For its fourth edition, which took place from July 4th to July 6th 2008, Arras got the luxury to invite singers such as Radiohead, the mythical group of Thom Yorke, Mika, The Chemical Brothers, Justice, The Do, Sigur Ros, The Kooks, Digitalism, Underworld, Boys Noize and the BB Brunes, a new French rock band that has become very popular in just a few months!

BB Brunes

Dis moi: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaS8RrrgwLg

Radiohead

The programme was:

- Friday July 4th: The Chemical Brothers + Underworld + Justice + Boys Noize + guests
- Saturday July 5th: Mika + The Hoosiers + The Kooks + BB Brunes + Digitalism + Panic at the disco
- Sunday July 6th: Radiohead + Sigur Ros + The Do¸ + The Wombats + Vampire weekend

Mika

The festival got over on July 6th but the day after, Céline Dion came to Arras as planned. For her French Tour, the Canadian singer chose to sing in 3 cities: Bercy, Nice and Arras! In just 4 days, 85 000 people invaded the Arras Grand’Place!

Céline Dion was not very lucky as it rained heavily throughout her show! The more she was singing, the more it was raining. At some point, she even had to stop dancing as she was afraid of falling. In spite of all, she said that she enjoyed coming to Arras, with “its beautiful façades that look like doll’ houses that make us dream.”

We also came to know that day that the Arras Citadel has become part of the “World Inheritance of Humanity” by UNESCO!

Vox Angeli also gave a concert (just before Céline Dion in front of 20 000 people)

Vox Angeli is a French music band made of 6 children, all coming from famous choirs. They sing famous French songs with their cristal voices.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf2ZxJKSc-8&feature=related (Si seulement je pouvais lui manquer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqmvTMV7Ea8 (Qui a le droit)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzagLE4D5Eg&feature=related (Paradis blanc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW9ba3zTcdc (J’ai demandé à la lune)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgYyzncFsqU&feature=related (L’oiseau)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRztuyuolzQ (L’Avé Maria)

For more pictures of the Arras Main Square Festival, please visit the website:
http://www.62actu.net/L-album-photos-du-Pas-de-Calais,540

If the links don’t work anymore, just copy-paste the name of the music band and the title of the song on YouTube. The video-clip should come.

Famous French music bands:

• Kyo:

Kyo is a French rock band.

Since attending high school in Yvelines, the two brothers, Fabien and Florian Dubos, and two friends Nicolas Chassagne and Benoit Poher, discovered they had the same passion for bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Soundgarden. In 1997, they met their manager, who convinced them of their potential, and obtained a contract with Sony for the group. They have since released three albums and one DVD entitled Kyosphere. After the recent success of their album Le Chemin selling 1.5 million copies, the group went to a house in Brittany, where they worked on their new album 300 Lésions which went Gold in 4 days with sales reaching upwards of 500 000 copies. Le Chemin was used as the ending of the second episode of the anime OVA Strait Jacket.

Dernière danse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_MxHZ6G1mQ

Je saigne encore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBa3gSm5xEA

Le chemin: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=iQXKZHejSWs&feature=related

Je cours: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=onmupbCHpnM&feature=related

• Indochine:

Indochine is a French new wave/rock band, formed in 1981. The band was very successful in France in the 1980s, as well as other parts of continental Europe, with songs like L’Aventurier and Canary Bay. Following the release of several critically acclaimed but unpopular albums in the 1990s, the group returned to stardom with the release of Paradize in 2002.

J’ai demandé à la lune: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsjon5YJoVo&feature=fvst

Crash me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnomkn72Iyk

Ladyboy: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=-DwAslnlUgk

• Noir Désir: (singer: Bertrand Cantat)

Noir Désir is a French rock band, currently on hiatus.

The band was formed in Bordeaux in 1985 by singer Bertrand Cantat, drummer Denis Barthe, guitarist Serge Teyssot-Gay and bassist Frédéric Vidalenc (replaced in 1996 by Jean-Paul Roy). Their first album “Veuillez rendre l’âme (à qui elle appartient)” (1989) was recognised as one of the best French rock albums ever made, and it produced a hit single: “Aux sombres héros de l’amer”, a sea-shantyesque harmonica-driven ballad that uses the metaphor of sailors “lost in the sea” to speak of the 19th century “poètes maudits” and other fellow navigators of existential emptiness. Noir Désir became one of the most prominent rock bands in France, releasing albums every few years.

In 2003, following an argument related to unfaithfullness, Bertrand Cantat punched his girlfriend and famous actress Marie Trintignant in a hotel room in Vilnius, Lithuania. The force of the punch knocked her unconscious, and she died a few days later in hospital due to brain swelling. A Lithuanian judge sentenced Cantat to 8 years in prison after he was found guilty of manslaughter. He served four years of his sentence in a prison near Toulouse, France, and was freed on parole on October 16 2007.

Le vent nous portera: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=hIkXK6rxt4c

L’homme pressé: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Z549GKkeM

Aux Sombres Héros De L’amer: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=UfQz-9olu_g

• Gold:

Gold was a famous French music band in the 80s. Their songs are still very popular:

Capitaine abandonné: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=x4xUQZS0gpI

Ville de lumière: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlZilXRd0e0

Laissez nous chanter: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=ymHTs3jNFes&feature=related

Un peu plus près des étoiles: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=GjcglI4dMB4&feature=related