Pack your bags, FME announces official festival programming for 2019

Rouyn-Noranda once again will host artists, music labels, fans, and press from across the globe for the 17th edition of FME, taking place August 29th to September 1st. Quip has had the pleasure of covering FME twice and to say that it was a special experience would be an understatement.

The official programme got unveiled late last week and is packed with over 47 Canadian and 13 international artists. Day and night performances take over the town of Rouyn-Noranda with ticketed and free performances. This small, northern town really comes to life as locals and visitors alike flood the streets, carrying their branded vintage FME mugs, meeting new people, dancing on the street, and searching for the next surprise showcase.

A few notes on the lineup

Kid Koala will be returning to the festival, with what can be safely assumed another epic set of heavy hitters. Electro-dance artist Jeanne Added will also drop some dance worthy tunes on Thursday evening. Opening day electro night will bring out the likes of DJ Millimetrik, Ellemetue, and Absolutely Free. The full electro night, however, will take place at the Paramount from 10pm to 6am and feature an AbiTek curated lineup of performances including Zu and Luciole, BoLoW, Harry Potar aka ROMS, Folie Furieuse, and Sim Wou. We’re particularly looking forward to the 14k-Volts showcase, French techno dance DJ/producer, and DJ Edsik, who has been rolling deep in the world’s grime, trap, drum & bass, hip-hop and dancehall scene for years.

To continue with the electronic theme FME will once again open the ephemeral VR Garden with fifteen innovative and immersive projects. The experience allows attendees to dive into 360° videos in virtual and augmented reality from artists of all genres, Bauhaus-inspired choreographies, as well as classical music, and a virtual Amazonian rainforest.

The hip hop line up for this season consist of two outdoor shows, with mostly French-language performances on 7th street, main festival area. The lineup for the street shows is: Loud, KT Gorique, Sarahmée, Koriass, Alaclair Ensemble and FouKi. Across the city a few other venues will host R&B-flavoured artists such as Heartstreets, Naya Ali and trap collective MISCELLANIUM.

Traditional rock portion of the program, however, is where different countries truly come together throughout the weekend. Attendees will have an opportunity to see Franco-southern rock of MIELS, Swiss band The Young Gods, Chileans LA Julia Smith and Philippe Brach, and Japanese trio The 5,6,7,8’s, among many others.

Montreal’s quartet Half Moon Run will return to the FME stage for their 3rd performance, this time on the beautiful theatre stage of Agora des Arts for not one, but two intimate shows. Les Sœurs Boulay, a sister duo from Quebec, Stéphanie and Mélanie Boulay, have planned a whole brand new stage show for the festival.

Some other notable first time performers at FME are La Force, from Broken Social Scene, the lovely Dominique Fils-Aimé with a healthy dose of blues, and Sessa (Argentina) with some Brazilian sole music during a free showcase. The “unparalleled lineup of free concerts” also includes the likes of Bon Enfant, David Marin, Adam Naas, and Louis Venne.

For more details, tickets and schedule head over to fmeat.org but in the meanwhile shuffle through our Spotify playlist to get a taste of all participating artists (sans metal acts and those we could not find on Spotify).