Banlieue Rouge

Banlieue Rouge was a punk band from Montreal, Quebec, active 1989 to 1998. They toured internationally, performed at festivals, and released several albums of punk music. In 2015 the band reformed for a reunion concert at Rock in Montebello, Quebec and released one more album.

History

Banlieue Rouge (translated as "Red Suburb") was formed in 1989 in Longueuil,[1] and named for the Parisian suburban communes dominated by the French Communist Party.

Heavily influenced by French punk rock bands such as Bérurier Noir, they started with a drum machine, which was eventually replaced by Jeff on drums.

The band's debut album, En Attendant Demain was released in 1990. Their lyrics were all in French. They gained considerable popularity in France and Quebec with the release of their third studio album "Engrenages", in 1993.

In 1998, Banlieue Rouge participated in the Pollywog Tour in Canada, with headliners Anthrax.[2]

In late 1998, after four full-length albums (plus one live and one best-of) and ten years of touring in America and Europe, the band broke up. Xavier went on to form Corrigan Fest, later joined by Sylvain. They played traditional Celtic music mixed with punk. Later Petermann produced video games and Sylvain taught literature at Concordia University. Safwan went on to form Akuma, an angrier, louder bilingual hardcore punk band, and later operated a tattoo studio.[1]

On May 25, 2003, Banlieue Rouge made its entire catalogue available for free downloading.

In 2015, Banlieue Rouge reunited to perform at Rockfest 2015 in Montebello, Quebec.[1][3][4] A live album Sans Reddition, was recorded at the event and later released.[5]

Discography
  • En attendant demain (Waiting for tomorrow) (1990)
  • Que tombent les masques (May the masks fall) (1992)
  • Engrenages (Gears) (1993)
  • Au cœur de la tempête (In the heart of the storm) (1994) — live album
  • Best of Banlieue Rouge (1995) — collection of greatest hits
  • Sous un ciel écarlate (Under a scarlet sky) (1996)
  • Sans Reddition (Without Surrender) (record 2015, release 2016) — live album

Members
  • Safwan (vocals and eventually rhythm guitar)
  • Sylvain (guitar)
  • Xavier Pétermann (bass)
  • Jef (drums)

References
  1. "PIONNIERS DU PUNK-ROCK QUÉBÉCOIS: Que sont-ils devenus ?". La Presse, Émilie Côté, 20 May 2016.
  2. "Le Festival Polliwog extérieur". Parazelli Éric 12 August 1998
  3. "Jeudi de retrouvailles au Rockfest". Journal de Montreal, Steve Fortin, 15 June 2018
  4. "Amnesia Rockfest 2015". Daily Rock, June 25, 2015. by Nicholas Dumont
  5. "Le groupe punk culte québécois Banlieue Rouge lance un nouvel album live". Voir. Olivier Boisvert-Magnen. 9 March 2016
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