24h Le Mans
As usual every year three big concerts are scheduled inside the circuit during the Le Mans 24 Hours week.
On 6th February the top billings were announced, and now we’re revealing the warm-up acts. Three groups from the ‘Pays de la Loire’ and a female Australian singer will fever up the public before Puggy, Asaf Avidan and Earth, Wind and Fire Experience Feat. Al McKay burst onto the scene.
In all seven groups will follow one another on the stage near the Dunlop Footbridge during practice on Wednesday and Thursday and the first day of the race on Saturday.
Here is the full programme!
Wednesday 19th June at 20h00
PUGGY + SHARON & TRACY
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Sharon & Tracy began their career in 2008 and they have forged a strong identity. The Le Mans foursome rock it like nobody else (guitar, bass, drums) and they conjure up an ambience which mixes rock, new wave and noisy pop. The voices and tunes recall the cold wave movement of the 70s and 80s (Depeche Mode, New Order etc). The group relies on brilliant songs, millimeter riffs and a deep voice with a special gravelly tone. Sharon & Tracy have made a name for themselves on stage with a mind-blowing form of raw, alternative and full of energy rock. |
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Puggy is a group with a difference. It all began in a bar in Africa in 2004 when Matthew from England, Egil from Sweden and Romain from France decided to pool their talents: they gave their first concerts on the paving stones of Brussels! Defining Puggy is well nigh impossible. The group combines pop, rock and several other influences from music throughout the world. In their next album, To win the world, to be released on 18th February, the trio have struck a perfect balance between power and harmony and synthetic rock sounds. |
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Thursday 20th June at 20h00
ASAF AVIDAN + JACK & LUMBER
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Jack & Lumber are influenced by artists like Cocoon and Fink and they play folk music without ever sinking into excess, in particular thanks to tunes crossed with Blues, finely-polished arrangements and a smooth voice with just a hint of soul. On stage the Lavallois duo is accompanied by Sylvain, a versatile musician (key board, electric guitar, double bass, percussion). |
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Asaf Avidan was born in Jerusalem and spent his childhood between Los Angles and Kingston where he absorbed a whole raft of musical vibrations. The singer/composer impacts his audience with a high-pitched voice and he sings songs that swing between between blues, rock and folk. Not surprisingly he first made a name for himself in Israel. He soon became know in Europe where he was nominated for the 2009 MTV awards. His album, The reckoning, came out in France in February 2010 and since then his reputation has continued to grow. Asaf Avidan has often been compared to Janis Joplin and Robert Plant. |
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Saturday 22nd June, 20h00
EARTH WIND AND FIRE Experience Feat. Al McKay
+ BIG WIREMAN & WHITE CIGAR BOY + DALLAS FRASCA
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Big Wireman, the local lad of the evening, usually does a one-man-band show in a style combining rockabilly and garage/punk. Specially for the Le Mans 24-Hours concert he’s teaming up with his old mate White Cigar Boy who will accompany him on the cigar box guitar (ancestor of the blues guitar) to play a part of his repertoire. |
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Dallas Frasca arrives straight from Australia where she’s already earned the name of the little Janis Joplin. It’s no surprise as Not for Love or Money her first disc is full of joie de vivre and dynamic rock as Frasca and her partner Jeff Curran (guitar) wrote and composed it during a long, productive tour. It was recorded in five studios throughout Australia over 18 months. This first disc combines rock, roots, blues, soul and pop influences, and Frasca stamps it with her inimitable style and adds new ingredients to what goes on on the stage. |
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EARTH WIND & FIRE experience featuring Al McKay, a group of around ten musicians, was created in Chicago in 1969 and it exercised a big influence on the soul/funk music of the 70s. They innovated by introducing and mixing African, Brazilian and Cuban rhythms. After winning eight Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, released eight albums that achieved double platinum status and being given their own star on Hollywood Boulevard, they belong at the very top of the pop music pyramid. Their incredible shows are an apt demonstration of this. But EARTH WIND & FIRE experience featuring Al McKay aren’t ready to put their glittering costumes in the wardrobe just yet! In the movie ‘Intouchables’ Omar Sy wowed the audience dancing to Boogie Wonderland. The French actor, who loves motor sport and who visited the Le Mans 24-Hours circuit when the film was launched, has promised to attend the race. But will his 2013 schedule leave him enough time to come and thrill to the riffs of the engines and those of EARTH WIND & FIRE experience featuring Al McKay! Line up : DOWLING, BEN - KEYBOARDS; DUCKETT, DEVERE - VOCALS; FLEWELEN, FREDDIE – BASS; GANT, DEAN - KEYBOARDS; HAGGERTY, AARON - DRUMS; PERALTA, OMAR - TRUMPET; KIRK, JUSTIN - TROMBONE; LEACH, DAVID - PERCUSSION; McKAY, AL - GUITAR; OWENS, TIM - VOCALS; HARRIS, MIKE - TRUMPET; WOODS, CLAUDE - VOCALS; WYNNE, ED - SAXOPHONE |
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