Les Eurockéennes 2013: Saturday

After the perfect afternoon swimming in Lake Malsaucy after BBQ-ing on its banks we feel ready to tackle the third day of Belfort’s now historic Les Eurokeennes Festival.

Mykki Blanco

The female alter-ago of Brooklyn resident Michael Quattlebaum Jr., Mykki Blanco emerges on stage, nipple tassels in full view after Psycho Egyptian has warmed up the crowd with two offerings of his own. Prowling the stage, owning the bass heavy thuds that accompany her stage presence, Blanco is charismatic to a fault – the chaotic beats, hyperactive yelps creating a fearless, utterly original blend of hip hop, rap and performance art.

Dinosaur Jr

J. Mascis and co have never been famous for their wild-eyed enthusiasm but we’ve certainly seen them give more fevered recitals than this. It’s certainly not like their heart is no longer in it, their recent album I Bet On Sky serving as irrefutable proof that they’re not dredging up the dirge of their creative souls to fill flagging bank accounts with nostalgic cash-ins but instead are continuing to craft masterful, messy, swirling shoegaze driven by genuine artistic integrity. But this afternoon the crowd is certainly having a lot more fun than the band, perhaps a lake side beach stage is just too far from their natural habitat.

Though they barely say two words to the crowd, it doesn’t stop their performance from sounding absolutely incredible. Melodic I Bet The Sky offerings ‘Watch the Corners’ and ‘Rude’ sit perfectly alongside the legendary howls of ‘Feel The Pain’ and the unmistakable dynamism of alt.rock stalwart ‘Freak Scene’.

Is Tropical

Having risen to notoriety with their debut single ‘When O When’ back in 2010, London trio Is Tropical never really had me convinced until they released their second Kitsune album I’m Leaving back in May. It may have had something to do with their brattish mask wearing egos, or the fact that their music always fell a little flat.

But their recent effort is richer, tighter and generally a more intoxicating variety of pop, particularly when we look at most recent single ‘Dancing Anymore’ – whose deep bass lines, cyclic rhythms and anthemic, female vocal lead chorus had us all dancing. For a brief moment we were enamoured but their performance this afternoon has definitely damaged the relationship, though it is only technical problems that are to blame.

They plague the band’s late evening set from the start, Simon Milner’s vocals barely distinguishable over the electronic pop sonics, the drums failing constantly and what is supposed to be a wailing guitar riff sounding like a quivering, nervous wreck more than a strutting pinnacle of rock n roll panache. The band are visibly angry, frustratingly yelling towards the side of the stage, begging for volume. It’s a shame, there are moments where they have the crowd in the palm of their hands but after a delayed start and a faltered beginning there is not enough good will in the world to make this a successful outing.

Phoenix

Thankfully, tonight’s headliners suffer no such difficulty. We’re not quite sure when Phoenix became more than that band who did that “going hey hey hey hey hey hey” song but we suspect it was fairly recently, with the release of their fifth full length studio effort Bankrupt! Opening proceedings with lead single ‘Entertainment’, their veteran hands expertly craft the most euphoric indie pop imaginable, the entire crowd moving as one mass to the soaring synths, piecing guitar riffs and Thomas Mars’ smooth vocals.

The stage lights flash red and blue in frenzied succession as their entire set becomes like a greatest hits show – rolling out ‘Listomania’, ‘Rome’ ‘Lasso’ and yes, ’1901′s instantly recognisable synth hook. As is Mars’ new found tradition the encores closing number finds him wading into the crowd, surfing over the top almost like he’s swimming front crawl through his fans. Security and sound techs rally around the barrier, desperately feeding his the orange cable for the microphone that he eventually uses like a life line to return to the safe, lofty heights of the stage.

Kavinsky

We decide the only way to keep the levels of euphoria on a high is to hop on over to the beach stage to watch the end of Kavinsky’s set. Weaving our way through an already packed crowd the familiar tones of Drive featured number ‘Nightcall’ ebb back and forth like the most incredible 80s movie soundtrack tide. Pulsating synths underpin the simple vocal refrains, led by CSS frontwoman Lovefoxx, though she’s not present in the flesh while moonlit bodies shimmy back and forth to its slinky, sultry beats.

Photograph by Minh Le taken at Shepherd’s Bush Empire.