It is in any discretion, at the end of July, Jules Frutos and Olivier Poubelle have put an end to their long history of 14 years with the legendary hall of paris, by disposing of their shares of the Lagardère group, which already owned 70%. The two former co-directors «have been sold by the 30% of the remaining shares,» and left the company operating at the Bataclan, according to Jerome Langlet, president of the branch Lagardère Live Entertainment, which made the announcement Friday at the AFP. The latter has just appointed its management, Florence Games, which occupied these functions at the festival des Francofolies de La Rochelle.

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a few days of commemorations of the third anniversary of the tragedy on the 13 November during which 130 dead in Paris and the Stade de France, so this is a new page in the history of Jazz that are about to write, Jérôme Langlet and Florence Games. The goal: to restore its power of attraction, which made him compete with rooms competitors such as la Cigale, le Trianon, or the Olympia.

venue or place of memory?

The task is not easy because the room just for two years to fill out its programming schedule. «A little more than 70 concerts have been scheduled in 2018. It is still low,» agrees Mr. Langlet. A lot of artists are still reluctant to perform at the Bataclan, when some others flatly refuse, such as Francis Cabrel, who feels «incapable», Nicola Sirkis, the leader of Indo-china, which believes that it must remain «a place of respect and memory, a shrine or a monument, or even Pierre Guénard group Radio Elvis, who could «not sing where people have been put in plays on stage».

On the other hand, the rapper Medina had well planned to give two concerts in mid-October. But a storm forced him to cancel his coming. Question: some of his old songs such as Jihad or Don’t Laïk , considered to be going in the direction of theses jihadists. In the second song, released in January 2015 a week before the attack Charlie Hebdo, Medina attacked the secularism with punchlines like «Crucifions the laïcards as Golgotha,» or «I saw the tree of their secularism before we make it to the earth».

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The lawyers of the victims have asked the prefect of Paris to ban the concert, when politicians from the right and the extreme right-guessed its programming. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan had tweeted: «the French, let us fight for that Medina is not messing up not the memory of our dead», Laurent Wauquiez was indignant: «it’s a Sacrilege for the victims, the dishonor for France».

then again, the question of the status of the Bataclan: show room as the other or the reverse, sanctuary? «But it should have been put before the reopening», says Emmanuel Domenach, a survivor of the bombing at the Bataclan.

«The public responds very present»

«from the moment the Bataclan has reopened, we can’t ban the concerts that occur there. It creates a censorship based on nothing, or on emotion and the media coverage of some of the debates. Nobody was asking the same question for the stade de France Stadium, where football matches are played very quickly after the attacks, and for the terraces», it argues.

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«Among the victims of the November 13, all ages, all political opinions are represented. Then call for censorship in their name has no meaning. Some use the memory of the victims in order to legitimize ideas foul-smelling,» adds Emmanuel Domenach for whom «the controversy around Medina may call other, as we will not have solved the problem of the status of the Bataclan».

For Florence Games, which will take office in December, the goal will be to talk about it at the Bataclan in artistic terms. «I feel invested with a real mission that goes beyond the simple framework of music», is it. In the meantime, for the thirty shows already scheduled here in the spring, «the public responds very present», welcomes Jérôme Langlet.

The stade de France at le Bataclan, tributes to the victims of the November 13, 2015 – Watch on Figaro Live