Royal Republic, Olympia 28/1/2023
Not seeing any review a couple of days after…but there’s a setlist.
Also, while all the 2021/2022 reviews were written in January 2023 (though some of the thoughts were very much from the time of the concerts), now I am back in ‘live’ mode so reviews written not long after…does it make a difference? Fuck knows, just less time consuming!
First concert of the year. Somehow it’s been only about 40 days without a concert, yet it feels like an eternity, the way the end of the year has been so emotionally charged and this month has been stop/start though a great personal improvement still (incredibly). And so like with the 2021 restart, it begins again with a Swedish band at Olympia. The similarity with the Hives don’t stop there.
Unfortunate (not for me, obviously) circumstances mean I got this ticket and so joined Ale for a couple of drinks pre-concert. We just about caught the last couple of numbers from Ko Ko Mo, French support band, not bad at all. And then for the main act. Having only had an extremely brief listen during the week, I hadn’t needed much convincing to come to this, but straight from the off, a lot of energy coming off the stage, happiness, fun and rock’n’roll. I mentioned The Hives, well Royal Republic also do the ‘freeze’ pose for a bit. Sure, there are some similarities, both in the music and the act (that man Adam does talk a lot), but really, it’s 2023, Royal Republic are not The Hives Mk II, they are much much better than that. And they play much longer too. There’s a short acoustic set in the middle that is extremely cool, there’s relentless fun, interaction (deconstruction of the whole ‘encore’ routine), and time just flies. It’s the last night of the tour, everybody’s having fun, and they are joined by Ko Ko Mo during the encore for a rendition of Lenny Kravitz’ Are You Gonna Go My Way? That is followed by Ace of Spades (well, we were in a bar covered in Lemmy imagery before the concert, so it’s particularly apt), and the end of the show, unusually finishes with….a speech. Just some cool goodbye and thank you words. Stolly’s for a couple of drinks after, and it really was a top top gig and an excellent evening.
PVRIS, Alhambra 1/2/2023
Well I can’t find a review yet, but this review from London a few days earlier is very good. Looks like the setlist has not been changing in this tour either yet.
Update: I have now found a review, and so the first band were ‘CLOUD’.
A new venue for me, close to République so easily accessible, got in early due to some errand to run beforehand, and was suprised at the size of the queue, still got in before the officially announced time, only to see the first support had already started. Hopefully I’ll find her name eventually (thought she said ‘Lou’?), but this French artist with two EPs to her name, was both very modest and very engaging, her and her keyboard/guitar player co-conspirator treated us to some very delightful music, mixing electronic and more rocking sounds to produce a cocktail I enjoyed. Next up, Charlotte Sands, joined onstage by a guitarist and a drummer (both excellent and very good stage presences themselves) gifted us an extraordinarily energetic set, all movement, emo-tion, crowd engagement easy and natural. ‘Quelle énergie!’ was also the word I heard near me after that, so it was pretty much the key word.
Stage preparation for PVRIS took a little longer, plants on stage to arrange in particular. And then, yeah, they made the place rock, they made the place dance, Lynn Gunn occupying the stage in a very efficient way. Her occasional talk was nice and sweet (and again it’s amusing how many artists these days do the commentary on their own expected talk (this time, ‘you’re the best audience of this tour….don’t tell the other cities I told you so’ :-D), but really it’s the music that talked, sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, but it just connects with the body and the mind. It’s funny how I barely know any lyrics from songs these days, but I’ve always been about sounds, and sometimes they just match, while lyrics can be what we want. This finished early enough for me to stop for a pint on the way back (and as I was working from home the next day), and it had been another great gig. Sure gigs on your own are different from gigs with friends, but the music in these cases is always the decider, and tonight it was clearly a great winner.
Metric, Le Trianon 3/2/2023
Setlist here. And some photos from the mythical Robert Gil. Update, found a review finally. Very oddly by someone who had never heard of them before the concert… A few months later, I found a better-informed review.
One I’d been waiting for for a long time. And it didn’t disappoint. Small delay on the RER no impact, straight into the venue and the support band had already started. Not sure what they were called, bit of standard rock’n’roll. Nice guitar, not unpleasant but not very remarkable. It was over early, and after a bit of stage rearrangement, the lights went off for Metric at 8.45. The monumental Doomscroller that starts Fromentera opened the show wonderfully, and then they launched into a very punchy Gold Guns Girls that triggered the first floor-bounce of the evening (these venues really have to be experienced to feel that sensation). From there on, just an incredibly good array of tunes from their vast catalogue. They could easily have made a show with other tunes that would have been practically as good. A couple of slightly more downtempo ones had me slightly introspective (that sort of day…) and then we got a bit of a short acoustic set in the middle, before a little bit of a disco (though funnily enough dead disco was played as acoustic) vibe returned with Cascades. Plenty of great tunes after, with the main set finishing with a triumphant version of one of my favourites of theires, Gimme Sympathy. The encore (time and wishful thinking had me hope for more) included a frantic version of the early Monster Hospital, before finishing with Breathing Underwater (which at last triggered memories of the Bataclan show ‘reviewed’ elsewhere on these pages) and a few nice words and band salute to finish (is that a new thing? It feels like post COVID everyone really is grateful for being able to perform again, it’s great to see). It was over too early and there hadn’t been a moment to get bored during this concert. Everyone seemed to leave with a smile on their face, and that’s the way we like it.
Skullcrusher, Pop-up du Label 8/2/2023
Doubt I’ll find a review or setlist for this one, give it a few days though, otherwise might put some photos/short reels from my camera.
A quieter vibe, much needed sometimes. I hadn’t taken a chance on more of these last year, and this was a great choice. Nearly forgot I wanted to check that one live, but thankfully there were still tickets when I decided myself. The Popup is not that bad when you can get near the front. Realistically though, with the front of the stage being about six or seven people-wide, it only takes one or two tall-ish people to make it difficult. Unlike the previous two occasions there I was on my own so a sober one, which was perfect. Still wish one or two less tall fuckers had made it a touch easier, but it would be churlish to complain. Flora Hibberd was a last minute stand-in as support due to the intended support pulling out. And yes, it was her who had supported Porridge Radio at La Boule Noire last year, so I was in familiar territory. Some of the same songs, but somehow this more intimate venue felt even more apt for her delicate singing. A very calm pleasant and peaceful set. Helen Ballentine aka Skullcrusher came on after a little break, accompanied by her touring musician (keyboards/guitar). She mostly stuck to her guitar, and it was the most lovely, haunting and beautiful concert I have been too in ages (ever?). Some nice keyboard/sampling sounds, very melodic guitar, intense but ethereal singing voice (even the inter-song few words sounded hushed and sweet), sometimes a little hint of something more punchy, but always very gentle. She played most of the last song kneeling on the floor, and it was all so beautiful. An artist who looked so unassuming but also happy and grateful to be there. On a week where any soothing vibes felt welcome, this concert really was ‘douceur dans un monde de brutes’. Heartily recommended.
Sorry, Petit Bain 10/2/2023
A little review with photos there. And the usual SOV review. God knows why they put ‘Perfect’ as the encore though as it was Lies. Bad ears or alcohol? Mind you, both sites have different setlists, I’m glad I’m not in charge of following setlists…
An eagerly anticipated concert, the chance to see a band featuring in my 2022 top 5 in much better conditions than last year. Met with Nick, Mike and a mate of his outside the venue (later joined indoors by Alexis and his son and more mates of Mike). Secured some prime spot near the front on the side (better than my previous ventures in this venue, Nick really knows the good spots). Support band Ledher Blue were for Portugal (a search showed….), Nick and Alexis seemed to really like them, I was less enthused about them. I mean, yeah, cool, I’m not offended by it, but they sound a bit like any middling indie band from the mid ’00s or so. But then. Sorry. With a few sound samples/gimmicks added (well I don’t remember them from the first gig anyway, unsuprisingly given the size of the stage at Le Pop-Up? Perhaps that’s why Mike and Antoine felt the gig at Le Pop-Up was better….to be fair, if I’d been in better conditions then I may have agreed, but the viewing/listening was so much better here. Being more sober, hmmm I don’t even know if it makes a difference, because the music gets me high or not anway), sorry (!) where was I ? Yes, the sound was good, the songs were great, there’s a case to be made for Asha Lorenz being the coolest frontwoman about (she really is). Louis O’Bryen is being put less forward than in early days maybe, but his parts sound all great and he attempts a few words of French too. There’s not a single boring moment (they even insert a portion of a cover of Mr Brightside), time flies and when Again is being played at the end of the set, you are left begging for more. Only one song for the encore (well we are offered (sort of, not really, I think) a choice of ‘Lies or Perfect’, leading me to vainly ask and hope for both….), a great rendition of Lies. A little more wait and, nope, lights do come back on eventually and there will be no more songs. Well no more live songs from Sorry, because Unknown Pleasures is being played again….for the fourth time tonight, looks like whoever is in charge of the music only brought one CD…
Anyway, I was able to thank the artists at the end by the merch stall, just a few words of appreciation, but it’s always great to have the opportunity to do so. That second album is just as good (better?) live as on record, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. They are very special band. Still had time for a couple of pints in the pub to celebrate a mate’s birthday, ahead of a day at the Arsenal.
Rina Sawayama, Olympia 15/2/2023
A good external review, and here’s the setlist.
I’ve been feeling far too introspective this week, so I’m afraid you’ll get an introverted review, with various musings about this and that. Also, concerts on your own are not THAT great, I still love the music, it moves me, but I always enjoy concerts more with people these days. Anyway, so, incredibly, in the space of less than a fortnight, three artists out of five who provided what was my ‘best albums of 2022’ list at the end of last year happened to play in Paris. I had nearly forgotten to book Rina in January, and was glad this wasn’t sold out, even if I went on my own. More on the population at this gig later. Happened to be the night of Arsenal v Man City, but I kind of knew that when I booked and it wouldn’t have changed my mind in any way (turned out for the second time in a year, Arsenal lost while I was at a concert). Just in the morning, I learnt Empress Of was the support act, which I was pleased with.
One thing that has occurred to me lately when walking around busy parts of Paris pre- and post-gigs, is how lively it can be, people in cafés and bars. I realise how many years of my life I’ve missed (and it’s not COVID, just like me being glum today had nothing to do with Arsenal, whatever people assume, but then people assume a lot, seem to all live in clichés of who they think someone is, more years of locking myself…long story involving someone else’s mental health and trying to help instead and love too much instead of helping/saving myself) and how I still miss going out a little more just for an evening in a bar, with friends or meeting new people. It’s kind of frustrating these days, because I miss people and ‘real life’ a lot, the internet’s been a real killer at times, on top of numbing a lot of spontaneity (again, eight years have got me wary of the trappings of exclusively online communication).
Got in what I thought was early-ish as I had some errands to run for other people beforehand, but the room was still pretty packed near the front. Empress Of and her cohort did very well, it felt like a dance club, nice warm up for Rina Sawayama. I slowly realised that while the crowd was kind of mixed (probably a few older people at the back), it was mostly teenagers or early 20s. And a screaming sort (honestly, I don’t mind loud live music, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard louder shrills ever). Not sure how they afford these gigs, but then they don’t go to many maybe, and I’m learning that there are people who are truly fan(atic)s of an artist, and that’s always kind of off to me (and yes I am a ‘fan’ of The Cure, but I don’t shout ‘Robeeeert!’ around or scream like a, er, banshee). This is already quite a fucked-up review, isn’t it? So yeah, in between bands, shouts(shrieks really!) of ‘Rina! Rina!’ had me a bit uncomfortable. But then I’ve always been uncomfortable with cults of personality. Which is why I’ll probably always be difficult to control, sort of wild and free, maybe I can be tamed, but that’s about it. Yeah, I’m talking shit but not completely. WHAT? Oh yeah, more musings before hitting the main event: I have no idea what music was played between acts, but it mostly seemed to be very popular with the crowd who was singing along. It just shows I can stumble across an album and/or an artist I love but have absolutely no idea of the ‘scene’ they belong to or what their followers like. The concert itself started well, though I was feeling slightly out of place, I enjoyed the first couple of songs but didn’t feel completely part of it. Music for me has always been (and I have to included classical, mostly as a child) a very personal and sometimes intense experience, and here I felt ‘I love the music, but I don’t feel I belong here’. But then Rina stopped to give a little speech about healing and being here and….it touched me and I felt a lot better for most of the concert after, focusing on the present and the music and not minding the environment. She also laid out the plans, to play dance/acoustic/rock/hip-hop (did I make that up , is it just the hoodie later that made me think that?) and nu-metal. And yes, live as well as on record, she’s very eclectic, which suits me very well. Variety is the spice of life is it how the saying goes? She has a couple of dancers with her on some of the songs, most of the show is based on the new album, with not a lot else but it doesn’t matter, that album is just so good. There’s stuff about saying hello to the person next to you, which makes me feel like I wish I weren’t just there on my own but courteous greetings are exchanged. There is an acoustic section in the middle (seems to be common these days? Third concert this year where it’s happened….) and it is not only nice: she precedes it with another touching long speech which brings a tear or two to my eyes (I’m in that kind of state). The main set is over with a couple of songs from the previous album (not my favourites on there but they do the job nicely to dance), and the excellent ‘This Hell’ constitutes the encore with a twist: it stops and then become pure crowd engagement, one side of the hall having to chant (sorry, shout) one verse, the other half the next. It works, and I do try to take part, but I’m afraid this is where my own leanings and personality make me recoil a bit. Not even a question of age, just the way I’ve always been. I do get it, I do understand it, but I cannot feel part of a huge crowd this way. I don’t feel the need to belong, yet I absolutely don’t feel that well on my own, I just work best in small groups and personal interactions. But there’s no faulting this show at all. I went through several states of minds, but I enjoyed the experience, the emotions, maybe not always as intensely as I would have wished, but sometimes you’ve just got to hang on to the positive bits and there was an enormous lot tonight from a great artist. Two gigs to go this month, but they are far more traditional rock/indie fare, which I feel may feel a bit boring after the incredible run of gigs (incidentally all fronted by women) that was the first half of this month. Yesterday made me realise that while enjoying gigs in the company of others will always be what I prefer, I hope someone somewhere can enjoy my sharing gig reviews (that is the aim of this whole site after all, sharing the passion).
You Me At Six, Le Trabendo 21/02/2023
Found a review online! And the setlist is available. SoundofBrit review too.
Sometimes, just a little rock’n’roll goes a long way. I arrived just in time to get a beer for the start of The Hunna (turns out there had been another support band, from Australia, before, but that would have been too early for me on a school day). First song sounded a little RATM-ish, not bad at all. We got a pretty standard rock’n’roll set, good tunes, good moves, the bass player looked particularly crazy , and all that made me feel fine. Lots of people seemed to know them, and to be fair, they played about an hour, so that’s not your standard support band. After a sizable interruption to set up the stage (no props, just rearranging things), You Me At Six came on, opening ‘logically’ with the first track from their brand new album. First big moment a couple of songs later with a frantic Straight To My Head. I sure don’t get in moshpits these days, but there was a relentless energy and people singing (or screaming….) along. A fair amount of audience interaction (won’t come back to it after the previous concert, but it’s funny, when you see lots of different styles, some of the interactions are just similar (use your phones to light up the space, sit down then jump when I tell you….and of course, that’s where my ‘Curism’ make sense, they give and take but without making it forced….not that tonight felt forced, just me definitely not being into that sort of things)), again it just works. Not a moment to get bored, ‘slower’ songs are not too slow and don’t allow for introspection. The main set is over before you know it (and lasted about the same as The Hunnah, but that was to be expected given the late-ish start), but the encore itself is worth the admission price alone, opening with a punchy SUCKAPUNCH (one of my favourite of theirs) and closing with a triumphant Beautiful Way.
Just a great rock’n’roll gig, I enjoyed this one, simple pleasures, no emotional charge, and sometimes it’s all you need.
Circa Waves, Petit Bain 25/02/2023
Usual SOV review. Bonus review from SoundofBrit (as they seem to have a few, maybe I’ll call this ‘SOB’ :-)).
Concert number seven for February and the last one. Shortest month, densest for gigs…I was suprised to see a 7pm start on the ticket, thought maybe there were two support bands again. Timing of the Arsenal match and the rugby meant I went to the pub for company and a couple of pints before heading to the venue. Got there at about 8pm thinking I might catch a support. The venue was absolutely packed and the stage was being set for Circa Waves, it didn’t look like I’d see another band. Struggled to find a decent spot. They started at about 8.30pm which is very early for a main band these days, so I wondered if it would be a long set. Managed to squeeze in a couple of metres to land just behind the mixing desk so actually a great view in the end. Never Going Under which starts the new album opened, and from there on, it was a very tight set with a mix of old and new, not leaning as heavily on the new album as a lot of bands do. Which is great, though it meant they didn’t actually play my favourite from that album, frustratingly. Last gig of their european tour, is it why it was so early? Standard one hour set, followed by a short encore and it was all over at about 9.40pm. It was a good gig, not a great gig. Just a well-rounded performance, decent in energy and sharp, but pretty low on intensity. Did I enjoy it? Yes, I didn’t get bored, I didn’t drift away, it was one of these gigs low on emotions but with good music, just nice. The best thing was noticing JC and his girlfriend just next to me so with the early finish we went for a couple of drinks upstairs to round up the day, and it was a perfectly pleasant and enjoyable evening. Couldn’t ask for more, really!
Gaz Coombes, La Maroquinerie 3/3/2023
The SOV review is there already.
A very special concert. Now I have to say that musically I got into this gig without any particular expectation. I’d not particularly followed Gaz Coombes solo career, so last time I saw him was as lead singer of Supergrass many years ago at l’Olympia. But I stumbled across his new album released a few weeks earlier and liked it. Couple of mates who might have gone to the gig couldn’t, but I thought also with a little luck this gig might be a chance to catch up with Ed (brother of Gaz) and a few old friends/football adversaries from Stolly’s. I arrived early enough, was surprised to see a queue but realised ‘hang on, you can still go to the bar upstairs, no queue for that’ and so there I went and first person I see is Eddie, who is there with his partner. So I settle down there, we merrily chat, joined a little later by other folks from Stolly’s indeed, some I know I’d seen before in the pub (Nigel), Phil who I’d seen a few months ago, and Vincent who I hadn’t seen in absolute ages. A cool reunion. New people to meet too, like Peter and his wife, lovely couple who happen to live very near where I spent my teenage years in the Western banlieue. Three pints later, not having bothered with the support band, it’s time to go down to the venue, which is absolutely packed. Somehow manage to find a decent enough spot by standing on the stairs to the right of the stage when looking. View only slightly hampered by a pillar (these old venues…), but actually quite good. And then the gig. I won’t go into details, but it was pretty much ‘wow’ from start to finish. Despite a sizable hangover from the night before in Amsterdam (Ed had told us, and Gaz tells the anecdote on stage), Mr Coombes’ voice is incredibly sharp, powerful and note-perfect. Whether he performs with the full band or some acoustic numbers by himself, guitar- or piano-led tunes, he owns the place, brings on the good and happy vibes and shares the emotions and the stories behind some of the songs. Side note, I knew there would be no Supergrass songs, but while some solo artists still play stuff from there other bands, tonight was emphatic proof that Gaz’ talent renders that completely unnecessary, in fact it would have felt completely wrong and out of place. Sometimes it’s just brilliant to enjoy a concert without knowing half the tunes, without expecting this or that song, just taking in the performance. And tonight is such a night, with an artist on top of his game. It’s over before you know it, time for a little encore of brilliance (someone shouts ‘Come back to Paris!’ to which I shout back ‘but they haven’t left yet!’, and Gaz three seconds later says ‘We haven’t even left yet’, which is not remarkable in itself, but reminds me that my mind still works in British ways a lot of the time…) and the gig is done. The venue empties itself and once it’s empty you realise quite how small it is. Another thing to note is that unlike in other venues, there is absolutely no-one eagerly ushering us out (perhaps the fact that this is a ‘concert room+bar/restaurant’ type of place plays a part in that). We eventually go upstairs back to the bar, and I even indulge in a selfie with Gaz and Ed. Time for a last beer with Vincent before heading back (can’t stay too late or get too rat-arsed as the next day is a football day-trip to the Arsenal, and what a match this turned out to be, incredible scenario and atmosphere). No concert next week for the first time since late January but this was a fantastic way to close this series of gigs. Also further proof that some of the gigs I enjoy the most these days are also due to the company.
Pixies, Olympia 15/3/2023
An outside review from the gig. And the setlist.
So I don’t even know how to write about this gig. In the end it was more about a good evening out than about the music. Which doesn’t say the concert wasn’t good, it was. But I felt a bit detached from the music. This one was with Nick and a few mates of his from the group, and Alexis who I’d met a few times now. Strikes didn’t affect my transport in the end, so I got to ‘My Little Bar’ to meet up with Nick and Patrick (a colleague of his) for reasonably-priced IPAs. Just a pint and a half before (joined by another couple of people) we head towards l’Olympia. Alexis and his girlfriend were finishing their drink at a nearby bar as we headed in. Missed the support band completely, I would have been interested, but not a huge deal. IPA not available in the upper and lower bar, so lager it is before we get into the main room not so long before Pixies start. Absolutely packed so we settled for a spot near the middle but at the back (again, didn’t help for the connection with the actual music — maybe I just ‘need’ it louder— but pretty decent view). The crowd seems VERY old, compared to most of the gigs. Not mixed, nearly exclusively old. I think I really prefer when there’s a mix (again, isn’t The Cure just the perfect band? on a side note, this week they announced their US tour, sadly for me, this is much shorter notice than the European one last year, and so the dates in California towards the end of May are not possible for me and I had to regretfully abandon my idea of going to see them over there with Mehdi, shows I have to accept some things not entirely depending on me. Truth be told, if Arsenal weren’t doing so well, I might have still found a way, but as Mehdi could also only do SF and not LA, it felt like a little too much compromising, hopefully they will STILL tour again, who knows?). But back to Pixies. The setlist was a mix of recent tracks (mostly from the newest album) that elicited a lukewarm reception despite not being particularly bad, and old favourites. Of which there were plenty. The thing, with a band whose career just went on so long a hiatus and had so many defining tracks in the first part of their career, it’s always going to be like that. They have to play new stuff but you’re there for the old hits. No interaction, barely a word directed towards the public, it really is all about the music, and it’s tight, it pleases, they play Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, Gouge Away (a highlight really), etc. etc. we get treated to both versions of Wave of Mutilation, and eventually the anticipated Where Is My Mind as last but one song. Two hours straight of solid music, and no encore as is their wont. Something else? Oh yes. Nick was on form, waiting for Isla de Encanta (which he oddly kept referring to as La Isla Bonita :-D), and when they played it….oh my! He did what people don’t do at the back of the crowd, start a proper pogo! Could have laughed but it nearly turned into a fight so a few of us had to be on alert to make sure nothing bad happened. Well, pushing and shoving happened (especially with the overenthusiastic girl just in front of him), words, but nothing nasty and it all calmed down for the end of the gig. Out of there, I decided to stick around for one last drink in the bar next door to stay with this crowd. Forgetting the extortionate price for IPA, it was great just to be out there in a bar, sitting on a terrace, with people old and new to me, just chatting, mostly about music, just having a good time and pretty much what I referred to in an earlier gig review from February. So yeah, things happen and sometimes I’m just lucky and so I could take in the moment, not worry, just be there. Time to not take a risk on the last metro/RER (I have restarted using the night bus occasionally on top of stupid walks like that from Bercy last year, but that’s usually from Châtelet, and there on a weekday with work to do the next day and football to play, I couldn’t really stay on and had to be reasonable…I’m still relatively lucid sometimes not going over the top). So yeah, pretty good gig, but not one I will remember fondly for the performance. Yet, an excellent evening and sometimes it’s all that matters.
The Frank and Walters, Petit Bain 17/3/2023
We’ll see if external reviews or a setlist appear. I suppose they’ve gone back to being niche. Update: I have found a review!
What better to do on Saint Patrick’s Day than to go and watch an Irish band. And proper indie-pop heroes at that. This was on sale only a couple of weeks prior, and I was looking forward to this. As it was in Petit Bain, I thought I might bump into JC and Patricia, and I did indeed before the start of the gig. Long-ish wait in the rain (thankfully I took a hoodie on my stop home from work), before going in. Quick beer, and the venue wasn’t full so easy to put your glass back to the counter and be back right in front of the stage. No support band today, or, as the singer said later: Frank and Walters supporting the Frank and Walters. And so at about 8.15 perhaps, they took to the stage, all dressed in orange shirts and black ties. All very Kraftwerk I said to JC(and more on that later). The ‘first’ set consisted in songs old and new-ish I think, a fair amount of favourites and even the stuff I didn’t know sounded good (I stopped at their fourth album). Paul the singer was quite talkative, making that joke about support, and pointing out that they were supporting themselves to get big, seeing as some of the bands who had actually supported them in the past, like Radiohead (in 1992) went on to become huge. It’s a measure of how (relatively) big they were when they started. Lots of good vibes, happiness. Paul also pointedly remarked that (yes we’d noticed) they hadn’t played anything from their debut album Trains, Boats&Planes (hinting they would play that later…), but that first part ended after an hour when they went for a break of about 15 minutes for refreshment. So far, so excellent, there was a very happy vibe onstage and in the room (which, while not completely packed, was pretty full by the time they had started). You knew already that everyone would be leaving the venue later with a huge grin on their face. And so to the second set, which revolved mostly around Trains, Boats&Planes, which was played in its entirety (but not in order), with a couple of extra songs added for good measure. And for that part, the room went wild. Pogos started just behind the front row, a lot of happy energy, and after a relatively quiet start, this set reached another level when Fashion Crisis Hit New York was played, followed by Daisy Chain. Lots of singing in the room, and again an incredible mood on an offstage. Paul got so hot he had to take his shirt off for the end of the set. Happy Busman concluded that second part, before a three-song encore that just hit the spot further, including a frantic rocking cover of Kraftwerk’s The Model (see, there WAS a Kraftwerk connection :-)), and concluding with early song Michael (which I didn’t even know as it was on an EP before the first album). So they played nearly two and a half hour in total, cheap ticket price, great venue, great sound, very much the most joyous gig of the year so far. Happy but knackered (a very intensive match of indoor footie had taken its toll), I forsake staying for another pint (never mind the vague idea of joining friends for some Paddy’s Day drinks at the other end of town which would have been difficult to get back from later), I went home with a smile on my face. Sometimes it truly IS about the concert.
We Are Scientists, Petit Bain 26/03/2023
We’ll see if this gets reviewed elsewhere. Here’s the setlist. And photos from the ever-present Robert Gil.
This one very truly was a last minute addition. Ended up being a birthday treat to myself. I had the idea of this last minute decision, depending on the availability of tickets on the day and how I would feel after a probably heavy night. Didn’t feel too bright on waking up after a late night bus journey home, but a little siesta in the afternoon did its job, and despite Nick crying this one off, I decided ‘fuck it, I have nothing else to do and the next day off’. One big decisive factor was that, listening to my ‘happy/dance’ playlist on the way back the previous night, I ended up with ‘Turn It Up’ from their new album stuck in my head in party mode. So how better to scratch that itch than to actually (hopefully then) hear it live! Anyway, stopped for a couple of pints in the pub en route, and headed to Petit Bain not too early. So it was already fairly packed, and I just caught the last couple of songs from the support act. Sounded OK. Benoît from Nick’s music group was also attending with his wife so we managed to meet just before the gig (I relocated from just behind the mixing desk to the side, but not a bad view). As for the gig itself, just excellent. I only knew the first and last albums, so again one of these gigs where I’m not sure what to expect, go in with a hopeful but open mind. Also (referring to what I wrote either on a review above or another page), I felt well in the moment, not so much in ‘I must remember this or that to write in a review’, just the natural flow. As it is, they played a lot of those two albums, so that was cool. Naturally as ever they opened with the first song from the new album, and from then on, it was pretty much relentless. Very efficient, no ‘temps mort’. Only a change of guitar to a good old Telecaster for a few songs (one ‘slower’ number), that included the hoped for and brilliant Turn It Up that got me (and everyone…I hope) dancing. There was a good mood onstage, some banter (and sure only a band called We Are Scientists can make a ‘We had a leak in our lab’ COVID joke about having had to cancel their previous tour), and in just over an hour, the main set was done. Barely enough time to breathe before they came back for the encore. This started with a couple of songs I didn’t know, and as I was starting to tire and thoughts drifting, maybe that was the slightly ‘weaker’ moment of the concert. But then it picked up again with the excellent This Scene is Dead from the first album, before a finale of Less From You which was just fantastic. More dancing, this is essentially a disco song… (or my idea of disco?). And the proof that you don’t always have to finish your concert by an ‘old’ classic, you can finish with a new (future) one. To me this was just the perfect song to finish with. We had enough time to go for a drink upstairs, beer for Benoît and me (kindly offered to me as a present), and….Pina Colada for Nadine, that is because during the WAS set the bass player made a joke about it. All in all, another very happy gig at Petit Bain, I am glad I decided to go, and very lucky tickets were still available.
Nick Oliveri, Supersonic Records 12/04/2023
Don’t expect to find a review, but incredibly (or not, it did look like he had dedicated fans), the setlist is available. And yes, it was at Supsersonic Records, the place next to the Supersonic Club, so a new venue for me in fact!
A while ago, Nick (not Oliveri… :-)) had asked me if I fancied that as he probably couldn’t go. But this hadn’t been mentioned again, so I assumed he could go after all. Only the day before, he texted me to ask if I was still interested as he was not going to make it. So I thought, yeah, definitely, haven’t been to a gig for, er, more than two weeks, and I’m intrigued by the idea of Nick Oliveri playing an acoustic set. Also a chance to go to a concert with Alessandro and Walter. Alessandro thought it would not be acoustic after all, just very loud (this proved unfounded). I had not at all listened to anything from Nick Oliveri post Queens Of The Stone Age, so it truly was a concert where I was going with no idea, not just no expectation on the music/mood or style. It later proved that I would know some of the songs as there were a few versions of QOTSA songs (that probably got the most raucous reception). Anyway, we met and entered the venue, and it was a discovery. A very small venue (probably the smallest I’d been to in Paris, made it like a very small pub gig, though only with minimal bar options, even if you could still pop in to the usual Supersonic Club next door for a pre-concert tipple). The stage itself was very tiny, perfect for a solo artist, but not much more (despite the later ‘crowd’ on the stage, it’s dubious that even a pair of musicians could comfortably fit with instruments). The opening act itself was ‘Butch McKoy’, acoustic guitar too, no idea where he was from, from the opening sentences in French, I would say he was from here, but he sang all in English and didn’t say anything much between songs. Decent music, intense strumming and, I felt, a very good and quite powerful voice. Not bad at all. Nick Oliveri took to the stage at about 9pm to a rapturous reception. From there on, it was like, I don’t know, metal music as performed by a solo acoustic guitarist? It was great. The thing is, I’d probably not bother with his records, most of the songs essentially appeared samey to me, but I just enjoyed it, he was in a great mood, singing/yelping and strumming his guitar. I have no idea what he sang about, I was happy to hear a few QOTSA songs, but all along, he brought good vibes and you could see everyone around enjoying the moment and smiling. He invited a few people around (his mates? even a bottle of spirit did the rounds at some point, he drank from it but he also shared it, or was it just one of the guys in front?) to join him onstage for a very special rendition of Feelgood Hit Of The Summer. It was over in just over an hour (I only briely dipped for five minutes at some point when my thoughts drifted less happily), and it was fun! No dwelling around for us post gigs (work for some, travel for others), but it was the kind of impromptu gig I enjoy. The best moments often come from unplanned things, and despite the rollercoaster mood I was feeling in the last couple of days, I knew it would likely be a good evening, and in the end, it was a great little gig. Maybe more one for connoisseurs, but actually one I enjoyed as someone who had absolutely no prior idea. This acoustic format seemed to suit, and I suspect it was the only way it would have worked in this place.
Birdy, Le Trianon 14/04/2023
Setlist here. I was looking forward to this gig, though on my own. I didn’t want to go late, but a delay in a doctor’s appointment (I had forgotten how these go) meant I missed half the opening act (on top of having to settle nowhere near the front, in these cases, it’s always best to be by the mixing desk, always a good view, and you’re less tempted to take too many photos, I still feel uncomfortable taking photos and videos at gigs, but it’s the only way – apart from these reviews now – I can share moments I want to share with others, in that damned virtual world). Still, while I need to catch her name, the French woman who was singing there sounded lovely. Just her and a piano, lovely songs that seemed all about love. And for the last one, she just got up and sang to a sountrack, a little more electro-disco, felt like being back in the French 80s (or my imagination of those types) and it was quite nice. The crowds were a mix of ages, though I suspect the enthusiastic younger contingent was at the front.
Birdy and band got on a little after 9pm (the last track played on the PA before was Wet Leg’s Chaise Longue). She started instrument-free before picking up a guitar for a beautiful Voyager, but the piano just behind didn’t stay on its own long, and she spent most of the concert playing the keys there. Beautiful sounds, beautiful voice and beautiful song after beautiful song. Some new, some older, making up for not having been here for a few years. And then, in just a word ‘Silhouette’ was annouced and I let out a happy yet serene ‘Yes!’. Still my favourite songs of hers, and it was absolutely beautiful live. And then it segued into Running Up That Hill, and I think that was the perfect climax to the set. She got back to the front of the stage after that for a couple of new songs and some guitar work that hinted that the new album coming out this summer might be a little more rocking. Thoughts drifted a bit, someone I think would have loved this concert (opening act included) and I would even hope was there to enjoy it, and the rest of the set was kind of a blissful blur. I didn’t feel sad or troubled, just enjoyed the sounds in the moment. More beautiful songs, and a very short break before the two-song encore, one new (quiet) song and an older one I didn’t even know but felt just natural. I floated on the way back home, mostly with Silhouette in my head (and still this morning, listening to the Beautiful Lies album again), happy that beauty still existed in this world, and tonight’s music had felt close to a dream concert, still making me long for a happiness that feels so close at times, but never quite there. Anyway, yes, the kind of concert that makes you feel the sweetness in touch with your senses and emotions again.
Light By The Sea, Olympic Café 15/04/2023
Well I caught a picture of the setlist before the show as it was lying on the merch table.
And a few photos as a bonus.
This turned out to be a fairly unusual gig evening. And another small venue to add to my list, that’s two for this week!
Checking the timing as it was a ticket I got on Dice, I saw a day before that they were playing at 10pm, after a couple of other bands. So later than usual for a headline slot, but then I suppose a café is different from the usual concert venues. This turned out to be a true blessing, as a ‘person’s accident’ on the RER meant the line was shut, and it only re-opened about 8.45pm so I I didn’t leave before that. Found my way to the place at about 9.30pm in the end. So from the outside, looked just like a normal bar, fairly busy with a relatively young crowd. The actual venue bit wasn’t signposted in, but since it wasn’t going to be in the corridor labelled ‘toilettes’, the stairs leading downstairs and seemingly accessible were my best bet. So I got there, checked in and got stamped and saw the support band was still playing. As it turned out, they’d barely started and the schedule was much delayed. No bar in the venue bit, so after a couple of songs, I got back upstairs to fetch a drink, confident I wasn’t missing that much musically. Auks in Alaska as they are called, are a bit pub-rock, but with a few songs here and there that sound ok. I can imagine it’s hard to make your space on the scene, but as small French support bands go, they were decent. The crowds were fairly enthusiastic, from which I surmised a lot of them might just be their friends rather than people just being in the café fancying a gig, or people who wanted to see Light By The Sea. And so I did wonder what would happen after they’d finish playing, thinking Light By The Sea are probably not well known, that gigs like that and Supersonic are chances for them to get people, but last time around they were supporting, here they were the main act). Anyway, the answer came very quickly as the place (did I mention it is small? Probably about 50-60 capacity max? 80 if squeezed?) emptied suddenly. And as it turned out, not just because there was no bar. So I hung around seeing the band setting up, though I went upstairs to get a drink (decided as this was a bar with choice to go with the old rum&coke rather than beer, had to make my way through a sudden birthday party in the bar) while a soundcheck was happening. Yeah, there were about 5 of us then, the others being friends of the band. The band looked a bit distraught as a microphone and some cables had disappeared, and it all felt like they’d have to put on a brave face to perform, late, and possibly in front of a sparse crowd. The lady at the entrance of the gig bit came in to ask when they thought they ‘d be ready (‘in about 15 minutes’, which made about 11pm), and then said there was a curfew at 11.30pm :-O So if playing by the book, that setlist wasn’t going to happen in full. Cue more distress. Just before they were ready, as I went for a last drink, I discovered how this place work, as the lady rang the bell in the bar to announce the band was ready to play. I suppose the way the place is set up, it makes perfect sense. And yet, nobody rushed down and when Light By The Sea started playing, there were still about ten of us in the place, if that. But still, they played, magnificently, without looking at the timing, enjoying just playing the music, and the crowd (maybe up to 30 at the end?) loved it and showed their appreciation vocally. The band were rocking, they were dancey, the sound was actually very good and I enjoyed this as much as last year if not more. 11.30pm passed without trouble as they launched into their (unreleased) instrumental with gusto, having annouced it as the last song. ‘Do we have time for one more?’. ‘YES!’ And so we got treated to that last one, complete with flute bits at the end. 11.50pm was the time to finish, and the plug was promptly pulled, but nothing had been lost. Post-gig was nice, with so few people and such a small venue and the band themselves holding their merch stall, and still enough time to not miss tranport home, there was plenty of time to chat with the various members of the band and I was thrilled, felt I had so much gratitude to express. They were all very nice people, slightly unassuming, and you know, to go through tours like that a small band, with all the problems that beset the organisation today, it can’t always be easy. But they loved playing, and as the guitarist told me, sometimes, everything pre-concert just goes slightly wrong and the gig is the highlight, and tonight was such a time, when playing the music is what made sense and they still enjoyed. Personally, I felt I was lucky with the timing of the gig and the RER fuck-up, I had been feeling so-so in the day, but once more, music to the rescue made this a very enjoyable and happy evening, and as I put somewhere else, the gratitude I felt, I was happy to express it, it felt so natural, and I will cherish that gig. Hope they come back soon.
The Mission, Le Trabendo 23/4/2023
I had to miss this due to a work trip to Wien (and no way to avoid, ended up working late in Vienna that night…), John went with Jim. No word of a review, but here’s the setlist. I guess guest reviews and interactions on this site were always a pipe dream…as I am not intending to advertise myself more than I already did.
______________________________
Blondshell, Le Point Ephémère 13/5/2023
We’ll see for external reviews or setlist, but the mythical Robert Gil’s photos are available already.
Just under a month without a concert then. This was very last minute. This one I had initially considered but thought one day before a big day out in London (and I am now writing this on the Eurostar out), I wasn’t invested enough in her only album so far to get a ticket. In the end, Nick had a ticket and couldn’t go, didn’t find a taker so I was the lucky recipient of a ticket for tonight. After a first night out post holidays in Crete, I didn’t feel too bright, but thought yeah I’ll go all the same just have a quiet and sober one. So I got the Point Ephémère for the first time in many years, not knowing what to expect. The venue hadn’t changed too much, but enough to look more like a young hipsters’ repair, and an expanded business on the food/drinks front, I didn’t remember the outside bit that way. Also from memory you could then go to the main bar place to the gig bit while staying indoors while now there is a single access to the concert part, and that is very very badly positioned in the context of the room’s space. The venue itself is not bad and could still get as hot as I remember. I got in late-ish just after 9pm, slightly worried I’d miss the start but managed to catch the last song of support band Girl and Girl (three blokes…and the singer’s aunty on drums, truly). Decent energy but not very musically original. The between sets time was quite long but then with only one album, Blondshell (aka Sabrina Teitelbaum) wasn’t going to play for too long either. As it is, she (+band) managed nearly an hour. The set started quietly and I was still feeling slightly grumpy but after a few songs I managed to actually enjoy the performance. Sometimes I just need to be convinced. Not a revelation, not a moment of light, but a very enjoyable low-key gig. Augmented by an excellent new song or two, Salad still a highlight, and also a couple of covers, from The Cranberries, and more surpisingly Samia from her only recently released new album. A one-song encore finished proceedings nicely to the approval of the rather mixed audience (in these sort of venues now I suspect you also get an amount of Point Ephémères ‘regulars’ rather than band fans). So all in all, a bonus gig that was perfectly enjoyable, and home early enough to travel the next day. thank you Nick.
Getting the Eurostar the next day presented a different challenge due to an impromptu strike, but I miraculously am managing to travel! And yes sure it’s down to keeping my chin up, Eurostar experience and being quite a determined person when I want to, in spite of going through the raw rollercoaster of emotions more than most. I am comfortable with that now, as in the end, I do not let the ‘down’ overwhelm me too much anymore…I think. Sure I should filter it out more, like most people do, but don’t let that stop you from seeing the bigger picture I see.
Benefits, Café de La Presse 18/5/2023
No setlist, the SOV review (for this gig and others of the same night, and with that word ‘intense’ again) and photos from Robert Gil are finally here.
So, this was part of the ‘Block Party’ festival, a few days around four venues near Supersonic with various artists. I was nearly tempted to get in earlier sampling other bands, but being on my own for that one, I focused on the one band I got the ticket because of. It was a lovely if not very warm early evening in Paris. Lots of people on terraces near Bastille, the kind I would enjoy with people. Métro 1 in works meant I had to walk from Gare de Lyon, then go round to Supersonic to collect my wristband before entering the gig bit of Café de la Presse. It’s not a place I’d ever heard of before, so don’t think I’ll add it to the list of venue, but at least for the occasion it had a separate entrance to that room, with a bar near the door (and another one further down, but not used because of the stage location). I made it with a few minutes to spare, so quickly ordered a pint before the band got onstage. Now, this band was recommended to me over a year ago by Mike before the Sleaford Mod gigs, but I only got round to listening to them after they released their album only a couple of weeks ago. So I knew that ‘musically’ it wouldn’t be my usual melodic taste, but I expected a lot of energy from this. And what I got was a lot lot more. An incredible intensity. The place is small, not much room to wiggle to the front unless you bother people, so I was not too far but not at the front at the start. I’ll see if I find a setlist, but at least at the start they pretty much seemed to play the album in order, and so the mesmerising speech of Marlboro Hundreds (‘REJECT HATE!’) and Empire started the proceedings, before the slightly more melodic and equally impressive Warhorse. I am not totally certain that everyone got what all this was about (well I don’t expect everyone to understand the words, but hope they have researched them), but it didn’t matter. The format meant that quite a few people gave up during the show and left so that by the end I was pretty much second row.
What can I say? It was the most intense (again, that word, and it seems to have appeared in a couple of tweets I saw about the gig, so no coincidence, not just me) performance I may have ever seen. For good measure, Kingsley the singer injects a bit of French (learnt on the way apparently) to proceedings, pointing at random members of the audience (‘Tu es formidable! Tu es fort(e)!’) and the small audience is enraptured. After about forty minutes of such a fascinating performance, I am left gobsmacked, and despite the decent weather and the possibility to see other bands, I decide to call it a night, because anything else after that would spoil the impression of the evening, and feel very anticlimactic. Only small regret is I didn’t wait long enough to speak to the band (but the configuration of the place meant I wasn’t sure how that could pan out anyway), especially as by the account of the couple of people who have spoken to him, Kingsley is a very genuine and friendly and rather shy fellow (once more going to show that the stage is a way to express other sides of you). Hopefully next time. So here you are, my ‘block party’ ended up being only one gig, but what a gig! I got home very impressed, aware that for all of my love of melodies and sweet emotions that touch me, tonight I realise once more that there are different types of performances that actually impress me too. Sure I wouldn’t often listen to this at thome, but the strength, power and anger coming out of the stage tonight was truly something else I was completely hypnotised by. Go see them if you get a chance.
IST IST Supersonic 27/5/2023
SOV were there indeed, so here’s their review. and the setlist is available (well it’s now also included in the review, but hey-ho).
A free gig at Supersonic is always a good thing as it’s easier to have friends along. Just back from a couple of days in Warsaw for work the night before, I had asked Alessandro if he were interested and we met with a few friends when I was straight from the airport for a few drinks on a terrace. So Walter was happy to come to the concert too. In the end, we nearly didn’t go, neither of us. I was feeling absolutely shit on the Saturday morning. I’d like to blame the drinks, but with only three pints of lager I can’t, just hayfever (and actual fever), mental exhaustion, I don’t know, just felt unwell most of the day. Alessandro had said he’d let me know in the morning, he texted in the afternoon, so the gig was go. I had resolved to go to the pub to catch the end of the play off match between Coventry and Luton (with a sense of doom given Bordeaux fucking up the night before, and then Dortmund, and so it proved, Coventry lost on penalties), and in the RER on the way I felt absolutely dreadful, could hardly stand and wasn’t sure I could make the gig. If it weren’t for Alessandro and Walter I might have given up (as it is they both felt tired after the night out, but a listen to the music had convinced Alessandro that it might be a band worth seeing and he convinced Walter too, so I’m grateful for that). Ordered a drink in the pub, sat down (unusual…) and couldn’t finish it. We walked slowly to the venue (I still had very little energy), but I was feeling a touch better, so thought I could handle the standing up for the concert. This was a three bands affair, but we only caught the last song of the first band, not enough to form an impression especially in my state. I said no to another beer (eventually had a coke), second band got ready and played. Shape. Not bad at all. French band, sounding in style maybe like bdrmm or DIIV? Either way, they had their local fans, very guitary and energetic and there was some impressive pogoing downstairs (we were upstairs but thanks to Walter I got a spot by the fence just overlooking the stage so decent position). And while the programmation in Supersonic sometimes mean bands completely unrelated in style, this felt like an appropriate warm-up for IST IST. So what about them? They remind me of Editors somehow (maybe the voice), and they play some good music. Is that shoegaze? Not sure, but lots of guitars, the occasional keyboard, a cool bassist, and in fact the whole rhythm section was ace, I thought the drummer really drove the whole music. To some extent a lot of their songs resemble each other, so it’s not something I would listen to over and over, but as a live act, it was pretty much superb. I must add that I decided on this one relatively late (due to possible work/football constraints) and only after listening to the couple of albums from them I had, and that had convinced me to go. In the end despite the late hour, the 50 or so minutes the gig lasted went pretty much without a boring moment or me feeling too crap. I sure still had a residual headache at the end of the night, but given the state I was in earlier, I’m glad we went and it was still a good gig, if not the most fun evening.
Alvvays, Le Trabendo 4/6/2023
A Sunday night gig at the end of a busy weekend. Spent most of the afternoon slightly comatose and decided to do that one completely sober despite the hot and sunny weather. So I met up with Nick straight in the outside bit of the Trabendo. And stayed there to avoid the heat while the support played. So I can’t tell you anything about Katie Malco, though her stuff does sound nice on record. But it was truly steaming indoors when we got in a few minutes before Alvvays took the stage at 9pm sharp. I didn’t really have time to revise my three albums, so I came in without too many expectations as I thought their latest album was fine but nothing special. Sometimes no expectation is good, sometimes not checking back the albums mean all the songs merge into each other without too much distinction if they don’t have enough individual flavour. So yes, it was a bit like that, with the set leaning a little too heavily on the new album (opening track being the album opener, as with most bands these days), meaning most highlights were from the previous albums. And so In Undertow from album number 2 felt like the first real treat. For most of the gig, I felt it was very nice but all too samey-samey. It felt like there was a bit more variety near the end of the set, and then it was all over bar the encore after an hour. No time to get bored, but maybe not enough to get excited about. Also, they seem to have this strange thing that they can’t really finish songs. All the songs either end rather abruptly and unexpectedly (sometimes in just a hush), or with a very short guitar/drum flourish that seems to be there more for effect than anything else, a little caricatural. The three song encore is nice, but it’s still only one old song followed by two from the new album, so hardly fans’ favourite performance. Speaking of which, I leave all the more frustrated as they didn’t perform by far my favourite song of theirs (Party Police). It was absolutely heaving in there (but we stayed at the back and above so not the worst situation in these cases) so I can’t begrudge them the length of the performance, it was a good gig with decent energy, but somehow relatively frustrating, whether it was because I was not totally immersed in the mood/music or simply because it felt difficult to emotionally connect with the type of music/pace of the gig. I’ve had worst, I’ve had better, I don’t regret going to this gig, but it felt like something was missing. Whether that came from me or the band, I am not entirely sure.
The Veils, Petit Bain 12/6/2023
Well, it seems like SOV consider them to be a UK band, so there’s a gig review! Setlist here, photos from Robert Gil there.
A Monday night gig after a reasonable weekend, but on another day of heavy pollen. Had to take my contact lenses off on my stop home, so first concert with glasses since God knows when. No problem though, despite a lens getting off its frame between support and main act (I manage to fit it back in). But that didn’t hamper my enjoyment one single bit.
Anyway, solo gig, sober, got there about 8.30pm thinking I might miss at least some of the support but in fact I was there with ample time to spare. Busy-ish in, decent spot behind the mixing desk, a classic. So first up Nana M. Rose. Nice piano balladry all around, just her with her mate on the piano (and just her on that piano for two songs in the set), and a very nice way to explain most of the songs before they started. So lovely, peaceful and enjoyable as a starter.
Now, I only relistened to the Veils’ debut a few weeks or months ago thanks to the old #5albums series on Twitter, and it was a revelation, I’d forgotten how good it was. I got wind of the new album and liked it, but so I had only their latest and their first, and that was enough to decide me to go.
After a long western-style music introduction, the six musicians (it’s not a huge stage but they fitted quite comfortably) took to the stage, and while the concert started with a song from the new album, it was a departure from the norm as it was not the album opener! Still, that set up the tone nicely, quickly followed by Undertow also from the new album, the first highlight of the show. When they hit earlier works, it felt a bit odd at times, more rhythm box than drumming on a couple of tracks, but that was no deterrent. In fact, during the sequence when they played nothing from the new album, meaning more than half the songs on the set were new to me, I never felt bored. There was a variety, a musicality, a passion and emotion in the songs that made it a completely different type of experience from Alvvays just over a week before for instance. Sure I couldn’t recognise ‘old-ish favourites’, but they were all good, and the news songs like No Limit of Stars were just superb. Crowd interfaction was just right and felt sincere, just lots of thanks and a passing remark that the venue is a nice boat and we should all go to New Zealand (where they’re from) together on it. Anyway, the main set is over in just an hour, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The encore starts with just three of them on stage, a stunning version of Someday My Love will Come, just with Finn Andrews singing while on the keyboard, vocal harmonies, bass and the violin. This is one of the most beautiful tracks on the new album, and here it just felt soulful. Another new song with the full band follows, and the conclusion comes with an older punchy number that is just right to end the set. Well, sure they didn’t play anything from their debut, they didn’t even play Axolotl (popularised by Twin Peaks), but this felt like one of the best gigs of the year so far. It really was just one Vicious Traditions or The Leavers Dance short of perfect or the best gig of the year, but quite frankly, that’s high praise. Because, unlike at Alvvays(again using them not as benchmark but comparison due to time proximity), not having my favourite song played did not even feel like it was missing.
Spiritualized, Gaité Lyrique 29/6/2023
Setlist available here. SOV review also there now.
A decent Thursday evening away from the mayhem while the banlieue were rioting. No support band, just a beer with Nick before Steve joined us and we made our way indoors. And so another opportunity to look inside that beautiful bar room, looking a lot better in the summer sunlight than in the November darkness. Hell, you could even go onto the balcony but not with your beer sadly so no photo opportunity there. So we made our way into the concert room, where everything was already set up, we stayed central though not too near the stage, and the big band arrived at around 8.30pm. Eight people on stage (I think…, no apparently it was nine) including three choristes, and Jason Pierce sitting all throughout the concert, sideways rather than facing the crowd. If you’re enjoying crowd interactions, pass your way, if you’re there for the music and nodding along or just slowly oscillating your upper body, that’s the gig for you. Mostly long moody pieces, very grandiose, and filling the space quite nicely. I can honestly say that, while a couple of times I ended up just chatting with Steve or Nick, there was no real boring moment, I mean, the performance was good, and attention was mostly kept. The mostly psychedelic visuals were pretty good too, sometimes stunning and cinematic, tying in very very well with the music. Although it made me remember that in the past gigs had warnings for epileptics. And with most of the visuals (and another one where your head could spin without music with a lot of spots simply circling around and around across the whole room not the stage), it definitely wasn’t one for the epileptics, and probably not for the drunks either (thankfully I only had two beers :-)). But, yeah, there are a few buts. While I have documented elsewhere that excessive crowd interactions is not my cup of tea, this was a bit too far at the other end of the spectrum. I know it’s all about the music, man, and different performers need different conditions, and Jason probably really needs to only focus on the music and arrangements, a little more acknowledgment of the audience wouldn’t go amiss. I think his utterances towards the public were limited to a not very loud ‘thank you’ at the end of the main set (and possibly another one after the encore, but barely audible) and a little wave and clapping when coming back for that encore. No ‘hello’, no ‘goodnight’, that’s a little light over two hours. And while the set was absolutely flawless in its execution, and yes they still produce music regularly so had a new album or two to ‘promote’, you have to say that the balance between albums over a two hours set was a bit too heavy towards the new stuff. I mean, they are the sort of band who do not actually need to promote their new stuff, and two thirds of the set consisted on those last two released album. They ARE good, the live renditions ARE good, but perhaps a few more classic crowd-pleasers could do the job. In that respect, the one-song (from 2012) encore felt very frustrating. In the end, we only got one song from Ladies and Gentlemen… (the still fantastic Come Together), and zero from the amazing Let It Come Down. I now see that I had seen Spiritualized in 2003 already (have no recollection though…) and I see my extremely short review at the time suggests my ‘live’ impressions of the band wasn’t different. So yes, it was a good gig, great music, but not one that I could emotionally connect with or that will stay long in the memory. At the same time, it’s one of those I probably wouldn’t have been to on my own, and so a good evening with Nick and Steve. Nick and I ended up walking back to Châtelet as Line 4 was closed for works late evenings, and seemed to avoid the troubles despite the Nike store in Châtelet apparently being looted sometime that night.
Wolfmother, Le Trianon 6/7/2023
No external review that I see (yet anyway), but the setlist is there.
Now, I knew absolutely nothing about them bar the name I had heard many times. Alessandro told me the day before he had a spare, and well, I truly had nothing better to do that evening. I had a quick half-listen to half a track to have a vague idea of what to expect, and I liked it, seemed some kind of fairly dynamic rock’n’roll.
The ‘usual’ RER trouble didn’t delay me too much in the end (took Line 4 from Denfert to avoid taking risks given the situation) and so I met with Ale outside the venue and we went for a couple of pints nearby as a livener. ‘Midweek’ and the last session of indoor footie the next day (never mind also having another gig….first double-header this year without a weekend day in the middle to recover) meant I stopped after that. Anyway, so we had a good chat and catch-up before heading to the venue shortly before the main act started (skipped the opener, but sometimes it’s just nice to just sit on a terrace instead, even though beer price was pretty much the same in that bar as in the venue….). So, an usual 9pm start for the band. The crowds were a pretty decent mix, young and old, males and females (and others, not going to go into gender wars/fluidity or whatever, just what my eyes say). The good-ish thing when you don’t know a band or their music at all, is there is no expectation in terms of what you hope they play. And so you can just enjoy the music for what it is. So what did we get tonight? Straight-up rock’n’roll is what we got. Pretty much relentless, not much time for ‘ballads’, but it was super efficient, not boring, it was dynamic. Only three of them on stage and monstering it. You could argue they were stuck in the 70s, and I was wondering if it were what it was, watching a concert in the 70s….absent smoke and drugs aside I guess. It was actually impressed, and seeing the various crowds, I thought of the unifying power of rock’n’roll. Except for perhaps one thing: ethnicity. Now, pretty much most if not all of the gigs I go to are very very much white people’s gig (oddly enough, that very same day I bought tickets for Amaarae and Hannah Jadagu so that might redress the balance somewhat). I guess it’s mostly cultural (how many Kele Okerekes in the world?), and I never think of it, but just because I thought of that ‘unifying power’, my thoughts went tangential and so I reflected on that. First black person I saw in the room was….a bouncer. I eventually noticed a couple more punters, but they were very much an exception. Anyway, just a side observation about the crowd’s composition, but that didn’t deter from the gig itself.
I didn’t see time go, guess they played a bit over an hour, and then we got treated to the encore(s…). Couple of songs on the first one, finishing, very very aptly given the type of music played by a cover of Led Zep’s Rock and Roll. I thought that was it, most people thought that was it, as pretty much every concert I’ve been to over the last couple of years have had just the one encore, but the lights didn’t turn back on, and just as we were walking out of the room, they came back in, so we got treated to an extra song. All in all, a suprise and impromptu gig for me, and very enjoyable.
Indigo de Souza, La Boule Noire 7/7/2023
I’ll post a photo of the setlist (courtesy of the guy in front of me who got it) soon if I can’t get it from the usual setlist site.
(here it is now)
Back to my own company for this one, and beerless due partly to the queue at the bar when I arrived, and the perspective of a barbecue at a friend’s the next day. So I got in at 8pm (things are sometimes unpredictable, for some gigs the time advertised on the ticket is when the support starts, for others, it’s when the doors (theoretically….) open, here it was set to 7.30pm, there was still a bit of queue at 8pm despite the venue being small and really only 20% full when I got in and the support only came on at 8.30pm), so got close enough to the stage. I had no idea of the support band, but judging from the cheers when they took place on stage, I correctly surmised they were French (and local), they had a fair amount of their mates in the room (always a good thing as a lot are not bothered by the main act so move away at the break :-p). Anyway, a slightly unusual set-up as the man front and centre of the stage had a guitar but no microphone, while the other three band members (including the drummer, who basically did the hello at the start) had one. Quickly turned out that the bassist was the lead singer, and she was occasionally supported by the guy on the other side at the front, who alternated between guitar and keyboards. I struggled to catch their name (got in on the web on the way back), but they are called Bakakaï. So what kind of music do they play? Took me a little time to decide, but it could be probably be classified as ‘prog-rock’. Pretty long pieces, occasional quiet/loud dynamics, bit of noodling and loose song structures. But in their case, really not pretentious. Any good? Very. they seemed slightly overawed and ecstatic about playing there. The bassist’s voice was actually great (as was her play), the guitarist in the middle was playing very confidently, young but could have been from any decade, and the keyboardist/guitarist once apologised for selecting the wrong sound at the start of a song. The few words occasionally exchanged between band members testified to their incredible feeling of just being there, but it didn’t affect the performance technically. Very much ‘wow, we’re playing on a stage in a famous Paris venue, wtf?’. The guitarist keyboardist at some point said ‘I hope you’re having as much fun as we are having on the stage’, to which the bassist said ‘well, I hope you’re having more, because it’s actually quite stressful here!’. But again, while showing a certain shyness, the occasion didn’t seem to affect her performance. Oh yes, of course all that was said in French, whereas for the songs themselves, half of them were in French, the other in English.
So we got about five songs in half an hour, and then they tentatively enquired if they had time for another given the public demand, and it seemed like they were very very close to trying on, just amazed at being there and wanting to prolong the feeling, but they got the signal from somewhere else than no, they couldn’t do that, so after that little extra stay on the stage just had to give up. I suppose they have to not take a chance to alienate a promoter or something. I mean, sure, future rock’n’roll stars probably would have said ‘fuck it we’ll play one more’, but this lot were just very very nice, some would say too nice. I wouldn’t. Sure it didn’t feel like the most professional performance and you can tell they are not quite used to playing at such a level, but I found the whole thing truly refreshing, a band just in awe of playing in such a context. So Kudos to them. And yes, I don’t think I’ve ever written such a long part for a support band, but here you go. Oh yes, one last thing, I still don’t think the ‘man in the centre is a guitarist without a microphone’ makes a lot of sense, but first I don’t know the dynamics involved in terms of songwriting or egos, and second, a thought that occurred to me is that perhaps he was the more confident of the lot, and the bassist/singer may have felt too uncomfortable being in the centre.
Anyway, so on to Indigo de Souza, who came on stage a few minutes before 9.30pm with her bandmates (three of them). No big entrance, and in fact even the very start was unusual with her just fiddling with a few things and saying a few words relating to this or that before actually starting the first song (naturally the first song on the new album). She has three albums to her name, I haven’t got the first one (well just got it now…), the second was OK but might not have convinced me to go see her live, but I liked the new one very much. These days I’ve been a little too overwhelmed with music, so I can say I like this song/that song, without necessarily remembering the title (never mind the lyrics…). I think the gig started a little slowly, but then Kill Me got things properly going and it was all great from there with a particularly fantastic Smog. She talked a fair amount between songs at times, just seemed very happy to be there and share her songs, there was a little banter when someone from the crowd asked for a song and she said ‘sorry we’re not going to play that one’, then explained that the guitarist (who was on crutches) did not yet have time to learn all the songs (I think…), and so a person from the audience said they could play it so IdS asked if they were good at playing and they said ‘very good’ :-D. So Indigo just said ‘I should not speak again’ and laughed. It was all in a truly excellent and happy atmosphere. ‘Do you guys shout ‘mother!’ here? The crowds in the US should ‘Mother!’ at me and it’s a bit fucking weird. I’m glad you don’t, that’s cooler’ (not the exact words but something along those lines). Short songs, slightly longer songs, calm songs, more energetic songs, energetic bits in quiet songs, they played just over an hour and it was all rather enjoyable. Note also that she has an amazing voice and that it is not like everybody else’s voice (one of my gripes with some artists is they sound exactly like others, mostly pop singers, but some rock ones too). They played for just a little over an hour, and then…………in contrast to the previous night, the other rarity: no encore. Not through lack of demand for sure, just the lights were put back on pretty quickly after the last song. Can’t imagine there’s such an early curfew on La Boule Noire on a Friday night, but who knows? Nobody would hold a grudge though after such a great gig, so I think everyone left happy! Two very different concerts in two nights (and the first time this year I write two reviews in one shot!), but both very good!
Margaritas Podridas, Supersonic 25/7/2023
Sort of a bonus gig. Not so last minute, not an invite, not a band I had any record from. Just an oddity as a mate in Mexico had talked about them a while ago and so recommended it. Free gig also, and just an excuse to go out on a weekday. Easier to convince people to go with you too. And so I met up with Walter, both of us arriving at the venue in perfect synchronicity. Ben also joined us later inside the place some time during the first band’s set, after taking care of his son’s health.
So as usual with Supersonic, three bands mostly unrelated, although the styles were not as disparate as sometimes. First band started shortly after we got the first round in. Three girls (or is that grrrrrls?), one on the guitar, one on the drums, and one on the bass/chant. French obviously as often with these opening acts. ‘We are Pythies. We are not witches, we are feminists!’ (these may have been said in French or English, seriously no idea, sometimes it’s so completely the same to me I couldn’t remember, sober or not). And they launched into their songs. Very energetic and compact, quite efficient. What to compare it to? Not sure. Sometimes thought of Le Tigre but plenty of other different bands really. A healthy racket, sometimes a little more melodic, sometimes a little more grungy. ‘The next song is fast, so get ready to pogo!’ (actually for this one I do remember it was said in French). Cue………er, not much of a pogo in front of the stage (we were upstairs), even though this lent itself to it. More like photographers still snapping the stage. Mostly leering males? Not sure, but it felt slightly weird. ‘The next song is sad’ led to a slightly slower number, but pretty good too. All in all, I enjoyed this set, it’s not going to get them far maybe, won’t revolutionise anything in this day and age, but especially as they only formed in January, that was rather impressive! They thanked the Supersonic and the other bands (though they couldn’t quite remember Margaritas Podridas’ name or couldn’t pronounce it anyway…). I must add at this stage, as we weren’t quite at the front of that top tier, our view, wasn’t the best, but it was still OK for this one to link sound and vision.
Next up was Glass Town. Another French band. Kind of a different perspective here, as we mostly were staying a little further back sometimes chatting, so not quite as involved, the concert itself taking more of a backseat. As such, I feel it difficult to comment on the music scene, as I was less connected and barely saw the stage. Mix of different music (first instrumental bit of the first song somehow reminded me of something off Juju, though not quite), and Ben’s description near the end of that set was probably the best: they sound like a cover’s band, when the songs start, you think you might know and recognise it, but then the singing starts and you realise you don’t. Pub music? A bit. Not unpleasant at all, don’t get me wrong, but I definitely wouldn’t get out of my way to see them again or buy their records. But then, that’s the point of these free gigs. It’s funny though, so far at Supersonic I have seen bands I really wanted to see (Lust for Youth, Desperate Journalist), a couple I knew and enjoyed but might not have gone out of my way to see, or completely unknown bands. The only real discovery for me had been Light By The Sea who played before Desperate Journalist. Anyway, yeah, so now for the main act. With a better view that eventually improved and became decent when someone in front of us left.
Margaritas Podridas came on stage to finish their soundcheck. In fact, just before they started, I commented that I wasn’t sure if they were still doing their soundcheck or were about to start. And well, the end of that soundcheck segued seamlessly into the first song proper so that went quite naturally. They sing in Spanish and most of the inter-song chat is also in Spanish (though there were a couple of attempts in English and also a ‘Merci Beaucoup!’ at some point which was sweet). Four of them onstage, drummer, left-handed guitarist, right-handed guitarist and the bass-wielding chanteuse. Actually just realised, tonight there wasn’t a keyboard in sight during any of the three sets (or was there? Can’t say for Glass Town, to be fair). The music? Good stuff, bit shouty at times, kind of grunge (Alex who recommended it said they started more like a shoegazy band and now changed to grunge, but not sure the shoegazy bits he mentioned were that shoegazy), but plenty of energy, enjoyable to make your limbs move. Can’t comment on any favourites or not, and it was all slightly hazy (not so many beers, but still…), and sure enough again not a band that will change my world or be among the best I will have seen this year, but in the end, rather than a great gig, that was an enjoyable midweek evening out augmented by some pretty decent live music thrown in for free. Works on public transports in Paris this summer are a mess so I had to take a slightly alternative route back home, but not too bad or too long, so really nothing to complain about. No gigs for a while now, there’s a couple of optional ones in August, but holidays plans forming might make them tricky to attend.
The Aces, Les Etoiles 31/08/2023
No setlist available yet. And still not when checking on 29/12…
After the festival season (no I didn’t go to any, but enjoyed some holidays), it’s la rentrée for regular concerts. Gently first, before mayhem may restart mostly from the end of September. Anyway, so yeah, The Aces. They were meant to play in 2021 (or was it already early 2022) at another small(er) venue, but that got cancelled, probably still due to COVID at the time, so never toured that second album over here. On hearing they were on again, after a listen to the third album (the second for me, had a couple of excellent songs, but the rest was rather middling) on a good day, I felt happy enough to book that ticket as that album sounded quite upbeat to me. I arrived shortly after 8pm, just after the opener, Belot, started. One English girl with very large ‘funny’ glasses for effect and just an acoustic guitar. The music was nice enough, the songs pleasant too. She was very very chatty between songs, explaining the contexts (I do like that) and relating some occasional anecdotes. Somehow at times it made me feel the generational gap (and led me to reflections about relationships and how the modern world is really full of people who mostly think of themselves as the most important thing, which I can kind of see the point, but sometimes you wonder if every youth is now raised to be a little bit too narcissistic (and by that I mean, too much obsessed with their own satisfaction and image, nothing to do with NPD….)). Anyway, she was rather good if not a revelation. The inter-set felt a bit longer than needed (the band eventually sneaked through the venue just behind where I was), but hey, they played Friday I’m in Love early in that break. And then they took to the stage at about ten past nine. The opening song, for once, was not the opener from the new album, but another one. The thing I realised, is that despite listening to that new album a couple of times, I don’t know if it’s just the music itself or the state of mind, but it is a very good album but also essentially not one that has standout songs. Sure, there are a couple of slightly above average ones, but they didn’t connect with me the way some did on the first two LPs. And so, as most of the set was based on it, I can’t say I had so many highlights from this particular album. But anyway, back to the band and the music, and whether it’s the look of the lead singer or the moves, I was suddenly struck by the fact that there might be a very strong Jackson 5 influence there. Musically too, after all, which never struck me on record. Although….I have to add I have never seen either MJ or the J5 (obviously….) live or listened to much of their music, but there was something that made me thing of I Want You Back. Same sort of rhythm. Whichever way, the band looked very happy on stage, the sound was very tight, the energy was there. At some point, the lead singer said ‘this is my favourite song from the new album’…and I think I had to agree with her, ‘Stop Feeling’ definitely one of my faves from that. She mentioned the gig that did not happen to introduce something from the second album, but sadly, I didn’t get treated to either Kelly or Not Enough from that album, so my two highlights from there weren’t there. But Volcanic Love from the first album was very well received and happy. Unfortunately, midway through the set, I started having back spams or something, a very bad pain, probably due to the combination of a night bus trip back to London (silly idea) the weekend before followed by rather intensive running and football sessions this week and earlier in the day (actually in the morning, I was happy to run without apparent problem despite the pain at rest). So sadly this did affect my enjoyment of the gig, as I was at times feeling the pain, or fearing I’d lock my back and couldn’t move. So while I’d started the concert feeling able to dance-ish a bit, I couldn’t move very much throughout the second half. Still, we got to the end of the main set after about an hour, marked by the title and opening track of the new album (with personal annoyance with all these people holding ‘I’ve Loved You For So Long’ signs, wtf? Why is this a ‘thing’? Sure it’s the title, but not some kind of generic statement is it? Sometimes I really don’t get ‘the yoof’… :-D. Again, see elsewhere, in my case, possibly more of a mentality thing than a generation thing, still it feels less of a problem that it did a while ago as I feel more at ease with these things, but it’s a bit beyond me….anyway…) near the end. Somehow so it finished at about the time I thought it would, but I would have hoped for a slightly longer set if they’d come on 10-15 minutes earlier. Especially as they reminded us a couple of times that it was their last show of the tour. Anyway, they came back for an encore (‘We’re going to play a couple more songs’….cue me wondering if this was a normal English couple or the looser American definition, turned out to be the former after all). One from the new album, and then, the hoped for and inevitable ‘Stuck’. Their first hit and still a gloriously joyous song. Jumping and all on the stage and in the crowd….well except I couldn’t, so from a movement point of view that was a little frustrating. All in all, a pretty good concert, a joyous occasion, some easy indie pop music to rekindle me with live music after nearly two months off. No doubt I’d have enjoyed that more without the back pain, but I suppose (on top of getting old) I have to partly blame myself for pushing my body a little too much to the limit over the last five days. As The Pure Malt was being sold and it was Shep’s last night there, I dragged myself back to Le Marais after the concert (so didn’t stay for afters in the venue, left probably a little quicker thatn I normally do….or rather without waiting too long, quick doesn’t cover it as I could only move with difficulty), took the metro (slightly lucky, didn’t realise works were still on Line 4 and it looks like I got the last or last but one train), not sitting down as I feared I couldn’t stand back up if I did. Had a civilised time in the pub, but couldn’t stay to the end as I wanted to take the train back home. Now, this year, I have (at the start) taken to the night bus a couple of times (on top of silly long walks), but while the occasion practically called for it, my back would not have thanked me, so I had to be relatively reasonable. But it made for a good and nice end to the evening, and I was home safely before 1am, having been lucky with my connection too (a true blessing as waiting standing in Châtelet for 20 min and have a slow train would have been a nightmare that night). Hopefully the back will settle down again soon, and gigs and everything else won’t be affected by pain or impaired movement.
Ian Stone, 6/9/2023, Chez Georges
OK, slightly off topic as not a concert but a stand-up gig. I could relate the evening as usual (in summary thanks to Walter for pointing this out, so went with him and Ale), but just a quick mention. Karel Beer still organises these gigs and it’s a great venture. So very small place (compared to the old Hôtel du Nord when I last went to one of these many many years ago), and ideally for my restart, an English comedian who supports Arsenal. Laughed all evening, in fact laughed as I hadn’t had in ages, so a very healthy and welcome evening of excellent fun! Hopefully we’ll go to a few more now.
15/9/2023 Amaarae, La Cigale => annoyingly moved to 6/3/2024 and to the slightly bigger Elysée-Montmartre, probably better for my back, mind.
65daysofstatic, 21/9/2023 La Maroquinerie
SOV review now there, looks like I wasn’t the only one impressed with this gig! There are photos from Robert Gil, and the setlist (helpfully as you will read) is there too.
And so the gig season will be accelerating again, and it is with a certain trepidation due to the back spasms that I approached this one. Just ten days before, when I felt a lot better (or so I thought), I went to a little show outside the Opéra in Paris, and my back started to hurt me even more than at The Aces. I’ve tried to ease down on sports if only a little since, went to see the doctor but it’s inconclusive for now. So in a way this was a big test. As there were still tickets left on the day, I asked Alessandro if he fancied this as he is very much local to the venue. A little unsuprisingly, he felt this wasn’t quite his type of music so declined, but suggested we might go for a beer near the venue or at his place before the gig if I had time. Thankfully not too busy this week, I thought it’d be a great idea. I’d not heard of the support band (a quick listen this morning tells me I didn’t necessarily miss anything I’d have fancied), but the idea of sitting down for a bit and come only for the main act also rather appealed to me rather than an extra hour standing on my own and risking earlier or more intense back pain. So I caught up with Ale just when the doors were meant to open, and we settled in a terrace near Père Lachaise for a cheap pint….or two. Great times, good chat, and a livener for me. I wasn’t sure about drinking but early and moderately sounded good. Band scheduled to be on stage at 9pm meant a quick estimate suggested a second pint was doable. However, that didn’t leave any margin, and so we walked very very fast uphill so that I could get to the venue on time. Good warm-up for the gig and for next day’s indoor football session. Also a little detox pre-gig, not bad! I made it just as the roadie were finishing their job, god a fairly decent spot at the back, with a good central view, and didn’t even have to wait for five minutes for the concert to start. Great timing! I had actually read somewhere that this was a Wild Light anniversary tour so that they would just play this album first, but I had temporarily forgotten about that. Happy enough as their latest album was their least convincing (but still enough to get me to book the ticket….), and they didn’t play anything from it in the end. Anyway. Despite owning most of their work (turns out there was one track played tonight I don’t have, from a….video game sountrack), the instrumental nature of their oeuvre means I could very much recognise songs without being able to name them. That’s where having the setlist will help. Obviously, playing White Light in order for the start makes it easy to follow too. But really here, it is more than about the individual songs. It really is about sounds, atmospheres, soul, spirit and emotion. I think the pre-gig pints helped too, just the right level to help connect that little bit much with the music. I remember I have had that exact same feeling at another gig either this year or last year (and possibly wrote about it in these pages, but I haven’t checked back, and can’t remember. Music-wise, it should be Mogwai, but I think it wasn’t because I think of a smaller venue), but this felt like some kind of ‘end of the world’ concert (now I definitely also had that bit of the feeling at The Cure in a huge venue….due to the music+projection of the Earth), locked in a room with people who share the love of the same music. Something about David Lynch, or more specifically Twin Peaks season 3 (a gig at the Roundhouse, anyone?). I think those Series marked me a lot, actually, the aesthetics, the dystopian aspects, the surreal. Perhaps it’s the general end of world/our civilisation that pervades through a lot of things at the moment, but it just fitted with the lights, venue and very very much the music. Instrumental post-rock, verging on industrial at times. Music that you can feel intensely, music that doesn’t need words or lyrics to express a lot. After all, all these lyrics-based stuff, so much individual or global recrimination, wailing, etc. Sure a lot is pertinent and emotional too (don’t get me wrong, as you can see through these pages, while my love is music, I can certainly associate with a lot of lyrics at times), but I guess my initial education was through classical music, and also a certain shyness that means things rarely expressed in words (of course it’s nonsense: I’ve learnt to express myself quite precisely with a lot of words, but there’s a certain modesty and intensity about non-verbal communication that I love and admire). At times I was thinking of M83 music-wise (well on record, because my abiding memory of M83 as seen once live was ‘what a lot of wankery’), others Mogwai, but it all felt a litte more emotional and intense than either. Before introducing Taipei, the singer mentions this was their favourite album but as it is short (not that short, to be fair, about 50 min), at the end we’re going to have a ten minute break when you can go for a beer ot something, then we’ll play a few more songs. Cool! Many highlights already, and a splendid Unmake The Wild Light might have topped it all. Having this morning re-listened to the album and other tracks, yes the album is very good, but live it seemed to take yet another dimension into the sublime. And at the end of that main set, I was also relieved to feel only very mild pain in the back, so no hindrance to my enjoyment (indoor footie the next day showed I am not quite out of the woods, but I feel I can still go to gigs for now). Quick nip to the loo during the break (no extra beer for me), and back in more or less the same spot, only slightly better as I could lean on the fence at the back rather than just stand. The room wasn’t yet back to being full when they restarted. And that second part of the show proved just as good as the first. Or better? Starting relatively sedately with Debutante, we got treated to old favourite Retreat!Retreat! before having the more industrial/electronic Crash Tactics hypnotise us. Couple more tracks with the aforementioned not-known-to-me ‘Asimov’ and AOD from the Retreat! single before the set ended with a powerful and euphoric Radio Protector. Not many words were uttered throughout the concert, mostly thanks, and a few words in French ‘Paris je t’aime!’ among others. Curfews can be quite strict, and so that was mentioned near the end, when you felt the singer wanted to share a few more words but could only say ‘…but we don’t have much time’. They still had just enough time to come back for an encore with one last track from The Fall of Math before showing their appreciation by all bowing at the front of the stage. No problem going home, no bad back, and got there just before midnight, having been to one of my favourite gigs of the year. I think. I think, because with the summer break, memory is half-erased, and I will only review the year at the end of it now, and I know there were some great concerts earlier this year, some being fairly emotional (Birdy springs to mind, it triggered a lot of things somehow), but this was one of the most powerful. Music that elevates. In a way, this is sort of modern classical music, more than those who try to replicate classical music, this feels like a natural evolution, where the emotion comes from the sounds, the instruments, the natural quiet-loud dynamics, and, yeah, I’ll stop waxing lyrical but I immensely enjoyed that concert. With many thanks to Ale for having helped ease me into it despite the fears for my back.
New Order, Le Zénith 26/09/2023
Sound of Violence review. The setlist is naturally available.
A few months ago, I thought I had never seen New Order live before. Until I checked my old site, and realised I had. The thing is, I don’t remember the music at all from then, or the venue, just that Gillian was not there at the time, and that instead we got introduced to Phil ‘Filthy’ Cunningham as a new live member.
Fast forward to today, Hooky’s long gone, Gillian is there. And Phil Cunningham still there.
So for this one, Nick had automatically bought a ticket for me, which was a fair assumption, though weirdly I would have been hesitant given the venue. We were meant to gather at 7pm in a bar near the venue, but of course the RER decided that would be too easy, so taking a slightly longer route, I arrived at about 7.30 at the bar/restaurant next door. So Nick, but also Ornella, Lorenzo and Steve. Found out later that Alexis was there, but he hadn’t said so we didn’t see him. We got in the ‘fosse’ shortly after 8.30pm I think, start we thought might be 8.45 but turned out to be 9. Anyway, no real support act, just some guy DJ ing what sounded like New Order sounds. Bit odd, especially considering their répertoire and the fact that in the end they had to cut the encore short of one song. A beer to warm up (well I hadn’t really intended to, but a second twist of the arm did it…) and we are ready for the start. Pretty central, not too near but not too far back, and with an acceptable view not too blocked by taller people. Bit of intro music before they launched into Crystal. Twice, as Bernard made a mistake so they had to restart. It certainly made for an engaging start with happy atmosphere. Speaking of crystal, the Zenith has a bad reputation for sound with some. I have to say I was never sure, didn’t get that impression last time, but maybe it’s different as I was sitting and further out, but yeah, the sound especially in the low loud frequencies definitely wasn’t crystal clear. A bit ‘sourd’. Anyway, it was noticeable at the start, but later when the music was more familiar it kind of took a back seat to the good vibes anyway. A couple of oldies to follow, though not necessarily favourites (even if Ceremony is great, and I still don’t know if, despite being on Substance, it qualifies as a New Order or Joy Division song, on the subject of which, Isolation appeared early in the set). One of the couple (IMO) of good tracks from Music Complete (to date their latest album though it’s been a while now) was played, but I could live without these. Something from Lost Sirens was OK, but it wasn’t the best setlist to start with. Although the appearance of World (Price of Love) was very welcome by me. Your Silent Face is kind of mythical but again not one of my favourites, and we got treated to new(-ish) song Be a Rebel, which release had somehow completely escaped me. Nice lyrics and all and sure even if so far the vibes were good and we could get dancing, the heights were yet to be reached. The weirdest was a version of Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, which to me sounded like it could have been a slightly adapted intro to Temptation, until the singing kicked it and I identified the song. Only the end was a little more recognisable musically. But anyway, the truly brilliant stuff started just after with a splendid Subculture closely followed by a thrilling Bizarre Love Triangle. One more from Music Complete (Plastic), which I could have done without but had to admit was pretty impressive and danceable, so thumbs up from me, before upping the ante again with True Faith and finally Temptation. Well I say ‘finally’, because it felt it could be the last song of the main set, Bernard implied as much before saying it wouldn’t be…as they launched into Blue Monday (somehow felt it was less of a highlight as they were in cruise control, but it was still great). Now I have to say, that if I’d been feeling a little better both mentally and physically (my back ended up hurting a little more than at the previous Thursday’s concert), I might have thought it was an amazing gig. As it is, ist was just….great! They came in for an encore, expected as usual to be of Joy Division songs, though they had to tell us they would be able to play only two songs, not three due to timing constraints (presumably Transmission was missing). So in place of dessert, we got treated to a majestic Atmosphere, topped by a classic Love Will Tear Us Apart as a fitting conclusion. Time to make our exit slowly in still warm enough Paris, and just allowing for a post-gig debrief beer nearby before making our ways home. I ended up speaking….French with Italians, but then Ornella lives in Paris and Lorenzo just moved back to Milan having lived here a long time. It does feel weird, because if it were down to me I’d only naturally speak English, but it was enjoyable and easy, a fitting pleasant end, to, once more, a great evening with an excellent concert. Reflecting the next day while listening to my own NO compilation, I remembered how big their back catalogue is, and how many tracks were missing from my ideal setlist. They have to make choices, but I wish they’d go Cure-like, simply come on stage earlier and play longer. Yet, it would be churlish to complain, and unlike the previous one, I think I’ll remember that New Order gig all right.
Miki Berenyi Trio, Le Hasard Ludique 28/09/2023
I’m expecting SOV to review that one. Well, might have been wrong, nothing forthcoming. In the meantime, here’s the setlist. And some photos.
A second concert this week, hoping my body would hold, though I’d been somewhat reassured by the previous two and wisely refrained from doing any sports for a few days. One thing doesn’t change though: RER being slow and slightly dysfunctional. I wasn’t too bothered being early with two other bands as apéritif, but as Benoît was going to be there, I had an incentive to not be too late. And so with the clock ticking, I left with the intention of arriving probably between first and second band. Given the format, timings were always going to be well adhered to, but the good thing is not too much time between bands. As it is, I made it while the first band was still playing. But, without any direct news from Benoît as I arrived, and thinking there would be maximum one or two songs, I decided not to enter the concert room and go straight for a beer and the tracks. I did have a small glimpse of the sound coming from the hall, and I’d just say that band sounded OK. Well, it was my second time at Hasard Ludique (see last year’s Just Mustard gig review), and I was as impressed as the first time. No, even more: this time (perhaps because it was still September rather than November) there was an opening allowing to actually go onto the tracks (there were even some loungers, obviously all taken at that time), so I enjoyed a cool beer there. Just a shame this is located in what feels like a galaxy far away, even if transport were running fine. Went back upstairs to check if I could find Benoît, got myself stamped and in the room and out before the second band started. Miki B was just nearby at the merch stand, by I felt a little too shy to say hello then. I hadn’t seen Benoît in, but found him sitting with two friends at an upstairs table. And so we got to the room for the second band. A pretty decent band (called Healees, and they’re French), mostly atmospheric indie rock, with not much singing (and the little there was not so intelligible). Miki brushed past at some point and said ‘Pardon!’ which was amusing, and she just watched the whole set from a spot on the right of the stage with her bass player. A good warm-up pre MBT really, and they managed to squeeze two songs at the end when they thought they might not have the time (so there was a small modicum of flexibility after all), including one new one they’d just rehearsed, that sounded a little more dynamic that most of the rest, and very good to be honest. Rather than exit for another beer (but then I was not planning to drink, especially with indoor footie to play the next day, and knowing I couldn’t get to bed early given the location), I stayed and moved just near the front as there was a lot of space. To be fair, that’s another good thing about Hasard Ludique, I think you can get near the front even if you’re not camping there early. Like for New Order (and in fact every gig now, as I don’t check tour setlists before concerts), I had no idea what tracks to expect, as I prefer to be surprised by setlists rather than know which song is likely to be played and in what order. Some bands never vary their sets, others do, but all I hoped especially in this case, was to hear a few favourites from Lush and/or Piroshka. As it is, the start was a bit ‘slow’ for me that way. I noticed when the musicians were setting up their instruments (nice 12-string Stratocaster by the way, I didn’t even know that existed) that Miki seemed a little nervous/stresssed about that, and well, that was confirmed when her first words before starting were pretty much ‘well, that was a bit panicky, but now we’re ready’. The first few songs were Lush/Piroshka numbers that are not necessarily among my favourites, so I was not sure what would come next (unfortunately ‘What’s Next?’ never got played), but I guess Lush’s early work maybe gets the hardcore fans, but I’m keener on their more truly melodic stuff. Small technical problem when ‘the box’ was threatening to mess up (‘maybe we’ll get a new one for the next song’), but by the second song, it seemed to have settled. Funnily enough Moose (guitarist and Miki’s companion, ex from the band….Moose!) said that he couldn’t hear it, because all he got was his own sound fed back to him. This led to something amusing later when he went to the microphone and asked to get the box louder on the monitor despite it fucking up, only for Miki to remark that it had stopped malfunctioning a while ago (‘but then if I couldn’t hear it….’). Anyway, I’m getting side-tracked, but both Miki and Moose weren’t afraid to chat, they all seemed to progressively relax during the show and enjoy themselves and it was good to see. The first song that really caught my attention was a Piroshka one (if I believe the setlist I linked, but I can’t find any trace of its release or any hint that it exists, so could it be a cover?) called Vertigo*. But the real treats started half-way through for me with Light From a Dead Star, the opener from Split, by far my favourite Lush album, and a very underrated album at that. One of the very good Piroshka songs followed, another hit of Split goodness with Kiss Chase and then ‘the next song is a cover, I don’t know how to say ‘cover’ in French’. And there I thought could they play ‘Love At First Sight?’. And amazingly they did. It’s ‘only’ a B-side of Hypocrite (so Split era again), but it is one of my favourite Lush songs (didn’t know it was a cover when I first heard it), and so I was absolutely thrilled to hear it. Followed a completely new song (so not a Lush or Piroshka number), that also sounded excellent, before they played a Moose song (weirdly I have heard of Moose many times, but never listened to their music, might be worth investigating, that was quite nice). And then the set ended with a much earlier Lush classic (Baby Talk). Was that it? Time suggested it might, but lights not coming on felt maybe not. And so they came back on very quickly, Miki announced this would be the only French she would speak, and…..they launched into a conver of Blondie’s Sunday Girl, as a very joyous finale. All smiles and cheers, I stayed on a bit to have a look at the setlist and was lucky to catch Miki sorting out her pedals post-gig, so could congratulate her for a great gig I enjoyed….and also for the book (see books section on this site) that I had enjoyed too (already mentioned on twitter at the time, and was very touched that she had replied then), I felt I probably could have brought the book with me to get signed, but that wasn’t really the point. Met Benoît and one of his friends outside for a quick chat before leaving. Home late, it’s a long journey but at least the return went without trouble. All in all, a pleasant evening in a great setting, and a very good gig. It took a while to get going for me, at first it also felt a little disjointed, as if the music was played by separate musicians rather than a band (musically, Moose’s guitar felt like it was in a world of its own with its very clear crystall-y sound, though, ’emotionally’ it DID feel like they were a band going on very well together), but when it really got going, it was a very enjoyable show. From New Order in a huge venue and with a sound too loud in some frequencies, to one of the smallest and nicest venue, with a good sound, but not very loud, it was quite a contrast. But somehow, in terms of gig atmosphere, I enjoyed tonight more than Tuesday. My back also hurt a little less than on Tuesday, so it felt like a win on many scores, and I am very glad I went, on a day when I woke up feeling mentally all at sea. Sure I was feeling better as the day went especially after an afternoon mini-nap (well brain shutdown out of mental exhaustion), but once more, music healed further. Thank you Miki, Moose and bass player I am too lazy to check the name of right now!
*I shouldn’t have believed the setlist. Update many months later, Vertigo was finally released, as a single from Miki Berenyi Trio. And my first impressions were more than confirmed. Amazingly beautiful song, which may well be my favourite song of 2024. It makes me feel.
Shamir, Supersonic 2/10/2023
Not finding the set list (I was silly not to ask to take a photo of it at the end, really, could also have asked for it first before the person next to me), doubt I will, and don’t expect any outside report. Which is a shame.
I was really looking forward to that one, very much the third free concert at Supersonic in a year that I truly wanted to see (been to a few more there, and a bit randomly just two days prior with Ale and Walter, but not really for the gig so nothing to review). And I was once more not disappointed. As usual, three bands on the menu, sometimes you discover something (Light By The Sea was one), but I wasn’t too motivated to go in early, still recovering from a long run at the weekend and not 100% well with the back. I was quite suprised to see this one announced as ‘sold out’ (remember it was a free one, though you can ‘register’ on Dice, so maybe that was based on that), thought maybe he was an artist with a big following even here that I was not aware of (been surprised many times the last couple of years), but the reality as you will read later was quite different. Still for 7pm doors, the first band wasn’t starting before 8.30pm, with Shamir scheduled to take the stage at 10.30pm, quite late, making me wonder if that would be an unusual late start or not margin for a long set (sadly the latter proved true in the end). I didn’t rush but it’s not like there was a lot to do at home, and I reached the venue (no RER problem, incredibly) at about quarter to nine, so the first band hadn’t been on very long. I stayed upstairs for that one, not particulalry bothered about catching so much of the action, but they were actually fairly good, offering a little variety though quite rocky, and the singer was probably inspired by Skunk Anansie, same look too! Decided to have a pint, and then another one at the break, as I wasn’t feeling too bad. I stayed downstairs for the second band, just by the pillar (so I could put my beer down and have a pretty good view of the stage). When the band started preparing is when I realised why there were so many very young people there (I’d say teenager, but of course I think people I see as teenager now are probably actually in their twenties, maybe early twenties, definitely students). Apart from one of them (maybe due to the beard and long hair), they all looked 15 to me. And the front of the stage was chockfull of people their age. They started quite furiously, and moshing immediately happened there. Unlike the previous band whose members were introduced at the very end, we got introduced to them straight away, by the bearded guitarist/singer who seemed to be the leader. He also asked ‘are you looking forward to Shamir?’, and er, probably about five of us went ‘yeaaah!’. Mind you, they were French (obviously) so he asked in French, so a few people might not have got it? Either way, this confirmed my intuition that it was very very likely that the front of stage would clear after them, so great for me! And so what was the music about? Fast and furious mostly, and with added saxophone at times, and I have to say it looked very very fun. I mean, it was, but obviously on my own like that and pretty sober and given the crowd, I couldn’t be part of it, but all the pogoing, even stage-diving, that brought back quite a few students day, the kids were having fun, and that was great! The crowd mostly cleared up at the end, and so I found myself right in front of the stage and without any physical pressure. Didn’t want to go for another beer (even more by design than to avoid ‘losing my space’), so I just stuck there while Shamir and his two musicians were getting ready. I’d spotted him briefly upstairs during the first band, and moving along on his own at the back during the second, but mind you, nobody around was at risk of looking like him. And yeah, even during the show, it didn’t feel like it was packed and there was a lot of breathing space and enough room to dance/move about. Shame? Not really, since it was a free gig, I don’t expect the bands to be played by the number of beers sold, so no impact on musicians earning their money, just more room and comfort for us. Anyway, so the gig started with the rather excellent opener from new album Homo Anxietatem, and after that Shamir introduced himself (in the same countertenor voice as he sings in, so fairly high-pitched, one of the remarkable things that make him an artist unlike most), ‘my name is Shamir. We are from Philadelphia’. Now, I don’t have the whole setlist, and I can’t say I recognised every song (and partly because I only own the last three albums I guess), but it was all pretty good, danceable (maybe attention wobbled a bit during a couple of tracks mid-set, one introduced as ‘this is our, sort of, power-ballad’, but not much, put that down to a little fatigue too), and enjoyable. Some of these weird things that come to my mind was this: Shamir plays left-handed, now I know left-handers can have custom-made guitars or use regular right-handed ones, but I never wondered if the strings were in the same order or reversed (of course it’s a stupid wonder, as the shape meant the high-pitched one has to be on top as this is completely reversed, but the head is not symmetrical, anyway, I digress, and that was before the set when he tuned it). So yes, I was thrilled when Other Side was played, closely followed by Our Song (one of my favourite two from the new album), and another one (The Beginning perhaps?) that was also excellent! I’ve learnt to not look at my watch during the sets and just enjoy the music, but I was a bit concerned when Shamir announced that they would play only three more songs if they had the time, but if not, maybe only two. When I say ‘concerned’, it’s because I got a glimpse of just the final song written on that setlist on the floor : ‘Obsession’, the other best track from the new album, so I had to prepare myself to either be bowled over or fairly frustrated. And so after the next one, he asked the mixing desk upstairs if they had time for one or maybe two, and unfortunately the guy signified ‘one’. Not that I think 5 minutes would make a difference, so slightly pissed off. A moment of doubt remained as Shamir seemed to consider which one of the two to play, suggested ‘On my Own’ to his bass player who enthusiastically nodded, and so that was the last song. But you know what? It’s also one of the best (the opener from the ‘Shamir’ album), so the disappointment on the spot wasn’t too big (also me being forever hopeful, I was vainly hoping that maybe they could still play Obsession, either as an encore or add it on, but Shamir’s clearly too nice to go against the venue’s orders). And so it ended; sadly with the sparse crowd it seemed that not enough people believed or asked for an encore, so that was it. But again, thankfully, in a small venue like that, I got to thank the artists, first the bass player and then Shamir himself (I missed out on the drummer, she was great and enthusiastic too, the rhythm section looked like they had a great time on stage), who was extremely nice, asking just my name. Didn’t really know what to say but give my thanks (gratitude is something I’ve learnt and relearnt this year, it’s a two ways street and warms the hearts), before heading home, very happy (and mostly pain-free too, so I may truly be healing). The last three years have been a bit up and down mentally, to be fair, but this went a further way to make me feel better.
Blood Red Shoes, Point Ephémère 7/10/2023
The SOV review was delayed for some reason but is there at last.. And the setlist is available. As well as some photos from Robert Gil.
So just over a year later, without a new release, back with Blood Red Shoes, which was one of my favourite concerts of the previous year. Walter was in again, as well as Alessandro this time. Different (smaller) venue, which was also a motivation when I booked, as I hadn’t been there in ages (at the time of booking…). I’ve made my feelings known about the change they made there after I went to the Blondshell gig, and it’s a real shame from the gig room point of vue, this was further confirmed last night, also by people who didn’t know the old set-up. Might have to update the venues’ guide, think I did it before going back there. Anyway, it was pretty much a late summer evening….in October, and the three of us managed to be very synchronous for once meeting just outside the metro station. With the timing as it was and first band not on before 8.30pm, and BRS at 9.30, we settled for a couple of very cheap pints at a nearby terrace before proceeding to the venue. Quick stamping having a look in and then we got another round that we had to bring the long way round into the concert bit. We managed to squeeze in to the left-hand side bit, which is not very accessible but has a lot of room, and so got a decent view of the support band. Also from Brighton, named Ciel and very very good and enjoyable. They announced they would be back playing at Supersonic in February, so hopefully will get a chance to check them again. Enough time and space to nip out for another round during the break and take up the same spot again. I was wondering if Blood Red Shoes would have a similar set-up as last year, with full band to start a couple of songs, then most of the set as the original duo, before the band comes back on. But not this time, there really was just Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell (I amazed myself last year actually remembering his name out of the blue) on stage, and so after a solid Doesn’t Matter Much, they launched straight into absolute classics Don’t Ask and It’s Getting Boring By the Sea, rendering the rest of the set meaningless. No, I’m joking but that really was a fast and intense start. After that, it was just very good, tune after tune, very efficient and enjoyable, from old titles to more recent ones, covering their whole back catalogue and so the newer songs from Get Tragic and Ghost tapes worked just as well as a duet. No time to get bored, the Telecaster went more than half-way through in favour of a couple of different guitars for about three songs, but LMC still looked resplendant in her glittery dress and her voice was perfect. Steve did most of the talking and mercis, though she did occasionally say a few words too. Everyone was happy and having a good time (the audience was mostly middle-aged there I’d say), and there was a lot of stage-diving/crowdsurfing which looked good! And for the final song of the main set, they recalled the members of Ciel to play on the powerful and wonderful God Complex. Quick break before Laura-Mary and Steven came back on their own for a couple of songs, concluding the show with the superb Morbid Fascination off their most recent album. We were getting close to midnight, so a pretty decent set that felt it was just the right length really, so enjoyable! As Nick was at another concert (Panchiko) at Le Trabendo which happens to be on the same metro line, he suggested to join if we were staying for a bit, and so we all got together for a last pint at the venue. Also, that’s when the bit I hadn’t noticed last time was revealed: the access between bar room and concert room was open at the end to facilitate exit. Just so annoying (and is it safe?) that they don’t open it for entrance the way it used to be (or was it just one entrance then and you could move freely between bar and concert room? That access definitely was open during the concerts), even if it would need more personel. Anyway, we settled at a table outdoors for that final beer and had a good time, with enough spare to get the last train home safely. My back had suffered badly again after improvement when playing football the previous day, but I didn’t feel it worse during the gig, definitely not as bad as the first two times it hit. I had a bit of a cold that’s just got worse too, but that was totally forgotten during the evening, very well worth it. And Arsenal won the big match the next day, which I had to watch at home, that was perfect! Not a bad weekend, and certainly a great concert.
The Boxer Rebellion, Point Ephémère 9/10/2023
Ths SOV review was there one day before the BRS one… Setlist? Sure. Photos? Yep.
Back to the Point Ephémère two days later (weird how two weeks in a row followed the same pattern: Saturday/Monday gigs in the same place, though the Saturday at Supersonic had been more of an improvised evening out), but on me own this time. Monday evening, missing the support act altogether deliberately (from the little I tried to get online, he sounds good, but time and form and being on my own meant I preferred to get in late and make sure I didn’t have too many beers). I got the timings late in the afternoon, and so The Boxer Rebellion weren’t scheduled to be on before 9.30pm so same as Saturday for BRS. I made my way for just around 9pm. Far less people outside than Saturday (even though it was even warmer, but yeah, it’s not the weekend!), also the gig wasn’t sold out, so wasn’t sure what to expect in. I got into the concert room, it was not that empty, so decided that even trying to grab a beer beforehand wasn’t worth it and it would be a 100% sober gig. A few tall-ish people, but rather than aim for the same spot as Saturday, I found enough of a gap to be a little closer to the stage. The demography was not that dissimilar to Saturday. Perhaps a touch older (as the Boxer Rebellion hadn’t released anything since 2018 apparently, while BRS have released one or two albums since), and some annoyingly loud people (mostly French, though the English near me chatted a little too much DURING the gig to my taste), but OK. But first things first, I only knew two albums from this band. In fact, I only owned one until this year, and the infamous 5 albums series had made me revisit it, and I enjoyed it very much it was one of those nice unexpected surprises. I got their 2013 album too during the process of 5 albums series to check if it was worth it, and while not as good, I thought it was good enough for me to want to see them live there. In a way, you could draw parallels to The Veils, the music is not quite the same though not entirely dissimilar, but I was wondering if expectations or lack of could lead to the same pleasant surprise. I thought that, bar a couple of songs I probably could recognise if they played from the albums I had – just relistened the two days before the gig, I would be mostly unable to actually name the other songs from these. As it happened, only three songs were played that I’d actually had in my library, and they were all recognisable enough. The band took to the stage shortly after 9.20pm, slightly ahead of schedule so you knew they’d make good use of their full slot, the finish time aligned with that of BRS on Sunday (and there was no surprise in that). I can’t really go into a track by track account or anything approaching it, the impression was that it started quietly-ish, but was very good after songs two and three. I thought I might recognise them, but the setlist shows I’d never heard then. And in a way this was fairly telling. They were good, I mostly enjoyed the music (though my attention dropped two or three times), but in a way, it looks like they have two or three types of songs and so hard to differentiate for me as a non-rabid fan. And that’s a thing that struck me: there were here a lot of proper Boxer Rebellion fans, singing along to a lot of the lyrics and even singing back the words on a couple of songs, while the singer didn’t even have to. I never knew that had such a following, but then I missed that boat as even that album I found great last year mostly passed me by at the time. And so, I think it was a great show for fans, yet merely a good one for me. For a bit I wondered if the difference with, say, the Veils, was down to the music or also down to my mental state maybe not quite as bright as in June? Probably a bit of both, but I’d still say the music didn’t quite live up to the same standards. And as for most bands I’m not a lyrics’ person, it was mostly a bit indistinct. I did however notice the excellent ‘Flight’ from Exits, but unfortunately, it was the only song they played from that album. Another I recognised was the very drummy New York, loved by the fans apparently, but it’s not quite up my street. Still, I mentioned above that they hadn’t released anything for five years (and not toured for I don’t know long, but the singer mentioned a few times it had been way too long), but they played a new song (Powdered Sugar), that is coming out on Friday! It was a very good song, though unlikely to trouble my favourites of 2023. But then something happened, the main guitarist and the bassist took an acoustic guitar each, the singer said they were going to just come down the stage, and they all came down into the room, central-ish, and we got treated to a totally acoustic rendition (nothing plugged, no microphone even for the voice, just that, the two guitars, and barely audible maracas from the drummer) of ( I have to check the setlist) ‘Big Ideas’. Someone near me said it was their favourite, it was a nice song, and while at the start of the year I felt a lot of bands were doing these acoustic stuff in the middle of a set, it hadn’t happened in a while, and this was maybe the most intimate and nice of all I had witnessed this year. If I’d got the lyrics, I could probably see how much you can connect to this, but either way, while my emotions didn’t fully feel it, it was a nice touch. Only the one song, and then they came back on stage, and whether this was by contrast, or because of the energy that little song gave them, or on the intrinsic values of the songs, they played two more very energetic songs (with a long instrumental outro in the second one in particular) that I felt were the best of the whole show. The setlist tells me they were both from the same album (of which they played four tracks) and another on that album was the second of the show that I had also marked as good, I might very well check it after all. An encore of two songs happened after that climax, starting with the pretty good ‘Diamond’ from Promises, the third song I could actually recognise, and finishing with another number that was good but not quite memorable for me. And so all finished at around ten to eleven as on Saturday, and time to go home directly, sober and happy enough. So yeah, to continue with the Veils comparison from above, I think this was relatively inferior and didn’t immediately drive me to check their back catalogue, though as I mentioned, those two songs will certainly make me check one album. Also unlike the Veils, and unlike BRS (well I don’t know if I’d go a third time but a second time was definitely worth it), I’d probably not go see them again. But that’s not a criticism, it was a very good gig, I enjoyed it, just that it won’t get near my favourites of the year. Still, absolutely no regret and it was a pleasure. Now nearly ten days without a concert, unless I blag a late spare for PJ Harvey but that seems unlikely.
The Sisters of Mercy, La Cigale 18/10/2023
We’ll see if a review turns up (unlikely to be SOV). Or photos. But for now, the setlist.
After the missed rendez-vous with The Mission in April due to work, I thought going to see the Sisters of Mercy with John was a decent catch-up. Sure they sound nothing alike, but the historical link is there. On a milder day after a cold start to the week, I arranged to meet John at 8pm in front of the venue. I heard the support band start from just outside at 8pm sharp (so La Cigale’s advertised time is doors, not support band), and John turned up a couple of minutes later. We decided to go straight in rather than go for a beer outside, so after a quick order at the bar, made our way to the side to listen to the Virginmarys. Just a couple of blokes, a fairly standard drums+guitar/chant combo. Original? Not necessarily, probably something you’ve heard a hundred times over. Good? Yep, certainly, they make a nice racket and the sound is very neat, the music energetic and enjoyable. When the lights turned on after their set, I realised what should have been obvious even thinking of it: about 90% of the crowd were dressed in black. And naturally fairly advanced in years overall, with only a few younger faces.
Now, the Sisters’s official released output is not very big and they haven’t actualy released anything in many many years, and while I don’t have their last proper album (heh, it was from 1990….), Vision Thing, I didn’t really know what kind of setlist we’d get. I thought I might not recognise everything from that album, but apart from that… And so when they took to the stage shortly after 9pm and started with a song that ‘sounded’ familiar but I couldn’t quite recognise or pin down, I was only half-surprised. When after three songs I still didn’t recognise anything, I was slightly alarmed and far more surprised. A look at the setlist the next day only brought confusion, until I researched and realised that out of the three, two were new (anything after 2020 is new as far as the Sisters of Mercy are concerned) and the other one was indeed from Vision Thing. As it turned out, more than half the songs of the set were unreleased, a couple dating as far back as late 90s or early 00s, but in majority from 2020-2022. So no wonder neither John nor I recognised them. Still, they all sounded strangely familiar, so it’s not like the band veered off wildly from their sonic canon. Anyway, at song number four, the first proper treat happened, to huge cheers of the crowd: Alice. On old favourite I first heard when my cousin’s band (called Op’Dekad(e?) if I remember correctly) covered it live, playing at la Fête de la Musique in front of L’Odéon sometime in the early ’90s. Slightly beefed-up version tonight as the line-up and sound weren’t made for minimalism. Oh yeah, the band tonight consisted in Andrew Eldritch (sole survivor of the original band), now sporting a bald pate (I’d heard of that so wasn’t surprised or shocked unlike John), a couple of guitarists (don’t remember a bass player…) and a man in shades behind some machines (we couldn’t establish exactly what he was doing besides pushing buttons, but he definitely was an essential part of the sound). From there on, it was more of a mix of old and new, so obviously every song I knew was a highlight a classic Dominion /Mother Russia was sandwiched between two new songs, while Marian (the only one from First and Last and Always, sadly, but again, sound might explain it, as we weren’t treated to the (relatively) bare sounds of that album) was followed by More, the only classic I instantly recognised from Vision Thing and again great. And then, the whole of the second half of the main set consisted only of new songs or songs from Vision Thing (they played the title song itself, which I only eventually recognised through its ‘chorus’). Good and solid all right, but nothing to really thrill me, so I spent most of that time being confused about having missed most of their discography (see the explanation above). Nothing more bizarre than a band you think you know most songs from playing a set that sounds emphatically like them and is therefore quite enjoyable, but with barely any song you actually recognise. And then, after a fairly brief pause, they came back for the encore. Three songs, nothing new, a trio of absolute and instantly recognisable classics. Starting with Lucretia My Reflection, followed by what I thought would be the last but wasn’t, their most famous single (probably) Temple Of Love, and finishing with another rapturously received Floodland classic: This Corrosion. It was over by about 10.30pm (that’s when I remembered than the last few gigs having been at Supersonic and Point Ephemere could finish a little later, but La Cigale couldn’t these days), and the conclusion was much more satisfying than I feared at some point. Still, in a good mood after this, and not feeling rushed for time, we decided to go for a pint in a nearby bar, or in fact two pints in the end, a good chat about music, guitars and other stuff. Not a concert that will be top of my list in terms of music, but a good one, and importantly a great evening with a mate. Home not too early but happy enough. In fact, even if four pints seems to be my limit before feeling not great the next day (and on a weekday that’s a little risk), I didn’t feel bad the next day, though as you will see, at some point, I was wondering if I might have skipped one or two there. But the occasion meant it not only seemed the right thing to do: it was.
(small edit a couple of days later, while looking for Metric and Sisters tunes on the way to town, I found out I actually owned Vision Thing. Must have bought it in the context of the 5albums thing. And it shows how much listening to it (probably only once) had not really registered. So I listened again, and well, yeah, I think even if I had before the gig, I still would not have recognised tunes outside of More and Vision Thing (perhaps the album closer too, that they played), because it just doesn’t have memorable melodies. It’s not shit, it’s well in with their style but it’s unremarkable.
Metric (an acoustic even(t)ing with Emily and Jimmy), Les Etoiles 19/10/2023
Again not sure I’ll get an external review or photos, but pleasantly the setlist is available.
The day after, writing this, I am not sure I am going to give this the review it deserves. This was definitely special, and I didn’t realise at the time how lucky I was to have got hold of two tickets for this, for me and Nick. Metric who had already toured these parts earlier in the year, were doing another tour, to celebrate 20 years of the release of Old World Underground, Where are you now? as well as the release of brand new kind of suprise album called Formentera II, hot on the heels of last year’s…Formentera, and definitely quieter. The dates were a mix of normal gigs, and little acoustic events like tonight.
While I wasn’t feeling bad from the night before, I definitely wasn’t feeling quite as bright as I’d have wished (short night of fairly low quality didn’t help). Nick suggested meeting at 7pm (tickets marked 8pm, but had no idea of set times, and the nature of the event and absence of any other hint suggested there would be no support tonight) in a craft beers bar a few minutes south of the venue (as I’d told him around the venue wasn’t necessarily very nice for bars). My timing suggested more 7.30pm (especially as I didn’t want to drink this time), but some RER and métro issues meant I arrived just after 7.45pm there. Nick was there with some random and very nice people met in this bar, so cool start of the evening despite me declining the beer on offer. Timings were discussed, I said I didn’t think they’d start before 8.30pm, so Nick sampled a second beer, but drank it quickly enough so that we made our way into Les Etoiles at probably about 8.15-8.20pm. Just time to order a drink (I decided I could allow myself a single rum&coke), and wondering where best to position ourselves, we wandered upstairs (I’d never been upstairs there before), to see there were a few tables and people sitting there, but also just a few people who were actually sitting in their chairs right in front of the banister. What to do? After a quick debate, we decided to stay behind these couple of sitting folks, thinking if they stay sat down, we’ve got a great view, and if they stand up and push the chairs away, then maybe we can still sneak down by the railing as there aren’t many people in the way. I really have to thank Nick for that inspired move upstairs, which made appreciating this concert a lot easier than it could have been.
So we’re all set when Emily and Jimmy take to the stage at 8.30pm on the dot (great timing then!). Just a piano and a couple of acoustic guitars on the stage. I had forgotten quite how small Les Etoiles is (struck me on entering it that I still imagined it bigger). Straight into the beautiful Artificial Nocturne, with the magic operating quickly. I’ve obviously always been big on piano, but it just felt right, with the acoustic guitar and Emily’s voice shining through. I thought we might be in for a treat, and I was not disappointed. She speaks a few words in French, seems in an excellent, communicative and playful mood, and it’s just beautiful to see, with Jimmy playing the guitar and looking mostly at her intensely. Breathing Underwater comes next (the one I still remember the most from the first time I saw them at Le Bataclan in 2015), less interactive by then, but just superb. And so the first few titles are played in this configuration, with Emily sitting at the piano (and trying awkwardly to look into the direction of the audience while singing, even though she was at an angle) and Jimmy sitting on a stool playing the guitar, always cool in his hat; they end that sequence with the superb Help I’m Alive, the opener from Fantasies. From the bombast of Sisters of Mercy at La Cigale the previous day to witnessing this acoustic set in the intimate surroundings of Les Etoiles, it was quite the contrast and made it all the better. The configuration changed, with Emily standing up to take to the front of the stage, while Jimmy also stood up, playing the next song still on acoustic guitar but standing. Lots more chatting, a mixture of French of English, with the occasional swearword (because let’s face it it really was ‘fucking amazing’), apologies being proferred to parents and children. A lot of the songs, while wildly different from their original recorded versions, make perfect sense. Something from Formentera II appears neatly, before a few ‘bangers’ (obviously not sounding like bangers tonight but like otherwordly songs), favourite from Formentera ‘All Comes Crashing’ taking on a new lease of life but sounding just as great, followed by a still fairly energetic (although it feels weird saying that as the original is incredibly fast-paced) ‘Gold Guns Girls’ from Fantasies, and Synthetica from the album of the same name. ‘Live It Out’ (album of the same name) refreshes my memory, while a sublime ‘Cascades’ (normally very electronic, and representing Pagans in Vegas tonight) gets beautifully metamorphosed by the acoustic treatment. A few songs later, the closer from Formentera II (‘Go Ahead and Cry’) brings a lot of sweetness into the proceedings. There’s a point (I can’t remember before which song, but it’s during this sequence), where Emily says this is so emotional and she can feel that from head to toe, and yes it shows. On various songs, there’s a bit of rhythmic clapping going on in the crowd, but it’s all very respectful, nothing wild, just participates in the communal feeling, though I don’t quite feel like doing it there, maybe just because of Nick around. It’s very organic though and doesn’t feel forced like in some other concerts. The set-up changes again, with Jimmy this time going at the piano, while Emily just stands and sashays around, it feels very cabaret, and she expresses that, the freedom she feels it gives her, she could do that, play with her hair, wear stilettos (she doesn’t), and there’s a sense of freedom and how one imagines speakeasies or something of ancient times. And then my favourite from Fantasies, the very poppy ‘Gimme Sympathy’ is played; again, the acoustic version makes it something a lot more subtle, before Jimmy gets off the piano and stands up again, guitar in hand for yet another classic from ‘Old World Underground, Où Es-Tu Maintenant?’ (oh yes, she is enjoying speaking a little French now and then still), ‘but there’s not fucking Underground here’ : ‘Combat Baby’. It feels like the end of the gig is near, she speaks a little more before the next one, doesn’t explicitly say it is the last one, but there’s this feeling in the air that it may be. At this stage, I feel it’s like this amazing gig where, either because of a little tiredness or the drinks from the night before, or from not feeling mentally perfect even though I feel I was much improving again this week, I am just a little off to fully enjoy as I rightfully should. Still I think I’m enjoying it more than the February one. I’m thinking to myself that that one was right at the start of a month of mostly depression, that I wasn’t fully aware of then, but I felt could creep in, whereas this one arrives when things seem to take a better turn after a month of ups and downs and physical ailments slowly healing. I thought ‘this is great but I’m kicking myself a bit for enjoying it not completely at the emotional level I’d love to be in either with the right company (nothing about Nick, just a different level of things), or, rather, in a state of true happiness’. Anyway, ‘Nothing Is Perfect’ from Formentera II starts, and it’s beautiful as I’m having these thoughts, and was it just before it or during its course as there’s a lot of interaction and improvisations there, Emily uttered words to the effect of ‘If you have something to let go of, now is the time’. And somehow it strikes a chord, that, the beauty of the music, the pervading emotion, something just happens, there in the room, and inside of me. The song is a lot of ‘Nothing’ repeated after this or that, kind of as a fatalistic mantra, or the realisation that you can’t have an influence on everything and so no need to worry about this or that, it just makes sense, as well as the other side of the coin : ‘What’s better than being in Paris singing these songs for you?’ – ‘Nothing’. I don’t have the list, but it goes on, goes quieter and quieter, all is hushed, ‘two more, I think’, and I think she does three more in fact, but it just eventually ends, fading the right way, being sung the right number of times, I’m practically entranced in the moment, it feels like this thing could be never ending but has to end. Yet, there’s no feeling of regret, no feeling of ‘I don’t want it to ever end’, just the feeling that it should end the right way, and…it just does. At this time, it’s gone from a special evening to a truly magical moment. The song was called ‘Nothing is Perfect’, but it feels like somehow they have found the perfect way to end this. I’ve really very very rarely felt like that at the end of a gig. No pain, no regret, no insatisfaction, no tirednes, just some kind of inner peace suddenly found again, a feeling of contentment like I rarely experience.
A long long long ovation followed, and I was very midly apprehensive that, given it was only 9.45pm they might come back for an encore that could have if not ruined, then spoilt the conclusion, but as masters of their art, they did the right thing, so didn’t come back, music played and the lights came on. Home by 10.30pm, just what the doctor ordered.
Reflecting a little later, memories of that Björk gig from 2001 (chronicled in the old website) come back, in the sense that this was a concert I entered one way and got out of completely transformed. Sure, the context is fairly different, and I don’t think I’m at risk of disintegrating like I did two months later then, as my fluctuating mental states are more under control (and with no chemical help for just over six months again), so I’m less likely to go to/from elation and depression, but there was something incredibly powerful about what that concert/music did to me in the instant. Nick seemed similarly impressed, so it wasn’t just me, and we both realised how privileged we were to get tickets for this in such a small venue. Sometimes I’ve missed out on gigs, for this one, sure I logged in on time to get the tickets but didn’t feel under any pressure though I have to assume it must have sold out very very quickly too, so yes very very lucky.
Another reflection that came to me about the ending, was that it was very in tune with Les Djinns, that favourite poème of mine from Victor Hugo, which I was reminded of at the start of this year when visiting his old house in Paris on a very special day (that should have been even more special perhaps, but that’s a different story). The construction/story arc is different, but the conclusion is the same (see elsewhere on this website in the books/poetry section): a perfect whispered ending when rhythm and words fade in harmony.
But these are side-reflections. This kind of concert is why I go and see live music, why artists can make a difference in my/your life, and an incredible reminder of the power of art, in particular music, and how, after all, an intimate setting and acoustic music (remember Birdy was a highlight that triggered some change and actions in April, even if it didn’t all come out the way I wish it had, mostly to the person I felt partly able to express myself to again after some silence) always have a bigger chance to touch me. A day later, I still feel it to some extent. I could have gone out as I feel fine (though indoor footie got me a little tired), but thought I’d better write the two gig reviews while still fresh in the memory rather thank risk a laziness-inducing hangover. Also, most of today, I have felt a lightness in me, a peace of mind that I don’t think I had felt in a long long time. So thank you, Metric for this incredible evening.
22/10/2023 Teenage Fanclub, Centre Pompidou – cancelled : people on strike at the venue….
PiL, Le Trianon 27/10/2023
An external review is here! Some great photos from Robert Gil there, and the setlist.
This one I got to see thanks to Des who had booked it for himself but ended up travelling back to Spain that evening. Going with John, also meeting with his mate Bruce. I did a very quick revision late afternoon, I only had one PiL/John Lydon compilation, and so I quickly listened to the old classics that I already knew even if I didn’t remember them all (but a lot I actually recognised on that pre-gig listen). As it happened, unlike with the Sisters, the set mostly was about all these tracks. And so on a rainy-ish evening, we met in front of Le Trianon at 7.30pm. Doors were at 7, so no queue to get in, straight to the bar and staying in the nice bit of the venue there, not in the concert room. There was a support band but this time we didn’t bother with it. In fact, we weren’t entirely sure if a band was actually playing or if it was just some records being spinned until Bruce went to check. So just a good chat pre-concert, at some point John said he thought there must be a few people we know here, and just two minutes later, I noticed Jean-Claude, shortly joined by Patricia, who was looking for Stéphanie and a few others. I’d read a few days ago that PiL had a new album so wondered if they would mostly play that. Neither of us had heard the new stuff. Decided to have another beer and stop at that (due to the big day at the match the next day), and I just bumped into Yves, a colleague I used to play football with until not that long ago. So there you are, there WERE other people we knew. Anyway, Robert Gil pops by, and we make it to the concert room, slightly to the left of the mixing desk. Pretty decent vue all told. Quick wonder about the huge bass/double bass on the stage. At 8.50pm, the light goes and the band arrives. They look like a bit of a cult, white shirt on the guitarist, drummer in all white and wearing a PiL-branded bandana (I only found out from the photos : from where I was seeing, he was wearing something odd on his head that made him look like the creature from Frankenstein), and Johnny Lydon in a strange get-up that looked like pyjamas or a strange priest’s outfit. Look at the photos and you will see, it’s just a weird over-sized suit. Only the bass player looked a little more conventionally attired. They started with a new song, but straight away you could tell the sound was crisp and precise, and if nothing else this was likely to be a gig that at least sounded good. It turned out to be a lot more than that. Our friend Johnny really was like a high priest leading the ceremony, and well, he had a sort of (music) stand in front of him, not sure if there were lyrics, a setlist or nothing for him to read there, but that reinforced that ‘priest’ impression(again see the photos to see what the ‘book’ was about). A couple of songs in, he asked if there were a lot of students here tonight? (not much of a reaction to that, unsurprisingly, as the audience was rather on the old side, mostly older than me in fact I’d say!), before introducing ‘being stupid again’ (another new song). After that came their most popular ‘hit’ ‘This is not a Love Song’, followed by the darker and slower ‘Poptones’ and ‘Death Disco’ which I recognised, partly due to my earlier trial listen. I was slightly concerned that all these big songs were already played near the start of the set so what’s next? but I shouldn’t have worried. The double bass made its one and only appearance for another classic ‘Flowers of Romance’ and it was all enjoyable. John Lydon’s mutterings/cockerel’s yelps were perfectly impressive, his voice really shone through, and there’s no doubt that he’s a showman. Not so physical in the way of a Pelle Almqvist, but still a great presence. Nearly the end of the main set and Warrior was played. Now on listening earlier, I was reminded how much I liked this very dancey number, but weirdly, I wasn’t sure I recognised it beyond the use of the word ‘Warrior’ here. And yet, it was a personal highlight, a magnificent version that I thoroughly enjoyed. The main set ended with a lot of ‘Fuck Offs’ marking the introduction of Shoom which is a song that I didn’t know and is apparently from the album before last (released in 2015). And the only song from it, just as there were only three songs from the new album being played. 10pm hit and so it wasn’t an extremely long set, but it all felt perfectly timed for it, no boring moment, no attention loss. Straight talking John L said they would go for four minutes and then come back to play a few more songs. It’s a slightly more cynical take on the encores than the amused one from Robert Smith last December. Of course this means that, be it due to that announcement or due to the crowds, the applause is initially not as nourished as the usual ‘we want more’ encore yearnings. Only after about three minutes do people start to show a little more effort, but then four minutes he said, and so four minutes later they came back. I wonder what songs will be played (Rise seems a cert, as it is one of their best known and hasn’t been played yet). And so they start with the old Public Image from the very first album (definitely one I wouldn’t have recognised without my ‘rehearsal’), and then a big ‘wowowow!’ when they launch into an unexpected (to me) ‘Open Up’, a song that was originally by Leftfield featuring John Lydon. Very pulsating, electronic, powerful, just fantastic, again with the sound being absolutely perfect and Lydon performing at the top of his powers. A lot of these songs I have to say were also made great by the fact that they seemed a little re-invented rather than straight copy of what’s on record. And then for the last song, yes, you’ve guessed it: Rise! A triumph. ‘Anger is an energy’. Well, at this stage, there doesn’t seem to be much real anger either on stage or in the crowds, but everyone chants along and it’s all wrapped up by half past ten (must definitely be the cut-off time for the gig venues on Boulevard Barbès). I wisely decide to go straight home because of the next day, and transport is running fine. I came into this gig not knowing what to expect at all, just that I’d be in good company, but I came out of it very impressed. That was most enjoyable, setlist, performance and sound, all very satisfying. Despite nearly an hour delay on the Eurostar the next day, a great day out and a 5-0 victory for the Arsenal made that a brilliant couple of days.
Coach Party, Café de la Danse 3/11/2023
Well, I found a new site with a concert review. Also, interestingly, Robert Gil was here to take some photos, despite the competition of other gigs in Paris that night. The setlist is here in the usual place, though I’d managed to take a photo of it as back-up just in case.
And so we get to November, which should be the busiest month gigswise this year, on a par with February (so slightly less dense due to having two days more….but then there are two or three more gigs I wished to go to, unlikely to be late tickets as they sold out before I reacted, stupidly slow in a case or two). Starting with a short trek to a venue I hadn’t been in 17 or 18 years (see old site): Café de la Danse. So tonight, I could have gone to see bdrmm. But I was initially lukewarm about the new album, and by the time I’d decided, there was a waiting list. Now it turns out they’re playing in February again, so no loss if I go then (again kind of undecided yet). The Kills were playing a free gig, which ‘sold out’ super quickly, but having listened to the album since, I’m very ‘meh’ about it. Thankfully Coach Party were there to save the night. Having relistened to the album a few weeks ago, I had actually no hesitation in getting a ticket for that. They were no substitutes, and as you will see, I am actually thrilled about that sequence of events as this was the right choice. I have been to many gigs without expectations recently, sometimes I have great expectations and they are not fulfilled, and sometimes the reality matches or exceeds the expectations. All I can say at this pre-gig stage (well OK, that’s artistic licence as I write…) is I expect this to be a pretty fun gig. So the venue: one of the easiest for me to get to. As I enter it, I can’t say it’s the way I remembered as I remembered nothing from it. Getting in you get through a narrow corridor that has the bar (and as it turned out later also the not-ideally placed merch stand) and then you get into the room. Ooh, it’s kind of a student’s amphitheater, rows of seats going up, and with a relatively small standing area in front of a rather big stage. It’s not very busy or dense in the pit, old guys stuck to the stage (odd, but I’ve noticed that many times, do they have a free pass or something?), a few youngsters who seem to possibly know the support artist and the seats a little busier with a mix of old and young. The timing? Ah yes, 8pm on the ticket, had no idea, but thought maybe it’s just doors. As it is, must have been stage time for the support more or less, as I got in shortly after 8.20pm and the support were well into their set. I caught their last 4 songs (3 and a bit to be precise), and they were pretty good. Another French band (or artist: Lya! real name Lya Mendes as Google suggests), just a girl with a guitar, accompanied with a drummer. They play a cover I don’t recognise, then a new song they’ve just practiced and that sounds great, and a couple more numbers. She has a great voice, the sound is good, and the tunes not bad at all. One of those bands/artists that may not break new ground or grow to be successful, but is very enjoyable and I might get that LP they released. The place fills up a bit but still not very compact, and I’m still absolutely amazed that a fair amount (most?) of the crowd seem pretty old now. That, and with the seating rows also bearing young people, I have to admit it’s not at all the kind of demographic I expected. No idea if it’s a Café de la Danse thing, or else, but it feels odd. Oh yes, and as I’d planned to run over 10k the next day in the rain and didn’t want to lose motivation and also wanted to try and gear up for sobriety in view of my half-marathon (too distant in the future to really require this but I’m being very ‘professional’ and will only allow a few sessions this month and maybe none for the following three, though there may be an exception or two in December), I decided to not even have a beer. Even though I felt rather good that day (an easier week mentally than the previous one) and knew just a smidgen of alcohol could have greatly enhanced a gig like this one.
OK, so Coach Party have three EPs and an album to their name, so I am missing two EPs in my collection. The light start to go down and dimmed at 9pm, so I thought this might be over very quickly, as I don’t expect them to play more than an hour if that. But. There’s a trick. The wait is long, and they finally arrive on stage at 9.20pm. No idea if this was deliberate or if there was any reason for it. Doesn’t seem so, so probably just the lighting operators playing a trick. Anyway, they come on to big cheers (I was annoyed by the impatient ‘Alleeeeeeeeeeeez’ bellowed by some (old…) folks during the long wait and start with a song (Micro Aggression) from the new album, albeit not the opener. The energy is good, a little ‘bonjour’, and the bassist/chanteuse seems happy to be here. They all do, in fact, though maybe the male guitarist seems a bit too ‘serious’ at times and not full of ‘banter’ like the other members. We only really see him smile and look truly happy during a little guitar-duelling with his female counterpart later in the set. Note: it’s a strictly-Fender affair tonight: one Jaguar, one (non-standard) Mustang, two Telecasters (but of different customisation) and a Musicmaster Bass. The set is mostly very energetic, with a few ‘slower’ songs (like Born Leader) to breathe through (occasionally during these I am reminded they can sound a bit like Alvvays oddly), the atmosphere is good on stage (‘What do you think of the Eiffel Tower? We haven’t been yet….anway…we’re not here to talk about that, we’re here to play music..I LOVE MUSIC!’), the drummer speaks a bit of French so helps the others with it, and it’s all good fun and enjoyable, a few guitar solos, the stage is big enough for them to move around, Jess (the singer/bass player) is leading the party well. There’s a few songs I think I recognise but in fact don’t (the setlist attest they are on those two EPs I haven’t got), and they are among the best: Everybody Hates Me is fantastic and despite my sobriety gets me a little involved in what feels like the first big pogo of the night. I realise by then that I hadn’t necessarily paid much attention to what was happening behind me, as I was kind of ideally placed. Sure a couple of tall people just ahead of me (I could have squeezed through) do not alter my view but make it slightly imperfect, but at the same time I’m just close enough that people moving heavily behind give me ample space in the not crowded place so that I can move/dance at ease without getting bumped into (note: when I mention ‘old’ people above or in general, I do qualify as old, some of these people may be younger than me in fact, but I don’t feel too old all the time, I certainly don’t in the environment tonight). But now and then I look back, on that song, you could just feel the heavier dancing pogoing, and I got dragged into it (well, willingly) and know that if I’d had a drink or two, I’d be even more into it. Still, it’s an enjoyable experience, scaling back the years, mixing with people old and young who all have fun and the energy is contagious. I’m loving this gig more and more. We near the end of the show, Jess and the gang look so very happy, she expresses her thanks (at some point earlier she had said they had really been looking forward to Paris since they left England), there’ s a big grin on everyone’s face on and off the stage, and could this be the last song? ‘Feel Like a Girl’ (again do I know it? I didn’t, but I felt like I did) is played, cue another even bigger pogo which I join in even more enthusiastically. This is just enormous fun, there’s a little quiet moment, more fun on stage with Jess joining the drummer for a short heavy jam, and so it finishes. Does it? Does it fuck, there’s one last hurrah: Parasite from the new album, a very short and punchy number, the final pogo, everyone’s liberating their limbs and dancing to the content of their heart/body. WOW! No encore, but they played just over an hour (as I write this, I remember how I always mention that Killers gig as the worst ever(see my old website for review), when they played something like 45 min in Elysée-Montmartre, as tonight shows that even a band with only one album to their name can play an hour with a lot of energy and just be cool about it) and this was some of the best fun I’ve had at a gig all year, and this without a drop of alcohol. No mean feat from this lot. I linger a little too long in the room, meaning that by the time I walk by the merch stand, it’s a little too cramped for me to stop and wait to congratulate the band and just say how much I was impressed. But at least I know there’s enough people who will tell them. I got to thank them on Twitter anyway, and they do reply, so that was appreciated, as not all bands even small do bother with that! My back hurt a bit after all this sort of movement, but I go home happy. The run in the rain and wind the next day was not the most pleasant experience, but I was still on a mental high from that concert so no bother. And yes, I’m definitely getting those two ‘missing’ EPs now. Also, what I said about expectations above? It started slowly-ish, but in the end, it was just as fun as I expected….and far more in fact!
Dream Wife+Pillow Queens+Been Stellar, Le Trabendo 6/11/2023
SOV review is now available, also photos. The setlist is here for Dream Wife. I could have photographed the Been Stellar one, to be fair. Setlist for Pillow Queens is in the SOV review. And if you wonder why the BS one isn’t there, and why they aren’t mentioned in the title of that review despite being mentioned and correctly described in the text, it’s because SOV is about ‘British’ rock and they’re Americans. Also I had to rejig my review a little bit as I got the order at the end of the set wrong in my excitment. Despite being sober. But then I’m afraid it’s a cognitive issue with me, I often remember everything but not the order, which sometimes causes issues. I’ve noticed that a few times, more often with numbers.
Where to start? A treble bill, in the sense that there were three bands I would have been interested in. Been Stellar thanks to an excellent EP released last year, Pillow Queens I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to see, but the album of theirs I have is OK, and Dream Wife, whose first album I haven’t yet got, second was OK, and third released this year is excellent and would on its own have been the reason for me to attend this gig. In that way it was a similar-ish sort of line-up (not in style) as the Gaité Lyrique one last year, sort of equivalent as it was part of the Pitchfork Paris Festival. After Coach Party on Friday (did I mention some of their stuff did remind me of DW? (as well as Alvvays and hints of The Rakes in fact): this is why I thought we might be in for similar fun tonight) and ahead of another gig the next day and a full programme of sports this week (running+football), I thought I’d take it easy and settle for a place on the railings. But that was for the theory. The pitchfork site mentioned times of 7pm and a curfew at 10.30pm so I thought the first band might start on the dot, and I’d go in early-ish but not quite 7pm even if I might miss some of Been Stellar’s set. As it is, I made it to Le Trabendo at about 7.20pm and it was a big surprise: not so much the fact that it was near empty so early on, but the fact that they had shut half the room (well not half, but the capacity was limited), and so my envisaged railing spot became a non-starter as off-limits. Also people were still buying tickets on the door, so it looked like it wasn’t going to be packed. Another day I might have reached for the beer, especially as the emptiness meant I wouldn’t lose a spot, but the plan was another sober one. So I settled at the front of the stage (behind some already installed photographers – thankfully these seemed to be mostly short girls!, though the giant who was practically in front of me on Friday (but not on duty that day) was located more to the side, this time as a photographer). Actually, a few of the people seemed the same as Friday, the old ones in particular. Been Stellar had NOT started, and they took to the stage in front of the near-empty room at about 7.35pm. Singer wearing a tracksuit top and with his hand bandaged, two guitarists, one bassist and a girl behind the drums. I’d re-listened to the EP a couple of days before thinking that yeah, they sounded very good. And so we got treated essentially to the tracks from that EP (starting with My Honesty, finishing with Ohm), plus another one called Sweet (I saw that on the hastily handwritten setlist after the gig). The music is good, there’s certainly something a little ‘Strokesian’ about it (well they are from New York), and in fact, something I had not particularly noticed on record, the singer does have a similar-ish voice to Julian Casablancas. Oh, and they looked a lot younger than I expected. The music’s good, but….somehow whether it’s the early non-crowd, their jetlag or whatever, actual charisma seems in low supply. The singer utters very few words of thanks between the songs and doesn’t really connect with the audience (OK, it IS difficult in this context no doubt). The guitarist on the left seems proficient, and lost in his play, but really, there is not a lot of movement on the stage, and he might have been playing his instrument in another room, the other ones wouldn’t have noticed. From time to time the singer picks his tambourine, hits it for a bit and discards it negligently onto the floor. Is there a big future for them? I don’t know. On the strength of this showing, I’m not sure. The Strokes happened over 20 years ago and is there a need for a newer version that doesn’t fundamentally seem to add much? I’m not convinced. But the music is good, and I’ll happily listen to them again. 8pm and the set is done, stage starting to be prepared for Pillow Queens. By the look of things, this is another ‘Fender-only’ affair (in fact the only non-Fender guitar/bass between Friday and today only appears with Alice from Dream Wife later). Loads of Telecasters, and two Mustang basses. Of the three bands here tonight, Pillow Queens are the longest going concern I believe, and probably have more albums too. Or so I thought, but I’ve just checked and they’ve only got two albums (and a few singles) out so I have half of that right/wrong. The place fills up a fair bit even before they start, with a lot of Irish folk coming in (well, the band are from Ireland…). In fact a fair few very young and very short girls, so again no visual bother to see the front of the stage. Quite mad though. A few older folks, also mostly women, so they seem to be quite popular and have a following. I can’t say I recognise many tunes, but that’s mostly because the record I have, while ‘enjoyable’ is not really one where many tracks stand out. As it is, they DO play the one I remember, the opener from that album, ‘Holy Show’. It’s all very well, the music is fine, the fans enjoy that, but it’s really the sort of band that doesn’t quite do it for me, while I can imagine that if you are a ‘fan’ yeah, you’d love that. As it is, I find myself mostly bored and drifting away. Then they play a new single (‘Suffer’) that is actually to be released the next day, and I find it’s one of their best songs tonight, perhaps a little darker than most of the rest. Two more songs to come, they seem to pick up there, it’s better than most of the set, first a single not on any album or EP, ‘Rats’ (we’re asked to sing a long to the chorus ‘I’m not a rat, if you’re not a rat, a rat, a rat’) and they finish with Liffey, presumably an ode to the river, but I’ve not checked the lyrics. They played a 45 minutes set, and then, it all goes weird as the room nearly empties, with most of the Irish leaving. As Dream Wife get set up, I worry that there’s going to be hardly anybody. There’s a bar bit outside, but it’s hardly a bright summer day, so I have no idea if it’s busy or not. When Dream Wife start at about 9.30pm, the place does not suddenly fill up, but actually progressively does, and while it’s never totally full, which is ideal for movement, it’s certainly heaving by the end of the show. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Another thing that struck me tonight at the front, is a lot of the young people are pretty much the way I remember the young people at gigs twenty or so year ago. Not a suprise when you think of it, but as those from then are not here anymore (well or I don’t recognise them), I wondered what happened to all these people, the ones I didn’t know, and the Paolos, Lindas, Vanessas, Sophies. Have they just grown up and lead a more ‘standard’ life? And what will happen in twenty years to the ones I see today? Is it just a sign that, while I have matured, I have mostly not really grown up? Anyway, back to the happening present. Drummer, guitarist and bassist start in instrumental mode, before singer Rakel suddenly bounds onto the stage to loud cheers and you can feel something is happening. Something exciting. There is a real presence there, and all the charisma and energy that were sorely lacking earlier in the evening are suddenly concentrated onto not just the singer but all the band members present on that stage. Sure the drummer (and only man there, though I’ve got to be careful, not sure what everyone identifies at here, read somewhere the bassist is non-binary) is relatively discrete compared to the other three. Having the setlist might help (see if I find it some time), but it’s non-stop fireworks, perpetual movement, action, shouts and easy interactions. It’s a set full of contagious energy. The first big moment happens with the exhilarating Hot (Don’t Date A Musician) early enough in the set where a little pogo develops. At this stage, it feels a little weird still, as it’s mostly old-ish guys at the front, so it’s really just a little gentle moshing about without all the energetic abandon that young ones would more spontaneously bring. I’m a little intrigued, as I really expected the population here to be younger. Before or after(the now available setlist says it was before), there’s a good ‘So When You Gonna…’ where Rakel goes….. ‘…tear up the dancefloor?’ as a little departure from the lyrics, and it’s starting to go wild. But next, to introduce another song about ‘bad bitches’, she invites the ‘bad bitches’ to come to the front. Cue all the youngsters (mostly girls first) surging forward, and the whole composition of the room changes. I step back a little (but not too much :-p), and she does a little speech, specifies that it’s not about genre, so anyone there can be a ‘bad bitch’, there’s a little couplet about genre not mattering (obviously a big theme here, makes me reflect slightly differently on my own blog on the topic, but not that much, still very much a distinction between genre and sex there for me, though I get that the young folks might feel a little more confused about identity or themselves on the topic). And from there on, it’s a truly wild gig. Alice (the guitarist) takes her shirt off, and everyone’s moshing/pogoing about, young and old together, boys/girls/non-binary/confused/whatever, it’s a riot and everybody’s having fun. A little but negligible contretemps happens when a young naive soul who was draped in a Palestinian flag displays it in full, which Rakel pretty much shuts down with a hostile look and a flick of the V-sign and that stops there. Small aparté here from me (not thoughts that appeared on the spot, but a reflection that came to me later, also in the context of something that happened at a Sleaford Mod gigs a few weeks before, though I didn’t check exactly what): I think there’s something extraordinary naive and misplaced to think that left/right/inclusive/progressive/etc. has anything to do with everyone having the same ‘political’ agendas across everything. In this particularly delicate matter, I’d say, everyone’s anti-war, but when it comes to Israel vs Hamas (because it’s not Jews vs Arabs or Muslims in my book), assuming some bands would welcome any display (and in those cases, it will always be a Palestinian flag, obviously not an Israeli one, but theoretically you could argue it should be the same) is naive in the extreme. Most of those white people with flags who are absolutely very remote from the actual realities of the conflict would have absolutely no idea whether this or that singer has Israelian/Jewish roots or connection unless they stated so, so you know, they may just react badly or be offended by a Palestinian flag (again, even if Palestine is not the problem in itself, but know the context…) as much as with an Israeli one. As long as they have not made any position known or important, why bother them with such things when you are attending a gig. Here it surprised me, it was dealt with no fuss, so great and quickly forgotten as completely irrelevant, but with Sleaford Mods apparently it was a little different, and the grief here is everyone assuming that as an openly working-class, rather left-ist, anti-Brexit/Tories band, they would support that or have to have an opinion there while on stage? They haven’t talked about it or made it an important topic for them, openly anyway so why? -but I agree that Jason’s subsequent tweet was rather disingenuous. Edit, a further statement made things clearer though, so once more some twat on twitter made a point without giving context and people jumped on that, doesn’t change all I said above, just that social media really is a lot of manipulative crap). OK end of the digression, that stopped your feeling of the gig, but hey, I’m doing lots of side-topics at times, which is why for true gig reviews, I try to show you other sites: mine remains just the relation of my own experience, even if a lot of the reviews I regularly read lead me to think I’m not only talking shit! So yes, what else after that, fun, more fun, and even without a couple of the most memorable tunes from the last but one album, there is no end to the dancing. Sure, there are a couple of slightly more sedate numbers, as we all need a breather from time to time, but they are not boring or static either, so the attention never fades. But what’s that song I recognise as a cover and can’t immediately remember the name of? Oh yes, that would be t.A.T.u’s All The Things She Said. Wow! Another full-on riot happens, delirious crowds and it’s the end of the main set, concluded in perfect fashion. But is it the end of the show? A quick look at the watch suggests maybe, as it is 10.25pm. But no, they all quickly come back, so I thought maybe one last song in a rush before the 10.30pm curfew. (Edit: after that is where I have to simply re-order things from my original write-up, and that’s practically zero work). And so we get treated to a fantastic ‘Leech’ from the new album with its much repeated mantra of ‘Just have some fucking empathy!’. It’s a great, hypnotic way to finish, though we don’t want this to end. And so does it? Nope. Alice and Bella (the incredible never-stop-moving Duracell battery bass player) get into the moshpit for a little jam out, is this like an outro to mirror the intro at the start of the set? Not quite. I spot Rakel sitting by a stack of speaker on the side of the stage, unseen from most of the crowd, bass and guitar player get back to the stage and Rakel runs back to the front, still full of life to continue with the song that turns into a super-electric rendition of F.U.U. (I’LL FUCK YOU UP! yelled a lot), to a full-on riot in front of the stage. And this is really the last, triumphant song. No plug was pulled so it looks like the curfew could be extended by ten minutes (please note, other bands or venues…) and we all went home re-energised. Did I say I expected this to be similarly fun to Coach Party? It was actually very very different (showing once more than two bands on record can sound similar on some songs – Coach Party and Dream Wife don’t always sound similar, just on some songs, actually and bizarrely after tonight, I had a bit of Paramore’s ‘C’est comme ça’ in my head, which is a song that in isolation could have fitted Friday or tonight perfectly musically, but from yet another entirely different type of band), but I tell you what: it was even more fun! So I’m glad it wasn’t very busy, and I’m glad I could be at the front rather than look down from the railing. In fact, the next evening’s concert reminded me how different the experience is, beyond the music itself.
Sleaford Mods, Le Bataclan 7/11/2023
SOV review is on, and there are some photos. And the setlist.
Another evening, another concert. This time going with Nick. Tickets say 7.30pm, we both had meetings at 6pm for about half an hour, so meeting in the Café near Le Bataclan at 7.30pm made perfect sense. To drink or not to drink was the question for me. I definitely wasn’t going to get drunk, but I thought after all the efforts (and football midday), I could still have one or two beers even with the intention of running the next day midday. So we met in the café, I had an IPA and quickly decided that one pint would be enough for the evening. Especially as I am going to see the Mods again at the end of the month in November, and that promises to be a far less sober affair. In fact, tonight is the first time I’m seeing Sleaford Mods while sober and conscious (not sure I was particularly drunk the first time -last time I was, but mentally a slightly different planet, and possibly medication still having a bigger influence that I thought). We didn’t bother about the support (might actually have been nice, we really just caught the back end of the last song, and I couldn’t possibly say, though I vaguely had the impression that it was sweet and completely dissimilar to previous Sleaford Mods support I’d witnessed), so got in at about 8.30pm or something. The place was completely packed already but we manage to find an acceptable spot on the side. The crowd seemed a mixed bag of mostly old-ish but a few youngsters. Beer for Nick, nothing for me. No instruments to set-up, just Andy checking his laptop a few minutes before the show, and we’re all set when Jason and Andy take to the stage at 9pm. Rapturous reception and they start the evening with UK Grim, the opening title-track from their new album. It’s very good, probably still my favourite from that album, and quickly followed by On The Ground, which may well be my second favourite from that. But that makes the rest of the show a little tedious at times. Thanks to the vocal delivery, the incessant beat, the small variations and Andy’s mad dances around (while Jason still plays with the water bottle on his head, as usual), you don’t really get bored and my attention doesn’t drift away much, but especially as Jason hardly talks between songs (I can’t remember if he every did before, to be fair), this doesn’t feel either like the most exciting gig ever or even one of the most satisfying Sleaford Mods gigs I’ve attended. Sure, down in the moshpit, it looks like there is a lot of movement and energy and it’s certainly more fun there. At the same time, I don’t regret being down there, especially after the previous night, so I’m not annoyed about being where we are. And you can still nod along, whereas I suspect the moshpit would have been a lot more stifling than the night before at Trabendo. But highlights are few and far between. There are plenty of songs from the new album I’m not that keen on, a few oldies not particular favourites, but midway through the show, it picks up again for me with my favourite tune from the previous album, Mork’n’Mindy, followed by an old classic: Fizzy! I recognise bits of lyrics from this or that song along the way, but really it continues in the same relatively unremarkable vein as before MnM for a bit, until we reach the fantastic Tied Up in Nottz. So yes, the finale, this is followed by another old couple of favourites, a pounding Jobseeker and finally a triumphant Tweet Tweet Tweet. And that’s it, as there is no encore (in fact maybe they don’t ever do encore, I don’t quite remember, a quick check suggests they didn’t last time). And so what are my memories of this: a competent gig, where all my aural pleasure was at the very start, bang in the middle, and at the very end. Slightly odd, and you’ve also got to consider those great last three tracks were the exact same and in the same order as the finale of last year at Elysée Montmartre. It was fine, the sound was good, and knowing I have to look forward to a gig in a different context in Dublin, this was a good warm-up, but I slightly fear that, despite the sonic evolution, that I appreciated more on Spare Ribs and only on a few tracks on UK Grim, they might soon be in danger of repeating themselves. Still, the fun I could see down in the pit makes me think that they will always be a fun gig to attend certainly with a few beers anyway. And sometimes it’s just all you need, you can’t always have the extreme fun that I had on Friday and Monday, especially without a mood-enhancing drink. Strict 10.30pm finish, and so despite the very annoying works on RER/metro meaning an altered journey for the second time in a row, I still got home at about 11.30pm, so a fine evening! Now for a ten days or so break, as a Romy ticket for Thursday now seems highly unlikely. Unless I go to see Bar Italia with Nick on Saturday, but I think I’ll give it a miss. All these gigs plus half-marathon training and playing football mean a small rest might do me well, ahead of some crazy final two weekends and weeks in November.
Black Honey, Badaboum 19/11/2023
I suspect there will be a review on SOV at some point (and there was eventually, but I missed it when it got published, so on 23/12 here you have it at last!), but for now, they have some photos, and the setlist is available.
Back on the gig circuit after a break of over 10 days (biggest this month!), due to missing out on sold out gigs (Lola Palmer, Romy) and a football reunion (Explosions In The Sky), with the first of three consecutive nights at concerts. This came at the end of a fantastic weekend with those football guys, 20 years of pub football history, an event fantastically organised by Dom, including beers and other drinks, cinema, club, and a 5 a-side-tournament. Well, I missed a fair amount of the Friday night shenanigans (I’m not able to play football if I go out and drink that late/much), but Saturday was heavy enough (night bus home anyone?), and yet I didn’t seem to have a hangover, quite unusually. Just a bit tired as I don’t know how to wake up late, so there were two short nights. Still, a nice lunch was had with some of the remaining folks, back home and then out again for this with Nick. I suspected this would be another fairly crazy/pogo-heavy (not for me this time) gig of great quality, so I was really looking forward to it (especially as their new album was one of the best this year –haven’t done a list yet– in a weird up and down year mostly marked by live music), and didn’t make the mistake I did for DW of forgetting I didn’t have the first album. So I got that a few days before, the Deluxe edition, and it was just as good as the rest with a few fantastic tunes. Anyway, we met up, just before the time displayed on the ticket, and entered a fairly empty venue. The place itself was suprisingly hot and I regretted for a moment wearing long sleeves. The support band started shortly after 8pm. Three French guys playing very French music. I’m only half kidding. They had a few different sounds, started only with keyboards/synths, with the singer vocalising unrecognisable sounds, and it immediately sounded like some 80s French disco or something. Reminded me that in the 80s I was barely aware of the treasures existing across the Channel. But they gradually switched to guitars (with heavy synthesised effects occasionally though) and bass, for a few quite energetic numbers. It was kind of a weird mix, but the propulsive rhythms and sound made it fairly interesting at times. And yet, time and again, they switched back to the typical 80s sound and it felt like they should be playing at a French ball. Well, they mostly (possibly only, sometimes I couldn’t make out the words) sung in French, and I figured the singing was the biggest problem. When you use so much effect processing, it might only mean you can’t actually sing. And that’s what made everything sound a little dated. They had quite a few mates in the room (as is often the case when French bands support foreign artists), so the atmosphere was fine, and to be fair, it was pleasant enough most of the time to nod and swing along to. Oh, yes their name? Absolutely no idea. It didn’t appear anywhere, and they didn’t think of telling us. Mixed bag then, that I might or might not have investigated, but can’t without the name – sure it can be found somewhere, but might not be so easy. The room became a lot emptier again then, but I thought it might be like at Trabendo a couple of weeks earlier. Anyway, Nick had a couple of beers, I stayed sober both on account of the past couple of nights, a forthcoming weekend in Dublin, and half-marathon training (that’s a lot of reasons!). Also, it was a new venue for me (first of two in a row, unusually), the setting looked good, similar-ish to maybe Hasard Ludique in terms of room (perhaps less wide but deeper) and with the advantage of a little step up near the bar (but outside of the serving area so not bothering customers) for better viewing for shorter people. We just decided early on to just camp there. There were still enough very tall people to not make it perfect, but frankly this was no issue, it was a great spot. The sound wasn’t great for the support band, but that’s not such a rare occurence and didn’t reflect on the acoustics of the venue in this case. It was pretty much perfect for Black Honey. Looks like they turned the air con on just before the band took to the stage, so rather than regret the long-sleeves, I was nearly minded to put my jumper back on. Of course, it would have been a different proposition if I’d been at the very front, but in the end, especially after this weekend, I was glad that thanks to Nick I didn’t get there this time (even if it wasn’t quiiiite as wild as for, say, Dream Wife). We get to 9pm, after the usual soundchecks, the lights go out, and the band is on after a small introduction music.
Back to classic ‘opening with the first track of the new album’ configuration there. It’s a nice start, it’s quite obvious that we’re going to be in for a treat, but it’s not the heaviest start, just marking the territory without being full-on in your face from the beginning. But that hit straight at the second song ‘All My Pride’ from the extended first album and that, while discovered only a few days earlier I’d instantly marked as a favourite banger. So I was chuffed to hear it and it was superb. A little more movement in the moshpit, you knew everyone was up for it. It was clear already that the sound would be just fantastic, everything came out pretty clear, every little guitar note heard individually while blending in perfectly. And then it was practically great song after great song, never a dull moment where the attention faded, helped in that, by Izzy’s great stage presence and engagement with the crowd, just the perfect level, not overdone, just happy to be here and the odd comment here and there, about this and that. A proper pogo broke out (possibly during ‘Heavy’, a great single from the new album?). There were quieter moments, or rather songs that had alternance of quiet nearly acoustic moments suddenly turning into a punk-ish rage and the odd yelp or two for Izzy after a few seconds of silence (Spinning Wheel). Moments of humour, introducing ‘Cut the Cord’ explaining it was about the lockdowns and feeling her reality completely disconnected from other people’s when seeing all the shit on social media : ‘It was a fucking miserable time so, er, cheers to that!’. Followed a perfect ‘I like the way you die’ from the previous album. A few songs later came a big highlight for me, another personal favourite in ‘Rock Bottom’, perhaps not their heaviest, but it has a certain groove to it that I really like, one you feel like rocking nicely to without going too mental, and the vocal alternatiing at times between Izzy and Chris (Tommy providing backing vocals at times too during the gig) . Time and again, lots of hands clapping in rhythm, all pretty spontaneous and happy-natured, truly felt like a happy atmosphere with good, positive and life-affirming vibes (more on that later maybe). More good tunes and we got introduced to another slow-building corker in new single ‘Lemonade’. ‘Hello Today’ from the first album is prefaced as on the album with a little ‘Un, deux, trois, quatre!’ and the roof is raised again. There’s possibly a very slight drop in intensity on a couple of songs then, though it might also be fatigue finally catching up with me at the end of this weekend, and I regain focus after a very short lapse lasting not even two minutes. As is usual now, I have no idea what time it is, I’m happy to have managed that now, I’m just enjoying the music and concerts and only look at the start/end or encore time. A lot easier when the gigs are that good obviously, but comes the time when Izzy announces these are going to be the last couple of songs. And so, with everyone sensing the end, ‘Out of My Mind’ sees the biggest pogo of the night so far. At this stage, I don’t know if I’m glad I’m on the side rather than in the madness, but it’s a good thing I’m not drinking as I’d be wanting to go in there, but might not have due to Nick anyway. The last song is ‘Corinne’ (again present on the extras from the first album, that just mean this was another single I guess, like All of My Pride) and it comes in two acts, first : slow start, followed by pandemonium and a stage diver/slammer, who gets transported around safely (as per Izzy’s instructions) and deposed back gently onto the stage where she the asks for his name and so we are introduced to Anthony (or is that Antony? can’t even remember if the French spelling is different). And that leads to a small-ish break before the second act. Izzy mentions diversity, being progressive, being the future on the right side of history here, and invites all non-binaries to get to the front or something, and invites the crowds to just sing back to her in the next stage of the song….one she goes down to the moshpit for, sings there and I can’t really see as she is really right in the middle of it and everyone’s part of the same thing and it’s just happy mayhem.
I really don’t know what history will bring, if young people of all sorts will build something of a better future, one can hope, maybe some will just forget the confusion and become more like ‘regular’ people, but I don’t know. Tonight, I feel there might be hope. Or we’re all doomed because nobody truly has the ability to perform the changes. Maybe globally, organically, this can happen and humanity can find itself. But yeah, that’s just the deluded dreamer in me speaking maybe? But I like that me. Just feel I should be something else not a weird out-of-any-tune 50 yo. Anyway, that’s a digression, but when she clambers back onto the stage and they all leave and say goodbye, after about 70 minutes of show, there’s a feeling there won’t be an encore. And indeed, the lights are quickly on and so this is it. As we head out, there seems to be a little queue towards the cocktail bar, but a quick glimpse shows this is where the merch stand is, and I expect the band will be there too. Despite the early finish, and liking to thanks the band as always, I’m not dwelling this time again, there’s enough people to express their thanks, and queuing is one of those things I hate. But the main thing is at the end, everyone in the room seems happy. What I can’t quite get is : how are so many great bands (on record but even better live) not filling up the venues in Paris. Sometimes I’m suprised at bigger venues being sold out and miss out on gigs by not being quick enough. Or is it a November thing, people saving for Christmas? This month, Coach Party, Dream Wife and Black Honey were three of the best gigs of the year, a lot of fun and energy, and neither was sold out despite taking place in small or small-ish venue, this one being the latest. Bands with three albums as well so hardly unknown if you’ve had a chance to pay attention. But hey, tant pis. That’s other people’s loss and my gain. Maybe it’s also the way I feel again, after this rollercoaster year, hopes, depression, ups/downs/ getting a grip, getting fitter again both physically and mentally, being able to enjoy these gigs and moments better than ever. I feel a brighter energy yet still able to enjoy the quiet more reflexive moments. I go for a little walk before hitting the metro, just listening to more chilled music and I feel at peace with the world and with myself, a bit like after Metric the previous month. I manage to not be as hyper as I could have been in the past so less likely to just crash after, happier and serene even with the uncertain future, at least in that moment. Music really is magic, and live music does make a difference.
A.A. Williams (+Kalandra), O’Sullivans Backstage By The Mill, 20/11/2023
I’m not sure I will find a review for this, especially due to the double-headliner thing. A setlist would have been nice, but I’m seeing the one before and the one after /on this tour and surprisingly not this one. By the look of it, they were pretty similar, with maybe one or two differences. A few months later, I found a review! The setlist is definitely wrong though, as it doesn’t have Without You I’m Nothing, and she definitely played just 10 or 11 songs, not 14.
So, another new venue for me, I nearly went there last year for Creeper, but in the end didn’t. In fact I also nearly went there in May to see A.A.Williams already, but as I had planned to go see Benefits that same night, I had to give it a miss, so tonight was a nice catch-up session for me. When I heard A.A. Williams was playing again, I thought I wouldn’t want to miss out a second time, despite already having a gig the nights before and after, and at the end of what was meant to be a heavy weekend. The fact that this was a ‘co-headlining’ tour didn’t put me off too much, especially as a very quick cursory listen to Kalandra suggested I might like them, and certainly they wouldn’t drive me out. Remained the question: who plays last on a ‘co-headline’. From what I know but no idea on this one, I think they alternate? I suspected that, as A.A. Williams headlined the very same venue barely six months earlier, she wouldn’t do so again, and I was proven right. As you will read later, it turned out to be both a lucky thing for me and a slight source of frustration.
Anyway, I’d sort of ‘been’ to this place, as I have been in the O’Sullivans pub several times, but I had never been to the concert part, though I caught a glimps of it last time I was there as it was open as a room with no concert. Was not sure what time to arrive: 7pm on the ticket, three bands, so I suspected the first would start straight away, and I only targetted to be between 7.30pm and 8pm, and I duly arrived shortly before 7.50pm, when Lys Morke was still playing. The room looked pretty busy and the configuration not ideal, so for the moment I settled behind the huge mixing desk area(only one side to go around it), where I could see just enough. I caught the last two and a half songs. One woman singing over tapes and beats, and a percussionist with her. Not sure how to describe it all, relatively industrial, with video projections at the back, I’d say ‘cinematic’ music indeed, propulsive rhythms, good voice, all in all, interesting though maybe I’d not go out of my way to see again.
I got down the few steps to the main standing area (find it weird to call it ‘mosh’ pit when no moshing happens), slightly to the left, not quite at the front (unfortunately, it’s difficult when you’re not early for some gigs). I don’t know if it was sold out, quite possibly, but it was definitely busier than the previous few gigs I’d been to. Different population from the day before too. Moving from mostly white middle class kids (and a few olders) to essentially a more gothic cum metal middle-age population. I was trying to figure out whether they were more there for A.A. or Kalandra, and in the end I was never quite sure, I’d say it was a mixed bag, with the density not varying a lot, but maybe a bit more noisy enthusiasm for Kalandra. Anyway, after an interlude that wasn’t too long, A.A. came in to tune her magnificent black Gibson Explorer Gothic, another guitarist in hat and beard to her right side, and a drummer on the other side. All wearing black and we were set for a very intense moment of sombre (but not bleak) music. 8.15 pm and the tone is set from the start, dark, powerful sound and a captivating and floating voice. I can’t remember all that was played, a mix of songs from her own two albums and one EP (which I still have to get), but none from her album of covers. But really, all that happened was magic, with, among others, a powerful Evaporate near the start. I think I recognised Murmurs from the lyrics, though it wasn’t on the other setlists in London or the nights before and after tonight, but pretty sure it was there. There WAS a cover, third song in, but that was a newly released one not on that covers album: Placebo’s ‘Without You I’m Nothing’. She introduced herself after the first song, and another time two songs from the end. Not much interaction apart from understated thank yous, but really it was perfect and appropriate for the music. Not a moment when the focus left, not on stage, and not from my side. Slightly annoyingly in a moment of prolonged silence between two songs, someone shouted, which I found out of order for the atmosphere. But anyway, so those last two songs were a notch up on the magic, especially as they were two of my favourites of hers. First a stunningly beautiful rendition of Pristine, and finally a magnificent Melt that left me gaping in awe. Goodbyes were said, and I strongly considered going home just then after this most beautifully intense of concerts. It would have made for a quasi-perfect evening. But as it was only 9.20pm (she played just over an hour) and I was in a good mood if a little tired, I decided I should give Kalandra a chance, despite being keen on catching the RER in GdN not too late due to works on the line. I knew there was a huge chance I’d leave before the end, but so be it. I just took a few steps back and to the side so that it’d be easier to leave (not all the way back up the stairs, but I could have) and then waited. And waited. While the set-up between Lys Morke (OK she didn’t have much gear) and A.A. Williams was pretty quickly done with hardly ten minutes between the acts, this took a lot more time, and Kalandra ended up coming on stage only a couple of minutes after 10pm. So I knew I’d only stay for maybe four or five songs max. To be fair, the singer apologised for being late ‘due to technical problems’ after the first song, so it must not have been planned like that. I didn’t see much of the band beyond the singer and another bearded and behatted guitarist (but a little larger than the previous one), but the music was fine. I only heard a few songs, and they were pretty good. The music was maybe a little more varied than for A.A. Williams (though, by the way, for AAW, you might get the impression of a monolithic sound or concert, but it was anything but, maybe it’s because I knew enough, but every song was quite distinctive even if of similar intense darkness), but you could see very well how the two could go and a co-headlining tour together, as there was still SOME similarity in the vibes. Audience seemed a little different though, possibly younger and a little more enthusiastic, which you could get from the hollering between songs. The singer was quite keen to speak a little French (very much without accent from her few words – oh, they are from Norway by the way), bringing a little more engagement with the crowds there. She even replied a ‘moi aussi je t’aime’ to a girl who shouted ‘je t’aime’ after a couple of songs. I spotted a couple of people leaving after only one song or two, so I wasn’t on my own in feeling a bit late and just there to check what they sounded like after A.A. Williams. I left just before 10.30pm, with the impression that this could be a good gig, especially for the fans, but that I had just witnessed a fantastic gig earlier, and not motivated enough for another maybe 45 minutes of songs I didn’t know.
Officially, trains were not running between Châtelet and wherever north on line B ‘after 22.45’. What it exactly means I don’t know, but having not taken chances two weeks ago and taken alternative post-gig routes, there I was keen to get to GdN on time, and I made it shortly after 10.40pm. Indications on the panel were not clear timewise, but it appeared there were at least three more trains advertised. Annoyingly though, I had to wait for about 20 min, and so the train (a short one to make it worse) turned out at 11pm. Giving me regrets, because I could have been home by that time if I’d left after A.A. and a perfect evening (but perfection will have to wait), or I could have had an extra 20 min to check Kalandra. But oh well, once on the go no further issues and I was home before midnight, so while the night would not been long (back to work the next day), it was decent enough.
But back to the music, I went there to see A.A. Williams, and she hadn’t disappointed, money well spent, not just ‘no regret’, but a pleasure to witness over an hour of beautiful and intense music and voice. I was still listening to her music the next morning, so much that I did that fairly unusual thing of listening to music while at work. Melt was my treat, and I felt it so powerfully I had to share it on twitter. As a bonus, here’s a little article/interview with A.A. Williams that I found today (still feel like the concert was yesterday even though it was two days ago) that I enjoyed. I found where she’s coming from musically, and what she had to say rather interesting.
Yves Tumor, Elysée Montmartre 21/11/2023
Oh there’s a review somewhere already! But no setlist.
So, third gig in a row, completely different sort of artist, a bigger venue. This time really not sure what to expect. I only had his latest album and hadn’t investigated the rest of his discography, but I liked that one enough, and found it different enough from most things released these days or even most of the stuff that I listen to, however varied, and was intrigued to see how that would all sound live. Interestingly this was sold out, pretty quickly too, as Nick couldn’t get a ticket when he’d looked a month or two ago. It’s hard for me to always predict what’s going to get sold out or not and how quick, but the answer might have come to me when I reached the venue. Eventually. Sometimes these turn into ‘RER blog’ rather than ‘gig blog’. Having bought this on the DICE app, it just said ‘8 pm’, but not much more detail. Though when I got a notification, it said ‘7pm’ so I was a bit intrigued. I found out later on my way, that it was indeed ‘doors at 7pm’. As I had no experience of his shows, and there was no indication anywhere (Dice, the internet – though I didn’t look too hard- or the Elysee-Montmartre site) of the presence of a support band, I suddenly had doubts. Sure, in all probability there was one, but what if there wasn’t. So I decided not to rush, but leave a little earlier than I might have, aiming to be there maybe for 8.15pm latest. But then, the RER stopped for longer at the second station. Annoucements were vague (’emergency signal pulled on train ahead’), but the official twitter account shortly after suggested ‘people on the tracks’ (again? don’t get me started on what I think of these…). Hmmm, this could be bad. We move on one station. Another delay, and we are just being told we had to go slowly but no clear announcement of what the issue was. Eventually, ‘we’ll move forward a couple of stations and wait again’. And so we did. Unfortunately, that was one stop before my alternative route via Line 4 (longer theoretically, but most likely quicker practically tonight) was on. So further delay. Never mind the support band, even if there were one (I was still hoping), I was starting to think I might miss the start of Yves Tumor (assuming a pretty much default stage time of 9pm these days). But we got to Denfert at last, and I could take line 4, that was running perfectly and to my surprise not even very busy. Off at Barbès then a short walk (rather than a pointless one-stop line change) and I arrived at the venue at about 8.45pm, delighted to find that nobody was on stage, meaning I’d missed the support (so there must have been one), but was on time for Yves Tumor.
And the first thing that struck me, looking at the audience here, was, the diversity. While Black Honey were talking about diversity a couple of nights before, I made myself the reflection on the way back that, actually, as far as diversity was concerned, the public that night was mostly made of white middle-class people. Tonight though, all ages/genres/sexes/races seem to be there. No wonder it was sold out. So I’d never heard of Yves Tumor before this year, but clearly he had a big and wide-ranging appeal, which makes sense given the music I’d heard from him. Looked like a lot of people who just loved music. Pre-show just seemed like a few minutes of the same music looped, just occasionally interrupted by a voice stating ‘the artist requests no flash photography tonight. None. I repeat: no flash photography Zeroooooo (in a strange electronic voice)’. ‘The artist says ‘enjoy the shoooow’. Bit weird.
Just after 9pm, Yves Tumor and band (quite a sizable band, female bass player, one drummer at the back, a couple of guitarists, including one very enthusiastic showman, playing mostly…..a Gibson Explorer, though more beige and white rather than the immaculate black of AAW, after all the Fenders mentioned two weeks ago, Gibson made a comeback this week….). What followed was a rather excellent show. I didn’t know what to expect except something very different from the previous two nights (not just because of the bigger venue and different type of music), and I wasn’t disappointed. Helpfully, nearly the whole of the new album was played so I was in familiar territory most of the time. Two of my favourites from there, Echolalia and In Spite Of War, came very very early in the set, and yet, it was kept interesting all along. It was a bit of a festive atmosphere, when at times I couldn’t tell if the noise came from the stage or from the crowd. Yves Tumor didn’t say much between songs (barely even a thank you, not sure there was a word of French), but it didn’t really matter. It was a very slick and finely tuned show, a sequence of groovy hits, perhaps a hit of funk here and there, but overall, this felt very much like a classic ‘rock’n’roll’ concert, maybe slightly more conventional than I would have thought in some respects. Stage presence was assured, and more than halfway through, I find myself rather impressed that for an artist I barely knew less than a year ago, it was easy to move or dance along to the music and feel like there was not one weak moment. I revised that opinion slightly about two thirds through when two maybe weaker tracks (I think Super Stars -working backwards from the words – and Parody from the new album) appeared, but it didn’t feel too bad as they were actually sandwiching another excellent one (Meteora Blues) from the new album, which sounded even better live than on record. Further highlights came with Operator, and whatever the last song of the main set was called. Just superb musicianship and a crisp sound played by a very tight band. Quick look at the watch at the end of that and to my surprise, barely one hour had elapsed. They came back for an encore of two songs unknown to me, both pretty good though maybe not hitting the heights of some of the earlier favourites. The showy guitarist still took the opportunity to spend a couple of minutes riffing in the pit though. All over by ten past ten, which is unusually early. But I didn’t feel ripped off, it was a good show, and all in all, at the end of a fifth straight evening out, I was quite glad to be able to go home early. Got lucky to have the connection at GdN pretty much instantly this time, and it was also an express train. OK the trouble from earlier wasn’t completely cleared, so we found ourselves delayed at two consecutive stations, but after that plain sailing so the lost time can’t have been more than five or six minutes, so compared to the previous night, going home was a pleasant and relaxing experience.
And the next day, so today? I still had music in my head, but it wasn’t Yves Tumor. It was still A.A. Williams. After a brief aside listening to Romy’s By The Sea (don’t ask, sometimes a music presents itself to my mind from a word, sometimes from a mood, but I felt I wanted to listen to that), I listened to the album versions of most tracks played on the Monday. Maybe just significant of the mood I felt myself in. No, not dark and broody but just appeased if self-reflective. This hat-trick of gigs was interesting. All very different, all enjoyable in their own way on various levels. Maybe Black Honey was the best for the atmosphere, Yves Tumor the most impressive show. But there’s no going away from the magnificent offering from A.A. Williams. At the end of the day, I think this is quite telling for me. I enjoyed a lot of varied music, but what really touches me the most is the music (and sometimes lyrics maybe) that I feel I can connect deeper with and emotionally relate to. I touched upon that elsewhere I think, in a different mood, it might just be the one that makes me move my body, but as winter gets darker, and as I feel well and whole again, music remains mostly the fuel and soundtrack for my emotional world. – passing thought on re-read, truly I can get the perfect connection more with BH on some days, so quite happpy with those two sides of me.
Sleaford Mods, Dublin National Stadium 25/11/2023
Maybe I’ll find a review, but for the moment, just a setlist.
So this one was planned as soon as the tour was announced, thanks to Mike and Jez. It’s not necessarily about seeing them twice the same month, I’m not enough of a fan for that, but really, it was, for me, a great excuse for a weekend in Dublin with mates. I won’t relate the whole weekend here, I know this year, I’ve indulged a lot more in narrating the before and after gig at times, but I have to recall that this was meant to be a blog to share live music experiences. Truth is though, I don’t have that much more to say about the gig after the one in Paris. So yes, great weekend, beers and football all afternoon before the concert (back to the top of the league for Arsenal), and here we are, in Dublin’s National Stadium. We walked by earlier for a recce as we had lots of time to kill (well Mike did the initial and thorough exploration of the area, pubs and venue the day before), and it is just a weirdly-named placed. It doesn’t look like a stadium, just like big garage really from outside. Of course, things get clearer when you get told it’s actually a boxing venue, and it makes sense when we get in. The stage has a pit in the middle (maybe where the ring would normally be?) and it’s flanked by three seating stands facing that middle ground rather than just the stage (one would suspect the stage itself is where a stand normally is? Just a guess, I might be wrong). Venue’s pretty empty when we get in, time for a couple of drinks in the outside bit, and by the time we get back in, it’s packed and we settle for the seats after a long day. No getting to the front this time. The start is a little later than in Paris (maybe 9.15pm), the venue’s capacity is probably about the same, though the stage looks a little smaller than at le Bataclan. As for the setlist, it’s exactly the same as in Paris and in the same order, except for one exception: Strike Force is replaced by West End Girls, the Pet Shop Boys cover that was released for charity just a few days before. And well, I only had a listen to it the day before thanks to Mike, when it just sounded like a cheap Karaoke version rather than a Sleaford Mods song, and tonight maybe it sounds a little better than I feared. Might have been the beer though. So yes, same set as Paris, same impression, perhaps enhanced by alcohol, meaning the good bits at the start/middle and particularly the end sound even better, while the boring bits (unfortunately most of the show) seem even more boring. They might truly have peaked already. Still, the Tied Up in Nottz/Jobseeker/Tweet Tweet Tweet finish is brilliant, we get dancing like loonies (well or like Andy) in front of our seats, so it’s very enjoyable and as Mike put it, the gig was the cherry on the cake of a great weekend rather than the main event. And that just made it right. We walked back happy enough, via a supermarket armed robbery (well, not us doing it, but looks like it is what might have happened in one of the million Spars on our way) and a couple more pints in a swanky-ish bar before hitting the pizza and finishing the evening with more chat and music. Trip back was fine, except of course, even when you go to a gig in Dublin, the RER can still piss you off on your way back from the airport the next day….. :-p.
Egyptian Blue, La Boule Noire 28/11/2023
SOV has a review including setlist.
This ended up being the ‘bonus’ gig for this month. It came about in a slightly unusual way. Blonde Redhead were playing that night at La Cigale. A few months ago when I saw that, I had BR’s latest album and thought ‘oh yes, must listen to it, and depending, go for that gig’. But as I had plenty of things to listen to at the time, I put that off for a little too long and by the time I listened to it and thought ‘oh, didn’t know them, I love that!’, the concert was sold out. They obviously are a bigger band than I knew. A little later, Nick said he was going to see Egyptian Blue. Alessandro was going too. I eventually listened to that album and thought ‘meh, it’s not really doing it for me on record, couple of decent tracks, but it could sound pretty good and energetic live’. I was still hopeful of late BR tickets (not very hopeful, mind), while knowing that just back from Dublin I may not be on top form. I found a way to be on some waiting list, but that only was e-mails. I once got an e-mail saying a ticket might be available but I logged in too late. On these it is just a ‘we’ll notify you then first come first serve’. The thing is, it’s just e-mails and they don’t beep so I’d have to check my phone at the right time and hope there’s not too much demand. Anyway, so back from Dublin I felt not too bad, Egyptian Blue was not sold out the evening before the concert. As La Cigale and La Boule Noire are, literally, next door to each other, I thought if tickets for EB were still available on the day, I might try to go there, see if any spares are available for Blonde Redhead (from kind normal people outside the venue, not touts), and if not, get a last minute ticket for EB. But when I checked on the morning of the gig, Egyptian Blue was also sold out. So I thought ‘that’s it, better stay home and keep recovering tonight’, but still put myself on the DICE waiting list. And so it came to pass that after my midday football and a coffee, I got a Dice notification saying a ticket was available. I thought ‘fuck it, let’s do it’ and bagged it. Less than an hour later I checked my e-mail and one had arrived talking of a possible spare for Blonde Redhead. So one moment I had a ticket for neither gig, the next I could find myself with a ticket for each gig…. But no, the e-mail was from half an hour before (so still after I got the EB ticket) so once more I missed out. I kept refreshing the website that sells the spares, but no more tickets came up and it quickly became too close to the gig so no resale availability. Oh well. I thought maybe I’d still pop by La Cigale just in case, but as I was running late with work and the meeting point with Alessandro and Walter and Nick was between the metro stop and the venue, I definitely gave up on Blonde Redhead. Yeah, that’s a long intro…….
Anyway, so the four of us met up (I arrived last, but still with plenty of time to spare pre-gig), had a good catch-up around beers (a coke for me, hard to not be tempted but I’ll try to be reasonable or extremely sober until my half-marathon) and made it to La Boule Noire before 9pm (not knowing the support and EB only having one album, the consensus was that it wouldn’t start early as we’d be lucky if they even played an hour). Pretty busy in there, mixed crowd, mostly back to middle class white but all ages. Lights go off and they started at 9pm on the dot. They have one or two more EPs outside the albums so I didn’t know all the tracks (not that I’d recognise more than two or three off the album, though they played most of it). The gig review will now probably be shorter than the introduction….because there isn’t that much to write home about. Most songs followed the same structure/pattern with quiet bits/intro followed by more rocking elements, but even the crowds probably more familiar with them only got midly going. There’s some movement up front (we’re kind of midway through the small room, to the right side when facing the stage) but not quite the furious moshing from the best of this month. There’s hints of Foals in their music (seeing the SOV review now I see they supported Foals last year, meaning I might have actually seen them – to be honest, I don’t remember if I was in the room for the support then, if so they certainly didn’t leave an impression, but my retrospective gig reviews were quite light, been so different this year with the site going live, so based more on ‘present’ experiences – no doubt it makes me apprehend some gigs differently though), but it’s all rather underwhelming. It does improve as the gig progreases, whether it’s because the dynamics change or the tunes played later are the best I can’t say, but when the title track ‘A Living Commodity’ is being introduced (there hadn’t been much talk coming from the stage until then, apart from a few ‘thank you’ and ‘merci’) and played, it feels like it’s a better tune than most of the rest so far, and there’s a little more movement in the crowd. Nick teases ‘Ollie’s going to go in the middle and Pogo when they play ‘To Be Felt’, but while that happens to be played two songs later and is very good (though I can’t say it was one of my immediate favourites on record) in a more joyous room after just 45 minutes that is also the end of the main set. Claims for one more song and after a few minutes they duly oblige, finishing the gig with a punchy Nylon Wire that, at long last, sees a proper pogo developing in front of the stage (without me ;-)). Good finish, all over so quickly after 50 minutes, so early in fact that my companions still have to finish their beers and we’re not out of the room for another good 15 minutes. Still, it’s another good chance to talk about the gig just gone and various other things, and Nick’s suggestion of another beer falls on deaf ears, as it’s still only Tuesday and everyone’s slightly tired (and I’m not drinking….otherwise, definitely would have had time). By the time we exit, a quick glance right suggests that the Blonde Redhead gig is not over as nobody’s around. Guess they have room for a longer set and probably finished at the standard 10.30pm. Any regrets? Not really. As it is, I’m glad to be able to reach home earlier and while musically and emotionally Blonde Redhead would likely have been a lot more satisfying, sometimes, it’s just the going out with a few mates, even without drinking, that turns things into valuable time, and that’s how it felt tonight. Hell, even the RER was running smoothly so I was home before 11pm without having overexerted myself physically or mentally. Maybe the least satisfying gig of a busy month in some ways, but a quiet pleasant evening so not a waste. It was also fairly cheap.
The Big Moon, O’Sullivans Backstage By The Mill 6/12/2023
We’ll see if a review surfaces (9/12, seems not, 12/12: hooray, SOV took their time but a review is here); Robert Gil was there taking photos, and the setlist is available.
December, last month of the year, a little shorter on gigs, and mostly this year, this will nicely wind 2023 down with some lovely artists (Ash will be a little more energetic I suspect….). I only discovered The Big Moon last year when they released their third album which I really liked. I hadn’t really investigated their first two, though I had a quick cursory overview before today (well yesterday now….) to check if a couple tunes quickly connected, so that helped identify a few more key songs. In the middle of a pretty busy week at work, and after a weekend that involved coming back from London at 4.30am via the nightbus after an epic-ish (not in the good sense) Eurostar journey, I actually felt pretty chilled and happy, the end of this year feels relatively easy compared to some tough passages even just a few weeks earlier, I guess the non-drinking in preparation for the half-marathon makes a few things easier too. Anyway, I digress as usual, but I was looking forward to tonight, hoping mostly that they would play ‘Wide Eyes’, the incredibly good standout track on that third album. I resolved to arrive at about 8.30pm, thinking I’d take it easy and it wouldn’t matter whether I missed the support. As I also had a little ‘steps’ deficit due to work, and some margin, I stepped off the metro (oh yes RER was working fine) a couple of stops earlier, and so I saw a huge queue outside La Cigale, wondering who was playing there. Turned out it was some ‘World Music’ artist I’d never heard of. Whether popularity was the key or a delay of doors opening, I’ll never know . Either way, I reached O’Sullivans shortly before 8.30, and stepped into the room, finding no band playing and the place rather empty compared to when I went just over a couple of weeks earlier. I guess there are more gothic types in Paris than regular indie fans? No idea, but that allowed me to get near-ish the front, only there were a couple of rather tall people in front of me. I was wondering, after last time, whether the support was coming on late (the ticket said ‘+Guest’, but their twitter account mentioned guests on most other dates, but not on this one) and it could be a long night, or whether there was none (it wasn’t late enough for any support to have finished their set, with 8pm displayed on the ticket). Hearing those tall people say ‘we’ve been there for 40 minutes for nothing’, while drums clearly displaying ‘The Big Moon’ were being set up, it was quickly evident that there would be no support. As one of the tall guys went to fetch a drink and there was actually lots of space, I figured I could move forward and occupy a better spot, without diminishing anyone’s view. That made my evening a lot more comfortable I have to say, perfect spot just short of the first row, and I’m happy that way. Lights dim at 8.45pm already, the girls get onstage and start with…..’Wide Eyes’. Wow. Superb build-up and great song, but I was fairly surprised because where do you go from there? Does it mean that because the best song is played first, everything after is an anti-climax? Thankfully not quite. They play a couple of older tunes I don’t recognise but that are perfectly pleasant and engaging before coming back to the latest albun with Sucker Punch, nice Americana-tinged tune. Juliette the singer doesn’t speak much at this stage, much of the speaking is left to Celia the bass player, saying it’s nice to be in Paris and that they are sorry they haven’t been back for so long. She asks who was there the last time (a fair amount reply), highlights a couple of bands T-shirts she’s noticed down the front, and they happily carry on with the set. The mood on stage is great, lots of smiles and playful exchanges between them (Celia mentioning she’s actually wearing Soph’s top and that it feels weird), they all sing, so there’s a lot of nice harmonising, and everyone in the crowd is having a good time too. Plenty of songs from the new album, easily recognisable, the wonderful ‘Daydreaming’ being a particular highlight (seems like all the songs I know that have that title are good, that was a bit of a theme earlier this year, something I’d have wanted to share more…but…yeah…it’s mentioned elsewhere I think, or maybe not?). And then they all (well the three at the front) abandon their instruments (except the drummer) and gather in a huddle in the middle of the stage before starting a two-part version of Formidable (from the first album, but easily identifiable) a cappella, before a short interlude and a more electric second part with the two guitars and bass and drums. Juliette feels a little more chatty by then, and mentions the next song being good for yelling before introducing Cupid (from the same album), followed by the ‘first song from this [third] album’. You know, the one most band would have started with. I think to myself that while this song is fine, it’s not quite Wide Eyes, would probably have been a good starting point, and I’d have personally preferred them swapped in the set order, as they were really hitting top gear at this stage and Wide Eyes now would have blown my mind, while I wasn’t quite ready for it at the start. Minor gripe though, because the gig was really good, and didn’t suffer much from the too good first song played. Celia takes to the microphone again to say we’ve been a great audience and they only have a few more songs to play and that they won’t come back onstage after as they have decided that’s what they wanted to do (not in a negative way really, just an affirmative statement that feels just right and fine), and another excellent song from the new album is played : Trouble. Then something special (that I have seen at a few gigs this year) happens when Juliette gets down into the crowd to start Bonfire (it’s quite refreshing to have songs you can guess the titles of even when you haven’t heard them before), she dances around everyone jumps up and down, she waves her hands towards a few people, it’s a song that’s perfect for this, and it’s all in a friendly and happy atmosphere before she eventually goes back onto the stage to finish the song. Yeah, great song, and one of the happiest moments I’ve witnessed at a concert this year. C thanks everyone again for their behaviour, and J annouces the last song, ‘Your Light’, one of the top songs I’d noticed on the second album, and it’s another superbly happy moment. So it ends, about five minutes to ten, a decent set length at 70 min and the chance to be home early (oh yes, small wait for the RER but it was running perfectly fine and I got an express again!) while mostly listening to Wide Eyes….I got home and bought the two missing albums (I’d checked on the merch stand but unfortunately they were only selling the last one in various formats). Yet another gig where I think everyone went home with a smile on their face. I’m still amazed that some of the best gigs this past month have been played in half-empty rooms. I’ll forever cherish these little happy concerts, even on my own, even sober, and listening to their music again right now makes me very happy. I hope they are back soon.
The Rural Alberta Advantage, Le Hasard Ludique 8/12/2023
Not sure I’ll find a review, but the setlist is helpfully available.
I got tipped into the RAA (too lazy to type their whole name every time, and after all, their T-shirts say ‘The RAA’) by Nick, had a listen to the ‘Departing’ album he bigged up and liked it. They released a new album this year, and I thought ‘yep, that’s pretty good’, and had no hesitation in booking a ticket for this gig. So it’s quite naturally that I attended this one with Nick and Benoît (who had bigged them up when mentioning they both went to their gig for that Departing tour), joined by another mate of Benoît, and also Graham who lived nearby, popped in for a drink and stayed for the cheap and not sold out concert. Anyway, so I had two out of five albums, didn’t really know what to expect, thought it might be an enjoyable gig but where I would struggle to identify individual songs. Like great music where nothing stands out for me even if I thoroughly enjoy it. I stayed chatting for a bit at a table in the bar/restaurant space with Nick and Graham while Benoït and his mate went to check the support, Zoon, also from Toronto. I only caught glimpses of that, they sounded OK. We got told before that that the RAA would only go onstage at 9.30pm, so plenty of time, could be a late-ish one. We got to the room about 9.15pm-ish, stayed at the back, but it’s a small room with a stage high enough, so not really an issue (sure on my own, I’d have gone to the front, but I was not enough of a big fan to push that today). Lights went off at about 9.30pm and….nothing on the stage, as the band entered via the punter’s entrance, the three of them starting playing unplugged (guitar, drum and tambourine, with Nils on chant and Amy on backing vocals/harmonies, as throughout most of the set) through the crowd. It already felt like this could be a very special gig. And from them on, it pretty much was, getting better and happier as it went on. The template is often the same (there is only so much you can do with electroacoustic+keyboards and drums), but it never feels monotonous or boring, quite the opposite. There’s a pleasant energy coming out of the stage, Nils is fairly talkative and spontaneous, Amy’s beautiful harmonies work perfectly, the keyboards blend into the music, and she attempts a bit of French nervously. The way she occasionally talks between song seems like an anxious staccato delivery, but it’s all about the joy of being there. And while Paul on drums has no microphone so doesn’t speak, his drumming is extremely impressive and dynamic, and he doesn’t hesitate to incite the crowd to clap along to the rhythm on occasion. A lot of the songs are nicely introduced, come with their own stories. I recognise a lot of the ones from the new album and from Departed, but it’s a nice mix of songs from all the albums actually. At maybe the middle point of the main set, Nils is on his own on the stage, explaining how ’10ft Tall’ came about during lockdowns and why he’s going to play it this way, the ‘original’ version from when the bad were not able to meet and that he played this to his then girlfriend (now wife, ‘we married last year’, cue huge applause) who is French Canadian (he then adds how even more embarrassed he is not to be able to speak French, having earlier apologised for it). So a different version from the album and very nice. Sure, his singing is not the most amazing thing from the band (and he himself admits he can only do quiet or very loud), but it actually works very well with the music. Amy and Paul come back for the rest of the set, more excellent songs and atmosphere, sometimes a little more quiet, sometimes truly rocking, ‘Brother’ being a particular highlight (I didn’t have that one, but definitely going to investigate the rest of the discography now). Nils annouced the last song, one I didn’t know beforehand, called ‘Terrified’, and it is, in fact, terrific. Will there be an encore, as it is already getting to 10.40pm? Yeah, it feels like there will be especially as the lights don’t turn on within two minutes, while the whole crowd (me included, obviously) keep singing the ‘woohoohoohooooo hoohoo’ bits from Terrified all along, and so they come back to that and relaunch into a little bit of Terrified before moving on. Seamless and absolutely splendid. I look around me and see just a load of happy faces. And it feels like it could be more than a one song encore, ends up being much more than that in fact. Nick shouts for ‘Goodnight’ quite loudly heard, and the band are impressed with the crowd involvement. A couple more songs, before Nils introduces The Dethbridge in Lethbridge. But then something special happens. Someone near the front shouts for ‘In The Summertime’. Nils first says ‘sorry, it’s not the right time for this’, but then seems to think, actually ‘why not?’, confers briefly with the rest of the band says something to the effect of ‘actually yeah, we have time, we could do that’, and so they play it. It’s so refreshing to see a band that can truly adapt their setlist in the encore to introduce a number they hadn’t planned to do. And then he goes back and reintroduces Dethbridge. At the end of that, they go into the crowd, I did wonder if they were just planning to walk off the way they came in, just finishing the song there, but no. They gather in the middle, right there in front of me actually, well Nils has his back to me, so I can just see his transmitter with the ‘Nils’ label on it, and while everyone’s trying to film or take photos (guilty m’lud) he starts talking, on seeing a phone in front him says ‘you don’t need to film, you’re not going to rewatch this anyway’, so all phones go down (well some obviously did come back and film the song, it’s hard to resist, but you know, singer’s wish so I kept mine in the pocket from there) and he introduces….’Good Night’, a superb way to close the concert, all unplugged, harmonies, tambourine, a simple drum, and it’s just fabulous. They do not get back out through the door, they do come back onstage to put their instruments back there and wave. 11pm and it’s a wrap on another amazing concert. The may be good on record, but they are just incredible live. It’s Friday night, the others hang around for a bit, but as I’m completely sober, and had a belated reaction to possible heart overwork when training on the day (and intending for another session the next day, which I have now postponed to Sunday as I haven’t yet recovered, and the weather was shit so no regret, lots of stuff to do today too, I had already in mind that the Saturday training could be done either day of the weekend this time anyway), I decide to go rather than wait for the band, even though I’d have loved to tell them how amazing they were. And so here we are, two gigs left this year (and the next one which I thought would be the last, will have nearly every one I’ve been to gigs with this year…I might regret not drinking because it should be amazing, back in familiar territory with one of my favourite bands….). Got home just around midnight, very happy to have been there.
Ash+The Subways, Petit Bain 11/12/2023
Surely there will be a review somewhere (SOV probably -it finally got there, they took their time!), but in the meantime: Ash setlist and Subways setlist. Robert Gil was there, but not as quick to publish the photos as for The Big Moon – six days later, they are here and there.
Well I was only going to review Ash initially, maybe add a few words on The Subways, but the order of play and the performance in itself, made me think The Subways were well worth their own part. This gig was always going to be special in some ways, but of course when I booked it very early, I didn’t know I’d be on a sober push pre half-marathon. For a long time this was meant to be the last concert of the year, and being there with most of the people I’d been to gigs with over the last year felt like a special end of year treat. Only Ben hadn’t booked this, and in the end Walter had to pull out, travelling to Argentina earlier than planned for budget reasons.
After quite a few gigs with not many expectations, bands I only had a very partial discography of, or bands I had never seen, tonight, back on familiar territory (well at least as far as Ash are concerned, I’ve got nearly everything) or previously treaded grounds (I only had the first album from The Subways, but I’d seen them live twice in 2005). In a weird way, I sort of ‘expected’ to be disappointed (spoiler: in the end I really wasn’t), not knowing what Ash would play. I came into Ash via Free All Angels, so in that I seem to be relatively unusual as most ‘Ash fans’ came earlier with the classic singles from ‘1977’ (the album, not the year, for those unfamiliar with Ash, they are really far from THAT old!). So my favourites span anything from Free All Angels to the A-Z singles via Meltdown and the underrated Twilight Of The Innocents. The last three albums have their moments, but don’t match in my opinion, and since they had an album out this year, I wondered how much the setlist would lean towards that. The ‘classic’ singles (they played them all as you will read later) for me are fine, good, I acknowledge them as classics, but they don’t quite have the intensity and rich musicality of that golden (for me…) period. Anyway, so yes, thankfully I still don’t check setlists of past gigs so don’t have to anticipate or fear, I just take what’s given. First bit of news came from a mate that actually, Ash were playing at 8pm with The Subways on at 9.40. So first worry/disappointment (Ash only supporting, what? But as it’s a co-headline, called Ash v The Subways, I’m guessing actual headliners alternate), and I figured getting in the queue a little earlier than the planned 7.30pm (doors opening time) could be a good idea. So I got in there just after 7.15pm, there already was a little queue but fairly reasonable. Thankfully the weather was dry and mild for the season. Steve and Grainne joined shortly after, quickly followed by Jean-Claude, then Alessandro a few minutes later, while Nick caught us at the turn to the passerelle just before we couldn’t be met anymore. Thankfully, nobody behind me seemed to grumble about one becoming six. We spotted Benoît and his mates shortly before ticket check (thankfully that didn’t add three to the six) while John was a bit behind, I called him and he said he’d meeet us inside, just to get him a pint. So yeah, six could have been ten, which might not have been so great for the people behind….Anyway, in, it wasn’t too packed yet, enough time to order a drink and quickly (Eddie Nketiah scores as I type, yeah! Tim Wheeler is a Gooner, if you don’t know, and I believe Billy Lunn is too) find the favourite right-side ramp spot. Well me and JC settle there while the rest of the crew get in the pit but just down below us, as there is not quite enough space for everyone and they feel comfortable down there. Well, ten minutes before the start, it doesn’t look that packed, but by the time it all kicks off, it is! Alessandro mentions that seeing the age of the people in front, there might not actually be much moshing. John arrives just before the lights go out, happy to have a pint, joins us on the ramp and it all starts only a few minutes after 8pm. Now the advantage of this gig is I don’t really need to check the setlist to remember everything, though they start with a couple of recognisable tunes from the new album, not bad at all, to be honest, but not familiar enough yet. Tim does look older than I remembered, well 19 years have elapsed, so I look older too and he’s still looking good. The atmosphere is rocking (well not a lot in the crowd), Tim, Mark and Rick are on form. Tim said he’d try a bit of French before an old but less familiar to me song, that gets the crowds a bit more, and after these few songs, he says ‘Est-ce qu’on va mettre le feu, Paris?’ to loud cheers, and then introduces A Life Less Ordinary (from the Something about Mary OST) and from there on, it’s my favourite bit of the gig. Practically old hit after old hit. From there to Walking Barefoot, relentlessly good tunes, Goldfinger is the first ‘classic’ tune to be played from 1977 (see above, not my favourite) just after, but then we get Orpheus from Meltdown (another underrated album, their kind of ‘hard rock’ album), which is extremely heavy. Tim can indulge in his usual guitar hero solos with his Flying V and looks very very happy and cool. It’s the only song from Meltdown, and is followed by the calmer ‘Confessions in the Pool’, from the fairly recent Islands, probably the best (definitely one of the best two or three) track on there, so great to hear it. We get nothing from Twilight of the Innocent, unsurprisingly I’d say, as it’s a splendid album, but perhaps a little more melancholic, and with the set scheduled to be relatively short, there’s not enough time to explore all the moods. Nothing from the A-Z collection either, despite it having enough variety to cater for all tastes, but I’m not disappointed, it would just have been a truly unexpected bonus. The brilliant Shining Light and the wonderful Walking Barefoot close this part of the show. I’m surprised the crowds don’t move more, there is really a lot of scope for moshing/pogoing, but none is happening, despite a couple of people trying a little more movement. At that point, I’m really glad to be where I am, a much better view than just a foot lower, and because of the atmosphere or lack of in the pit, I don’t have to be frustrated by that. So yeah, maybe it’s the age of the crowds, maybe it’s the fact they are playing first, but it’s a shame there are not more young heads to get this going. The Subways later prove it should/could have happened. Sure, Tim Wheeler is not the most crowd-inciting frontman, he just oozes happy cool, just my idea of a great guy, but I guess he’s a lot more fundamentally ‘introverted’ than Billy Lunn. Or so it looks. But he is beaming and that simple cool happiness shows. So sod the crowds, I’m enjoying the music. Back to the gig, after that sequence, Tim reminds us of the new album before introducing his ‘favourite’ from there, with him on accoustic guitar. ‘Crashed Out Wasted’ is fine, it’s definitely slower and a little more melodic, but it’s not enough to clear the very high bar of Ash’s best in my opinion. Next is ‘Braindead’ also from the new album. Short, silly and hard-rocking. It’s actually my favourite from the new album (I was actually staggered to see it panned on the SOV forum, do they not get it?), it does the job, and in a normal/ideal/room filled with younger people-world, it would have triggered an absolutely massive pogo. As it is, the crowds are mostly annoyingly indifferent. C***s. Never mind, they’ll have what they want just after. Someone shouts for ‘Girl From Mars’, but it’s the superior (to me…) Kung Fu, also from 1977, that is played, and at last there is a little more movement, maybe a dozen of people trying to get something going. Girl From Mars next draws huge cheers and more enthusiasm. That’s when I realise once more that yeah, to ‘most’ people, Ash are defined by those early singles and 1977 rather than from anything else. And just like I never bothered with the Subways after the first album, they didn’t much bother after (Free All Angels probably second on popularity though). They don’t know what they missed. It’s odd when I think of it, but I realise I had last seen Ash as far back as 2004 (that Meltdown tour, at Trabendo). And that day it was truly heaving in the moshpit and I ended up wearing a sponge. So yeah, once more, sadly, nothing like that happened tonight, not for me, but not for anyone. People getting old, I guess, it’s not all joy for them, they only came to hear the old hits, not to have fun….But I’m drifting away in my review again, Tim speaks at a little more length, thanking everyone from The Subways to the techies, managers, and his girlfriend, before launching into the final song, an….incandescent Burn Baby Burn. Tim says he might see us later. I thought he might mean at the merch stand, but the future showed it was something else. He’s looked very happy tonight, it’s so great to see, he’s just a charming man, exuding a simple and unaffected joy. Mark Hamilton did all the rock’n’roll poses while playing the bass, when Rick McMurray was somehow more discreet but on top of being a great drummer chimes in with occasional and subtle backing vocals.
So, on to The Subways, who start at 9.30pm rather than 9.40pm. I thought it might mean the curfew is quite strict and they’d finish shortly after 10.30 rather than the 11pm I’d computed earlier, didn’t think it would mean they would play longer but….Expectations? Not many, I had re-read my notes from 2005 (I didn’t really remember either gig for some reason), and it looked like the gig after Rock en Seine was much better. But I still only knew their first album (well I could remember three tunes from it), and as they had a new one this year and published three others in the meantime, I was not going to recognise a lot. Turns out it really did not matter. The drummer was a brand new one, but Billy Lunn and Charlotte Cooper were still the focus. Charlotte hadn’t changed one bit, same face, same haircut, and same juvenile duracell bunny energy. Well, all these years later, it is not down to just juvenile endeavours, she’s just non-stop movement while playing her bass very well. Billy Lunn is very much the archetypal rock’n’roll frontman, arriving all-tattooed but bare torso on stage. The first few songs leave me fairly cold (weirdly, the sound to me feels less loud than for Ash), and Billy’s patter, while seemingly engaging, feel fairly forced and over-camp to me. The crowds seem a little more into it than with Ash though, so there is a little more movement. Nicely, he does chat a little more between each song, sometimes trying a bit of French quite well (occasionally aided by Charlotte), and introducing most of the songs by their title and explaining contexts, which is very appreciable I think. So we get told about a boy crush before they play ‘Taking All The Blame’ (don’t ask me from which album), and this is actually a duet and works very well, the first song tonight where I think ‘actually, the music’s not too bad at all’. A couple of songs later, I’m also impressed by ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ (this time about a girl who broke his heart, ‘it’s painful but it’s good lyrics material’ he said, mischievously). Actually, I think every song gets its explanation (‘Influencer Killed the Rock Star’ gets a special long intro about an ex-friend) and there’s actually a glint in Billy’s eyes all the time he speaks, he’s very playful, and the affectation I felt earlier seems more like an enjoyable and genuine part of the act. So yes, bit by bit, this is turning into an actually great live show. Sure, it’s very much rock’n’roll cliché central at times, but it works, and the crowds in the pit (slightly younger in that location than earlier for Ash? I think so, so it must be a factor) keeps getting wilder and wilder, moshing all over, and then the stage-diving is happening too from a Jesus lookalike or two. In the background, I see the guitar tech tuning Tim Wheeler’s Flying V again, and so I know he, and probably the whole of Ash, will come back at some point on stage to play with The Subways. As it is, they finish the set with the first song I recognise (although it seems it is the third played from their debut at that stage), a riotous Oh Yeah, that triggers another frenzy in the moshpit. You know there will be an encore this time (due to that Flying V), and indeed they come back on stage, while not only the Flying V, but also Mark Hamilton’s bass (Gibson Thunderbird I think?) are beint put on the stage. And indeed, a long speech from Billy Lunn explains that while both band have a song called ‘Oh Yeah’ (he says theirs was actually named after Ash’s), they decided to cover each other’s song (a 7in vinyle is available in the merch stand), and so now they are welcoming Ash back (‘the genius that is Tim Wheeler’ – he’s not wrong, but I’m not sure people really realise) to play. As ‘there is not enough room for two drum kits’, Rick plays an acoustic guitar and all six musicians play a deliriously happy version of Oh Yeah (the Ash song). Is this the fitting co-headlining finale we could have hoped for? Not quite. Tonight, the Subways are truly headlining, and despite my earlier misgivings, I can fully see why at the end of the show. Whether it’s the order of play (I’m sure it has an influence), the slight difference of age in the fanbase (at least the gig-going one in Paris as far as Ash fandom is concerned), or simply Billy Lunn’s more extroverted and efficient way to work the crowd, I cannot tell, though I’m guessing a bit of all of it. The next song is completely ‘meh’, disappointing, I wonder if they should have stopped at the two-bands encore. But of course, there’s a couple of classics from the first album missing. And so, what comes next brings everything another level up. First my favourite of theirs ‘With You’, dedicated to the crowd, and it brings a little chill down my spine, it’s actually fantastic, starts quiet-ish before leading to more moshpit action below me. And of course, the finale is Rock’n’Roll Queen, what else. Sure, it’s a caricature of a song, still extremely naff, but it’s also very efficient and it goes from mental to uber-mental. More stage-divers, Billy himself decides to have a go and launches himself into the crowd (did I mention on many songs the crowds just singing back all the words?) and it’s completely wild. He goes back on stage to finish the song and just at 11pm, it is the end, the crowd hollering in delight at the performance. So yes, as a live band, The Subways probably won tonight in the Ash vs The Subways contest, they certainly won me over. Yet, of course, music says I still preferred the Ash set, and I feel it personally easier to identify with Tim’s personality rather than Billy’s, and I wish I’d had a chance to meet Ash after the gig, but we’re not hanging around. Most of our crowd goes for a beer at the nearby Frog & Library (remember, last time I went there, after The Cure just over a year ago, I ended up walking home..), but sober and with work in the morning, I decide to head to the Metro with JC. To finish with the live performance vs music thing, tonight brought me another reflexion. While I have been led to buy quite a few extra albums following live performances over the last couple of years (only last week with The Big Moon and The Rural Alberta Advantage), I enjoyed The Subways as a live band, a much more solid proposition than on those first impressions at Rock en Seine in 2005, a very different beast from those days, yet despite discovering a couple of new songs I really liked, I don’t think I’ll be driven to buy the missing albums. Hell, I’m not even sure I’d go see them again, however much they convinced me tonight. If you got the chance though, go see them, they are well worth it. As for Ash, of course I have nothing new to buy (OK, shocking admission I don’t have Nu-Clear Sounds), but I’d still go and see them again, hopefully playing a longer headling slot. And yeah, Time Wheeler IS the man. One gig to go, on Saturday, back to the relative unknown to me, one song I really hope to hear, and definitely a much quieter moment with the lovely Beth Orton. Looking forward to this peaceful conclusion. Hoping I’m not jinxing this.
Beth Orton, Café de la Danse 16/12/2023
The SOV review is already there, that one was quick! It includes the setlist, which is weirdly not (yet?) present on setlist.fm. I’ll read their review after I’ve written mine below, as I don’t want to be influenced, though it might lead to an edit or two, but once more I expect the feeling to be the same I got. Splendid photos from….Robert Gil once more.
And so, to the last concert of the year. This was a fairly late addition, not through a late decision from me, but a late and surprise announcement from Beth herself, I think! Amusingly, like last year, Nick and Steve were my companions for the live finale. But unlike last year, no rain, no World Cup final, and in my case (and Steve’s but that’s not new there) no (alcoholic) drink. So we gathered in the nearby Bar des Familles (an old haunt of mine about twenty years ago, but Slim’s sold it now to open a new bar elsewhere in Paris, that I still have to visit), for ginger beer, IPA for Nick. Support tonight comes courtesty of Sam Amidon, who happens to be Mr Beth Orton, as Steve tells us. We decide to take our time, so miss some of his set, only getting into the room as he plays a number with a fiddle, so sounding very Irish. A couple more songs on the acoustic guitar to finish his solo performance, all very lovely and civilised. We wonder if he will be part of his wife’s band later, and expectations are that he will be. As it was just him with acoustic instruments, there is not much of a stage change to be made, we see him tune his guitar again, confirming our suspicions. At five minutes to nine, the room goes darker, and the band takes their place. Sam sitting on a chair with his fiddle, the drummer with a reasonable kit, one guy by the side of the piano but not quite on the piano, and, sitting on a chair in the middle of the stage, slightly at the back, someone who I thought was a guitarist but was indeed the bass player (as Beth mentioned later, that’s when it struck me that his six-string was indeed a Fender VI bass (well, a Squier, to be honest, but that’s nearly the same and probably because it’s easier to get hold of these days if you’re not Robert Smith)). Beth follows shortly after, entusiastically applaused, to take place at the piano, says a lovely and simple ‘Bonjour’, and they play the opener from her new album, ‘Weather Alive’. Oh yes, we were back to a gig where I only had two albums, not the first and last but the second and last, so hopes to hear some I liked from there, but a lot to discover. Of course, it was always going to be a quiet and lovely one anyway. ‘Friday Night’, another of the best from the new album follows, before the band is joined by a saxophonist introduced simply as ‘Francesco’ and Fractals is next. So that’s the first three of the new album in sequential order. Beth leaves the piano to play an acoustic guitar, we move to older material, some I’m not familiar with, though Central Reservation is played soon after (that’s the title song from the other album I have). The saxophonist, who was initially there for one song, comes back. Beth jokes ‘me and him go a long way…like half an hour’, and we’re not quite sure if it’s a joke or not. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure how that came about, more on that later. There’s a song dedicated to her daughter, 17 who is there on the side (we actually saw here coming in and out of backstage a couple of times during the support, not knowing who she was). Most of the songs are played in fairly long versions, lots of atmosphere, and in fact the saxophonist very much adds a ‘jazz impro’ vibe to it all, which is not necessarily to my natural taste, but actually works well. Sam goes away for a song (I see he goes to chat to his -actually his and Beth’s- son, definitely a likeness to him and the boy spends the rest of the show with his (half-)sister, and the next song is actually one big highlight for me as Beth, back to the piano for that, starts ‘Arms Around a Memory’ my big favourite from the new album. Added jazz bits with the sax indeed, but the longer it goes, the more beautiful it is. Beth’s actually pretty talkative between songs now, and it’s all very natural, spontaneous, she’s just very happy to be here (‘I used to worry about getting old, but now, I’m just fucking happy about it, I’m 53 and it’s great’ or something like that, there’s a true loveliness to it as every time the word ‘fucking’ is used, and she uses it a few times tonight, it’s very much not aggressive at all, just a simple expression of enthusiastic emphasis). There’s a true joy coming out of the stage on many occasions, she mentions that what is happening is just the way she imagined it when she was planning to have this gig in Paris. That’s when I realise that actually, this is not part of a tour, this truly is a one-off show she wanted to do and we are very privileged to be here (again, a brilliant NOT sold-out show, though on the quiet side unlike Coach Party in the same venue over a month earlier), perhaps they combined a family holiday with a gig? It’s just pretty magical either way. Time flies, or rather floats, without any of us realising, and neither we nor she seems sure how many songs are left to play. She appears to debate this with the other musicians, says she’s going to play a couple more, sort of hints maybe two more, says ‘then maybe we’ll just bugger off’, again that sort of lovely spontaneity coming out. Comes a song from her first album (‘She Cries Her Name’, her best song, Nick tells me), and soon the two extra songs turn into four, though again, it seems like one’s added after the other as she can’t bring herself to leave the stage, and seems unsure whether going out then back is possible time-wise or worth it. Very spontaneous and emotional again, she starts ‘Pass in Time’ with the wrong part, realises that, and explains it was because she is now the age her mother died at (the lyrics of the song are all about that), and restarts the song the right way. She re-introduces all her musicians a second time, first and last name….except the saxophonist, who she claims she can’t remember the last name of. As the specific microphone for the sax (pointing upwards) was set and he’s still played most of the set without a glitch, it’s all definitely not completely improvised, and he must have rehearsed, live or not, but perhaps it’s not strictly impossible that they have met in person only a few moments before the gig. Either way, whether Beth knew his last name or not, I’ve found it. Geminiani. Yep, that’s him and he’s at least partly based in Paris. It’s pretty hard to find any link of him ever playing with Beth Orton before, so I’m still confused about how this all came about. But the important thing is it works, it brings a different flavour to the gig, and Beth Orton is just delighted about playing here, with this merry band of musicians, all looking rather modest and very happy. There’s a final song to this extended end just before we reach 10.30pm, they all come to the front of the stage to bow and salute and….maybe this is it. We’re not sure. We want more, but is it possible? Lights don’t fully turn on, there’s no background music playing so…..could it be? And then, happily, Beth comes back to the stage, just her and her guitar, saying she’s been allowed one more song and so she just plays an acoustic version of ‘Stolen Car’, the opening track (and one of the best) from Central Reservation, and this puts a beautiful conclusion to not only the gig, but a year of live music for me. It’s been a year of such contrasts, and when live music seemed generally better than music on record, I’m so glad the conclusion was like that, in a peaceful happy way, rather than the more rocking fashion of The Subways. Different thrills, and I’m oscillating all the time, but those peaceful moments are maybe the ones I cherish the most these days. We go back for one more drink at the Black Sheep (switching back to Coke in my case, there’s only so much Ginger Beer I can drink without rum), I’m not so tired and happy that I want to go home quickly as I have a train to London in the morning, so it’s all a good end. Next day’s trip goes well, Arsenal win, even get back to the top of the league, so it’s been a beautiful weekend to conclude my live thrills for the year. Thanks to all the artists.
P.S: having now read the SOV review, yes, very spot on. I had briefly forgotten that indeed, she did a request and played what was asked. Again fairly improvised like with the Rural Alberta Advantage. Those December concerts have all been pretty special, to be honest!