"Astonvilla? Are you sure?" wondered the trendy young French couple with Strokes haircuts, stopping dead in their tracks. "If it is, it certainly beats paying to see them at the Olympia!" Much to music fans' disbelief, it is now possible to see your favourite group for free thanks to an innovative new never-seen-before-in-France concept called "Les Concerts sauvages." The project, launched in September 2005, revolves around a group (generally a group currently on tour) arriving to play in a public place not normally associated with music.

The group AS Dragon kicked the "Concerts sauvages" off playing at the Porte de Saint-Denis and were soon followed by Luke at La Défense and Devendra Banhart at Place de la Bourse (the French Stock Exchange). Mid-December Les Têtes Raides took Eurostar passengers and other travellers by surprise, playing in the entrance hall of the Gare du Nord. Louise Attaque are set to appear somewhere in Paris on 24 February and it's rumoured that ex-Téléphone star Jean-Louis Aubert could soon join in the fun, too.    

Astonvilla, a Parisian rock band who have recorded four albums over the past ten years and built up an excellent reputation as a live act, were perfectly suited to the "Concerts sauvages" concept. Taking to the marble esplanade between the imposing facades of the Théâtre National de Chaillot and the Musée de la Marine, the band revved up their electric guitars and launched into a rousing rendition of Coming Out (taken from their latest album De jour comme de nuit). The few dozen people making their way across the Esplanade des Droits de l'Homme at that moment lingered out of curiosity. But an hour and a half later, despite freezing winds and icy rain, that few dozen had grown to a crowd of several hundred, cheering and clapping the spontaneous show put on by lead singer Fred and his three Astonvilla henchmen.  

While they have not always enjoyed the success they deserve, Astonvilla have supported the likes of Deep Purple and ZZ Top in their time and they know how to pull out the stops live. Striking up an instant rapport with their audience, many of whom were literally within arm's reach, the band played a number of feisty rock tracks from their last album (Rock Music, Regarde-moi, Croiser le fer) and a few lighter, airier songs from their latest (Un million de lézards and the title track De jour comme de nuit).

The crowd, a radical mix of generations, was soon swaying along happily, one elderly-looking gent improvising a manic jig while a kid twirled round his mother's knees in delight. A Dutch tourist who happened to be passing by stopped to ask whether the band were famous. And the breakdancers and jugglers who normally haunt the Trocadéro esplanade played up for the cameras, cashing in on the free publicity. Meanwhile, a David Beckham wannabe showed off his heading skills, egged on by the crowd and the band themselves (avid football fans one and all who named their group after the British football team Aston Villa). Guillo and Meda 1, two graffiti taggers from Lille, were also having a field day, improvising a colourful spray work of art on a giant plexiglas screen. This 'happening' is a habitual part of the "Concerts sauvages", the graffiti artist creating an  'in situ' work inspired by the band's music.    

At six o'clock, the Eiffel Tower added its own fireworks to the show, exploding in a glittering array of lights (as it does on the hour every hour). This magical display appeared to spur Astonvilla on to even greater things. The band went on to perform for another forty-five minutes, playing exuberant encore after encore. On an obvious high, Fred the lead singer even leapt into the crowd at one point, chasing two young teenage girls. But with the night drawing in and fingers going numb on guitar strings, the band suddenly seemed to remember their gig later that night at Le Trabendo.

Waving goodbye to the crowd like old friends, Astonvilla finally left the Esplanade with Fred enthusing about how wonderful it was to play at the Eiffel Tower. "The Esplanade des Droits de l'Homme is such a powerful symbol," he said, "and it was great to have such direct contact with the public. What's more, playing this 'concert sauvage' meant people who'd never normally come and see us live got to hear our music!" Then, of course, there were all those lucky fans who saved themselves 27-29 euros - the price of a ticket to the Astonvilla concert at the Olympia!