Sting at the Bataclan

The weekend saw both the anniversary of the Bataclan attack, and the first performance there since the atrocity last November.

While I had reservations about Sting being the first show at the hall, it was an appropriate choice.

 He's an intelligent and articulate artist, the song Fragile an inspired song to open the venue.

Despite his global superstar status, he  - like many British and US artists -  played the venue in 1979, as an artist hoping to establish their reputation in France.

Despite a newly released album, he's not trying to squeeze some cheap publicity from someone else's tragedy.

It's a difficult balance to get right, marking a commemoration at a venue previously associated with celebration.

At the end of the day, the Sting gig really wasn't about him. More about a remembrance of those who died and our collective refusal to be silenced by the bullets of terrorists.

Sting reopens the Bataclan

I don't quite know how I feel about Sting being the act to re-open the Bataclan just before the first anniversary of the atrocity that took place there.

Firstly, it's beyond a doubt right that the club should re-open. To do anything else would give those who sympathised with the killers a victory they don't deserve.

I thought that the club re-opening after the anniversary was the best idea, a low-key return to business as usual.

But opening with Sting just seems a bit odd. An act like Sting normally wouldn't be playing a venue like that, he's more a figure from international celebrity culture than from the world of music these days.

Maybe it's just that I've never been a big fan of Sting. Maybe it should be a French artist instead.

But maybe it's just that someone has to be the first act to play there, and they'll be scrutinised and criticised whoever they are.

Sting says: "In re-opening the Bataclan, we have two important tasks to reconcile. First, to remember and honour those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago, and second to celebrate the life and the music that this historic theatre represents.

"In doing so we hope to respect the memory as well as the life affirming spirit of those who fell. We shall not forget them."

The concert will raise money for charity. Maybe his heart's in the right place.

Pete Doherty and Youssou N'Dour play the Bataclan in the days after the anniversary, Marianne Faithfull, Laurent Garnier and Yael Naim play in weeks to come.

That feels a lot more like a return to normality for the Batacla.

Mylène Farmer on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

A high-profile appearance by Mylène Farmer in the USA, as she appeared with Sting on the Tonight
Show with Jimmy Fallon performing her single Stolen Car.

It was, surprisingly perhaps, Farmer's US TV debut. Sting is unquestionably a bigger name in the US that Farmer is, and his presence may have helped persuade the show to put her on.

The song was, of course originally by Sting, appearing on his 2003 Sacred Love album.

Farmer's version reached number one in France on its release at the end of August, and features on her  Interstellaires album.

Before they performed their duet, the pair appeared for a brief good humoured interview with Fallon.
There's been more of a focus on establishing Farmer as an artist in the USA with the release of Interstellaires, with an interview appearing in Rolling Stone magazine in September.

An CD EP featuring five remixes of the track emerged at the end of last week, two vinyl releases of remixes are expected at the end of January.

Mylène Farmer and Sting at the NRJ Music Awards

A performance at the weekend at the NRJ Music Awards by Mylène Farmer and Sting, of the song Stolen Car, the first single from Mylène's new album.

The collection,  Interstellaires, was released on Friday. It's Mylène's tenth album, and its release was met with a massive commercial success.

Stolen Car was produced by French DJ The Avener and, it gave Mylène her 14th number one single, her first since 2012's À l'ombre.

The award ceremony also saw Mylène present Sting with an honorary award.

Among the other winners at the event, the 17th time the NMA have been held,  were Louane for the Francophone breakthrough artist, Shy'm for best Francophone female artist, M Pokora for best male Francophone artist, Fréro Delavega for Francophone group/duo of the year.

The Francophone song of the year award went to Kendji Girac's Conmigo and DJ of the year was David Guetta.

Honorary awards also went to Adele, Charles Aznavour  and Juston Bieber.

But while the international attention may have gone to the performance by Adele, it was Mylène's appearance that the French audience would have been watching.

Mylène Farmer: Stolen Car clip

Finally the clip emerges for the new Mylène Farmer track, the duet with Sting for the track Stolen Car.

The video was made by Bruno Aveillan, who previously worked with Farmer on the tracks  Dégénération and  Si j'avais au moins.. It was filmed in Paris at the beginning of September.

The song, which  was originally a track on Sting's 2003 album Sacred Love, has also emerged on physical formats after being available as a download since the end of August.

A CD and vinyl version are available, both with an instrumental  version on the B side.

The track was produced by French DJ The Averner.

The new version of the song features on Farmer's forthcoming album Interstellaires.

Farmer is expected to appear at the NRJ Music awards on November 7, the say after the release of the Interstellaires album.

Mylène Farmer: Stolen Car

A long-awaited moment for fans of  Mylène Farmer, with the release of a new single.

Stolen Car is a cover of a Sting song, and features Sting duetting with Farmer.

It's a bilingual version of the song that originally appeared on Sting's 2003 Sacred Love album.
The track was produced by The Avener, who had a hit with the track Fade Out Lines.

Her last studio album was 2012's Monkey Me, a collection that included the singles À l'ombre, Je te dis tout and the title track.

The album went straight in at number one in the French charts and went on to sell over 500,000 copies.  À l'ombre was a number one single the others reached the top three.

Since then she emberked on the massive Timeless 2013 tour, and released a live collection documenting it in both audio and film.

A video for Stolen Car is expected to be released shortly.

She's already had the most number one singles in France, with 12 solo tracks and one duet.

Farmer's next album is expected to be released in December.

Bob Dylan at Vieilles Charrues

This weekend saw the Vieilles Charrues festival taking place in Brittany, one of France's premier music festivals.

The event was headlined by The Cure on Friday night, Sting on Saturday and Bob Dylan on Sunday. Also on the bill were Portishead, LMFAO, Gossip, garbage, Kasabian and Santigold, and there was also a huge number of some of the best current French acts, including Justice, M83, Martin Solveig, Zebda, Amadou &; Mariam, Thomas Dutronc, and many, many others.

In short, it's a big deal. but reviews of Bob Dylan's set were what could politely be called 'mixed.'

I've seen Dylan quite a few times, even in France, and yes he has disappointed at times, but also has staged one of the finest shows I've ever seen.

Despite being a huge fan, I've passed on buying tickets for shows in the past on account of uncertainty over whether or not he'll be any good.

 Professional photographers were also banned from taking pics of Dylan, which certainly upset many of the media, although I seem to remember that this is something that Dylan always does. I've even seen security staff at his concerts on the lookout for members of the audience taking pictures.

Also, there were complaints about the set, that didn't play all the hits and performed some of his less well known more recent numbers. And there was no encore, no audience interaction.

 But I have some sympathy for Dylan. He's been performing for decades, and I reckon these days - and for the last decade or two - he's been playing for his own enjoyment as much as for the audience's.

He doesn't play the media game because he's in a pretty unique position because he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. He's under no pressure to sell records or tickets, after all.

He could have put his feet up decades ago.

The media don't like an artist that doesn't do what they want, and to a certain extent the same applies to an audience. He doesn't play the same set night after night because he's still a living artist rather than a museum piece, and besides, he'll never please everyone with a back catalogue as large as his.

 As a performer he still takes risks, and while this doesn't always pay off, when it does the rewards are great indeed.

 Next year's festival will be held on July 18 - 21, and the organisers say that securing an appearance by Radiohead is one of their priorities. Hopefully they'll leave the audience a bit happier.