La Bretagne, ca vous gagne : Rennes, les Transmusicales 2009 et Mont Saint Michel

 

 

 

 

Remember Cedric?

We met in Madrid in 2008 (through Cyprien and CouchSurfing) and hung out for a couple of months in Malasana, Madrid. 

 

After his Spanish exchange program, this Histoire de l'Art student moved back to his home town of Rennes. One of the bigggest students town in France.

I promised I'd visit his sometime, so here I am for the week end (merci la carte 12-25)

 

 

 

As you can see, his cool flat is enormous... It ain't nothing like Paris.

 

Cedric introduced me to a couple of typically Bretons traditions:

 

- cute timbered houses (around Place St Anne)

 

 

 

 

 

- Britons' hospitality through his friends

Left to right : Gildas, Magali, Nico, me, Cedric and Anne

 

- average football  at Stade de la route de Lorient (merci Gildas)

 

 

 

 - after party and after football traditional meal: la "galette Saucisse", a hot-dog with pancake instead of bread

 

 

 

 

 - Breizh cola, the local soft drink you find in most cafés

 

 

 

- the alternative artistic scene : l'ELABORATOIRE

A legally (?) squatted warehouse for artists near the train station...

 

 

 

 

 

Around l'Elaboratoire, you'll find most of the street art work. Special attention to Deplus...

 

Rennes is a stronghold of alternative lifestyle. A big historical punk scene due to the strong Briton identity. So you can still find a lot of "punk à chien" (punk with a dog). Eeven if there use to be more according to what people say...

 

 

 

 

- THE TRANSMUSICALES DE RENNES FESTIVAL

 

This great 5 day musical festival brings to town the hot up and coming artists from all over the world. What ever music you like It's a great place to spot new talents, whether they are from. From South Africa to Iceland....

And that's why I met up with my Victor Milch'B(my La Passerelle buddy), A&R for Wagram there.

 

 

 

FEVER RAY and her psychadelic spectacular show . This Swedish artist pulled off an incredibly visual , light and sound show, without ever showing her face.

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour show but not once did we get to see the face of the leadsinger or of the band. The music wasn't memorable to me but what a great visual experience!

 

My favorite discovery : the politics

 

Scandinavian... Again! These 3 guys from Danmark are a good mix of modern pop culture :

the cool punk-rock leadsinger suddenly stops and turns himself into a human beat box machine... poom tchak - poom clack -clack -

What?!

Seconds later, same guy jumps to the ground and starts spinning on his head... B-boy style!

Fun!!

Check the full video here

 

Victor and I also saw Mr Oizo live.

 

Good fun, good crowd. Especially when the massive sound system spits out the first notes of "Positive, track famous for the lyrics :"Vous allez crever! Vous êtes des animaux!"

with the deadly twist : "Vous avez la Grippe A!! Vous allez tous mourir à Rennes"

You can here it here.

 

 

 Interesting concept : a concert in a bus that bounces as the crowd dances and shakes

 

 

 

 This was really a cool first time at the "Trans" .

 

Mostly because it is a friendly atmosphere with Britons going crazy every now and then...

 

Like Base' & Nanar, the tallest man in Rennes...

 

No, tallest man in the world! 

Check their funny blog : http://echelledereicher.tumblr.com/ 

 

 

But musicwise, it was a bit of a disappointment. Not so many hot bands this year. Even Major Lazor (Diplo + Switch) was boring...

 

Right, victor?