Melting Vinyl: Bringing the cream of live music to Brighton.

Donate to Melting Vinyl

Support Melting Vinyl

Posted January 29th 2012

Vive La France! 2012: Day 2

With the afrobeat sounds of Francois & the Atlas Mountains still ringing in our ears, it was time to bid them adieu, and get some well earned sleep!

Day 2 started with a bang at The Green Door Store with festival anglo-french favourites, Transformer DJs, spinning French pop gems to get the party started!

Taking to the stage for their debut UK show were Sing Sing My Darling, and everyone who packed in to see them were in for a treat! This frighteningly talented outfit from Toulouse introduced their exciting blend of indie pop and soulful vocals, rounded off with an outing of their infectious single, Disco Love. They really are one of those bands that its impossible not to dance to!

But the night was young and hot footing across to The Hope was the plat du jour, as Brighton francophiles, L’amour Electronique DJs launched Friday’s festivities.

Performing as one of Vive La France! 2012’s French Connections, Brighton’s Halfway proved themselves to be a real force to be reckoned with with a mesmerizing performance.

Nothing wets the appetite for more French talent than a brisk walk back to The Green Door Store, and it was time to check out rising soul-pop starlet Justine Taton who showed the audience why you may become very familiar with her name over the next year!

Luckily wearing footwear made for dancing also aids a quick run back to The Hope, just in time to catch Concrete Knives. Already championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq, unsurprisingly the venue was packed to the rafters by the time they took to the stage, and the band didn’t disappoint.  Unleashing their Gallic exuberant indie pop, and performing at times from within the audience, their performance will go down as a real festival highlight of Vive La France! 2012.

But all at Melting Vinyl HQ weren’t about to head off to bed early, not when Nouvelle Vague’s Phoebe Killdeer was in town! Again hot footing it back to The Green Door Store, Phoebe Killdeer & the Short Straws blew away the audience with their powerful Nick Cave infused blues rock.

Bonne Nuit? Non monsieur!

It was Friday night and if an artist is personally endorsed by Air, you can’t afford to miss them! Signed to the prolific French label, Record Makers, Turzi Electronic Experience produced a blistering soundscape, and a fitting finale for the capacity crowd at The Hope!

With all the artists in a party mood, it was time to celebrate in style at the Afterparty at Plateau in the company of not one, but two of the Nouvelle Vague alumni, as Melanie Pain flew in a day early especially to accompany Phoebe Killdeer on the decks until the very early hours of the morning!

Round 3 tomorrow!

Vive La France!