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Dog and knitting on stage
The focus was therefore on shows that went off the beaten track.
In one of the city's medieval buildings, Pomme and Quebecer Safia Nolin revisited Celine Dion with guitar-vocals.
The echoes of Thursday evening were not good, but Friday everything was in place.
On a platform in the middle of the audience, the two accomplices are at home: when Apple performs on the vocoder (an accessory that tampers with the voice) "Pour que tu m'aimes encore", Safia Nolin sits in a rocking chair to knit, her dog at his side, beating time with his tail.
On Wednesday, Michel Houellebecq, reciting his poems against a background of electro, delivered a perched performance, contrary to what the title of the show suggested, "Existence at low altitude".
Michel Houellebecq recites poems against a background of electro at the Printemps de Bourges, April 20, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP / Archives
The same day, Brigitte Fontaine, 82, made her farewell evening to the stage, a term she does not like.
True to her punk spirit, she repeated in the introduction that she had not chosen all the participants.
"Brigitte Fontaine did not choose me, but I chose Brigitte Fontaine", bounced at the microphone the actress Anna Mouglalis, launching the evening with a reading.
Brigitte Fontaine at the Printemps de Bourges, April 20, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP / Archives
Parade of musicians like Jarvis Cocker, Arthur H or Matthieu Chedid, before the star of the evening came to conclude with a few titles.
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"Drill Holes in Your Head"
For the part of the more classic concerts, Printemps has dosed sure values and nuggets.
In this last category, Zinée, the rising rapper, gave in the consistent.
"I'm drilling holes in your head / I'm not here to sing you lullabies", she chants in "Nobody".
The tone is set, as is the reference to drill, a dark current of rap from Chicago.
The Toulousaine does not only rely on the sound of a machine for her music, but is accompanied by a guitarist with a grunge look and a percussionist.
As for the locomotives, Juliette Armanet, on Wednesday, and Clara Luciani, on Thursday, made the crowd vibrate under the big top in disco queens.
Ideal to turn the page of a Printemps de Bourges reduced to a symbolic edition in 2020 and in limited gauge in 2021.
Juliette Armanet at the Printemps de Bourges, April 20, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP
In the radius of guitar groups, the English of Life provided a punk and dancing set, while the French of Last Train brought the room where they were performing to a boil, as usual.
As for the artist with the improbable name, Miel de montagne, craftsman of a sunny pop, is a must this year.
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Song of the partisans
Before the second round of the presidential election, the political significance of certain songs resonated more than before.
The evening "What are we waiting for!"
(reference to an abrasive piece by NTM) allowed young artists to travel through the repertoire of socially-engaged songs.
Crowned male revelation at the last Victoires de la Musique, the two brothers from Terrenoire (name of a district of Saint-Etienne, their city) took up the Chant des partisans, anthem of the Resistance.
Clara Luciani at the Printemps de Bourges, April 21, 2022 GUILLAUME SOUVANT AFP / Archives
During the evening dedicated to Brigitte Fontaine, the directors Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine (she played in their film "Le grand soir") reinterpreted "C'est normal".
It is about the fire of a building, which we discover over the words, unsanitary and occupied by "families of workers and foreigners".
This piece implicitly denounces a country that sometimes forgets the words "equality, fraternity" from its motto.
The next generation, present within the Inouïs, the breeding ground for emerging talents at Printemps de Bourges, also plays in this field.
Eesah Yasuke, a young rapper from Roubaix, composed the title "X-Trem" which warns against the rise of far-right ideas on an anxiety-provoking musical score.
© 2022 AFP