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| Burgeoning talent at Printemps de Bourges |
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| Thursday, 17 April 2008 | |
 1. Which town in the Cher did Jacques Brel visit in his song? 2. Which French singer derived her stage name from a bird? 3. What plant did Jacques Dutronc sing about? 4. Which controversial French singer made a reggae version of the Marseillaise and said, “je t’aime moi non plus”? 5. Name a famous French song that most people attribute to Frank Sinatra. 6. Which singer recently won ‘Best Newcomer’ and ‘Best Album’ at the recent French record industry awards? If you managed to answer the first five questions correctly, congratulations. Though you are still firmly stuck in the latter years of the twentieth century, you know something about French music. Number six was perhaps more difficult. The young man in question is Renan Luce. A fresh-faced, curly-haired songster, bursting with talent, Mr Luce is the latest exponent of what the music industry calls ‘la nouvelle scène Française’ – the new French music scene. Mr Luce has just released a rather fine album entitled ‘Le repenti’. It has overtones of Brassens and is an excellent example of that French musical genre, ‘chanson à texte’. Catchy songs, with lyrics about the trials and tribulations of life, love and the meaning of both. ‘Le repenti’ recently won the award for best album, and Mr Luce the award for best newcomer at the prestigious French music industry awards. If all this sounds like your musical ‘tasse de thé’, why not nip along to Bourges where this year, as for the past 31 years, small-town France will welcome the world in music. From April 15 to 20, The Printemps de Bourges offers a unique opportunity for you to discover the best in French and international talent. So you have never heard of the Printemps de Bourges. Every year though, the five-day festival attracts more than 100,000 concert-goers, 2,000 music professionals and 250 artists playing in 10 venues – from the town’s cathedral to the specially erected 6,000-place marquee. The Printemps is a cut above all those other ‘music’ festivals. For starters the punters don’t spend days on end sliding round in mud and craning their necks to see their favourite stars on a video. The Printemps is a civilised affair. For an average of e30 per gig, you are pretty much guaranteed a comfy seat in a fully air-conditioned venue. Unlike other rock festivals, the punters are not confined to a field ‘à la Glastonbury’ or an enclosure, as happens at the ‘Francofollies’ in La Rochelle. The Printemps de Bourges sprawls throughout the town. There is both liberty and civilisation in the option of dining in the medieval old town before strolling through the cobbled streets for an intimate rendez-vous with Yael Naim or Rickie Lee Jones. This year, the organisers of the festival have concocted a rich and diverse programme. If you have not heard of all the performers, you will. Come September, many of these acts will be headline news and you’ll be paying far more than e30 to see them in vast big city venues. So, what have we got? The festival kicks off with Renan Luce and Christophe Willem. The latter won the 2006 ‘Recherche pour la Nouvelle Star’, the French version of ‘Pop Idol’. Don’t let this put you off though: Mr Willem is a consummate performer with a voice that Mika would dream of. On the 17th, Thomas Dutronc, son of the famous father, shares a stage with French pop revelation ‘Cali’. Appearing on the same evening and at the same venue is Israeli songstress and ‘new soul icon’ Yael Naim. She has recently been riding high in the charts, as have the Franco-American ‘folk’ ensemble ‘Moriarty’. Their new single, ‘Jimmy’, is currently airing on all the nation’s radio stations and music TV channels. Critics describe their music style as “somewhere between the America of fantasies, and a far-out Europe, ... music straight off the soundtrack of some Far West road movie”. Catherine Ringer, the distinctive voice of the ‘Rita Mitsouko’ takes up her national tour where it left off after the untimely death of her lifelong partner and guitarist Fred Chichin. Ms Ringer will be in town on April 18.  For the best and latest thing in French rock, I strongly recommend you take in the ‘B B Brunes’ on Wednesday April 16. The BBs are playing support to the British group ‘Baby Shambles’ and their emblematic front man, Pete Doherty, providing that he isn’t in prison or in rehab. There is also a spot of Brighton rock on the same bill with the Kooks. The big event of the week is undoubtedly Rickie Lee Jones. Her appearance at the festival on Thursday April 17 is her only French date this year. If rock and pop aren’t quite your thing, the festival is hosting a rap, hip-hop and electro night on Wednesday April 16. Undisputed star of the evening will be the French rapper ‘Sinik’ whose latest single includes a guest appearance by James Blunt. Reggae fans would be well advised to see ‘Far Freddy’s Drop’ on Friday April 18. As usual, and unlike ‘Les Franco Follies’ the town’s numerous bars and cafés will be staging their own parallel but complementary festival ‘Les printemps dans les bars’. Most bars rev up at six and continue into the wee small hours with as many as six groups in the one day. All of this is free. Ambiance guaranteed.  If you can’t get to the festival, you can always see it live on TV. Ray Cokes – French TV’s only English presenter – will host his show ‘En Direct 2’, on France 4 at 8.45pm on Saturday April 19. In the studio, Ray will be interviewing the best up-and-coming French bands, which will also be playing live. Fans of Ray Cokes can catch him in one of our future issues. Come on down to deepest France. We’ll be happy to see you. You can buy tickets and find full information on the festival and all the parallel events at the Printemps de Bourges website www.printemps.bourges.com |
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