For this 28th edition named "Mundo Mix", the festival will present two "unpublished creations" highlighting these two
"icons"
who
"made the history of music"
, specified the director of the festival Fabien Lhérisson during a press conference.
Several artists, including the British co-founder of the Gorillaz group Damon Albarn, will thus be reunited on June 14 for a concert of "more than 100 minutes" around the work of Tony Allen, who died in 2020 in Paris.
The drummer of the group Africa 70 with Fela Kuti contributed to the foundation of afrobeat, a style inspired by traditional Nigerian music, jazz or even funk.
"He's an icon still adored today by big pop stars
," assured Elvire Delagrange, head of the festival's artistic programming.
On Saturday, June 17, on the eve of the festival's closing, Brooklyn-based Afrobeat band Antibalas and several singers
will "pay their respects"
to music legend Aretha Franklin, the
late
"Queen of Soul"
in August 2018, performing some of his songs.
Read alsoDeath of Tony Allen, legendary drummer and pioneer of Afrobeat
Imany, headliner
Beyond these two concerts, the festival's program aims to be "
popular
", with artists from all over the world: from the Israeli rapper Noga Erez, to the Franco Chilean Ana Tijoux - whose single
1977
appears in the soundtrack of the Breaking Bad series - via the Brazilian
"tropicalist"
João Selva and several artists from the African electronic scene.
French singer Imany is also one of the headliners and will perform international pop classics accompanied by eight cellos.
The festival, whose complete program is accessible on the site www.rio-loco.org, will be available from May 14 in other places in Toulouse and will also offer storytelling and puppet shows for children.