The concert public knew his name thanks to the mention “Gérard Drouot Productions presents”, followed by the name of the star. A mention in small print as discreet as was this man with little media. The producer of shows Gérard Drouot died, Monday, January 10 in Paris, of leukemia at the age of 69 after having established himself as one of the key players in this sector in France, with Gilbert Coullier, Jackie Lombard and Jean -Claude Camus. By organizing concerts in France for international stars such as Elton John, AC / DC, Bruce Springsteen or U2, with whom he often had privileged relationships.
Before creating his Gérard Drouot Productions (GDP) structure in Strasbourg in 1986, he made a name for himself in Reims, the city where he was born on April 29, 1952. His medical studies will not resist the attraction caused by the great Beatles artwork, album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). At a time when simple passion and craftsmanship still reign, in 1973 the young man brought the British progressive folk group Caravan to the Cirque de Reims, for the benefit of the city’s pharmacy students.
Initiative followed by his participation in the creation of Musique Action Reims, association at the origin of the famous concert bringing together, on December 13, 1974 at the cathedral of Reims, Nico, fallen Valkyrie from the Velvet Underground, and his fellow Berliners and planers of Tangerine Dream . Genesis, Muddy Waters, Véronique Sanson or The Clash will also come to the Champagne city. Drouot then took advantage of the friendship he had forged with the former manager of the Yardbirds Giorgio Gomelsky, a Londoner of Georgian origin linked to the groups Soft Machine, Gong or Magma.
Position of strength
The Rémois then migrated to Strasbourg, recruited by the entertainment entrepreneur and future deputy Harry Lapp. The team brings together national and international artists, Véronique Sanson, Indochine, Charles Aznavour or Renaud, U2, Tina Turner, Queen or AC / DC, to perform in the Grand-Est region. It is to Gérard Drouot Productions that we owe some of the great concerts of the 1980s and 1990s, starting with that of U2 at the Vincennes racecourse in 1987 and those celebrating in September 1988 at the Palais omnisports de Paris- Bercy the 40e anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
For the benefit of Amnesty International, they bring together Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Youssou N’Dour, Tracy Chapman, and Michel Jonasz in local of the stage. A second edition in 1998 will add Radiohead, Alanis Morissette, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Kassav ‘… The position of strength that Drouot has acquired on the French market appears clearly on May 24, 2003 when he made the news twice by finding himself in competes with himself: Springsteen is at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis while Neil Young is at the Palais des Congrès in Paris. Fans will have to make a tough choice.
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