MUSTANG

MUSTANG

Last year’s additional stage was the Moulin Rouge-accented Cafe de Paris tent way at the ass end of the festival. We haven’t heard yet whether or not it will be continued this year, but if it is there are plenty of French or Francophone artists on the menu to provide it with the proper je ne sais quois, though we doubt seriously that the two pop techno freaks of Air would ever deign to play such a puny venue. They are, after all, headlining the Red Marquee Sunday night. Moriarty, though they generally sing in English, is based in France, and they’re already playing at least two gigs during the weekend so it’s likely they could be talked into a third. Then there’s the French swing ska punk ensemble La Ruda, who’s slated for the Orange Court Saturday afternoon. With eight members it might get a little tight in the CdP, but I’m sure they’d be game. And while singer-songwriter Emeline Michel is Haitian, she sings in French and creole and would likely fit right in.

However, the French group we’re most interested in is Mustang, a three-piece modern rockabilly outfit with the appropriate hair and sneers. Though rockabilly in French sounds like it could be either gratingly precious or just plain hilarious, lead singer Jean Felzine sports a beautiful Elvis croon that slides by without drawing undue attention to those missing liaisons. The band’s grounding in 50s Americana is solid enough that they can generally get by with all original material.

So far Mustang is slotted into the Field of Heaven roster on Friday afternoon, the Palace of Wonder Sunday morning, and the Naeba Shokudo at sometime yet to be specified (it says so on Mustang’s MySpace page). If the Moulin Rouge is a go, we look forward to seeing them there, too. Or anywhere. They obviously travel light.