The Route du rock 2016, we were there! The fort of Saint-Père near Saint-Malo vibrated again, this time with a program that returns to the "Route du rock spirit", that is to say a sharp selection without necessarily calling on one or two headliners. It was therefore an opportunity, for music lovers who pioneered talent on the margins, to live their passions live, and for others to be surprised by good discoveries, whether confirmed groups or newcomers. All under a splendid weather, which with the quality of the artists explain the new success of this edition!
Psychic Ills
This New York band which is on the 5th album starts the festivities of the fort of Saint-Père with a psyche note of the most appropriate, at an hour when the sun is nestled behind the small stage of the ramparts, letting pass the rays that reveal the scent of smoke of all kinds. The psyche / krautrock clique widely presents its new repertoire, with purple and very 70's colors. Retro keyboards, mixing with the discreet saturations of the strings, for songs combining the simplicity of blues with the dream-pop mixture ("I don't mind" with Hope "Mazzy Star" Sandoval on the album), shoeagzing (the deep "No Worry", the draw of Jesus & Mary Chain, which the warm cellos make more baroque), and psyche ("Confusion (I'm Alright"), which plays on the lands of Dead Meadow, Spaceman 3, and navigates the waters of the Velvet Underground. The performance at the Fort was sober, the presence of the limbs was variable, in their defense: the neglected posture is finally part of the picture of this band of phlegmatic rockers. Throbbing cadence, harmless and classic voice arrangements could question the scope of this band that does its job well: yet we feel a delicious attraction towards the return, the revival of the golden age of rock that we want to last and that Psychic Ills embodies without temporality. Piotr Grudzinski
Kevin Morby
He is one of those who titillate American folk, this beauty of music that will outlive Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, it is on: Kevin Morby, 28 years old (resident of Brooklyn, just like Woods of which he was a part), is today, with Kurt Vile and Mac de Marco, a major standard-bearer and a progenitor of wonders, like "Wild Side (Oh the Places You'll Go)" or "All of My Life", those kind of luminous songs passed to posterity from the first listen, which seems to have always existed in the "Hall of Fame" of folk. And that only a few talents are able to reveal. Morby's performance at the Fort de Saint Père was up to par, a success all the greater as he had arrived from the United States not even an hour before the start of the live, and that the sun was shining in the face. A voice carried high in echo, of which we guess a reverberation between the walls of the fort, the back-band that does more than the job: after a purple and psyche phase provided by Psychic Ills on the Scene of the Ramparts, in a cozy and smoking darkness, it is the phase of the great American and sunny spaces on the great Stage of the Fort. We couldn't have hoped for a better start to this festival. Piotr Grudzinski
Belle & Sebastian
The sun sets over the Fort, as the headliner of this first day makes his appearance. The Scots of Belle and Sebastian offer us a high-flying and perfectly balanced set. The melancholic folk of the beginnings gives way sparingly to the last more danceable titles of the formation, carried by the crystalline voice of Stuart Murdoch. We are witnessing a real instrumental epic, performed by a formation of 9 musicians. A real moment of feel good music, in perfect communion with the public. As a finale, the band brings a dozen fans on stage who come to create a beautiful euphoric mess. Certainly one of the highlights of this early evening! Ninon Bernard
Haelos
We were waiting with rare impatience for the concert of the trio from London, met earlier in the afternoon for an interview that will be unveiled soon on the site. Their first album "Full Cicrcle" released at the beginning of the year had panicked our radar sharpened with musical pearls. They promised us an almost spiritual experience, and we were not disappointed. The live is dense, captivating and generous. We let ourselves be easily caught up in their universe so singular and contrasted, between shadow and light. Influenced by 90s bands such as Massive Attack and Portishead, the band breaks away brilliantly and gives the perfect definition of what trip-hop should look like in 2016. Ninon Bernard
Minor Victories
Delighted by what Haelos has just offered us, we head confidently to the stage of the Fort for Minor Victories, heavyweight composed of the members of Slowdive, Mogwai and Editors. Tempting on paper and in the studio, they fail to meet our expectations perhaps too highly placed. The atmosphere drops a little, and the set unfortunately does not take off. It's time for us to go rest before the 3 electro artists who will close this first day. Ninon Bernard
Pantha of the Prince
Christic drawl, eyes frozen on his music equipment. The Berliner Pantha du Prince, whose real name is Hendrick Weber, delivered a live performance specific to his image: electronic music vacillating between danceable house and techno on the verge of a pure minimal. On his website, the composer and producer does not go by four paths. "For him, a rave is a psychosomatic orgasm"… Indeed, in one hour of live it is an invitation to the sensory journey that the artist has returned to us. Long intoxicating pieces, sprinkled with some percussion and binary rhythms, slipping a few times between acoustic experiments and well-conducted improvisations. Despite destabilizing and even abrupt transitions, the promise of a festive trip was kept. Sweet Dibondo
Gold Panda
A silhouette with a humble posture that contrasts with the energy that inhabits the Londoner living in Berlin since 2011, when he swings his swaying beats. After a trip to Japan of several months, it is quite natural that Derwin Schlecker delivered what the land of the rising sun had brought to his creative process: koto samples on Hip-Hop, Trip-hop and Trap beats as well as a video of several rushes of landscapes, flowers and Japanese street atmospheres. A fascinating and rather successful mix of style. The problem was surely the recurring theme throughout the live which, as soon as stripped of its material of bass and other arrangements, slowed down the fervor of the audience. Also, the audience was quite intransigent without being adept at the boomerang effect: soft and miserly applause, despite a flawless energy on the part of the golden panda. Sweet Dibondo
Rival Consoles
Ryan Lee West signed to Erased Tapes Record like classical musicians such as Nilhs Frahm, Peter Broderick or Lubomyr Melnyk. But with his 3 albums and 4 eps on the counter, he does not know the notoriety of his peers.However, he is predicted to have an equally promising musical future. Tortured music and notched sounds that make our ears ring, far too accustomed to a certain linearity of composition in electronic music. A kind of healthy torture that always pushes a little more to frustration. Precisely, with Rival Consoles this pattern of frustration-reward typical of electronic music is not respected, quite the contrary. He diverts and plays with the listener's expectations. Three strong themes: distorted melodies, well-licked percussion and sound explorations. In addition to this live which alone captured a lot of festival-goers, our eyes could also see the convoluted music of the Englishman. The installation behind the artist transcribed sound waves like an old Windows 95 screensaver. An even more striking way to see how this precocious artist does not do things by halves. Sweet Dibondo
