The Trans Musicales festival in Rennes presented the poster for its 2023 edition, nearly 80 artists and around thirty nationalities to explore the entire range of musical genres “in search of the unprecedented and the unclassifiable”.
This 45th edition, which will be held in different locations in Rennes from December 6 to 9, remains faithful to its vocation of introducing new artists and musical worlds to tens of thousands of festival-goers. Here is a program with pop, rock, electro, funk, jazz sounds, with all their imaginable combinations, in English, French, Italian, Welsh, Indonesian…
Yamê, Dalton, The Silver Lines
After the Zaho de Sagazan revelation last year, the Trans this time entrusted their “creation” to the young Yamê, a French hybrid hip-hop artist, inspired as much by rap as gospel or his Cameroonian childhood, singing carried by a high and strong voice.
On the rock side, always well represented at Trans Musicales, festival-goers will be able to discover the veterans of the energetic Dalton trio with their explosive compositions in French and the young British guns of The Silver Lines. Between explosive guitars, science of pop melody and cheekily chewed gum, they have all the ingredients required to become rock stars: “we signed them immediately after seeing them in concert”, launched Jean-Louis Brossard, artistic director and co-founder of Trans.
Funk lovers should not miss Mokthar, an instrumental quintet from Rennes which combines an electric bassoon and a saxophone to explore oriental landscapes, sometimes contemplative and sometimes frenetic, while fans of muscular psychedelic pop will be delighted by the Italians of Post Nebbia.
Musical UFOs
Unclassifiable musical UFOs are somewhat the trademark of Trans Musicales. And the 45th edition has its share of extraterrestrials with, for example, the Californians of Thumpasaurus, a crazy cross between James Brown and Philippe Katerine; THE “Croatian crooner” Fran Vasilic, who made herself known on TikTok with her fake Borat looks or the sonic sorcery of Irishwoman Bambie Thug.
The Indonesians of Nusantara Beat, making their French premiere at the festival, should also create a surprise with their delicious compositions, as will the Welsh Cerys Hafana and her triple harp (92 strings) and the Spaniard Raül Refree. Best known until now as a producer (Rosalia), this jack-of-all-trades composer will present for the first time outside Spain a musical creation inspired by Monteverdi, for three evenings hosted at the Rennes Opera.