Concerts and shows - What if the best Geneva room was in Annemasse?

Concerts and shows - What if the best Geneva room was in Annemasse?

Completely rebuilt, the Red Castle Salle has the tool that is missing in Geneva: a modular device of 1,500 places, capable of welcoming the most prominent artists.This close to the border.

On the facade, we recognize the acronym of Red Château in large scarlet letters.Seen from the outside, nothing ruffling a priori.Place in front of the building would require a hell of a rake.The whole rather evokes a commercial hangar as there are plethora on this side of the border.If it was a sports complex, there would certainly be a municipal swimming pool.We approach.We cure through the immense picture window of the ground floor.God, it makes you want!

Château Rouge, a conventional scene of the city of Annemasse, subsidized by the town hall, the region and the French state, put 12 million euros - nearly 13 million Swiss francs - to fully rebuild its large performance hall.After three years of work, the result is amazing.For his return after the covid, the new season takes braid.This a stone's throw from Geneva.

"From now on, Château Rouge can host all types of shows.»»

But if it is not aesthetics, what is the asset of these places close to us?Its interior qualities, of course!In particular, the capacity of the public - up to 1,500 spectators in a modular device, seated as in a theater or partly standing.Also, the size of the scene, unbeatable concerning a medium -sized gauge room.

However, this gauge remains similar to the previous room.Erected in the 80s, modified over the decades, this one, although versatile, did not offer the comfort necessary to stick to today's productions. «Désormais, Château Rouge peut accueillir tous type de spectacles»», se réjouit son directeur, Frédéric Tovany.

We enter the home.Here, the surrounding space just offers what is necessary of a warm atmosphere.No doubt it is due to the light in Giorno rendered thanks to the bay windows.Perhaps this is also an effect of this always a little magical dust that floats on the constructions barely completed.Basically, access that looks like inspired by the corridors of the pyramids lead to the room.Red doors, compulsory color.The toilets are a stone's throw away, which does not spoil anything.Red doors too.We look up.Slight vertigo.Two stairs hanging in the void meet halfway up.They lead upstairs to the stands.

From the seats - light wood for the files, in perfect harmony with the general sobriety of facilities - or from the pit at the bottom towards the front, where the public will have to stand, visibility remains excellent on artists in action.The day of the visit, the scene is illuminated, the sound engineers proceed to the scales.The French group Dionysos is announced as a star of the inauguration evening.To judge acoustics, you will have to go back.But the glance is superb.We want to come here to see if not a concert, then comedy or dance or circus.

How many rooms in Geneva have a similar template?Let's put aside the Arena, doomed to otherwise populous rallies, up to 9,500 spectators.What is left?Alhambra has style but does not exceed 1100 seats.The Lake Geneva Theater can bring together 1,300 people but only seated, and its scene remains limited.

Good news, the Thônex village hall will be back for good in 2022 after refurbishing work.A piece of ceiling collapsed two years ago, the whole structure presented weakness, as they say in the trade.The stronghold of the Romand Opus One organizer remains a good competitor: 1700 places maximum but rudimentary comfort - the room is not modular and accuses the years.It remains to be seen if the work will give him back panache.

Why this obsession with the number of spectators?Precisely because the concert market is such today that a room must, to enter its expenses, benefit from a minimum of paid entries if it wishes to program an artist in sight.Simple.However, the fateful limit is played around 1400 places.Basic.

Another determining aspect, the room must be able to accommodate any production with its technical constraints.Benefit then in Château Rouge: the grill which allows you to hang sets, curtains and projectors reaches a height of 17 meters.Same distance for depth, as well as 30 meters wide wall on wall. «Seul le Grand Théâtre de Genève possède un tel dégagement»», indique la direction de Château Rouge.Who can now affect his poster Woodkid, one of the most popular pop shows of the moment, particularly greedy in terms of space to install his high-tech equipment.

From the top of the Gradines of Red Castle, when we contemplate the regional scenes - of Annemasse as from Geneva - it is the first that prevails.Especially since Château Rouge, now, is easily accessible for the Swiss public.If the Léman Express station turns out to be a bit far to establish itself as the right solution, the tram 17 on the other hand finds its Annemassian terminus ten minutes away from the room.

Château Rouge, 2021-2022 season, Annemasse, accessible in particular with the tram 17

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