, still approachable surroundings, and savor his hyper powerful set which, as usual, gives a one-way ticket to the stars.
And as in Astropolis we do not do in lace, the artist who follows is none other than Electric Rescue, founder of the label Skryptöm and regular of the place. With the recent release of his second album "Parallel Behaviors", the other techno darling of the editor, offers an excellent live.1h of gentle violence and pure sonic beauty.
Time passes and we extricate ourselves, not without difficulty, from the marquee to take a look at the scene of the Court and the Mekanik. On the first, it is another live that we find with the very good duo Trunkline, composed of Madben and Yann Lean. On the second, we admire, feet bogged down in the mud, the madness of Manu the Evil who keeps festival-goers awake until the day arrives.Back on the Astrofloor, we witness the end of Agoria 's effective set which passes the baton to Maceo Plex for a closing in the form of a credits at the end of a memorable evening drunk.
Early in the morning, the wood of Keroual and its mansion look more like a battlefield than an idyllic summer festival spot. And yet, no offense to the killjoys who will say that it was to be expected because "in Brittany, it rains all the time", for nothing in the world we would not have missed this night feet in the water.
In the end, we will have listened to quality sets served by exceptional artists, seen drops of water sparkle through the magnificent play of lights, danced with our eyes closed, noted an exemplary organization, admired the enclosure of the mansion and the light installations perched in the trees, crossed costumes of wild animals and Stan Smiths more very white, avoided 1000 slides, attended improvised mud baths, exchanged many smiles, but above all, we will have experienced Astropolis. Rainy festival, happy festival. See you next year.
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Photos : ©Ludivine Pellissier
