Day by Day: Rock en Seine 2024 pulls out all the stops for its twentieth edition
The Paris-based festival hosted 92 concerts across five different stages, attracting its biggest crowds yet.
Photo: Roxane Déborah
Back for its twentieth edition, Rock en Seine’s 2024 lineup offered a superb variety of musical styles and artists from around the world, welcoming a record-breaking 182,000 festival goers from 21st to 25th of August.
Following a sold-out opening soirée headlined by Lana Del Rey, I hopped over to the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, just west of Paris, to make the most of this highly anticipated music event before the sun sets on the festival season.
Day One:
Upon doors opening, crowds were quick to make their way through the festival grounds, with backdrops of fluttering bunting, fairy lights and food trucks. A pre-show chorus of languages and accents from across Europe and overseas, hummed in excitement for the day ahead.
Kicking things off strong, I gathered before the mainstage for Rock en Seine first timers, The Last Dinner Party. The group graced the stage with confidence, an accessory to the combinations of ruffled gowns with buckled boots. Squeals and gasps rippled through the audience as the drumkit led into The Femine Urge. The 50-minute set also featured the unreleased track, Second Best (à la Kate Bush) and a funky cover of Blondie’s Call Me. By the time the popular Nothing Matters came around, the crowd was well and truly grooving.
I headed to catch Dead Poet Society at the Cascade stage, which lived up to its name as lead vocalist Jack Underkofler jumped (quite literally) into the crowd, surfing the soundwaves of heavy bass and powerful guitar riffs… A rock festival would be incomplete without a mosh pit and the odd stage-dive, right?
Kasabian kept the party going with their crowd-pleasing anthems and tunes from the new album, Happenings. Matching the album cover art, the set featured a rainbow light show and a bright green electric guitar with frontman Serge Pizzorno using his best French accent, encouraging the audience to get up “sur les épaules”. As the concert continued to escalate, Pizzorno repeatedly stated what we were all thinking: “This is a vibe”.
Photo: Louis Comar
Other highlights from the day include Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, punk rockers keeping the energy high with Carter leading a circle pit for the hit Kitty Sucker, finishing with a rendition of Happy Birthday for drummer Gareth Grover. British indie group Soft Launch lit up the Firestone stage with some slick harmonies and acapella moments, and Gossip made their comeback after a decade-long hiatus with their set being interpreted into French Sign Language.
The crowd was packed for the closing act: Italian rock group MÅNESKIN, who put their all into the last show of the RUSH! tour. Damiano David seemed slightly worse for wear but nevertheless managed to strut his way through the set. Despite pinching the Eurovision trophy from France in 2021, any bitterness was forgotten as the audience rocked out to their winning tune ZITTI E BUONI. Extended guitar solos, snarly vocals, fans on stage, and two encores later, the four-piece brought the day to an explosive end as the remnants of a blue super moon hung over the Seine.
Day Two:
Geared up for round two and ready for my dose of soul, I bopped by the mainstage where New York disco-soul trio, Say She She were warming up the crowd. Over at the Cascade Stage, the bashful Elmiene soothed the audience with smooth vocals and poetic lyrics.
Photo: Louis Colmar
I was particularly excited to see Olivia Dean who was just back from touring Japan. The audience (which Dean remarked had “substantially grown” since her last time playing Rock en Seine) was treated to a faultless performance of soaring song featuring a spine-tingling jazz trio. The British neo-soul artist illuminated the stage, bantering with the crowd, wearing a huge smile and a peachy three-piece co-ord. Whether playing guitar, keyboard or percussion, Dean offered a selection of tunes from her debut album Messy, also going back through her no-skip discography to some earlier releases such as Reason to Stay. “This is getting emotional,” she said, stressing a message of self-love and gratitude, before finishing with her biggest hit, Dive.
Next, I checked out the Île-de-France Stage, spotlighting independent artists (such as the melancholic Joe la Panic) from across Paris and the surrounding region. This stage also hosted an opportunity for six talented high-school musicians to perform and receive coaching, studio rehearsals and professional workshops to support their emerging musical journey.
Sampha attracted a decent crowd with his soulful R&B, while Venna mixed jazz sax with hip-hop and, as night fell, Jungle claimed the mainstage. Protective earplugs were a must as the funk and dance group played their powerful hits such as I’ve Been in Love and Casio. The audience was bouncing from the get-go. There were lights; there were lasers; there were huge stripe-y balloons! Erick the Architect made an appearance on the big screen, featuring retro filters and slow-mo projections. The nostalgic soul grooves truly took us Back on 74.
I caught the tram home, relieved to sit down after the familiar post-concert back ache began to kick in. I didn’t mind too much though, as after another great day of music, I was still keen to return for more.
Photo: Louis Colmar
Day Four:
Back again for a final spin, I was intrigued to see Róisín Murphy who, representing her artistic eclecticism, emerged on stage wearing a black lion’s mane and kitten heels. Over the purr of the bass and synth, the couple next to me shared an approving thumbs up. No time for chit-chat, costume changes punctuated each song (a top hat, a spikey leather jacket, a necklace strung with XL rosary beads and a faceless baby doll) and psychedelic graphics hypnotised the crowd through this non-stop set. Murphy played with a hand-held camera and spent an entire song performing to a mirror screen at the back of the stage – threatening the limit between inception-style immersion and disconnect from the live audience. However, the roar of applause left no doubt that her fans were well satisfied.
I spent the rest of the evening between acts such as Nina Versyp, Joy (Anonymous) and the ethereal PJ Harvey, as well as exploring some of the many stalls and activities on offer throughout the festival. A huge crowd had gathered to see Pixies play their slow rock ballads, such as Where is my Mind?. Swapping head banging for head nodding, the group’s iconic loud-quiet dynamic shifts sent ripples through the audience as I swayed my way to the end of this Rock en Seine experience.
Photo: Olivier Hoffschir
As the festival wound to a close, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were just beginning, and the Paralympic flame was welcomed onto the mainstage before the final act: LCD Soundsystem. With a total of 92 concerts over five days (the biggest edition yet), the whoops and cheers made clear the burning enthusiasm for this family-friendly festival, which has celebrated global music giants alongside up-and-coming talent since 2003. Twenty editions later, Rock en Seine continues to keep the fire alive.