8:00am Monday 26th July 2010
By Jess Childs
SUPER-band Muse were spot-on as they headlined the opening night of Brittany’s Vieilles Charrues Festival with some of their biggest hits.
The Devon-born rockers cleverly appeased a late-night field of fans – who were sadly saturated by an unexpected bout of driving summer rain – by pulling out classics such as Plug in Baby and Uprising surprisingly early on.
The latter happily set the tone for a weekend that went on to deliver a string of major headline acts in a delectable setting. The following night, Mika welcomed back the hot weather and a marked change in atmosphere with two hours of unapologetic pop set against one of the most lavish festival sets ever seen. The London singer also won extra brownie points for conversing with the mainly French crowd in their native tongue as the hits kept on coming.
On Saturday the more Euro-specific sounds of acts such as Dutch duo, The Ravonettes and London-based Swedish band Fan Farlo were memorable as was a circus section where women played floating pianos and extensive tattoos were the norm.
The entire event, which attracts more than 200,000 visitors, is run by local volunteers whose main focus is value for money, so if you fancy it next year, don’t expect to know everyone on the bill, but do look forward to enjoying a few big names for just 84 euros for three days.
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