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ooh la la!
The French rockabilly trio Mustang opened the festivities at the Red Marquee for the pre-fest party. Rain was pouring down outside, thus guaranteeing that the shed would be packed. Normally, the first act of the pre-fest blowout is in essence the first act of the weekend, and the punters who’ve shown up early are itching to get this party started. Safe to say, even Kate Smith would probably prompt an ovation, but Mustang was a canny choice. Jean Felzine’s super twangy hollow bodied Gibson and his Francophone take on every American gulpy vocalist, from Elvis to Orbison to Holly, carries with it so many pre-associations that people knew what they liked even before they heard it. The response was more intense than it probably deserved to be. Though Felzine had obviously practiced his sneer and refused to reveal what he felt about the circumstances, the crowd’s huge reaction to every bent note and hiccupy aside showed on his face, even if his perfect hair never betrayed a thing.
“Here’s something special for you,” he said in English, and then launched into what sounded like a postmodern take on “Wipeout.” Nobody really noticed how many libetries the group took with the classic rockabilly template: Felzine even resorted to keyboards and loops on occasion. And because he sang in French, we couldn’t rightly tell what it was he was suffering so dramatically over, but in the last song he kept talking about
“Josephine.” As in Napoleon’s wife? That’s pretty French. If Mustang wrote a rock song about the emperor’s spouse, they deserve more than the huge ovation they received. They deserve a history Pulitzer, or whatever the French equivalent is.
photo: Nakajima Takumi
