Festival: Garorock 2019

As details of next summer's music festivals in France start to emerge, the first acts to perform at next summer's Garorock event have been confirmed.

Christine and the Queens, one of the biggest French acts around, are on the bill alongside Macklemore and German electronic producer Paul Kalkbrenner.

Elsewhere, Belgian rapper Roméo Elvis, who has become a significant voice in Francophone hip hop, takes to the stage.

Therapie Taxi, Columbine and Bagarre are among the other acts performing. It's a very strong French presence in the bill, which also includes international acts including Sum 41

It still amazes me that Bagarre are not one of the biggest acts in France right now, but some festival performances in front of the massive crowds they deserve should go some way to putting that right.

Garorock takes place on June 27-30 and details of the rest of the acts who will play the four day event will be made public on December 18.

It's the 23rd edition of Garorock, which last year included performances by Indochine, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Orelsan. Over the years it has progressed from its punk rock roots to feature headline acts included Muse, David Guetta, Justice and Iggy and the Stooges.

It's always had a strong focus on French acts, and it's noticeable how many of those on the bill have played Garorock before, albeit far lower on the listings. Events like this giving a stage to French acts helps them reach an appreciative French audience, it's as simple as that.

Tickets for this year's Garorock go on sale on December 5 at 10am.

 

Garorock Festival

This weekend sees another of France's major music festivals taking place, with Garorock being held over four nights in Marmonde in the south west of France.

The event kicked off last night with a headline set from Indochine, along with performances from Django Django, Angele and a DJ set from Joris Delacroix among others.

Tonight's big names are Marilyn Manson and Orelsan, Saturday includes DJ Snake, Nekfeu and Charlotte Gainsbourg, while Sunday features Macklemore, Tryo, and MGMT.

While there are many international acts, among the dozens of others on the bill over the weekend are Therapie Taxi, Roméo Elvis. L'Impératrice and Petit Fantome.

Garorock features many more emerging artists than some of the big festivals, and selects the kind of  bill capable of drawing around 100,000 revellers every year.

It's come a long way from its urban rock and punk roots, but remains the kind of event that attracts some of the biggest names in French music as well as some of the artists that will be featuring elsewhere over the next few years.