Massif central and Puy-de-Dôme free shows: Europavox goes on tour before the big festival

Europavox Clermont-Ferrand is coming back for its 18^th edition on the last weekend of June. But right before that, on the 26^th and 27^th, four European bands from the festival’s line-up will tour smaller cities across the Puy-de-Dôme and Massif central regions. These artists from Germany, Spain, Serbia and Ukraine will perform free shows to local audiences and meet with children to talk about music and creativity. It’s a way to think about touring in a more sustainable way and connect even more deeply with these new territories they will explore.

Nothing develops intelligence like travel, said Emile Zola – who was, inarguably, quite the smart fellow. To discover new territories, new languages, their sounds, and their voices, is a thirst that Europavox has tried to quench since 2006, firstly by inviting to Clermont-Ferrand, France, artists from all over Europe. Folk music rooted in Reykjavik, rap from Gstaad, techno di Milano… They all came to Auvergne’s city. Then, the project grew, and soon seven festivals, settled in seven different countries, brought European artists to their stages. A German rock band could turn a Zagreb club upside down, and a Danish-based, Punjabi-inspired singer could perform in Vilnius. Take that ignorance: here, music, culture and open-mindedness are travelling.

But if helping bands to break borders is still our ethos, it can sometimes raise questions: is it sustainable to fly a foreign artist in for only one show? And how about truly engaging with the places and people we visit? Europavox festivals are always curated with local entities, from clubs to festivals, and several bands booked in Zagreb last year travelled by bus to reach Vienna for a second Europavox’s show, making the most of their initial carbon footprint.

The 2024 edition of Europavox Clermont-Ferrand is taking it a step further by, ironically, going local. Right before the festival, four bands and solo artists are indeed experimenting with us on these important values: giving sense to travelling, working with local forces, and meeting with their audience in smaller cities, by offering free shows in several towns across the region. The Spanish krautrock band Melenas and Ukrainian folk artist Postman will participate in a Puy-de-Dôme tour: Melenas will play in Lezoux and Giat on the 26^th and 27^th of June, while Postman will be in Issoire on the 26^th. Simultaneously, the Serbian indie-rock band KOIKOI, pop noire German band Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys and Postman again will tour in the Massif central: on the 26^th KOIKOI will play in Rodez, while on the 27^th Lucy Kruger is expected in Aurillac and Postman in Remilly.

“This is funny because the concert agency I’m working with in Poland mainly books shows in smaller cities”, explains Postman. “It’s a sort of ideology, which sometimes results in fantastic experiences. People from smaller towns often don’t have the means to travel to bigger cities for concerts, so our music can reach them. In these smaller places there are also listeners, fans, and people who appreciate live music, but usually large and well-known bands skip county and municipal towns and focus on large metropolises. I’ve met thousands of such people at my concerts and thanks to them, experienced immense gratitude and emotion as an artist”.

To connect even more with these territories, all the bands from the Puy-de-Dôme and the Massif central tours will meet local kids in their schools before their shows, to talk about music and their experience as artists. “I used to give private guitar lessons for about 7 years, mainly to children”, remembers Postman. “I really enjoy the children’s approach to music and playing, and despite being in the position of a teacher, I also learned a lot from them. However, I can’t remember having a big group involved, so I’m really looking forward to it”. Same here!

Massif central Tour is supported by ANCT (Territory Cohesion National Agency) and Département Puy-de-Dôme Tour is supported by Conseil Départemental du Puy-de-Dôme.