This weekend was the Francofolies festival. I can’t remember the last time I went to a concert. What is certain is that it was before 2019, when we moved to Reunion Island. When I was younger, I was always on the lookout for dates for my favourite bands and artists, and I went to countless concerts. I didn’t hesitate to travel long distances sometimes. I think my biggest trip was taking the TGV from my province to Paris to see Sufjan Stevens. When you love something…

Since we arrived in Réunion, I haven’t been very interested in the opportunities that might be available. And yet we have two major music festivals here: Sakifo and Francofolies. It’s difficult to attract big-name artists to Réunion. Very often they are French or artists who are not yet very well known or more confidential because, as you can imagine, it’s expensive to bring artists here. There’s the fee, and then we’re a long way from mainland France.

Two weeks ago, I saw posters for this year’s Francofolies and spotted Yoa and La Femme on the line-up. Yoa is a young singer I’ve been following since her debut in 2021, and I really like her songs. She sings French electro pop. She has just released her first album and was even nominated for the Victoires de la Musique 2025 in the ‘Female Revelation’ category. Even though she didn’t win, I’m still happy that she’s finally making a name for herself on the French scene. La Femme is a pretty crazy French rock band that’s been around for much longer. I must have been listening to them for over 10 years. My children even knew the lyrics to some of the songs because I listened to them so much when I drove them to school!

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So when I saw their names on the Francofolies posters, I decided to go and see them and reconnect with concerts. Six years had passed since my last concert. So off I went for two evenings at the Francofolies with my cousin Thomas. A festival means several bands on the same stage. On the first night, I was shocked to see how old I looked among all the young people who had gathered for the evening. Basically, I could have been the father of every young person I came across! The average age was really low. Apart from Yoa, who was first up, there was only rap after her. Gringe, a French rapper. PLL, a group from Réunion, and Luidji, another rapper. I won’t hide the fact that I’m not a big fan of rap, but I still enjoyed the energy that Gringe brought to the concert. I loved seeing Yoa live. However, as soon as PLL started their set, I took a step back because it wasn’t really my thing. Very loud and very repetitive. I guess all the young people had come for them and Luidji because they were all dancing to music that would make you deaf. A big generation gap. I beat a retreat. Too old for this nonsense…

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The next day, I was back for a second night to see La Femme. I managed to convince Gwen to come with us. She agreed because she knew Trinix, who was headlining the night. An artist from Réunion opened the show, but it was Tiken Jah Fakoly who really got the crowd going. Reggae music and the smell of zamal (Reunion Island weed) immediately filled my nostrils. I’m not a big fan of this type of music, but this band had incredible energy. But I had come to see La Femme, and I wasn’t disappointed. I managed to get a little closer to the stage before they started their set. That was it, I was transported back in time. The performance was just perfect, with the band sweeping us up in their frenzy. There was the music, but also a high-quality stage performance. As a fan, I knew almost everything they played and spent the concert singing along. There was a connection between the band and the audience that gave me goosebumps. It ended in a giant mosh pit right in front of us. Gwen and I were just lucid enough to step back. Too old for that stuff!

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The last group of the evening was Trinix. Two DJs who set the Francofolies alight. It was electro music with Latin influences. I’m not usually a big fan of DJs. But honestly, behind their decks with all their computers, they really delivered and got everyone dancing that night. We stayed a little further back for fear that the sound would be too loud, but in the end I regretted not being closer to the stage to enjoy it even more.

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Your concert review is brilliant, Jeff, but isn’t this supposed to be a photo blog? Yes, that’s true, but I wanted to share with you how much I enjoyed going to concerts again. I can’t wait to go again when the opportunity arises!

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Let’s move on to the photos. When I went to the Francofolies, I had the idea of taking some photos as well. The Ricoh is certainly not the ideal camera for documenting an event like this. First of all, I wanted to enjoy the concerts and not turn into a photographer during these two evenings. As with all concerts, image and sound recording devices are prohibited. Besides, everyone has their smartphones and takes videos or photos… My Ricoh in my bag didn’t attract the attention of the security guards at the entrance.

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The conditions were very tricky for the Ricoh. There was little light, which meant that the GR’s AF was struggling. I used AF because I had to open up to f2.8 to try to keep the ISO down and maintain a decent shutter speed. On the first evening, I tried to keep the aperture at f4, but I quickly had to go up to ISO 12800. On the second night, I decided to open up to f2.8 to lower the ISO. The ideal solution would have been to use manual focus on the stage so as not to use AF, but the Ricoh isn’t suited to that kind of use… I was interested in the stage, but also the audience. I wanted to capture the energy emanating from both the artists and the audience, who were vibrating to the songs. Around me, quite a few people were taking close-up photos of the singers or recording videos. I must have been the only one taking photos with a real camera. Some people with accreditation had their big Sony or Canon cameras with super-bright lenses. I just had my Ricoh GR3. I shot mostly at 35mm, but I also used the 50mm crop. As in street photography, I focused on capturing gestures and attitudes, making the most of the light effects on the stage. The show was also happening in the audience.

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These are photos taken in the pit, as close as possible to the audience. I tried to capture in images all the energy I felt during these concerts. The photos are quite grainy, but the emotion is clearly present in the shots, and that’s what matters most to me.

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All the photos were taken with the Ricoh GR3 | Crop 35 mm