We Love Green 2021

It's great to have some good news. 

After all the cancellations, most recently the MAMA event in Paris, a confirmation that one of next year's major music festivals is taking place, and with a special act confirmed for the opening night.

Gorillaz are to headline Thursday June 3, with a set described as a mini-festival within the festival, featuring Damon Albarn and a host of special guests.

Gorillaz new album Song Machine is released later this month, with the song The Pink Phantom already arrived, featuring a collaboration with Elton John and 6lack. The album includes contributions from Peter Hook, Robert Smith, St Vincent and Skepta.

Whether any of these guests - or guests from their previous albums - appear at the show remains to be seen, but what's certain is that Gorillaz will be putting on the kind of unforgettable multimedia performance that never fails to astonish.

It's the event's tenth anniversary. The festival, held at the Bois de Vincennes, fell victim to Covid-19 cancellation earlier this year. Recent years have seen performances by Christine and the Queens, Tame Impala, Booba, Orelsan and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

We Love Green takes place on June 3- June 6 next year. More details of the other acts on the bill, as well as prices and when tickets will be available, will be released shortly,

Orelsan for We Love Green festival

French rapper Orelsan is the second headliner to be announced for this summer's
We Love Green festival at the Bois de Vincennes in the east of Paris in June,

Bjork was confirmed as the other headline act a few weeks ago, making her only 2018 appearance in France on Sunday June 3.

Orelsan has a French tour in 2018, but it has already widely sold out including two dates at the Bercy arena in Paris in March.

Orelsan's La fête est finie was one of 2018's most significant releases, marking the rapper's return as a solo artist after his success as part of the Casseurs Flowters duo.

Last summer We Love Green featured Justice, Solange and Benjamine Clementine, the two day event hosting three stages of musical acts, others hosting events including talks, films and debates that reflect the environmentally aware tone of the event.

Held in the largest public park in Paris, the festival aims to be ecologically sustainable, and features events to raise awareness of environmental issues as well as hosting a well-curated selection of musical artists from indie-rock to dance and electronic.

We Love Green 2018 is being held on the weekend of June 2 and 3 and tickets are already on sale.

Bjork to headline We Love Green 2018

Nice to see it confirmed today that the We Love Green festival next summer will feature Bjork as the
headline act.

It will be the iconic singer's only French date in 2018 and she plays on Sunday June 3.

We Love Green is being held at the Bois de Vincennes in the east of Paris, the largest public park in the city.

The festival featured Justice, Solange and Benjamine Clementine in June 2017, with artists playing three stages over two days, two other stages hosting events that reflected the festival's green credentials, including talks and films.

It aims to be ecologically sustainable, and features events to raise awareness of environmental issues as well as hosting a well-curated selection of musical artists from indie-rock to dance and electronic.

Bjork is a natural act for an event like this, a cutting edge artist whose heart is always in the right place.

It's a perfectly sized event, and its location in the city means it's easy to access and to find accommodation for the weekend.

We Love Green 2018 is being held on the weekend of June 2 and 3 and tickets go on sale on November 29.

Editorial: June 2017

OK, so I had a month off.

It's been a busy time for me away from writing about French music, and I thought this might be the best way to handle things. It seems to have worked.

I've missed spending the time writing here, and I've missed being across French music as much as I should have been, so I aim to get back to it with the kind of vigour that it deserves.

So this month marks the official return of the blog in a way. More than just a few posts at the beginning of the month or a scattered post or two, but hopefully back to full strength again.

And it's a good time to return.This month sees the festival season kick into high gear, with events in France as varied as Hellfest and We Love Green taking place, while French acts take to the stage at significant festivals here, with acts such as Justice and Phoenix playing Glastonbury later this month.

Elsewhere, Solidays and Main Square festival take place - two of France's biggests music events - along with smaller scale but equally interesting events including Papillons de Nuit and This is Not A Love Song in Nimes.

There's pretty much something on every weekend from now on over summer. We'll be across what's happening, and with more video than ever being made available, hopefully seeing more of the events than ever.

In the meantime, glad to say we are alive and kicking at viveleroq.com.

You can get a hold of me at johnkilbrideAThotmailDOTcom, with the appropriate punctuation where you'd expect it to be. I'm always pleased to hear from record companies, PR companies and promoters, so do get in touch. I'm always keen to hear new things, and relay information about acts I already know and love.

The blog is also on Twitter as @viveleroq or you can find me at @karnag

If you're around Facebook, remember to like the French Music Podcast UK page, where you can get regular updates with both fresh and vintage French music.

Merci et à bientôt
 

Festival: We Love Green

Mixed reports about last weekend's We Love Green festival in Paris, held over Saturday and Sunday at the
Bois de Vincennes.

Much of the blame seems to go to the weather, something that's very much outwith the control of the best organised outdoors music event. Problems with the security, control of the crowd leaving the event and complaints over the price of drinks are, however, probably things that organisers should take into consideration.

It was the fifth time that the event has been held, and hopefully the problems that seem to have emerged can be taken care of. We love Green is a well-intentioned event and it's delivered well-considered line ups year after year so far. Hopefully organisers will learn from this year.

Fetty Wap cancelled, but all others scheduled for the event still played, including Air, PJ Harvey and LCD Soundsystem, as did Savages, James Blake, Hot Chip and Minuit.

However, no complaints about the quality of the acts, with Les Inrocks saying that the event was saved by the sets performed by Air, PJ Harvey and LCD. Three very different acts, but each of which were rated among the best concerts of the year by the influential publication.

Festival: We Love Green

Details of another French summer music festival have emerged, with some of the first names on the bill confirmed for the We Love Green event in Paris.

We Love Green is held this year on June 4 and 5, in the Bois de Vincennes, with PJ harvey and LCD Soundsystem at the top of the bill.

LCD Soundsystem are making a return this year after an absence of five years, their influence if anything growing during their time off. They confirmed in January their intention to play this year's Coachella festival in the USA and their plans for a new album.

PJ Harvey has a new album due out in April entitled The Hope Six Demolition Project, and released the single The Wheel at the end of last month.

Two very credible acts for We Love Green, which this year marks its sixth anniversary with a move to a larger location, but one that remains accessible to the Paris audience. Last year saw Christine and the Queens and Django Django amongst the acts on the bill.

Also on the bill for 2016 are Air, as well as the likes of Hudson Mohawk and Hot Chip.

It will, like previous years, be an event with an ecological focus, with workshops, talks and other events that go beyond music and embarce activism and sustainability.

H-Burns: Live at the We Love Green

A chance to catch the live set by H-Burns at the We Love Green festival in Paris the other weekend,
courtesy of the good people at Arte making the show available to watch online.

The show was held at the Parc de Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne on Saturday May 30. H-Burns were the opening band to play the event that also featured Christine and the Queens, C.A.R., Flavien Berger and other favourites of this blog.

It's great to see H-Burns playing in such a pastoral setting on such a beautiful day.  Can there be a better place for a show than in a park in Paris on a sunny afternoon?

H-Burns deserves to be massive, or at least well known as a cult act outside France. A listen and a watch of their set should convince you.

Their last album Night Moves was released in January this year and a special record store day release album of covers emerged since then.

Festival: We Love Green

This weekend sees a very tasteful two day music festival take place at the Parc de bagatelle in the bois de Boulogne, Paris.

We Love Green sees Christine and the Queens and Julien Casablancas and the Voidz at the top of the bill. Other acts playing include Django Django, H-Burns, Flavien Berger and C.A.R.

There are also sets by Siriusmodeselektor, Ratatat, Nicolas Jaar, Joey Badass, José Gonzalez, Allah-las and dozens of others.

 Seun Kuti, son of afrobeat legend Fela Kuti also takes to the stage.

The festival takes, as the name suggests, a pro-environmental stance, with green initiatives informing much of the organising of the event. Renewable energy and local produce feature, public transport, low carbon emissions and recycling are key.

The event takes place over two days, Saturday May 30 and Sunday May 31.