The Parisian festival unveils a first list of artists who will perform during its next edition.
Rock en Seine unveils this Tuesday a first list of artists who will perform during its 2023 edition, including the 21-year-old American superstar Billie Eilish. A nice catch that may allow the festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, to rejuvenate its audience.
“It will be his only French date in a summer festival”, savors with AFP Matthieu Ducos, director of Rock en Seine. The seven-time Grammy-winning Californian will headline on August 23, while the rest of the festival will take place on August 25, 26 and 27 at the Domaine national de Saint-Cloud.
Conquer “an audience that may never have come”
The interpreter of the tube bad guy is “an artist of the new generation who impresses because at 21 she already has a rich career”, underlines Matthieu Ducos. “She is already singing for the soundtrack of a James Bond while for other musicians it is the consecration in a career”, continues the manager who expects with her a “rather crazy” show.
With this “very young artist who has a very large audience”, Rock en Seine hopes to attract an “audience who may never have come”, while the average age of this meeting is “around 30 years”. The 2022 edition of Rock en Seine was a record attendance with “more than 150,000 festival-goers from all over Europe” according to its organizers.
For 2023, Rock en Seine will also program large cars more in line with its DNA, Placebo and the Strokes, guitar groups. “The Strokes is a first for us, our paths had never managed to cross”, welcomes Matthieu Ducos. Placebo has already come.
Speaking of birthdays, the electro group Chemical Brothers, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, will also be there. “They weren’t there at our first edition but at the second, in 2004”, recalls Matthieu Ducos. Florence + The Machine, Girl in Red, Flavien Berger, Foals and Yeah Yeah Yeahs have also been announced.
“Stressful” case for 2024
Last year, Rock en Seine had faced discontent from its festival-goers on social networks because of a “golden pit”, a vast VIP area located on one side at the foot of the stage, far from being filled with a good part of the day, preventing other fans from approaching. From the stage, stars like Nick Cave had mocked the lack of atmosphere in this square.
“This golden pit will be a little less present and a little less big, like in 2018 and 2019, when nobody was talking about it”, promises Matthieu Ducos.
For 2024, Rock en Seine is faced with a bigger headache: its proximity of dates to the Paralympic Games makes it “a case under study”, as the Ministry of Culture had specified in a communication in December 2022.
In October 2022, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had cast a chill by evoking the need to cancel or postpone cultural (or sporting) meetings in the summer of 2024 due to the massive mobilization of the forces of the order during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“We are still in dialogue with the prefectural authorities, but to date, we have no guarantee, it’s a bit stressful,” says Matthieu Ducos. “We would like positive answers to arrive quickly to set options from March 2023 (for the 2024 programming), if we miss this check mark, it can be detrimental”, underlines the manager.
