Ed from Toilet Disco, photo courtesy of Rodolphe Olivier

On Thursday 20th September, I took the Eurostar over to Lille for the opening night of Le Name Festival, an electronic music and multimedia showcase, organised by Art Point M and funded by Conseil General Departement du Nord. Before I left, I’d been warned, “Oh you don’t want to party with the French — they’re too cool for school!” However, I felt confident as I went into the rabbit hole of the English Channel that my travels would bring me rich and unique treasures.

For a start, I came across the little heard of Le Name by chance, stumbling upon the festival brochure in 2005 while I was at the Be Queer Festival, which took place on board the Stubnitz ship in Dunkerque. The bright yellow art-fuelled brochure displayed an awesomely inspiring line up of electro and minimalist DJs (largely from Germany), vj artists from all over the world and film showcases. I kicked myself for two years for missing the boat that year.

This year’s line up was promising and plentiful, although largely French, and I looked forward to seeing larger-than-life legends such as Andrew Weatherall, The Orb, and Ivan Smagghe, along with Alter Ego, Alex Smoke, Radio Slave, Magda, and many other artists I was less familiar with. This season also featured a preview of “Lagerfeld Confidentiel” (documentary on iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfield by Rodolphe Marconi), a round table debate with philosopher Yves Michaud on modern art technology, masterclasses on Ableton Live and Logic and a DJ/VJ contest. Unlike UK festivals, it was largely classed as a cultural event, with less emphasis on appealing to other countries as a commercial venture and more focused on providing an experience for local people.

Wet ‘n’ wild in Toilet Disco, photo courtesy of Rodolphe Olivier

The opening night, Thursday, was by invite only (but free) and took place in La Condition Publique, a multi-warehouse art space in the neighboring suburb of Roubaix. I forgot my French dictionary at home, so I ended up walking for about 45 minutes through the commercial section of Roubaix, following the snaking tram lines in the fresh night. My first impression when I arrived at La Condition Publique was space. It was a great space, two buildings separated by an indoor courtyard, very similar to the Custard Factory in Birmingham. Only Salle Odette was open (Salle Lucette was used for screening the Lagerfeld documentary). It was an enormous warehouse, each wall hung with several 15 foot screens, flooded by quirky streams of visuals.

Music-wise, Thursday featured sCrAmBlEd?HaCkZ! from Germany, Fhex from Belgium, Pan Sonic from Finland and Damian Lazarus. When I arrived in Salle Odette, I found people sitting cross-legged on the floor, and this unfortunately was the running theme for the evening. Most of the acts were interestingly experimental, but all ambient and too similar, and it made me question the thinking behind the programming. However, two DJs saved me that night.

Mariano from Toilet Disco, photo courtesy of Jag Hunjan

Toilet Disco are Spanish DJ and musician Mariano Robles and French DJ Edouard Rostand. Mariano and Ed met in the summer of 2005 at Calvi on the Rocks (Ed’s festival) and have been inseparable since. Their act is a combination of DJing (dipping into every genre possible), fancy dress, cabaret, and sheer inane nonsense. The duo have entertained the rich and decadent at exclusive parties such as the Europe Music Awards and the MTV at the Movies party in Cannes. Toilet Disco held court in a small room leading to two unisex bathrooms and the men’s toilets. The room had two white circular washbasins which sprayed water in every which direction from the centre pump. When I paid my 20 pence entrance fee, I had no idea what I was being admitted to. Combine the best squat parties in London, the craziest house parties in Brighton, street parties in Brooklyn, and good ol’ Wet n Wild from America, and a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ ‘and you’ve got the party vibe that Mariano & Ed’s musical mayhem spawn.

Wet indeed.

Friday was hands down the best night of the three. Music was on in four different and distinct areas. I spent most of my time in Salle Lucette, plugging in numbers to Alex Smoke, Paul Ritch and Radio Slave. I still found the line up boring in Salle Odette, so didn’t hang around too much. I checked out Fuckpony in Salle Elizabeth — they were actually really good, but I found their MC amusing, as he spent most of his time hyping a camera operator who was filming from the side. Radio Slave blew my mind away (literally) — I spent hours getting lost in his set. I was befriended by the Toilet Disco djs, chatted with Martin from Kompakt, was entertained by the inimitable Jag, and was constantly surprised by the open and friendly nature of the local residents. So many people helped me with lifts, asked if I was okay, offered me drinks, and were generally lovely.

Saturday was a lost day, due to my complete lack of knowledge of French. I couldn’t find the ‘cabaine photo’ that was supposed to be at a la Braderie de Lille on Rue de Cure Saint-Etienne. I slept through the masterclasses & didn’t bother with the French philosophy discussion (the non-verbal clues would have been lost on me). I went down to Place de la Republique and Metro Republique, where there was supposed to be something, but didn’t find anything. The evening was equally disappointing. Magda pulled a sickie. The Orb, Ivan Smagghe and Nathan Fake seemed to develop an allergy to France. Most of the music seemed to be (pardon the expression) shitty French techno, the crowd seemed to be munted and herd-like and most of the night was bog-standard for a generic club anywhere. However as always, Toilet Disco saved the day — we swung from the rafters, flooded the room and broke the washbasins — I kid you not !

All in all, Le Name is a great little festival. Even though my non-Frenchness stuck out like a sore thumb, I was not disadvantaged by this fact, and I found that people were all the more friendly despite my utter lack of ability to speak their language. The main thing I went there for was the music, and on the whole, I was pretty happy, with some fine minimalist tunes that etched their off-beats on my brain forever. The French techno didn’t capture my pulse — it wasn’t the French music that everyone thinks is so prevalent here. I met a lot of people who party in Belgium and think little of Ed Banger — France is not where it’s happening, they lament. It’s all hype. I’ve been given a few directions, a few road names.

Alas, Le Name only happens once a year but the Lille people are so lovely, I might just go back to Lille so I can sip Trappist beer and chat a bit more about the state of electronic music with new friends. Oh, and I’m definitely keeping an eye out for next year’s lineup, for sure.

In honour of the festival, Beatport is offering a FREE 10 track download (type in “Le Name Promo”).

Artists featured include:
Alex Smoke
Modeselektor
Ellen Allien
Alter Ego
Magda
Radio Slave
Fuckpony
Chloe
Audion
Patrick Chardronnet

Grab it like a motherfucker.

Video clip of Toilet Disco (courtesty of Ally)

http://www.lenamefestival.com/