The French Embassy in Georgetown drew over 3,000 people to a two-day concert series held by the online magazine Brightest Young Things, according to BYT promoter Svetlana Legetic.
The event, held at La Maison Française, the embassy’s cultural center, featured acts such as Housse de Racket, who performed songs from their 2011 album “Alésia,” and fellow Parisian artist Yan Wagner.
Yan Wagner’s music fused a danceable, bass-heavy electro-pop sound with singing reminiscent of 1980s synth rockers New Order and Depeche Mode.
Housse de Racket had great variety in their music, from the mixture of tambourines and synthesized horns in the titular track of “Alésia,” to the dizzying drums and keyboards of “Human Nature.”
"There's a huge variety of music and an eclectic group of people," said Jara Montez, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Joe Mach, a University of Maryland, College Park graduate with a degree in music business, came to the embassy to assist the performers with an equipment problem and stayed to enjoy the music and food.
"Delicious pastries, we'll stick around," Mach said as he and a friend stood near a table lined with sandwiches, bread and a variety of dessert foods.
Visitors also watched a series of short films produced by students of the SUPINFOCOM graphic design college in Arles, France. “Le Déserteur”, a film with computer-generated characters, was shown early in the night, followed by a surrealist experimental film with black and white animation.
"I can never see an American embassy doing this," said Trisha Hadley, a first-year medical student at Georgetown.
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