Rap, pop, electronica, but also rock, major figures and emerging gems: the eco-responsible Ile-de-France festival We Love Green, which takes place at the Bois de Vincennes Friday May 31, Saturday May 1er and Sunday June 2, 2024, offers an eclectic but well thought-out poster this year.
The organizers are particularly proud of the balance of their line-up and their timetable (the running times) which should not pose a difficult choice for the 120,000 festival-goers expected during these three days. A few hours before the kick-off of this edition, of which we will be able to follow six concerts live on France.tv, which artists are the shows whose shows festival director Marie Sabot is most looking forward to?
How did you construct the very eclectic program for this 2024 edition?
Marie Sabot : This year, we are super happy with our programming and its construction. The distribution is good over each day. We did a real job of balancing and I think we succeeded because the public has been super responsive since the ticket office opened in December. And I think we’re going to be full all three days. Last year it was much harder. When planning the program, we always think about the route of the festival-goers, we think by time slots and we pay very close attention to the consistency of the line-ups. We say to ourselves: they will start with Lewis Ofman and then they will go see Lala & Ce, or they will go see Kim Gordon and then Justice, for example. This year, festival-goers should not be torn between two artists scheduled at the same time.
Is your audience renewing?
The public is changing, that’s for sure. But I also see a certain audience coming back. I think that at some point, we lost a little the 30-40 age group, that is to say a fairly demanding, connoisseur public, who appreciate a variety of styles and who do not have necessarily want to listen to music by young people. With this year’s very eclectic lineup, I feel like they’re back. And I think that we will in any case succeed in bringing together people who don’t usually meet each other very much. We have hip-hop stars, but also rap stars who border on song, with crafted lyrics, like Luidji or Josman. We looked for artists on the edge of pop or French variety, compatible with other styles.
What are your favorites this year?
My mega crush is SZA. I’m a huge fan and I think her concert is going to be absolutely amazing. She is currently on a world tour, with her SOS Tour [du nom de son second album SOS paru en 2022] and when we see his shows full of references [le thème de la mer est omniprésent, avec plongeoir et phare, et les références cinématographiques pullulent, notamment aux films Titanic, Kill Bill et Cendrillon]it’s crazy!
This artist is so special, she is a committed, delicate, intellectual pop star. For me, he’s a kind of feminine Frank Ocean. This is the only French festival she will do this summer, she is headlining Glastonbury in England at the end of June, and I think this concert at We Love Green will be a landmark.
Obviously, on this day, Sunday, I’m expecting a lot from the madness of the Australians King Gizzard and the Wizzard Lizzard, for whom it will be the only Parisian date this summer, and of Chilly Gonzales, who will create a rather special atmosphere. And then I know that the Korean Peggy Gou is coming with a magnificent show, something special because her album I hear you comes out the weekend after the festival, so for anyone who likes electro, it’s going to be great.
On Saturday, who are you waiting for?
On Saturday, we will perform Kaytranada and Justice, with two shows, an ultra house and another much more rock one after the other and on two different stages, one under the big top and the other on the main stage. I can not wait to see it. Kaytranada’s album comes out just after the festival so he will preview it [et en exclusivité française] with a brand new live video. As for Justice, their album Hyperdrama which has just been released is really crazy and ultra sexy! I saw them in rehearsal, the sets, the lights, everything was carefully thought out. It’s their first date in France this year, so I think there will be emotion.
That day, I am obviously also waiting for Kim Gordon. We set it up at the start of the evening, under the big top, we took care not to put anything in front of us to give the show a chance and I think it’s going to be explosive. Above all, we’re really happy to have her because it’s quite complicated, she doesn’t travel much and we were touched that she said yes to us for her only French festival date, even though We Love Green is not a festival. identified rock.
Afterwards, I really want to see how Eloi will present his world to us for his first festival, we have to watch this scene which shakes up the codes a little. And then, onto La La Land [dédié aux DJ et à l’électronique]we have Four Tet, who recently turned over the Zénith, with a huge set scheduled for the end of the afternoon, I imagine it will be quite beautiful.
On Friday, Nigerian superstar Burnaboy headlines…
It took us a very long time to convince Burnaboy to come and it’s huge! This will be his very first festival and the only French festival for this giant and it’s going to be crazy. We really struggled to get him because his team wondered if he was going to find his audience at a festival when last year he filled a U Arena without doing anything.
So we tried to build a set that would be a bridge between all urban music, with Ninho, Hamza and Shay, and with Godfather Burnaboy in the middle. I think its audience will be there since since the beginning it’s Friday which sells the best.
But on this day, you can be sure to also find me in La La Land for Chase & Status, the drum and bass leaders who are currently making a hot comeback. Their Boiler Room exploded with several million views on all networks. It’s the kind of group that didn’t come to France before because their audience wasn’t necessarily there. But today, drum and bass is once again popular with young people, and these two Londoners are returning as leaders of this new wave. It’s going to pulse!
Please note: France.tv is broadcasting six concerts live from We Love Green this weekend: Lewis Ofman, Badbadnotgood, Saint Dx and Kaytranada (Saturday June 1) and Lulu Van Trapp and Crystal Murray (Sunday June 2). All these concerts will then be visible in replay.
The We Love Green festival takes place from Friday May 31 to Sunday June 2, 2024 at the Bois de Vincennes, musical program here, with the day-by-day schedules below.