The Vendôme Rockomotives are celebrating their 30th birthday from October 23 to 30 in Loir-et-Cher.
Since 1992, the Vendôme Rockomotives have established themselves as an event whose programming is scrutinized by the public and professionals in the sector.
How did this festival find its way to longevity?
The smallest of the big music festivals turns 30!
Since 1992, the Vendôme Rockomotives have established themselves as an event whose programming is scrutinized by the public and professionals in the sector.
Organized by the Figures Libres association in Vendôme, in Loir-et-Cher, the Rockomotives have planned a few surprises from 23 to 30 October to celebrate this thirtieth anniversary.
Alongside the summer behemoths such as the Eurockéennes or the Vieilles Charrues, the Rockomotives stand out for their human dimension.
“Initially, they were workshops for children, organized by the youth service in Vendôme, and at the end of the week, there were one or two concerts,” says Richard Gauvin, event programmer.
A “magical place” with 1,200 seats
When he arrived in 1994, "we had roughly three evenings in a room of about 400 people," he recalls. In 1997, the Rockomotives invested the great hall of the Minotaur, which can accommodate some 1,200 spectators. “We set up this place every year. It is not a room strictly speaking, but the place is magical, rejoices the programmer. When we went to the great hall of the Minotaur, we were lucky to have had Louise Attaque and Miossec from the first year. It was Louise Attaque's first real tour. "
For the 2021 edition, forty artists will follow one another on stage, in four different places in the city of Vendôme: the Saint Jacques chapel ("the first who performed a small concert in the chapel as part of the Rockomotives, it was Yann Tiersen in 1996 ”, remembers Richard Gauvin), the Minotaur, the Factory of Dr Faton and the Alkazar bar.
“From this weekend, we have a kind of little preamble with small gauges in small places.
Sometimes we even organize homestay concerts, not this year, but we do it regularly.
Then, we have three big festival days, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays concentrate 80% of the programming, ”explains the programmer.
An event that takes place at "a slack period"
The human dimension is part of the DNA of the festival.
“We have no desire to go further, the festival corresponds to the public potential of our Vendômois.
We also have a lot of professionals from the sector who come ”, continues the expert.
The festival takes place in the fall at a "low period, especially for summer festivals", with which Rockomotives has forged strong links within the international federation of De Concert festivals.
The path of "authenticity and non-formatting"
The Rockomotives are also distinguished by their programming which attracts rock fans, as its name suggests, but not that ... "The choice of this name was made in 1992, things have evolved since", explains the programmer.
"There are those who serve the interchangeable reheated soup, swelling like sponsored balloons as artistic ambition loses ground, and those who have not forgotten the reasons why they once decided to share their thrills. », Had written the musician Olivier Mellano ten years ago in the libretto of the 20th edition.
Richard Gauvin defines the editorial line as follows: “We are wary of overdoped artists in marketing.
I am looking for authenticity and non-formatting.
I like when the artist is master of his environment.
An artist who is imposed, even if only an album cover cover, for me, it's dead.
I think this is the start of something wrong.
Getting advice is another thing.
"
"Big names of which we are very proud"
The programmer, however, denies being "anti-mainstream". In thirty years of existence, the festival has welcomed "big names of which we are very proud" such as Bashung, Peter Doherty, Dominique A, Kery James, Jain, Têtes Raides, Feu Chatterton, Eddy de Pretto "in its early days, when he was alone with his iPhone ”and“ Christine and The Queen, who had only performed in bars in Nantes, it was his first festival. "
If the base is still pop-rock, the Rockomotives also welcome new French songs, electronic music and the hip-hop scene.
“I hate theme nights.
We don't do rock, hip-hop or electro parties… If we are all in a room to be alike, we come out of this room being convinced of what we are.
I like the confrontation with the other, the exchange.
That's how we grow up, ”says Richard Gauvin, who is also careful to mix“ generations ”of artists within the same evening.
"We really instilled a kind of philosophy"
"We want to have a public reception at the top," says Richard Gauvin.
Particular care is given to the choice of food stands.
On the bar side, for example, “we try to involve local producers of biodynamic wine or craft beer.
"
Another particularity: “There is no VIP space at the festival, it's historic, we don't want any.
If the artist needs to go for a drink elsewhere than in his dressing room, it is at the bar with the public.
"
The organization also takes care of "visual pollution".
“Everything that is communication is concentrated in the reception area of the festival and then, it is devoid of any publicity.
There is no pollution on stage, no big Rockomotives logos… We are not in there.
We really instilled a kind of philosophy.
"
A 2021 edition with "little surprises"
A state of mind that the festival's faithful will find again for this 30th edition.
After a somewhat special 2020 edition due to the health crisis, "with two-thirds gauges", "seated and without a bar", festival-goers, provided with "a health pass of course" will be able to attend concerts "standing and not masked ”.
"Some historic people of the festival will come and make little surprises by mixing right to left like Robert the Magnificent or Yann Tiersen", announces Richard Gauvin.
Laetitia Sheriff, regular scheduled this year, "gives us a great gift": "The recording of a purely acoustic piece in a somewhat atypical place in Vendôme" with a neighboring choir.
On the programming side, “on the headliners, we have Girls in Hawaii, Lo'Jo, Mad Hatter, the Mansfields.
Tya, or Rone.
Rone, this is a first, we are very happy to have it, we have been trying for a long time to have it, it always fell badly ", he sums up. And to add:" We are very happy to '' welcome the best French dub group, Stand High Patrol.
"
And to conclude: “We have such an educated public today because of or thanks to thirty years of festivals and other programs.
We can't fool them.
They have musical culture.
"
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