The "Lyon Calling Tour" (a reference to the Clash's cult 'fusion' album "London Calling") was instigated by the groups themselves, but the logistics of their long and particularly complex itinerary have been assured by the Jarring Effects team, supported by the Bordeaux collective Zoo Booking. The tour took an intensive year of planning and preparation before the musical convoy was ready for their heroic odyssey across eastern and western Europe (winding up in Ireland at the beginning of October). As the debate over the European constitution rages, with critics complaining that social and human values are being sacrificed on the altar of capitalist profit, the "Lyon Calling Tour" could not be more timely, offering as it does an alternative vision of free circulation and exchange. Right from the start of the project, the idea was to collaborate with local independent collectives wherever possible, thereby reinforcing the collectives' legitimacy and profiting from their work on the ground to draw in audiences receptive to the group's French vibes.

From Swiss squats through Balkan customs

The "Lyon Calling Tour" began its route as it meant to go on, travelling through Switzerland via a network of squats and alternative communes, flying the flag for libertarian Utopias and independent living. The tour attracted an impressive turn-out in Switzerland and both musicians and technicians benefited from excellent working conditions before hitting the road for the Balkans (a region with far less of an infrastructure for welcoming foreign bands – not to mention the countless customs checkpoints that had to be negotiated along the way!) Le Peuple de l’Herbe, High Tone and Meï Teï Sho hit Zagreb first, playing in an alternative club on the outskirts of the Croatian capital. A 400-strong crowd appeared to materialise from nowhere, discovering the bands' multi-cultural musical mix for the first time. And, judging by the happy sweat-streaked faces leaving the gig after numerous encores, the evening was a big success! Next stop was the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, a city whose cultural isolation appears to hang heavy on the nation's youth. Once again, "Lyon Calling" attracted a strong turn-out, uplifting spirits and general morale.

The next port of call was Bosnia, a country that still bears the scars of five years of civil war. The next three dates were to be highly symbolic, the bands playing in Banja Luka (stronghold of the Bosnian Serbs), Mostar (a city divided between Croats and Muslims) and Sarajevo (the 'martyred' city that survived three years of siege by the Serbian army). The concerts here, performed under the multi-cultural banner of the POP collective (based in Banja Luka, but closely linked to youth organisations across the country) were particularly memorable and intense. Emotional highpoints included the Banja Luka crowd yelling out Meï Teï Sho's "peace and love" refrain at the top of their voices, Mostar's ruined city walls resonating to High Tone's vibrant bass and MTS's Free Education ringing out with all the potency of a political slogan. As for the Peuple de l'Herbe's No Escape, this resounded in Sarajevo like a revolutionary anthem with the chorus line picked up and echoed by the ecstatic crowd. After the show, dozens of fans rushed up to accost the musicians - or any other available member of the team - to share their emotions and thank them for a much-needed opportunity to let off mental as well as physical steam.

Viva Sarajevo!

The Balkan leg of the tour left many members of the "Lyon Calling" party mentally as well as physically shattered as a result of the sheer amount of kilometres covered and the precarious conditions under which the concerts were played. But the musicians all admitted to being galvanised by the crowds' reactions, particularly in Sarajevo, where they had had to set up a stage and install their sound equipment in a broken-windowed squat in the midst of a wasteland. But that night the forsaken venue was packed to the rafters with 500 screaming fans and the cultural attaché of the French embassy actually turned up in person to congratulate the team for their efforts and compliment them on the scale of their undertaking.

But the greatest reward in Sarajevo had to be the energy of the crowd, the sheer burst of dynamism from Bosnian youth eager to turn the page on past hatreds and brandish new ideals of tolerance, peace and respect. Primordial values at the heart of the "Lyon Calling Tour" which went on to wend its alternative way to Belgrade, where audiences proved equally receptive to its message. Le Peuple de l’Herbe, High Tone and Meï Teï Sho still have a long way to go before Dublin. And their convoy will doubtless be beset by more logistic nightmares along the way, but the memories accumulated during the bands' trip across ex-Yugoslavia will retain a special flavour, tinged as they are with the heady smell of hope.