Third Time’s a Charm for France Rocks NYC

The third time’s a charm for France Rocks NYC, a summer music festival that brings the best of French produced music to NYC. The third annual France Rocks Summerfest kicks-off this weekend in New York City and runs through July 5. France Rocks founder Michele Amar tells us what to expect and how the music festival evolved into the largest of its kind in the United States.

This year’s lineup offers a diverse melting pot of sounds featuring 25 soaring artists spanning genres from indie pop, rock, eclectic world and electronic. The full lineup is below.

According to Amar, France is a hub for musicians from all over the world and a place where artistic freedom can engage in meaningful dialogue.

“It’s even more important now to show the diversity in music; where people come together to see the energy, and forget all of what’s happening in the world.” -— Michele Amar, Founder of FranceRocks and Director, Bureau Export NYC

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Expect to see a mix of acclaimed established artists like Gregory Porter, Bonobo and St Germain, with buzz bands such as Polo and Pan, Michelle Blades, Juniore, Timsters and Yuksek, world music, the newest sounds of French Pop, Rock and more.

Throughout New York City, music lovers can find free and ticketed shows at 14 venues ranging from Central Park Summerstage and Lincoln Center to Brooklyn’s Northside Festival and Brooklyn Steel as well as intimate performance spaces.

“We have a really nice variety of music this year – the best music coming out of France – very original & very different,” says Amar.”Our lineup offers a mix of the larger, legendary artists with the younger talent on the scene.”

Opening weekend begins tonight at the hip venue Elsewhere featuring Zimmer. Acclaimed artist Gregory Porter will hit Central Park’s Summerstage with a free concert on Saturday, June 2nd. Presented by France Rocks and the Bureau Export (the French Music Export Office) with the support from New York Music Month (NYMM) and Lacoste,

Standout shows of world music include three special free evenings co-produced with the Lincoln Center Atrium featuring powerful trio from the French Caribbean Delgres, outstanding Haitian singer Mélissa Laveaux, Cape-Verdian folk artist Elida Almeida and soulful songwriter Piers Faccini.

The flagship of France Rocks is the annual Fete de la Musique, presented in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. This year will feature an ebullient lineup with the charismatic articulate voice and visuals of Chassol, the gorgeous Vianney and the global DJ Joakim at SummerStage.

June 1- Zimmer @ Elsewhere – Presented by Pop Gun | 6PM
June 1- Louisahhh @ The Good Room | 10PM
June 2- Gregory Porter @ Central Park SummerStage | FREE | 7PM
June 3- The Blue Dahlia @ The Loft at City Winery | FREE| 11AM
June 3- Yuksek @ Elsewhere – Presented by Pop Gun | 2PM
June 6- Amadou & Mariam @ Brooklyn Steel – Presented by The Bowery Presents | 8PM
June 6- Dirty Deep, Datcha Mandala @ DROM | FREE
June 9- Michelle Blades @ Northside Festival | 12PM
June 12- Polo & Pan @ Bowery Ballroom | 9:30PM
June 13- Juniore @ Piano’s | 7PM
June 14- Piers Faccini @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center | FREE | 7:30PM
June 15- Piers Faccini @ The Loft at City Winery | 8:30PM
June 16- Son Little @ Central Park Summerstage | FREE | 7PM
June 19- Matmatah @ DROM | FREE
June 19- Itamar Borochov @ Nublu
June 20- Joakim, Chassol, Vianney @ Central Park Summerstage | FREE | 6PM
June 21- Elida Almeida @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center | FREE | 7:30PM
June 25- Timsters @ The Penthouse at The Standard, East Village | FREE | 7PM
June 26- Meshell Ndegeocello @ Murmrr Theatre | 8PM
July 1- BONOBO, St Germain @ Brooklyn Mirage | 8PM
July 2- Pilc Moutin Hoenig Trio @ Blue Note | 8PM & 10:30PM
July 5- Melissa Laveaux, Delgres @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center | FREE | 7:30PM

France Rocks was born out of Tandem Paris-New York, a transatlantic cultural exchange program between the two global cities of light, nightlife, music and culture. The inaugural year IN 2016 showcased French talent solely from the city of Paris in June of 2016 at Central Park Summerstage.

According to Founder Michele Amar, that first year was a turning point for the festival we have today. At that time, there were only a select number of slots available to showcase the msuic. Right from the start, over 30,000 people came to hear the music coming out of Paris. There were so many applicants; so many bands from around France that wanted to come to play in New York, we thought it would be nice to offer a larger presence.

Our established Fete de la Musique is always in June, and we felt the month was the perfect time to expand on our offerings. We wanted to present a larger variety of bands; other genres as well as showcase some of the hottest younger talent coming out of France. Year two saw us do just that through partnerships with New York City and its inaugural music month, with Lincoln Center and other venues.

Expansion. More partners, more funding, which is always an issue when bringing bands over from Europe. We don’t have to convince the venues anymore. France Rocks has arrived. Down the road, we would like to offer a west coast version.

The third time is the charm for France Rock NY. If you’re in the city that never sleeps during the month of June, we highly suggest you catch a show and see firsthand the best array of music coming out of France. You are guaranteed to be Socially Sparked. — We are! Tweet @sosparkednews.