Nova Twins, Imperfect… Women at the forefront of the punk-rock scene at Xtreme Fest

The village of Le Garric (Tarn) welcomed the international punk-hardcore scene as it has done for ten years. But this year, women had their place there and made the water of the Cap’ lake tremble. The opportunity to discover this musical trend with three groups, each more “punk than the other”.

7%. This is the small figure that sums up the number of bands led by women programmed at Hellfest this year. The Xtreme Fest, its little cousin from Tarn dedicated to punk-hardcore, did better. Female bands headlining and a more egalitarian lineup. While female talents are underrepresented in the genre, we look back at the performances of three heirs of feminist punk, who make us want to believe in the future.

1Nova Twins: False sisters, real icons

“Who Are The Girls?”, their first album asked. But these girls are already English punk icons. They are not twins, but the alchemy is perfect. Georgia South’s hammering bass lines carry Amy Love’s relentless flow. If these are not star names…

On stage, and despite a mostly male audience that was somewhat distracted by the Twins’ explosive looks, the two musicians carried us away, skillfully mixing punk gestures and hip-hop flights. The queens of this first day of the festival.

2 Imperfect, metal riffs in the spotlight

Friday night, while the French stars of Gojira shone at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Imparfait shook the stage of the Xtreme Fest. What if they were our next national pride? They have it all. Metal riffs, hip-hop rhythms and singing in French, if you please. With a perfect mastery of sound and stage, the three instrumentalists sublimate the voice of Prisca Kalengay, a charismatic singer using all vocal techniques (rap, scream, growl, clear singing…). A high-intensity show where their hit “À l’Américaine” swept everything in its path.

3 The Meffs: “Youth are pissed off about Brexit”

“Fuck Brexit”. It didn’t take much insistence for the audience to chant these two words and accompany Lily Hopkins, the furious singer and guitarist of the Meffs, in unison. This is how the British duo, punk-rock to perfection, launched themselves. On the most rock’n’roll stage of the festival, in the form of a cage with the audience all around, the musician with unfettered joy swings her openly political and fundamentally punk lyrics (“No Future”, “Broken Britain, Broken Brains”).

Lily Hopkins, in a final solo, will close the concert (and the Xtreme Fest) that evening by surfing on the festival-goers. Without doubt the live sensation of the festival.