As the sun sets on my 20s and I find myself creaking towards middle age, small changes in my tastes let me know that I am, for better or worse, getting older. Things like developing an appreciation for country music, the realisation that I’ll probably never get into dubstep, or the simple joy of a perfectly curated music festival.
The So Frenchy So Chic brand, which regularly hits community radio station and record stores with a hit of Gallic style, made an effortless switch to a live event. Making the most of the idyllic Werribee Park Mansion grounds, the few-thousand strong crowd milled in front of the stage or flopped down on the grass to enjoy the food (delicious and French) and wine (French and delicious) on offer. The atmosphere was breezy, sophisticated and unhurried, a world away from Harvest Festival, recently held at the same venue.
By contrast, So Frenchy 2012 was a perfect day of music in the sunshine, with a handful of carefully chosen acts providing beats (Fefe), campy troubadour folk (Moriarty) and more. Standouts were the soulful aural smoke of Parisian-Nigerian Asa and the impeccably dressed, impossibly cool Nouvelle Vague. For a band whose schtick is reinventing pop single in a bossa nova style, they pack an extraordinary amount of swagger and je ne sais quoi into their show. Elegant, suave, sexy and a dozen other words that English must borrow from the French, they were worth the price of the ticket alone.
BY LIAM PIEPER
LOVED: The sunshine.
HATED: The sunburn.
DRANK: The finest wines known to man.
