In Brest, performance halls taken by storm

• 1 The current health of their societies

  Jacques Guérin (Quai Ouest Musiques): “We are in full preparation for the next Bout du monde festival, which represents the bulk of our programming. For the rest, it works relatively well. On well-known names, like Alain Chamfort or the Silencers at Vauban, it's complete, but for discoveries, it remains more difficult. Let’s say we are back to normal after the covid years.”

Marc Ribette (Arsenal Production): “Today, we are doing very well after two very unpleasant years of covid. Even getting back to normal hasn't been easy. Before, when we programmed Cabrel, it was sold out quickly. There, in the fall of 2021, we were not at full capacity. It was at Christmas 2022 that the machine revved up again. Christmas is a very important marker and in December 2023, we were a complete hit. Sales are going very well and even on names that are not so obvious. Last week, Flavia Coelho was sold out at La Carrière and not everyone knows Flavia Coelho.”

Olivier Cauchon (Digène Productions): “We are doing very well here, we have never produced so many shows. It's all the more exciting because our job is no longer about repetition. Recently we scheduled Drag Race at the Arena and we saw an audience we had never seen before. In a city like Brest, on the same evening of February 10, 2024, it was full for Ninho at Penfeld and Shaka Punk at the Arena and from memory, there was also something at La Carrière that worked. I am convinced that we are in a moment of reunion, of living together. The public is there to share a moment, much less for single consumption.”

• 2 Brest, would you live?

  Jacques Guérin: “The people of Brest did not wait for this post-pandemic moment to leave their homes, it is anchored here. I believe that there has always been a need to get together, to meet, to share and to live one's passion. And then, we have our Olympia, the Vauban, which also allows young people from here to get started. At Quai Ouest, we do not hesitate to program them as opening acts for more well-known artists.”

Marc Ribette: “Brest is historically a city that goes out a lot. Do they want to go out and see live more these years? Maybe, but I don't have the numbers. In any case, I believe that people are aware that the times are fragile and are actually going out to experience something else. But I'm not sure there will be a post-covid revolution. We simply have a growing supply and a lot of things work, but it’s often not at all ready.”

We serve to free up three hours of letting go for people. This is what today's public needs, and it's very new.

Olivier Cauchon: “I’m not sure that this is specific to Brest. Diogenes has artists tour elsewhere than here, and the phenomenon is quite common to all the cities we go to. On the other hand, what is astonishing here is the occupancy rate of the Arena. It is among the strongest in France, there is, in Brest, an effect linked to this room that you do not have elsewhere. It's clear and clear. I believe that his versatile side between sport and entertainment works both ways. This room allows this very effective synergy.”

• 3 Stand-up, boosting outings?

  Marc Ribette: “Yes, it works, it’s even crazy. There are lots of people, you don't even know where they come from, but they manage to reach new cultural minorities. For example, I scheduled Thomas Angelvy at Alizé last year, it was full in less than two days. I scheduled it at the Arena and I'm not worried for a second. It must be said that they play to the fullest on social networks.”

  Olivier Cauchon: “I think the effect is important but it will tend to fade a little. In the end, the only valid question that serves as my mantra is: who do we serve? We serve to free up three hours of letting go for people. This is what today's public needs, and it's very new. The public is in the present, and in this present, they give 1,000 times more than before. Laughter, the proliferation of comedians, is part of this demand, but it is not the only one.”

• 4 Festivals, victims of this craze for theaters?

  Jacques Guérin: “We can hear a shortness of breath, perhaps. But I, who am the producer of Bout du monde, am certain that those who have chosen an angle, who serve beautiful platters will last. We worked on the foundations before the roof in the artistic programs, we sowed to reap. The site, the programming, the fixed gauge: I’m not worried.”

  You can hear a shortness of breath, perhaps. But I, who am the producer of Bout du monde, am certain that those who have chosen an angle, who serve beautiful platters will last.

  Olivier Cauchon: “Festivals, very often, their economic model is low cost. The audience realizes that they don't see the full performance, that they eat poorly, that the sound is not very good all the time. Those who get through it, I'm thinking of Festi'Dreuz, at Bout du monde, have made other choices. We, local tour operators, owe impeccable service to our spectators at local venues. To extend the metaphor, when you eat in a good restaurant and pay €150, you also pay for the service, the cleanliness, the comfort, the punctuality. We are the guarantors of that, we cannot fail. Not to mention that for festivals, ecological questions and the carbon footprint that are left are beginning to be asked. Young people are aware of this, we will also be very quickly on the big tours.”

• 5 In Brest, is there a room missing?

  Marc Ribette: “Yes. I think there is a lack of a room for stand-up and current music with a thousand seats. There is La Carrière of course, but it produces a lot for itself. I proposed an artist for fall 2026, there was only one date left…”.

  There is La Carrière of course, but it produces a lot for itself. I proposed an artist for fall 2026, there was only one date left…

Olivier Cauchon: “No. But there is a lack of a big room in Brittany for the big machines. It's not so much in the places that it's annoying but in its capacity to be able to hang all the equipment.”