Set in the green, green heartland of Normandy, France’s Festival Beauregard promised “the intensity of live music, the majesty of nature, comfort and celebration,” and one that helps its guests “share every emotion, and discover every kind of music”. We can’t deny that they certainly did that. Check out our beautiful photos of the best bits from the weekend below.
Check out our review of Saturday with IDLES, Mac DeMarco, The Hives and more here, and what we thought of the closing Sunday with Cat Power, Tears For Fears and Interpol here.
3Here’s IDLES

“Thank you very much for making us feel safe and welcome in your country,” IDLES frontman John Talbot told the crowd during their blistering Saturday set, before adding: “Long live France and long live the European Union.”
4They’re coming for you

It was just a few bars into opener ‘Heel/Heal’ when IDLES’ first crowd invasion began
8Tickled pink

People seemed to really love this weird performance art troupe, who seemed to copy all the antics of a chosen leader, move-by-move.
10Meet Clara Luciani

She’s a French singer-songwriter whose sound takes in a wide spectrum from searing desert rock to pure disco bops via some heavy-hearted sultry ballads and a post-rock breakdown or two. Lovely stuff.
16“As classy as he is daft”

Reviewing Mac’s Saturday night show, NME concluded: “Aside from impressive microphone juggling and an failed attempt to blow-up an inflatable alien, DeMarco relents on the goofy antics and just chills his way through 14 laissez-faire gems. Tonight, he’s as classy as he is daft.”
19It’s The Hives

“We don’t need language,” squawks The Hives frontman Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist as Saturday evening winds down. “All we need is ‘YEAH’. Can you say ‘YEAAAH’?”
21Lookin’ good.

“Does my hair look good?” Pelle coyly asks the crowd at one point, dragging a comb through his quiff. “It’s hard to look this good and rock this hard”. No doubt
22Time for another?

“How do you feel about one more?” Pelle asks. “How do you feel about two more? How do you feel about 100 more? Alright, we are gonna play 100 more songs”. They don’t, but they make the closer ‘Tick Tick Boom’ last for as long as good taste allows.
27This is Bror Gunnar Jansson

Think ‘Tennesse blues with a Swedish twang, or in his own words: “a sleek drugstore cowboy, the missing link between Lightnin’ Hopkins and Kopparmärra”
29Jeanne Added is really great

If you like infectious electro-pop delivered with some real industrial rock menace, then look no further. By far our favourite French discovery of the weekend.
32PLK in the house

There was a lot of French hip-hop being showcased at Beauregard, but BLK was certainly the best of the lot that we caught
33Dive in

Reviewing PLK’s set, NME concluded: “While, rapping in his native tongue, there’s an urgency to his flow and air-raid banger backing that’s arresting enough to make anyone dive headfirst without any forethought into the whirlwind circle pits erupting.”
35Cat Power comes home

At one point, Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall recalls the first time she came to France 25 years ago, and “you accepted me and it changed my entire life”. It feels like nothing has changed.
36Shout, shout, let it all out

Tears For Fears bring a cavalcade of ’80’s power-pop bangers (and a surreal cover of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’) to Festival Beauregard 2019
37He don’t speak French, so he lets the funky music do the talking

Tears For Fears’ Curt Smith has co-frontman Roland Orzabal use his exquisite French to translate his gratitude to the crowd before things go a little… south. “I have a sweaty bottom,” he smirks, to Orzabal’s silent refusal. “I’m afraid I might have crabs”. Silence again. “I see there’s a limit to his French too”. Fair enough.
38We spies, we Slow Hands…

Reviewing their Festival Beauregard set, NME wrote: “Their core driving force is atmosphere. On this final night of their run of European summer festival shows, Interpol drink in the vibes of this open-air, late night set surrounded by the forests of Normandy, to deliver something truly one-off.”