• From this Monday evening, DJs will land on the central Roland-Garros to set the mood just before the night session.

  • The idea is to give another face to a tournament which will finally discover night sessions in full gauge.

At Roland Garros,

Forget Ibiza, for fifteen days, the best spot to mix is ​​on the central court of Roland-Garros.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, the DJs will chain the musical sets from this Monday, just to launch the famous night session or electric evening sessions for Anglophobes.

The idea is to entertain the 15,000 Chatrier spectators for ten big minutes before the big game of the evening.

“There is the daytime atmosphere and now the evening atmosphere at Roland-Garros.

We really wanted to mark the difference between the two.

In the evening, there is a theater side, a show side and we wondered what we could do to have a special atmosphere, ”says Sarah Pitkowski, director of communication at the FFT.

“We wanted to raise the atmosphere before the entry of the players.

And that's how the idea came to welcome DJs, ”continues the former player.

Ten DJs for ten night sessions

As a result, ten recognized DJs or collectives have been selected to host the ten evenings planned for this year at Roland-Garros, a first in full gauges.

This Monday, just before the match between Djokovic and Nishioka, the electro collective Bon Entendeur will be on the decks.

Tuesday, place to Myd, a Lille DJ very proud to mix on the Central.

“I accepted because it is a legendary event.

I'm passionate about tennis, it's an offer I couldn't refuse, ”enthuses the musician who has already mixed at the Parc des Princes before a PSG match.

If DJs know how to create a good atmosphere in principle, being in a stadium rather than a nightclub or a festival requires a minimum of putting your ego aside.

"In Ibiza people come to dance, at Roland-Garros it's to watch a match", summarizes Myd well.

Accustomed to big atmospheres, Sébastien Lefebvre, better known as DJ Masterbafunk, has already mixed at the Pierre Mauroy stadium and at the Vélodrome stadium.

And knows that it is almost impossible to surround the whole stadium.

"When I play, there are maybe 5,000 who move and 1,000 who don't give a damn"

"When I play, there are maybe 5,000 moving, 5,000 waving flags, 3,000 doing something else and 1,000 not giving a fuck.

It's very funny to see but it's a superb school, ”laughs the northern musician.

In this kind of evening, time is also counted.

When the DJs have at least a good hour in the club to stir up the sauce, they will only have ten minutes to set the Central on fire.

And to transform the stadium into a cauldron, two schools compete in terms of play-lists.

On Tuesday, Myd planned to play the originality card “I'm going to play them my music and it's even possible that I'll play them unreleased songs!

“, announces the DJ.

The important choice of the playlist

For his part, DJ Masterbafunk relies more on security.

“Your role in terms of ambiancer is to send enough unifying songs to make the public dance.

Or surprise by doing a show with musicians, for example, to attract attention, especially via giant screens.

We have to approach it from the angle of the show rather than the musical performance, ”explains the Lille resident.

In both cases, the objective displayed by the organizers should be achieved without too much concern.

"The ambition is to cultivate our heritage while bringing it into a certain modernity", summarizes Sarah Pitkowski.

Often deemed very formal, Roland-Garros will be able to remove hats, suits and ties to finally let go in the evening.

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