Touring with Broken Phones in France!

Touring with BrokenPhones in France!

Three days, three cities and an abundance of epicness!

I had the privilege of joining MC Homeless and Swordplay in France for their “Broken Phones” tour.

This duo kept me entertained on and off the stage. Like hearing about their matching mosquito tattoos they got a few days prior, or the constant food debate.

After a bit of exploring I met up with these two balladists in Strasbourg… We hit ground running and didn’t stop.

Tired but amped from their Barcelona gigs, we were greeted by Jeremies from Pelpass. Dropped our bags off and headed strait to La Grenze, for the first event.

This old train station has been transformed into a beautiful, graffiti painted venue.

Tipping point production, La Grenze and Palpass join forces to harvest an evening of magic and mayhem.

The French group La Bergeron set a high standard with an array of genres.

From classic to boom bap. MC’s, DJ’s, keys and even the saxophone were meshed together creating an audio delight.

Swordplay was up next, his conscious raps were well received.

Followed by MC Homless bringing his punk rock hip hop style, a bit of screemo and explosive energy.

Next up was Freez, another American rapper with high speed lyrics. Supported by Quentin Rochas and Nils Boyny on keyboard.

His dark underground raps acted as a good conclusion to the evening.

A long night of mingling, bike rides and karaoke left us feeling fuzzy the next day.

Paul sorted us out before catching the train to Armies. Paul, a sandwich outlet, became the highlight of Mathew’s tour.

Eating is his favourite thing to do, that and sleep.

Friday took us to a homely pub, La Tavern Elektrik for the ‘Pimp my Lino’ event. MC Homless brought his unique quirks to the floor with his raw approach.

Kicking doors and jumping off tables, highly entertaining. Swordplay pulled in the crowds from the street getting us huddled up close.

Pierre the Motionless joined him on stage to preform some tracks they made a few years back, still relevant and inspiring.

Pierre has an amazing presence and dulcet beats. Theses two artist had great chemistry, and so much mirth on stage together.

The pair, looking tired and dragging their feet, arrived at the station in the nick of time.

The sleep deprivation was due to an extended night of cheese eating and catching up with Pierre over the past 10 years.

Arriving in Paris the guys headed straight to their hotels to regain some sleep. This gave me time to explore the historical city.

Our next venue, Le Vent Se Leve, had a totally different vibe compared with the previous two nights. Prodigious acoustics with an intimate sit down set up. Swordplay started the Suffer event with his strong beats, switching to acoustic versions which went down really well in this environment.

MC Homeless, unpredictable as always had moments of crawling on the floor and lying on tables.

His raw display of passion was compelling and captivating. The night ended with a mind blowing audio visual display by Josefina Barrex from Argentina.

A duo on stage but a crew of dedicated artists behind the scenes.

Using a silk screen and lasers to create the foreground and background for Josefina to preform.

The theatrical performance was a memorable way to end the tour.

I look back on the “Broken Phones” tour with nostalgia, and forward to their continued advancement.

I’m lucky enough to have a signed copy of both albums, Paperwork by Swordplay and Sex and Death by MC Homeless.

Don’t be envious, simply hit them up on Facebook to order yours.

A strong addition for the real hip hop heads collection.