Les Négresses Vertes

Les Négresses Vertes return to the stage at La Traverse Cléon on March 6, 2026, with their distinctive blend of rock, raï, musette and chanson. Born in Paris at the end of the 1980s, the band forged a sonic identity built on brass, accordion, gypsy-style guitars and percussion, all carried by choruses crafted to be sung back by the crowd. Think of Zobi la mouche, Voilà l’été or Sous le soleil de bodega—landmarks of a discography that left its mark on its era as much as on the dancefloors. Between swaying rhythms and drier pulses, the repertoire slips effortlessly between popular celebration and urban melancholy.

On stage, Les Négresses Vertes tighten the arrangements without losing the original momentum of a collective that plays close and leaves room for voices and brass. The set revisits flagship songs as well as less-expected pieces, with a direct energy and no showmanship. Accordion up front, a taut rhythm section, guitars that cut through—the music flows and carries the room. At La Traverse Cléon the occasion is simple: rediscover a group that mixed styles before anyone else and continues to keep alive a travelling, earthy and immediate kind of song.