It’s a particularly pleasant setting that welcomes the public at Pantiero, as the concerts take place on the Palais des Festivals, offering a splendid view during the sunset. Obviously, those accustomed to traditional summer festivals are a bit bewildered, lost in this classy and calm atmosphere, as they are used to large spaces, mud, and drunk fans spilling their beer on their feet in joy and good humor. Pantiero is a festival apart. The main focus here is the music. Besides, it closes its doors around midnight every night, so there are few incidents to report. Nonetheless, we allow ourselves to be lulled by the spirit of the event.
The first two evenings (Thursday and Friday) were rather quiet. On Thursday, the melancholic rock of the Teenagers, the original Folk of Herman Düne, and the typical British Rock of the Rakes smoothly opened the festival. Friday was dedicated to “underground” Hip-Hop with the jazzy Wax Tailor, the very good and very festive DJ from the group Jurassic 5, Cut Chemist, and the Dilated Peoples, who present an old-school rap mostly aimed at purists.
Saturday saw more people attending with headliners including the Dijon DJ Vitalic and the Germans from Digitalism. The Parisian electro duo Teenage Bad Girl, opening the night, experienced the main drawback of Pantiero. Each evening, the audience takes a long time to get going, and the first artist to perform usually finds themselves in front of a static audience, still hesitant to move their bodies, slightly disturbed by the surroundings. Despite this, the young duo ensures and delivers a smashing set, taking this opportunity for heavy self-promotion with shouted posters that were tossed into the crowd. We hope for them that this promotional operation was a success as they truly deserve recognition.
Princess Superstar followed them and seemed to have found the right strategy to get the audience moving. As soon as she was on stage, the DJ/MC delivered the sound without waiting and provoked the expected reaction in a few seconds with the hit “Perfect Exceeder” that lifted the crowd. Her sincere enthusiasm is contagious, and the audience was treated to her warm and sexy mix. Ultimately, perhaps the best moment of these four days. The much-anticipated Germans from Digitalism then took the stage at Pantiero. One on the keyboard and vocals, the other on drums, they delivered their powerful, airy, and emotion-filled electro-rock sound, reminiscent at times of Daft Punk’s Discovery period. Finally came Vitalic, who was supposed to close the evening beautifully. But it turned out to be the big disappointment of this 2007 edition. For an hour, Vitalic delivered a cold mix based on repetitive beats that quickly became tiresome. While his great talent and experience as a giant of French electro are undisputed, his selection was quite questionable in terms of effectiveness. The absence of many of his key tracks (despite the hit My Friend Dario which awakened the crowd for two minutes) was detrimental to an audience that came for this.
Sunday, with the presence of Justice, was supposed to be the climax of this 2007 edition of Pantiero. Right at the entrance, one notices that the electro duo draws crowds in masses. The fans are there and make it known. The audience on this Sunday evening is more “fashionable” than on other nights. Young people compete in originality in their dress to get noticed. The fans of CSS and Justice are the ones who pay the most attention to their appearance. Buraka Som Sistema opened the ball with even fewer people than Teenage Bad Girl the night before. The Canadians from MSTRKFRT (formerly Death From Above 1979), specializing in electro remixes, then did the job with their sound quite similar to Justice’s, providing a very good appetizer before the main course. The six Brazilian women of CSS, in the meantime, delivered their warm mix of rock and electro, sung in English and Portuguese by a totally insane singer with infectious madness, surrounded on this occasion by balloons of all colors. Then came the highlight of the evening, the stage transformed into an altar for Justice. Their traditional wall of speakers and mixing console, preceded by a luminous cross, were set up on stage. The entire festival audience turned towards the cross, ready to move frenetically to Justice’s Christian-electro (as they ironically call it… or not). Their electro set is a real spectacle for the ears. The duo knows how to perform their mix like a film. And they know how to build suspense with music. We let ourselves be carried away by the journey until the climax, the hymn of trendy clubs around the world, the track We Are Your Friends. As soon as the first notes reached the audience’s ears, they went into a trance. Perhaps the most impressive is the swarm of cell phones in the air, ready to film this privileged moment for fans of the group. In the end, as usual with Justice, we felt it was too short, but oh well. For those who had already attended a live show of the two Parisians, it wasn’t a grand performance, but let’s not deny ourselves the pleasure. The skeptics remain skeptical, and the fans were already won over.
In the end, with 11,000 entries and a festival that (practically) fulfills all its promises, we can only draw a positive assessment of this 6th edition of Pantiero. Notably, the city of Cannes seems to show a strong willingness to attract a public receptive to new musical trends. This could be a turning point for this city in terms of festivities. The appointment is set for the 7th edition of Pantiero in 2008.
