Hello again from the other side of the globe, I'm currently in London where I actually ended up catching shows by Rah Rah & Dear Rouge, and The Wooden Sky & Yukon Blonde, but I'm going to catch you up on Day Two of the Rencontres Trans Musicales De Rennes!
This was the busiest day for sure of the festival, and it had me running from hall to hall to make sure I didn't miss anything I wanted to see. That said, I made sure to spend some time in Hall 5, where there were about a dozen different themed bars and restaurants set up (including a champagne bar!), and where I had one of the best festival meals I've ever had. Good food really makes a big difference when you're running around all evening!
I put a few photos in the slideshow to give you a sense.
The evening began with punk/garage rock all the way from Madagascar with The Dizzy Brains. The energy the band had was a perfect start to a long evening, with lead singer Eddy belting it out all over the stage. I only stayed for about half of the set, but their passion was evident, and the loud rock had the hall moving. [Listen to: "Nicotine"]
Over in the next hall was Son Little, a performer I was told I should definitely see. Hailing from the States and working with artists like The Roots, and RJD2, I had high expectations. The smooth vocals, and beat a mix of everything from hip-hop to reggae had the room grooving and definitely feeling sexy. I witnessed several make outs from the photo pit, but that might just be France. [Listen to: "Cross My Heart"]
If there was one band I was looking forward to hearing live most, it was TOTORRO. When looking into the artists performing at the festival, I liked this one so much that I downloaded their album Home Alone and have been listening to it for weeks now. The live show proved to be just as good, with the band going all out and adding a few guests, including a trumpet player. I still compare the soaring crescendos to that of early Broken Social Scene, and when I thought they had the energy of a band like We Are The City, I was proven correct there as well when the drummer continuously stood up while playing a la Andy. If I had to recommend you check out just one band that I saw, this is the one. [Listen to: "Chevalier Bulltoe" or the whole album HERE]
When TOTORRO was done I headed over to catch some of Grand Cannon, mostly out of intrigue as to what kind of show a band that included 70-year-olds would be putting on. What I didn't realized that in addition to drums and guitar there would be less traditional 'instruments', including garbage cans and bags (see photo), metal chains, you name it. They were doing covers when I entered, and I particularly remember hearing "It's Only Rock 'N' Roll", which, to me, kept sounding like they were saying "It's only second row"...given their unconventional nature, I wouldn't put it passed them. [Listen to: "Dirty Ways"]
Slide guitar and soul music, Vintage Trouble, from the United States, had Hall 3 MOVING at 1:30 in the morning. It's hard not to tap your toes and dance along to that kind of music, and feeding off of front man Ty Taylor's energy. The band was great to photograph, and definitely brought the party, but at a festival full of new, raw, different musical sounds, I lost interest after a while, thought the audience was still loving it when I moved on. [Listen to: "Run Like The River"]
At 2:30am a little slice of home came on stage; Dralms, who also came all the way to France from Vancouver, filled the hall with their haunting music, and a large crowd. I couldn't help but smile in the photo pit, finally hearing some familiar songs and seeing familiar faces. I photographed for a little bit and then took in the rest of the show from the crowd, happy to see a positive reaction to my fellow Canadians. Side note, Dralms is performing in Vancouver at the Fox Cabaret on February 18th. [Listen to: "Crushed Pleats"]
My evening ended (mostly because I couldn't feel my feet anymore and it was 4:30am) with whom I dubbed the Dutch Sheepdogs, Dewolff! The similarities started with the look (hair!) and continued to the music, although I found Dewolff to be a little more psychedelic in sound, and there were only three of them on stage. I enjoyed their live performance very much, as they were as much a joy to photograph (that hair!) as to watch. [Listen to: "Don't You Go Up The Sky"]
Day Three (final one!) of my Trans Musicales festival experience is up next, which was pretty casual compared to this busy night, but definitely had some highlights!
