Wednesday September 25, last reminder. Manu Chao slips and falls on the Family stage, in Landerneau (29). The public does not realize but the singer-guitarist is injured in one of his hands. Two fingers hurt him. Head to the dressing room where his injured hand is plunged into a bag of ice. A physiotherapist provides him with first aid. And the question immediately arises in the singer’s entourage: “Will he be able to play on Saturday at Penmarc’h (29)? “.
On Saturday, the verdict fell: “Manu is fine. Phew,” says one of his relatives. The same evening, the ex-leader of Mano Negra sets fire to the Cap Caval room, to the delight of those who managed to get their ticket. For these two unique dates in Brittany, the tickets (800 at Landerneau and 1,100 at Penmarc’h), at €30 per seat, were in fact gone in less than three minutes.
“They sleep a lot and they rest”
It was this summer that Manu Chao decided to extend his tour and end it with these two Breton concerts. He then called on René, an old acquaintance who had toured him in Rennes during the era of Mano Negra and that of Carayos, the combo where Manu Chao also played. He then asked René to find him two “small rooms in two small towns”.
Arriving in Brittany, the day before his Landran concert, Manu Chao and his musicians took over a house in Brignogan (29), then on Friday, a former creperie in the Kerity district, in Penmarc’h. The artist, who has not given an interview for fifteen years, has been rather discreet during his stops in Finistère. “They sleep quite a bit and they rest,” says Yohan Madec, director of the God Save the Kouign festival, organizer of the Bigouden concert. “Thursday evening, Manu came to get takeaway meals. We had a very nice little hour,” says Marc Le Lann, owner of the restaurant La Corniche, in Brignogan, which hosted, in May 1989, the Mano Negra, not far from there, at Les Hespérides, a former café-concert of Plounéour-Trez (29).
“Humble, generous and accessible”
If “El Clandestino” lives up to his name outside of concerts, it is quite the opposite on stage where, at 63 years old, he continues to literally give himself away. Surrounded by Argentinian guitarist Lucky Salvadori and Spanish percussionist Miguel Rumbao, Manu Chao gives concerts, certainly acoustic, but which electrify the public, “Landerneau, you are crazy” or “Penmarc’h, you are crazy”, says it depends on the location of the evening.
On the stage of Cap Caval, in Penmarc’h, Saturday September 28, Manu Chao delivered an acoustic concert which delighted the crowd of 1,100 spectators. (The Telegram/Gwenn Hamp)
If the singer’s staff observes total radio silence with the press, others had the chance to speak with Manu Chao, like the Brest singer Liza, who performed her first Landernean part. “I don’t really realize that I met him,” she confided in our columns. It’s a symbol. He was moved by my cover of “Me llaman calle”.”
“Manu Chao is not a legend, he is truly an exceptional guy”
Same story with Nora (13 years old), her brother Isaac (16 years old) and their father, Nicolas, who performed on Saturday before the star. “It was truly incredible to talk with him for a good hour,” enthuses the family trio. What a pleasure to meet such a humble, generous and accessible being. We were flattered because he had already heard of us. Together, we talked in particular about South America where we have already performed, like him. »
This Monday morning, Yohan Madec will drive Manu Chao to the airport. “It was an exceptional meeting,” says the Breton. He is an artist of incredible generosity, a man of unforgettable humility. Manu Chao literally turned the Cap Caval room upside down. We will remember it in several years. The God Save The Kouign association thanks him for his trust and hopes to see him again very soon. Honestly, I didn’t expect such a meeting. Manu Chao is not a legend, he is truly an exceptional guy. »
