From our special correspondent in Carhaix
The event ended shortly after midnight. The Inspector Cluzo had just spilled all his drums on stage for the final concert of this exceptional edition. Facing the stage, at the bar, or sitting on the floor, thousands of spectators were always present. Some exhausted by five days of celebration. Others, fresher, who had just arrived to admire the Red Hot Chili Peppers and seemed ready to continue the evening.
The 2023 edition of Les Vieilles Charrues ended on a Monday evening in July in the cool of the Finistère night. Showered by rain on Thursday and Friday, the public nevertheless responded, allowing the event to beat its attendance record. Thanks to the opening of a fifth evening to welcome the Red Hot, the festival attracted 346,000 spectators, ahead of Hellfest. The Clisson metal gathering, however, keeps “the record” with its double edition of 2022 and its 420,000 spectators.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers do the job
The event everyone was waiting for happened shortly after 9:30 p.m. when Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith took to the main stage in front of a monster crowd of around 55,000 people. A few minutes later, singer Anthony Kiedis took the microphone to sing don’t stop. For an hour and a half, the Californian group distilled its biggest hits, causing a huge lift of cell phones to immortalize the notes of Overside And Californication before ending on give it away more stirring.
A very big blow for the Breton festival which had to pay nearly two million euros to bring in the American juggernaut. Not sure, however, that the performance remains in the best moments of the Carhaix festival. So yes, the performance was controlled, neat and delighted its audience thanks to its hits. But we didn’t feel an immense communion with the public, resulting in a concert that looked more like a ballad than a big rock concert. Only bassist Flea tried to awaken an audience that was more spectator than actor. Rock fans present for this 31st edition will perhaps keep more in mind the performance of Blur on Friday evening.
The associative festival and its budget of 23 million euros “which operates without subsidy”, as its director Jérôme Tréhorel reminds us, will be back in a more normal format on July 11, 12, 13 and 14, 2024 for its 32nd edition. It will be without Celine Dion, that’s already certain.