Today, the eclectic line-up ranges from New Orleans jazz to electronic musicians, and from local artists and street performers to superstars. With 37,000 spectators breaking last year's attendance record the scene was set for this year when the event celebrated its 30th anniversary with the return of many artists who have previously played the festival, and a finale comprising a 'Crazy Parade' through the Coutances town centre.
With so many venues in use, an advanced network was required for the week-long festival, with appearances by Eric Bibb, Jamie Cullum, Charlie Musselwhite and Malted Milk.
This included an Optocore signal distribution system, provided by sound engineer Benoit Gilg from Paris-based Sombrero, & Co, who specialise in the production of documentary films, live concert recordings and televised shows.
Gilg, who takes his Optocore fibre network system extensively around the French festival circuit during the summer months, works closely alongside PA and live production company De Préférence. "They are my technical support, and I have worked and shared ideas with their director, Alain Français for many years," says the sound man. "We have the same way of working." Generally, he expects to cover 100 events during the course of the year.
However, in Coutances it was Jean-Marie Roussel, from Normandy-based audio-visual specialists A-TECH who supplied the technical infrastructure, while Gilg, as head of sound for broadcast and recording, was in charge of the broadcast feeds for Mezzo, France 3, ARTE Live Web and France3.net.
Jazz Sous les Pommiers marked the start of a heavy workload for Benoit Gilg. Immediately afterwards he was on duty at Hellfest 2011 in Clisson, followed in mid-July by the Festival des Vieilles Charrues 2011 in Carhaix, Brittany.
(Jim Evans)
