with their tangy pop, the Australian group Parcels transforms the festival into an open-air dance club

Biggest gig they’ve ever done. The five boys from Byron Bay (the easternmost point of Australia) awaited their passage to Rock en Seine with excitement. Four years ago, the pop-electro group tinged with funk and disco influences had already put on a show on one of the festival stages. “It’s almost a familiar feeling to be there, like coming home,” rejoices Jules Crommelin, the guitarist. The musicians, who established their quarters in Berlin after finishing high school in 2014, have since multiplied the round trips to Paris. And for good reason, their label is none other than Because Music, the same as Charlotte Gainsbourg.

“The French have a connection with us”, says the young blonde with the bowl cut, Louie Swain. A bit pretentious? Not so much, since the band indeed seems to irresistibly attract the attention of our fellow citizens. And not just anyone. The famous robots of the French Touch, the Daft Punk, to begin with. In 2017, the duo co-signed and produced, overnightwhich became one of Parcels’ signature singles.

Installed on the main stage of Rock en Seine this Sunday, August 28 from 7:35 p.m., the group obviously does not fail to resume the song in front of the enthusiasm of the fans. On the boards, the young men position themselves in a tight formation: drums, keyboards and basses more or less facing each other. What facilitate the exchange of glances and a certain communion.

A necessary link since improvisation is one of the group’s golden rules on their different sets. “We want to transform the festival into a giant dance club during our performance, explains Jules Crommelin to us, a few hours before going on stage. On each of our concerts, we change our compilations. We observe the reactions of the crowd and we rearrange.”

On the program, therefore, very few songs recorded in the studio as is. For each of them, the artists keep the essence of their pop and tangy melodies to extract a more electro juice. “I did not expect these techno flights, confides Anne-Sophie, 20, turned upside down by the show. But since it’s a musical style that I listen to a lot, I was delighted!”

Fanny, who has followed the group since its inception, is perplexed by this resolutely electronic turnaround. For her, Parcels momentarily loses part of its identity. “At times, I almost felt like I was attending a David Guetta concert”, she regrets. The fan had already seen the Australians in a more intimate room in 2017. Another era. Since then, the group has released two albums, Plots in 2018 and Day/Night in 2021. For them, it is a question of adapting to the festival format and getting thousands of wild spectators dancing. Successful bet: in unison the beat is tapped into a giant cloud of dust.

Wild beats, flashing spotlights: the group lit up by orange flashes worthy of an Australian golden hour even covers the iconic song by Likke Ly, I follow the river. Remixing is one of the quintet’s cute sins. In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, they completely re-recorded their first album, Plots, under live conditions, in the Berlin studio Hansa. The same one who welcomed the sacred monsters of music David Bowie, Iggy Pop, or Indochine. “That’s how we approach our music and our live performances. We take songs, we play them and it changes naturally. It’s always fluid and sometimes it’s hard to remember what the song was like. original music”, laughs Louie Swain.

A vintage state of mind. Just like their style of dress. In their music videos – notably famous – they wear colorful costumes, cobra patterns for some, satin pink for others. On stage, none of that. Patrick Hetherington (keyboards) is dressed in a very classic blue and red T-shirt, the one he wore during the afternoon in front of the cameras of the various media who paraded in front of the dressing room of the stars. Result, on stage the atmosphere is relaxed and gives the impression of finding the boys during their first rehearsals in the garage of the café – called Parcels – of their parents.

For her outfit, Louie Swain didn’t really have a choice either: “It will be what is clean for me in my suitcase!” Because for several days already, the young men have been on the French roads: Rock en Seine is their third concert of the weekend. When asked what state they are in a few minutes before they take the stage, Jules Crommelin answers from his deckchair, sunglasses on his nose: “We’ve been doing surprisingly well despite the little sleep we’ve had. We’re just excited for the show, it’s an important moment for us. The adrenaline is keeping us going.”

We imagine them indulging one last time in their usual ritual abefore seizing their instruments : a big collective breath. The calm before a good hour of storm. Carried away by galloping music, they don’t spare the nods that make their surfer hair twirl. Patrick Hetherington (keyboards) even splits a dance step, somewhat robotic but particularly touching. It is as one man that the five boys leave the stage, after a final salute quivering with emotion. Ready for new adventures, including some French scenes in October, then projects still kept secret that Jules Crommelin promises “very exciting!”.