LYREBIRD had the chance to witness the 2021 French Loopstation Championship organised by Beatbox France from 3 points of view: the audience, the livestream moderation and as the timer.
We will share this experience with you with enthusiasm 🙂
A BEATBOX EVENT WITH THE FRENCH TOUCH
The competition took place on Friday November 19th at Le Ferrailleur in Nantes.
It was broadcasted live on Beatbox France’s YouTube channel thanks to a high-quality video stream which was very appreciated by online viewers around the world.
It had been more than 2 years since this championship had taken place, suffice to say that the participants were eager to show their progress.
This edition began on a sad note, following severe events at the Grand Beatbox Battle 21, an awareness against harassment and sexual violence had to be addressed and was kindly received by the audience thanks to the intervention of Aliénor, president of the Toulouse beatbox association Underground Beatbox Battle.
The event was sold out thanks to 300 spectators who came from all over France to support the participants:
16 loopers, pre-qualified by video, had the opportunity to show their talents on stage for 3 minutes each, in front of a jury of professionals.
This one was composed of 2 world champions and future senseis of Lyrebird, Saro and Faya Braz, as well as Chris TheOdian (French Loopstation champion 2019).
The common goal of all the participants was simple: to impress the jury enough to be qualified in the TOP 8 in order to compete in the Battle phase (1 against 1) and thus claim the title of new French beatbox champion in the Loopstation category.
SUCCESSION IS ASSURED
Top favourite of the competition, BreZ (French Loopstation champion 2018) remained faithful to the predictions by winning the competition after a final of anthology 100% Breton against Mike Fly.
Congratulations to our two finalists who show us that experience and work always pay off 😉
Here are some excerpts of their elimination rounds:
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Furthermore, 9 out of 16 participants made their first live performance physically at a French championship and they were pleasantly surprised!
Special mention goes to Ipso, who won this year’s Best Show title thanks to his musicality which could make Tom Thum blush.
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We also congratulate Elash, only 13 years old, who for his first participation knew how to make the crowd dance as it should thanks to quality drops.
The icing on the cake was the chance to witness exclusive showcases starting with Robin (2017 French Loopstation Champion) in complete control of the famous RC-505 MK2. Thank you, Commissioner!
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Afterwards, we also enjoyed the unique showcases of our juries: Saro, Faya Braz and Chris TheOdian, lastly with our favourite duo of world champions: UniTeam composed of Alem & Alexinho.
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BACK TO THE ROOTS OF LOOPSTATION
Unlike the Grand Beatbox Battle 21, only one of the 16 participants chose to use a “second device” other than the loopstation RC-505 (a second device allowing the use of additional effects) and it was Vincent Vinel a.k.a. Double V using the Line 6 from Helix.
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We saw a return to a more “classic” use of the loopstation, with the greatest happiness from the purists of the machine.
But everyone is waiting impatiently to be able to use the promising new loopstation model the Boss RC 505 Mark 2 a.k.a. MK2 recently in pre-order which should also bring a breath of fresh air thanks to its new range of effects and features.
This means that this could be the last edition with only using the original model of the looper.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIVE LOOPING
The only downside of the event was that some loopers had to start their round again because of technical problems or lack of stage experience.
This reminds us of the importance of good preparation in advance but also on stage to avoid a maximum of bad surprises.
Although the current situation makes it difficult to earn his spurs live, it gives us ideas of course topics on the loopstation to overcome these difficulties 😉
So, what would you like to learn on the loopstation ideally? Feel free to reply in the comments!
Duj, beatbox addict for 15 years.
