From December 4 to 8, Rennes will once again vibrate under the energy of the 46th edition of Trans Musicales. A festival which has once again proven its love for eclecticism with more than 80 artists on the bill, from 40 different countries.
Between two sausage patties, an incessant drizzle and 3 gusts of wind to decorate the beer helmets of certain festival-goers, I took a few small slaps at the Trans Musicales. In bulk and in disorder, favorite for Def Mama Defthe Senegalese group led by the passion (and grace) of Mamy Victory and Defa, 2 rising stars of hip-hop made in Dakar. In Wolof defmaa maadef means karma. They stormed hall 8, arriving in tight panther jumpsuits, leather bras and chains hanging from their hips. Vocal power and twerking to support, heat guaranteed.
I melted under the haunting voice and the sex appeal of Baba Ali (Baba Doherty dancing on the floor like a snake enchanting his charm and the raw and flashy riffs of guitarist Nik Balchin). I sang very loudly and 18 times “the hustlers on the boulevard des resellers (quote) in an impasse” with a cheering crowd in front of Kaba and Hyas. Looking classy in ripped mini shorts tucked under a purple Denver Nuggets jersey and boxing shoes, that was Anna F. leader, guitarist and singer of the German-Anglo-Austrian female rock quartet Friedberg. Very nice discovery.
Nico M
Special mention to Saigon Soul Revivala jazz group from Ho Chi Minh City which revives the golden age of Vietnamese pop music which mixed with Western sounds before 1975 (when the city was still called Saigon). How to miss out on the divas The Zawose Queenstwo Tanzanian singers who bring to the stage the spiritual and dancing polyrhythms & polyphonies of the Wagogo people inherited from their father and grandfather?
Nico M
And then the UFO Gildaa which will have created a split as it is so singular. The Franco-Brazilian singer makes music like cooking. Any accessory can then resonate and become a pretext for sound or melody. Gildaa is an old woman who has lost her memory, locked in the body of a little girl and propelled to an unknown planet. Finally I end with a bang with the Dutch brass band Gallowstreetan 8-headed hydra that mixes insolent brass, wild drums and electro music.
mozpics
Ah! In fact one last nod to Enjia singer from Ulaanbaatar who brings jazz and traditional Mongolian music to life. An atypical mix that creates a graceful, elegant and light work. The rain, the cold, the wind, the shuttle, the pee spaces, the immeasurable queues have a flavor quite different when there remains an image, a rhythm, a melody along the way, which you know will remain engraved. Saying to yourself “I was there!!!”. Thank you Jean-Louis (Brossard, boss of Trans) and see you in 2025 for the 47th ! I leave my K-way, my mittens, my pom-pom hat and my rubber-dancing-boots sleeping in the bottom of a drawer and will quickly bring them out again in a year!
Read our free digital issue dedicated to Trans Musicales
