By Rosine Alleva and José Oliveira, Journalist / Photographers – Rock At Night France, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany
After these incredible cold days of beginning May, the Sun will be shining at the 72nd edition of the Alsace Music & Wine Festival, here in Colmar.
Indivisible from the Wine Fair, the Summer Colmar Festival is today proudly among the 10 biggest musical events in France with a record of attendance last year with 90,608 visitors!
The Festival, it’s also a cabaret. And it’s in a cabaret atmosphere that we discovered the full music program for this summer. It was also in honor to the artistic director Jean-Marie Arrus, who died a few days after last year’s edition…
After the announcement of a new hall under construction (for exhibitors) whose should be finished for next June, the main feature of this 2019 edition, lies on the fact of the absence of the traditional HARD ROCK SESSION !!! According to Claude LEBOURGEOIS, the Programming director, the conditions were not quite ripe to present a good selection of groups. Because there were very few HARD bands from the 70’s or 80’s touring this summer. So, would the HARD ROCK SESSION be forever doomed? NO ! Nevertheless, it seems we can expect a surprising , exceptional Line up for 2020 !!!
The programming unveiled by Claude LEBOURGEOIS, takes always place in a difficult context. The fees for the big international headliners keep exceeding beyond the limits, that a venue of 10 000 people like the Music & Wine Festival can’t support. It is obvious that EAGLES or even FLEETWOOD MAC will never play in Colmar unless their fees would be revised downwards! They’ve almost tripled in 10 years!
Despite all this, the BLACK EYED PEAS will be present! Despite a golden retirement thanks to the 35 million albums they’ve sold, these Californians (?) will fill the Open Air Theatre on July 30th. Let’s not forget STING, we saw in 2017, who will be back again!
The 80s will be highlighted with a colorful and surprising line Up. Three artists with big hits in the Eighties in the European Charts and Clubs…COCK ROBIN (The promise you made) MURRAY HEAD (Say it ain’t Joe, a Night in Bangkok) SUPERTRAMP’s ROGER HODGSON. An evening promised to end with a big jam!?…And France means obviously the presence of French established artists as well as a few from the new generation. More than 700 artists performed at the FAV. The character of this Music Festival will remain in the same vein: no festival program elsewhere in France will be more eclectic!
THE BLACK EYED PEAS
It’s almost unexpected, so much we dreamed: the Black Eyed Peas at the Wine Fair! The event is so big that this group, which has sold nearly 40 million albums in the world and collected all that it is possible to reap as rewards, seemed to us inaccessible. Now, we know, these Californians led by the charismatic Will.I.Am like to confront their audience to live their rhythms electro and hip hop frenzied. They sometimes do it intimate in clubs or as it will be the case on a very large scale, with a show that borders on excess. No doubt that the Colmarien public will respond to the beautiful invitation.
STING
“My Songs” will be a delirious and dynamic show around the most famous songs written by Sting covering the prolific career of the one who won the Grammy Awards 16 times with The Police and solo. Fans can look forward to hearing “Englishman In New York,” “Fields Of Gold,” “Shape Of My Heart,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Message In A Bottle,” and more, where Sting will be accompanied by an electric rock band.
SUPERTRAMP’s ROGER HODGSON
In the late 1970s, they dominated the world. These Brits achieved tons of hits and multiplied successful tours with a disarming natural. Nothing destined them to such a craze, unless this humility that led them to mix great humour, sensitivity and quality arrangements. The English way, if you prefer! During the 80’s, the band experienced many vicissitudes, but Roger Hodgson, the leader of the band’s most recognizable voice and composer of the greatest hits, continued the adventure with the same enthusiasm. The emotion will be there.
MURRAY HEAD
From the first notes on the acoustic guitar of “Say It Ain’t So Joe”, generations of fans are excited. This slow from 1975 is filled with nostalgia to every listening ….There were so many encounters and adventures with this song! Murray Head, charismatic British singer, is a lover of France, a country that makes him happy, welcoming each of his outings as an event. If he became scarcer in recent times, devoting himself to comedy as part of television series in England, his return to the stage will delight the wilder audience.
COCK ROBIN
Many of us have succumbed to the playful ballads of this American duo who took the best places in the charts of the 80’s: The Promise You Made or Thought You Were On My Side, among others, are part of these timeless hits whose melody is hummed without knowing where it comes from. After separating in the 90s, the group returned to the road with the same fervour as it had in its beginnings. The attractive Peter Kingsbery and Coralie Vuillemin will immerse us, with the tenderness and sensuality that characterize them, in our most vibrant memories
EROS RAMAZZOTTI
Watch out, cult artist! In his 35-year career, our proud Italian has sold no less than 55 million albums, making him a star in his country, but also worldwide. The one who shared the stage with Rod Stewart, Elton John or Joe Cocker, and sung in duet with Tina Turner and Andrea Boccelli, continues to travel the world with this infinite seduction and a taste for the scene that has never wavered over the years. After the success of the presence of the Italian crooner during the 2010 edition, his return to the Colmar Festival is undoubtedly a major event.
Some of the French artists
PATRICK BRUEL
It’s been almost 35 years since Bruel made his debut as a singer while pursuing a career in cinema. He is today, without a doubt, one of the darlings of the French public which recognizes in him this integrity like the mark of the biggest ones. Exploring all the facets of a popular French song, realistic, and even tenderly pop, as in his latest recordings, no doubt he will return on stage to his natural sense for a true communion.
M OR MATTHIEU CHEDID
In everyone’s opinion, –M– is considered one of the biggest in France. Each of his stage appearances is praised as a moment of ultimate communion with his audience. Matthieu an outstanding guitarist and insatiable showman, surprises with each performance, even his most fervent fans. After his brilliant Malian escapades, he is back with his singular way of mixing French pop and the highly electric dimension of rock.
SOPRANO
Since his solo debut, his vision of rap is open: Soprano brings urban music to unknown territories: the French song and world music. And it works. With a musical talk that goes from Michael Jackson to Brel or Balavoine, through IAM, Kanye West and Jay-Z, the success was evident! Two years after a triumphal tour in France, Soprano returns to meet an ever-increasing audience.
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From Belgian and Italian parents, I grew up with music, dance and big fun! I love singing since I'm a little girl, I still am, haha. When I was 14, I saw my first concert: T-Rex. Later it was FrankZappa, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Fela, Canned Heat, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Earth, Wind and Fire ....
I dreamed to have a chat with each of them 😀 Before interviewing bands, I used to sing (and still do) and met lots of great musicians. I had the chance to be the support band to Joe Cocker in 2007. I love to communicate and meet people (Italian blood).
Working for magazine, a few years ago, l met José Oliveira! We were working at the same festival in Colmar. 2 people from the South with the same passion just recognized each other...and we stayed in contact since then. Here I am! Enjoying concerts, covering interviews and articles with José for Rock at Night!!
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