Gigs List

Index    2005    2004    2003    2002    2001    2000    Before 2000

Although I did take some notes early enough, all gigs up to the end of March have been written very very very late!

Gigs 2006

Mogwai                                            L'Olympia                26/9/2006

Guillemots                                        La Boule Noire         12/6/2006

Well I really wanted to go to that one, unfortunately I was away in Dubai for work. So I also won't mention The Cooper Temple Clause 15/6 because well at some point it looked like I could be there, so I bought a ticket, but then had to change the plane tickets, and then it was touch and go, I possibly could have caught about half an hour of the gig, but I would still have been pissed off so I missed out on one of my favourite bands ever. Gah !

The BellRays+Soledad Brothers        La Maroquinerie        6/6/2006

Well, Soledad Brothers pulled out, and then I was ill, so I said naah !

Art Brut+The Noisettes                    Le Bataclan                25/5/2006               

Apparently cancelled, shame, I really wanted to see The Noisettes again.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs                           Elysée Montmartre    24/5/2006    ****

First up, the support band, Celebration are hardly worth a mention. They're like proto-Yeah Yeah Yeahs in that they feature a female singer sometimes using a tambourine, and two blokes, one on drums, one on guitar/keyboards. But the music is nondescript, boring all throughout, not even worth hating.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs eventually take the stage on time, Karen O wearing an unsurprisingly eccentric grey shiny short outfit and a veil and funky face-paint, while they tear into Gold Lion, with the aid of an additional guitarist (he's there for a few of the songs tonight). A rapturously received Pin (from the first album) then follows to really launch the gig. Karen O is her usual energetic self, bouncing all around the place, smiling, capable of hushes as well as barely human terrifying howls. Nick Zinner is the impeccably cool gothic guitarist while Brian Chase is a powerful and perfectly metronomic rhythm provider. Honeybear gets the whole room bouncing (already a classic even though it's on the new album), Cheating Hearts is augmented by a lengthened intro with a slightly technoid feel and is a definite highlight of the set. Quite simply gorgeous. To finish the main set, we get the sublime Turn Into, just as good live as on record, emotional and beautiful, followed by Y Control, which makes it like my favourite song from the second album followed by my favourite song from the first. Fitting and sweet! The encore seems to take ages to arrive, but hey, it's not easy to change costumes like that, is it ? So Karen O comes up with another extravagant colourful all-covering costume with snazzy hood, and does her usual dedication before they start an acoustic but beautiful and emotional rendition of Maps ('the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' love song'). The contrast couldn't be any starker with the final track tonight, a furious Date With The Night, that gets the crowds in a frenzy. And that's it. Just over an hour. Yeah I suppose it's not easy to give that much energy for so much longer. And to be honest, there was never any time to get bored, it was lively, it was great. Sometimes it's not all about the duration of a set (after all they've only got two albums to their name), so only if I'd been slightly more upbeat myself would this have been better. So yeah, tonight felt like a very good gig I wasn't enought part of. But yeah, it was beautiful. And I'll say more yeahs (surely that's the worst review I've ever written, isn't it?).

 

Sleater-Kinney                              Le Nouveau Casino    22/5/2006    ****1/2

I have to admit: I only own one Sleater-Kinney album which I really like but hadn't listened to in a while. Still, I thought I owed to check them, and Dom Masters (of the Others) applied the finishing argument when he played one of their songs for me on Phoenix FM (Brentwood's only alternative). Reviewing a gig where I don't know most of the songs can only be short. But boy were they good. No support band means no time constraint really, and they made full use of that. A quick tuning up and they launched into the first song. The gig's a succession of stunning rock'n'roll numbers, with noise never drowning melodies. It's nice to see a band that can rock so hard while keeping the melodies within the riffs. Both singeer can also sing and howl, amazingly well too (some kind of PJ Harvey-ish voice, even though they're from Portland, Oregon). The girls are happy to be there, and even if there's a few moments your mind starts wandering away because it's all a bit samey, they never last very long, there's always a new interesting blast of rock around the corner. The energy's there, the tunes are there, stage presence exists too, and then there's the extra-long version of Entertainment to finish the main set, waow! An encore is duly performed, that doesn't quite live up to the rest I think, but then there's more to come. Just as the music starts playing and the lights come up again (but only just), the girls are back onstage, delighted to offer us a second encore. 'We're gonna play two more songs'. But then because they ask and the crowd seem to be divided when they ask us to choose between One Beat and End Of You for the first one, they're nice enough, and they play both, leaving themselves a third song to play ('that one will be our choice'). And these are crackers, with the vocal performance from both Carin and Corrie just surpassing everything they've just sung before. So here you are, one hour and a half of unadulterated Rock'n'Roll fun, the second encore being the lovely cherry on an already satisfying cake. Simply the best all-girl rock'n'roll band ever. There may not be that much competition, but hey, they're also in the top 5 all-genders band too. Easily.

The Flaming Lips                            Le Bataclan    28/4/2006    *****

I'm very tempted to make an exception and give it six stars. And that's even though was apparently struggling with voice problems so they had to cut a song or two from the set (so that the guy dressed as Superman didn't have his moment in the sun).

But anyway, yeah there was a support band, Midlake, kind of OK, very much with some kind of Mercury Rev/Grandaddy, real American music. Quite boring at times, fairly bland at others, but musically quite sound, and with their better tunes wisely played near the end. Wayne Coyne was cheering on them from the aisles, and they even came back for an encore, extremely rare for a support band, which turns out to be possibly their best song. Not too bad then.

Heading nearer the front of the stage, there's a growing sense of excitement as the stage is getting ready. I must admit I'm totally exhausted, not feeling so well but....the band themselves set up their gear, nice echoed camera on Wayne's mike stand, Wayne himself trying his mega projectors. Actually, the whole band set up their whole instrument, the whole budget being obviously spent on props rather than roadies. The smiles and the laughs and the anticipation, it's just so amazing how you just feel that something magical is going to happen tonight even before the first smoke machine has started. And when it starts....oh well, you don't know where to look, it all happens at the same time, the smoke comes in, the music starts, there's messages on the screen ('Welcome [etc]...'), gigantic green balloons coming from nowhere, confetti, then the smoke dissipates, you notice the bass player is wearing a skeleton costumen Wayne Coyne is wearing magical laser gloves, there's aliens on the left with projectors, Santas on the rightn a man in a Superman costumen a woman in some kind of Uncle Sam costume who takes pictures, it's just the start of a gigantic party and everyone's instantly enraptured. The green balloons are passed around and the last one dies well over halfway through the show I reckon. You really have to be there to believe it, and Race for the Prize is the first proper song to be performed tonight, but this hardly matters, yes it's brilliant, but tonight music is just one part of the show. Confetti cannons are nice, and the show's enhanced by double-neck guitars and bass, another amazingly decorated guitar and stuff like that. And then there's these effects through the camera (spooky), and Wayne Coyne's gigantic double headed foglamp projectors. It's like being on some happiness-inducing drugs despite not having taken anything. Part of the show is also the guitarist saying 'merci' in an extremely funny high-pitch processed voice. Little details like that still amuse after ten times. Musical highlights include Yoshimi, everyone sings along it's absolutely amazing, Wayne does Part 2 with a nun puppet in his hand and it's just more exhilarating joy. I'm not looking too far back, but I can't see how anyone could fail to join in the happiness tonight. Once more, all my  tiredness, being slightly down etc. is wiped out in a few masterstrokes. Wayne goes along with some half-political nonsense that's just lovely, there's a little game between him and us for the Yeah Yeah Yeah songn loads of loveliness (and self-publicity at times), and the Master of Ceremony (that's what he is tonight), is still having fun shaking his amazing headlamps at the floor, the balcony, or swinging another torch very very quickly around his head (how does he manage not to injure himself?), blowing the confetti cannon, using the Masters' megaphone, putting the balloons away with the head of his guitar, it's fun for him and it's fun for us. At some point he puts out what appears like a kid's casiotone instrument that he said they were offered by a fan. It's got keys that do animal sounds (it's actually called the Animal Band or something). And he proudly announced to the delirious acclaim of the crowd:  'and tonight we're gonna use the cow (mooh! mooh!)....and the duck (quack!quack!). Disappointly no use for the frog, but when these two animals fit into the song, it's just hilarious, especially the 'duck' bits in the chorus. How can you not love this show? They play old-ish favourite and breakthrough tune She don't use jelly with accompanying tasty video, and everyone sings along before Wayne Coyne gets the traditional blood bottle out for the mindblowing finale of Do You Realize? , cue more singalong, more confetti, and universal happiness and peace in the world. Possibly.

Which kind of makes the encore fitting : one single song (apparently Waiting for a Superman was planned but not played), maybe due to time constraints or Wayne's form?) but it's War Pigs, a Black Sabbath cover (hence the dedicace to Ozzy Osbourne) played to a backdrop of Bush imagery. I've still got confettin on my hair when I reach home, yes I was feeling absolutely dreadful before the gig, but here's the magic. Wayne Coyne for President! How this wasn't sold out (or at least until a day before the gig) remains a mystery to me. Surely that's part of a machiavellian plan to keep the wars raging. Or maybe this band's just too good an advertisement for drugs ? Last time I missed their gig due to last minute work commitments, I was well gutted after all I was told about them. Now I know. I'm glad I'll have seen at least one Flaming Lips gig in my life. I wouldn't mind seeing another one.

 

Architecture In Helsinki+Field Music                 La Maroquinerie    20/4/2006    ****

There was another band before, but apparently they were crap. So I come to a far from full Maroquinerie, just before Field Music start their set. Their album I didn't particularly like (see its review, sub Maxïmo Park/Futureheads to me), but live, they're a nice little band that bring a smile to your face. There's a lot of brotherly banter (David and Peter Brewis alternate between drums and guitar/bass). Songs blend into each other seamlessly, so there's not a second of breathing space, and as a result, the cheers only go every two or three songs ! There's no discernable structure to most songs either, but it's quite lovely, and if the music's nothing special, it's not bad either, they're constantly laughing, all this grinning is just contagious, and when they eventually leave the stage, you're left happy and contented. Isn't that the whole point of a gig after all?

When the members of Architecture in Helsinki come on stage to set up their instruments, you try to count them, but you have to wait until the gig actually starts to be sure. Tonight, there's 8 of them, playing all kind of instruments: loads of keyboards, but also various percussions (name them, they're surely there), trombone, tuba. It promises to be a joyous mess and it is indeed. I think I liked about 2-3 songs on their album, while the rest just passed me by. They play these and more tonight, among instrument swapping (they even swap drummers during a song at some point !), vocal exchanges, screams, it's very cheery, and the male singer has got this uncanny hability to sing in a very high pitch as well as quite a low one. This is not necessarily my favourite genre of music (and indeed I think it's typically the kinf of band I hate the fans of!), but they're having fun onstage, and once more it's quite contagious. They play the instrumental bit of Kraftwerk's Ohm Sweet Ohm to my great surprise and it just feels natural. They do two encores, which is nice and very rare, but in the end it's a good-times band that I would feel more appropriate to go see slightly tipsy one week-end rather than with a slight mid-week hangover. Some kind of Go! Team with more people but less good songs and without the naive joy of Ninja to enhance the connection with the audience. Still, an evening to leave you smiling, and with the final anecdote that outside the venue I me a guy who was at school with me and I hadn't seen for nearly 20 years or so. Not that we were best mates or anything, but we still managed to recognise eache other. Spooky !

Mogwai+The Magnificents                Le Bataclan    13/4/2006    *****

Here's a gig I nearly didn't go to. I felt quite ill in the evening, close to sick, was nearly tempted to sell my ticket on arrival (the gig was a sell-out), but boy am I glad I didn't do that! As a result of the last minute decision, I was slightly late and arrived while The Magnificents had already started their set. Given the nature of the gig and despite the 'sold out' tag, it wasn't too hard to get near-ish the front, so I duly did while keeping aware it might require me to use earplugs later on. The Magnificents were less fun than I expected them to be onstage, but they're a decent cinematic band, I was worried they'd get booed off the stage, but hey it's Mogwai so the audience's quite dignified. They have a couple of good moments, look like nice chaps, but there's no doubt their music would work better if it was being played to screen projections only. There's a real quality to that, much more than to their completely non-existent stage presence and their total lack of visual identity. But hey I guess it's nice for them to be playing here, and it's actually a decent warm-up for the main ourse.

There seems to be some technical problems (with a laptop) for Mogwai tonight, so they take to the stage possibly a few minutes later than expected, but when they do, they all turn up donning green tracksuit tops, possibly to celebrate Celtic's newly acquired Scottish League Championship crown. There's a Celtic scarf tied to the drumkit. The set is very much new album-centred with Auto-Rock opening the show, but more technical problems mean the setlist is slightly shuffled as soon as the second song. What can I say? I do have something against people checking setlists before the show (where's the pleasure in killing all surprise?), and also something about geeks cheering after half a note has been played to pretend or show that they recognised the song (sometimes it's valid, but with Mogwai ? When they started Helicon 1, I thought it was something else, can't remember what now...), but after a hesitant start (when Stuart jokes about making jokes when you have technical problems, and makes a joke I don't get), things get going with Stanley Kubrick, I forget about the people around me, the sound is just perfect and at the right level (no need for earplugs and my ears aren't even humming after the show!), they swap positions around (and have a guest member who looks familiar to me though he isn't) a lot, use the vocoder  (on Hunted by a Freak for instance). Nothing's played from Rock Action tonight, but we get Tracy, and later a mammoth Ratts of the Capital followed by a powerful Glasgow Mega-Snake and then suddenly it all stops. Wow! I haven't seen the time pass. Despite this being incredibly shorter than Babyshambles only two nights before, it's also been a complete success. That's when I realised it's been a great gig so far. Because I was feeling so-so at the start, and slightly weary of beard-stroking fans, I got completely caught in the music, it was just like incredible. There's three songs in the encore (including Friend of the Night, initially mooted to be played in the main set), and the concert finishes with new album closer We're No Here, suitably noisy again. The decision is quickly made to get a ticket to see them at L'Olympia in September. Now I feel the couple of attempts I've had at Olympia gigs so far were massive let-downs, but maybe this is the chance to put it right. And hopefully they'll be able to play longer. To think they finished their gig at a time when Peter Doherty was nowhere near the stage only two days before, they could have played long into the night. That's the only regret tonight. It was too short. Maybe that's the clever bit after all. If you'd asked me on monday, I would have said this was the gig I anticipated the least this week. However, Mogwai were the best gig this week. Hands down. And I didn't feel my bellyache at all during the gig, I felt perfectly fine (not so well later one, but it proves how much music gets you away from shit sometimes).

Adam Green                                    La Cigale      12/4/2006    ****

Having taken a day off, I could have been there early. But then it's Adam Green, no need to rush I'll still get a place down the front, won't I? Er, no, because amazingly, La Cigale is an all-seater tonight, something I'd never seen before. So the front rows are all full by the time I arrive, and I head for the stairs where I pick a decent seat, not the best in the house though.

The Jeffrey Lewis band open ths show today, and they're OK, a lovingly decorated acoustic guitar, bass player (Jeffrey's brother and he does a good job tonight) and a drummer, it's all set for a nice little set, and it turns out to be just that. It's very enjoyable, the songs are rather good, and the biggest cheers are reserved for the story of 'Champion Jim', nicely illustrated with a slideshow. The music takes a back seat there, but the story is hilarious. The other tunes are OK too, and the second slideshow number about the story of the Soviet Union is less convincing, but hey it's a nice little support here tonight.

The stage for Adam Green tonight comprises a park bench and lampbost, making it even more theatrical, cabaretical (if I dare invent the word) than last time. Adam Green staggers onstage, seemingly drunk or pretending to be The band turn up with a string quartet tonight, which gives most songs a different angle than last time around. But if something sums up the difference between this gig and the last time I saw him, it's the jacket. The crimson, velvety, warm jacket of Le Trabendo is replaced by a khaki military-style jacket tonight, and there's none of the warmth and intimacy that was present last year. He doesn't overdo it tonight (not doing the slug or rabbit choreography until very very late in the show), still cracks a few good joked (can't transcribe them all, now a month later I don't actually remember them, don't want to try remembering them, there's no need), and proves himself an accomplished showman. Again, there's an acoustic session in the middle of the gig this time, but What a Waster is not part of it. Adam invites some girl onstage to dance with him at some point, but she's quickly followed by some of her mates, and unlike last time, it just feels like silly groupies time rather than fun time. Some easy lip-reading on the girl actually shows how pathetic this is. But Adam is undeterred and proceeds professionally, asking for less lights on another song, Friends of Mine, Drugs, Emily, the songs are being played and the set eventually ends. For the encore, Adam plays a little prank with his bandmate, saying they've taken control of him. They're all at their instruments and suddenly rush towards him to kick him and leave him alone to perform another acoustic bit. No Legs is being played first, and at people's insistance What a Waster, which is accompanied by the most ridiculous stage invasion ever witnessed. A bunch of teenage Libs fans come on, hijack the microphone (they don't even get the words right), hug and dance, but frankly, this is ridiculous and they don't let the man perform tonight. As a result (or not), Mr Green says that tonight it's his show, he'll do no request etc. He's still doing the job though, with his hummed introduction to Jessica in French (sorry I was going to type it, but I can't actually remember it, something like 'Jessica Simpson, c'est la plus moche' ), and the set end with Dance With Me, where he's accompanied onstage by the ever present Paolo, for a little cartoonesque and funny pas-de-dance that's much better than all the previous invasions. So all in all, it's not such a bad gig, but there's not the same warm friendly improvised atmosphere that was so endearing at Le Trabendo last time. Adam Green's still a top performer, but something's not there tonight (apparently he was very tired), and talking to a fellow gig-goer after tonight, it seems like I'm not the only one to have this opinion on the gig.

Babyshambles+The Holloways                                   Le Bataclan     11/4/2006    ?????

Whenever Peter Doherty is involved these days, it's hard to sort out facts from rumours, and tonight is no different. So I'll start with whatever was commonly believed before the gig, and put the things I learned the next day at the end of the review. As you will see, it puts quite a different perspective on the whole thing, with Peter being both exploited and exploitative. Anyway, according to Le Triptyque, Peter was supposed to do an acoustic show there on monday evening, but he didn't turn up, because he was allegedly held up at customs for drugs possession. Turns out later it's most probably a load of old cobblers, but as I said, more on that later.

Me and a mate get a bye through near the front of the queue through someone we know, but it's still a massive scramble when the doors open, later than was planned, already fuelling rumours about will he/won't he turn up? Passing by, I hear someone say Pete's on the plane right now, which seems bizarre but possible. No way I'm getting at the front tonight, I'm not in a form or mood to withstand hysterical teenagers tonight. So we settle at the bar, and there's very very few people there as everyone gets to the front. A few beers on, the support band start at....9pm, the time headliners normally start around these parts. Something's definitely afoot there, Peter's late, that's one thing you can be certain about now. The Holloways start like many sub/post-Libs/Padds bands, they seem OK but nothing special. But then they announce 'this is Great Britain', 'it's ironic by the way', and you start to pay notice, because despite the fucked up violin (oh maybe that was on another song, but there definitely was a technical/tuning glitch with it), the second part of the song is really interesting, exciting stuff indeed, and when they announce a brand new song (what difference is it to most people who don't know their songs yet?), it turns out to be even better. New single Happiness and Penniless is also a corker, and then they even manage to make the violin work. After that, they're just coasting a little, so the set is a little bit too long, but hey we had to wait for Peter anyway.

And the wait is long. It goes on forever actually. The Holloways finished their sets at about 9.40pm, so expectations are to have Babyshambles by 10pm. Not a chance. So what with curfew normally being at around 10.30pm? If they don't play, there's gonna be a riot tonight. Talking about that, what about the audience ? It's a mix between teenage screams, bored curious people, and real music fans. The TV cameras go along, it's an event for some more than a gig. Me I'm just here for the music, but obviously some people are there just to pour scorn on that man. Do these people pay for their tickets ? Viciousness knows no bounds then...Anyway, after some time, Drew and Adam get on stage to fine-tune bass and drums, and the bass riff from A Rebours gets massive cheers from the crowd. Still no sign of Peter though. Shortly before 11pm, when people are starting to contemplate leaving (I'm pretty sure some have already left actually), a rumour announces Pete Doherty near the bar, can't see him from where I stand, and I don't want to risk losing my decent-ish spot. A couple of minutes later, a man clambers onstage and announces, sweating but with visible relief 'you've been waiting for him, HE'S HERE, HE'S HERE'. Pete comes in from the right, travelbag on the shoulder and guitar (still in its case) in tow, gives us a little wave, while the rest of the band perform the intro to Belle et la Bête, and promptly exits stage left. From the back of the room, there's a little scare that that was it, he just was present but won't play. But never fear, because he was just getting rid of his bag and he ambles back onstage, trilby fixed on the head, sporting a white shirt and trademark braces (with which he plays all night long). While the intro to the song still goes on, Pete puts a melodica to his mouth but fails to extract a coherent song out of it. There's serious doubts about his ability to perform tonight, or is that just part of the act? It's become impossible to say. When he eventually picks up his guitar, the signs are not promising, the first notes seem well out of tune and melody, and when he starts singing, we're not to sure whether to laugh or cry. As it turns out he's just warming up, Belle et la Bête turns out OK in the end, he manages to get some words and chords on it, and well I guess the palpable relief in the crowd comes from his presence, just that. All is well in the world, only about an hour and a half late. After that, that's a bizarre gig, Peter can actually play the guitar and sing the words, but sometimes he needs his roadie to tune the guitar, and sometimes he also need him to play some guitar parts himself. The set itself is not quite what would be expected to quench the thirst of fans who've been waiting so long for the man to turn up. There's at least 4 new songs, ranging from dire rock'n'roll by numbers to sweet Doherty draft tunesmithery (one song sounds a bit like Last Post on the Bugle), a couple of Libs' songs that provoke the expected rapturous reaction (What Katy did 'cleverly' appearing before the Shambles' What Katie did next), most notably Time For Heroes of course. Although it doesn't quite get the reception it could, the new songs having dampened the crowd's enthusiasm somewhat already. Peter talks (or rather slurs) a fair bit, bit he seems a lot more coherent than at Rock en Seine last year for instance. He manages to catch things being thrown at him fairly well, he seems to be more or less in control, jokes and starts playing charade (it's a film yeah, three words, no...two words), asks for a cigarette and get thrown tens. Someone throws their keys onstage, and after some hesitation he throws them back instead of handing them in to someone responsible, he reads of few lines from books that have been thrown at him. But at no time is the gig really brilliant. Killamangiro is played, but there's an enormous lot of the good songs missing: Back from the dead, do you know me ?, 32nd of December etc.etc. are not played tonight, they would have sustained the passion and interest a lot more than the so-so new songs. It hurts to say, but the gig tonight manages to be really boring at times. Yes a gig featuring Pete Doherty and I got bored. The guitarist violonist from The Holloways is handiliy dragged along to play on Loyalty Song, nice idea, and the main set finished after about an hour (the duration is possibly the most impressive thing about this gig) with Albion, but again the version is not gonna be an imperishable memory.

So encore and no encore ? Fuck Forever has not been played, the crowds are baying for more, and even though it's midnight, the threat of a riot is still tangible in the air. I would think the decend thing is to have them come back on quickly to perform Fuck Forever and send everyone home happy-ish. Turns out it's not the plan at all. What the plan is or was or who's in charge is unclear, but the lights come back on, though people won't leave. So for about 10 minutes, there's doubts about the rest of the evening, until Drew comes back to tune again, signalling the probability of the encore, the lights eventually go out again, and the band come back all onstage (with added roadie/guitarist) to play Fuck Forever to a relieved but frenzied reaction from the audience. But it's not over yet, no this is not the final song, so Stix and Stones follow, the quiet bits alternating with the speedy bits (especially speedy and violent tonight), Peter breaks yet another microphone when he throws it violently to the ground, but jaws are gaping at last. Peter sends his guitar into a bewildered audience before getting it back, and there is another song yet to come, the final one this time, Pipe Down, a cracking song that (pun fully intended), during which the microphone stands thrown into the audience this time, and it's a miracly if nobody got seriously injured tonight. And then it ends, We just catch the last train home by about 5 seconds (practically a miracle, as I had to wait for someone I was hosting who had their coat in the cloakroom), and I'm left with a very bizarre impression of this gig. The encore kind of really saved the day, but what was that all about? The performance was better than last year, but the atmosphere wasn't, and it still wasn't a vintage gig anyway, and sometimes being late can be forgiven if you make up by putting out the gig of your life, but it wasn't the case, this was a seriously flawed gig with too much time wasted on a few shit songs. So confusion was the only thing I got from this gig, hence the rating.

But now on to the truth or not about the previous night and this one. Apparently the Triptyque acoustic jaunt was only a set up by the record company of the other bands involved, hoping to get people in, despite Peter (true he was offered to play) never having confirmed his appearance. So no Eurostar customs arrest and all. That's the flipside of the coin, people trying to make their money out of Peter Doherty and then using the easy drug excuse when he doesn't turn up. Pathetic. However, on the other side was Peter's late appearance at the Bataclan. True, there were problems on the Eurostar due to a house collapsing on the tracks in the South of England. But while it may have cause Pete to arrive later than expected in Paris, or possibly look for alternative means of transport (plane) if the lines were completely stopped, it turns out Drew told someone in the afternoon that Peter had taken the Eurostar and was in Paris in the afternoon. And while it's still possible that the rest of the band don't know the whereabouts of Mr Doherty most of the time, Drew may have been right in this case. I heard the news that Pete was indeed in his hotel room, but not on his own, all afternoon in Paris, probably getting wasted. So imagie saving for him and the venue would explain the other line, but it's very probable indeed that this was just Pete at his most selfish and pathetic, as he can be sometimes. It leaves a strange sour taste about the gig, but then Pete's so far up his lost world, he didn't even turn up for his court appearance the next day in London, being 'held up' in Paris...Oh dear!

 

The Rakes+Absentee                                Le Trabendo    8/4/2006 *****

I don't know why I bother mentioning the support band here. Like most support bands (Noisettes excepted), they're so-so. Actually for quite a few minutes, I think they're even possibly worse than Dr Dog, albeit with a singer whose distinctive voice would make Mark Lanegan sound like a soprano. But they get better after a while, and they save their best three songs for the end, and these aren't actually too bad. So there's some decent stuff there, but they're hardly the appropriate warm-up act for The Rakes.

And tonight, The Rakes are on top form. Despite not being so well positioned (mostly due to meeting friends before the gig), and staying sober (due to the shenanigans of the night before - funnily enough and at the time of writing so that's up to the Lips' gig, I haven't been drunk once at a gig this year yet), I find myself truly enraptured tonight. After the short intro music, the band come on stage, Lasse looking very classy tonight, and tear straight into Terror!, where the guitar riff sound like an octave lower than usual to me, but that's nothing wrong, just the first indication of Matthew Swinnerton ability to improvise tonight. All throughout the show, there's some added bits here and there that I'm pretty sure weren't there before. Anyway, Retreat as the second song cannot fail to provoke mayhem, and so it proves. Alan Donohoe's on fine form tonight, playing with his voice even when he's just speaking (or squeaking), changing range all the time, and moving like a supercharged Jarvis Cocker on overload. As a novelty, tonight, there's a fifth member (some bloke called Ethan Jones if I get it right), playing the keyboards, or sometimes the tambourine. He first appears on We are all Animals, where he can't really be heard but that changes later on. But for now, the Rakes play a little cover version of Gainsbourg's Poinçonneur des Lilas, called Man With a Job, and to the delight of the local crowds, they even sing the chorus in French at the end (Alan reading straight from a paper while still twitching like a man possessed) :'des ptits trous, des ptits trous....'. Lovely. Work work work, The Guilt, T-bone with added tambourine are just highlight after highlight, effortlessly delivered, and then Alan gets into ranting mode, dedicating the next three (!) songs to the sensitive side of the Rakes' support, namely the ladies. This starts with recent single All Too Human (where keyboards really play their part), which confirms them at complete ease with Franz Ferdinand-type disco tunes (only better), and then Open Book, additionally dedicated to Zinedine Zidane (for those who don't know, this soundtracks an advert in France featuring ZZ) and 'good luck for the world cup!'. Binary Love predictably but nicely closes this trilogy. Alan still trills and thrills. There's a couple of B-sides played in the set, and then Matthew plays a few sweet ironic chords ('Do it right Matthew!'), while Alan tells a little joke about a girl meeting a boy, but 'it turns out he's a 50 year old man on myspace.com' he screams, before launching into a sweltering (and aptly named) Violent triggering an all-out pogo in front of the scene. Before the final song of the main set, Alan lays the plans clear for everyone 'we'll play one more song, and then we'll go backstage blahblahblah (sic) cocaine blahblahblah Kate Moss blahblahblah...and then we'll be back for an encore'. Follows an excellent version of 22 Grand Job, and then whatever he said, minus Kate Moss for sure and minus Charlie possibly. The first man to come back onstage is the keyboardist, and he plays some atmospheric synths layers, then Lasse joins him to add some drums, and when Jamie and Alan join them, the song suddenly morphs into The world was a mess but his hair was perfect, and you just know that nobody's gonna pull the plug this time (see previous Rakes' gig review from me if you don't know what I'm on about). What follows is like a complete version of it (though possibly not the full 13 odd minutes), a beautiful highlight that could go on forever without a hint of boredom. Alan then tells another story of how they went to Texas and had to stick for us (French) guys there, so the next song is for that. No it's not yet what you think, it's another B-side (Something clicked an I fell off the edge). The final riotous Strasbourg wrap things up for tonight, and it's a total winner. Tonight I have witnessed a band on top of their game. Even though they're still a relatively new band, it's amazing how they have improved over a year. Tonight, they are absolutely phenomenal, and they have everything: the tunes, the presence and the charisma. They're defenitely ready for phase 2 of their career now, whatever that is.

The Kooks+The Noisettes                                     Le Nouveau Casino  3/4/2006 (**** but ***** but ****)

This ratings business is getting harder: do you rate the headliners, the overall line-up or just how good your evening was ?

Anyway, few words on first support band Brooklyn. Only few, because like most parisians bands before them, they lack any talent or originality. I'm sorry to differ with quite a few opinions I heard, but this boy-girl(bass)-boy trio offer nothing to me. We've heard it all before, it's not shit, no, no it's not what I mean, but it's just not interesting. There's only about two songs that stand out. One called Lighthouse, because it has a dynamic riff there, and some good singing, and the set closer. But then that's only because it's largely plundered from a Bloc Party. recipe. In the context of the gig it sounds like a good finale, but honestly it's just like a tame Bloc Party. tribute.

That's too many words already, because next on the bill are The Noisettes. Boy-girl-boy trio, where the girl occasionally plays bass. Oh hang on..but no, not at all. Because from the moment Singer Chingai steps on the stage, drummer Jamie pounds his skins like a man possessed and guitarist Dan launches into the first incendiary riff, something is happening. The sex composition of the band is about the only thing that's common between Brooklyn and The Noisettes. There's something absolutely fascinating in the bare-footed singer switching from howling mode to sweet and melodic singing (she even goes as far as singing a few note of Frère Jacques (a french nursery rhyme) inbetween songs at some point. Anyway, a few days later, I'm struggling to find the right words to describe the set, but tonight The Noisettes are a revelation. Single Iwe is the only song I just know the name of prior to the gig, but it epitomises the Noisettes formula. Bundles of energy alternating with hushed moments. But no, that's not doing them justice. The crowd is quickly enraptured, spontaneous bursts of pogoing develop, the crowd also gets involved by Shingai during Don't give up (another trademark tune), it's all absolutely captivating and tonight The Noisettes are my favourite new band and their set is just perfection. The right duration, never letting you off the hook. They're all very tired after a lengthy tour travelling all four corners of the world, but they give their all. The tunes are addictive, the drumming is impressive, and then there's that woman. She plays the guitar, she plays the bass (complete with 'Police Line Don't Cross'  yellow strap), quite impressively too, and she's got an amazing voice. When she howls like for most of the early part of the show tonight, she just sounds powerful, but when she just purrs and sings quietly as at the start of one of the songs, you realise how amazing and soulful her voice truly is. Yes, they blew me away, and I was glad I got the chance to tell them after the gig. The gig ends with everyone enraptured, and it's practically an impossible job for The Kooks to follow.

As it happens, they acquit themselves honourable with the task. Yes, after The Noisettes they seem very very predictable, churning the tunes from their album (including a tune I had in the head earlier but didn't know was theirs !), but they don't overdo it, get a great reception (after all, as headliners, you would assume most people still came for them), and play their happy tunes with convincing enthusiasm. I don't have much to say about the gig really, only that it's the kind of band I'd love to see on a sunshiny festival afternoon while drunk on cider or something. In the evening darkness of Nouveau Casino, it's all right, they're fine, it's a solid performance, but can't play on their sunshiny vibe factor. But you know, coming on after The Noisettes they simply didn't stand a chance.

All in all, a pleasant evening, I have absolutely no regret about missing Dirty Pretty Things in Le Trabendo on the same day, and I'll get that Art Brut ticket for the end of May now. Yes, you've guessed. The Noisettes are supporting. Yay !

The Go! Team+The Pipettes                              Le Trabendo    9/3/2006 -------> 10/5/2006    *****

Two months later than planned, The Go! Team take to the Trabendo, Pipettes still in tow. So was it worth the wait?

Well, entering the Trabendo I find there's more people than I expected, maybe the couple of months' extra sale have been useful after all. The Pipettes start shortly after, introduced by the backing band. Well, what can I say? It's quite original, refreshing, doesn't really belong to this century and is slightly hard to grasp. Their main quality is probably that they're...quite fit. It's all songs about the girls being naughty, the choreographies are funny-ish, the harmonies not so wonderful, and the music very old-school 60s pop. On the down size, they really can't sing very well, and the tunes are quite repetitive, most songs not being distinguishable from the others. On the plus size however, they manage to get the crowds going in the end (though I still don't know how you can dance to that, apart from ironically), and finish their set with the best bits. Future single Pull Shapes is very catchy indeed and could well be a hit, while closer We are the Pipettes lingers in the mind long after it finishes.I won't  rush to buy the album when it's out, but for now I guess the boys are happy and everyone's giggling.

The Go! Team haven't necessarily changed much in a year, but they've honed their act and feel like a more compact band now. There's still six of them, but instrument swapping seems more anecdotical, everything's so much tighter, but they still know how to throw a party. The great Panther Dash starts proceedings with a bang straight away. Ninja's still all smiles in her orange hoodie, even though she speaks even less French than before (no little piece of paper this time, that's why). We get treated to a set which is full of non-album tracks, some B-sides, other new ones, and they're all great. There's the majestic instrumental atmospherics of The Icestorm, which threatens to morph into an explosive monster but unfortunately doesn't. It's followed by the raggatastic feast that is The Wrath of Mikey, before Huddle Formation brings us back to familiar territory and also triggers the first stage-diving act of the night (by Paolo, who else?). The Power is On (and the party's on too : is that the crowd singing? Like for the Lips a few days earlier, it's such a happy atmosphere.....) is followed by the touching Hold Yr Terror Close, with only Ian on the keyboard and drummer Chi singing plaintively, she actually seems close to tears at the end. Then the band come back, Ninja with the hood up, and Junior Kickstart gets the biggest reception tonight, what a choon! There's a bit more audience interaction next (oh did I mention the 'Go! Go! Go!' 'Team! Team! Team!' were integrated a lot better tonight?), involving 'Do it! Do it!'  (in true Starsky&Hutch film-style) followed by 'All right! All right!', and a couple of songs later, Ninja announces 'put your hands on your hand because we're gonna bring the roof down'. Bring the roof down they do with the monumental Titanic Vandalism (this one's new I reckon) to close the main set in suitably chaotic fashion. This truly bodes well for the future of the Team. The encore consists in the lovely banjo-assisted Everyone's a VIP to Someone followed by Ladyflash with complete extended outro jam, and then everyone can go home happy and smiling, knowing they haven't waited two months for nothing. The only slight disappointment (for me) is that the original friday gig has been moved to a wednesday, so I can't party all night.

The Go! Team only started as a solo project by Ian Parton, with no real idea of touring or anything. But then he assembled this touring band, and they seem to have grown up together. Still recently, the man said he had no idea whether there was a future for the Team (and it's true the album's already a couple of years old now and they're still touring it), but by the sound of it tonight, there is a future. Now they really are playing as a band, and there's a wide-ranging palette of tracks, from the quiet atmospheric to the loud energetic Ninja-led stompers, and they have improved over the last year no doubt. The sky's the limit really, and in any case, they're a great party band.

And to think they're opening for The Flaming Lips in the UK, there's a massive party happening out there: pair these two bands together and you've probably found the ultimate cure against depression.

Hard-Fi                                          La Maroquinerie    4/3/2006    N/A

Well, I did the wise thing and didn't go to this gig on the night before the Half-Marathon because I would have struggled to really enjoy it serenely. I didn't do too well in that race though, so what was the point ?

Kaiser Chiefs+We are Scientists      Le Bataclan    28/2/2006    ***

You know what ? I could easily not review this one. Because I could send you back to the previous review for each band. Because not much at all had changed inbetween my last gig with either band and this one. Not enough indeed. Oh and there's another band that played before (The Chalets), but they weren't advertised, and they played before the official time displayed on the tickets. French organisation, heh ? Well so the review will be very short, but not acerbic, I don't have anything very nasty to say. The sound for We Are Scientists is better than at Le Nouveau Casino last time around, but somehow they seem to be lost on too big a stage for them. The crowds go for it more than last time, they set is probably not very different, but I think they play it better, great start to the set, a bit of a lull in the middle, and they finish a lot better with recovered vigour. Yeah the venue's a bit too big for them and it's only fitting that they announce that they'll be playing La Maroquinerie in April. No I won't bother, especially as they make the same mistake again, playing their Great Escape to finish the set, a well overrated song.

My only expectations for the Kaiser Chiefs (especially standing back for once rather than sweating out near the front) is for them to play a few new songs. The fact that they don't only adds to the relative disappointment I feel all through the evening anyway. Maybe it's the fact that I'm not drunk (only a few days before the half-marathon). Or maybe it's the fact that Ricky Wilson repeats the exact same tricks than during his last set in Paris. The opening Dire Straits music. Oh OK he doesn't throw himself into the songs in the first minute, but he does the same jumps, crowdsurfs at the same moments, does the same 'raise your hand' trick. Oh yeah they play Time Honoured Tradition that they didn't play last time, Take My Temperature is moved to the end of the main set instead of figuring in the encore.But apart from that, there's absolutely nothing new on Planet Ricky, it's still great. But if you're seeing it for the third time in a year, and the venue gets bigger each time, this show is kind of wearing thin. What next ? Le Zenith ? Even if they had new songs, I would give it a miss. Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party., Kaiser Chiefs ? Is there some kind of pattern there ? Good. But strictly for newcomers.

A little anecdote to finish with : The Magic Numbers played in Paris the same night. I briefly met them in a bar, but didn't get the chance to speak to them. I would have felt silly saying : 'oh you're brilliant, your gig last time was absolutely sublime but er, I didn't get to see you this time cos I just went to see Kaiser Chiefs instead. Especially as I didn't feel vindicated by my choice : I might have enjoyed the Numbers more tonight, although there was the risk of 'third gig in a year syndrome' there too.

Arctic Monkeys+Mystery Jets                                Le Trabendo        24/2/2006    *****

A month later, I find myself thinking: oh why didn't I write the reviews straight away? The silly but probably true answer is: because I hadn't finished the reviews from all the previous 2006 gigs. So what will be left of it with so few notes, I don't know. Maybe it will just make my work easier after all. For a start, I didn't know Mystery Jets were opening until shortly before the gig and I was well chuffed with that, because for once it made two band I really wanted to see. To be fair, being quite suspicious about all the Monkeys hype and having only half-enjoyed their album (it's OK, there's a couple of songs I really like, but....), I was thinking : oh at least there's one band I might enjoy tonight.

I made my way to my now favourite spot in the venue when I'm not in the moshpit : in front of the middle of the stage, up the first step to allow me agood view.

So Mystery Jets reached the stage to the tribal chanting of 'Zoo Time! Zoo Time!' and it was quite a start. By the sound of it, loads of people around me hadn't heard of them, but were progressively conquered by their mix of every genre of music that's ever existed. When they started speaking, quite a few people seemed to wondered whether they were French (haha! but to be fair Blaine apparently spent some time in France, and the bass player speaks French like I speak English, apparently he's studying in a French school in London). So they announced themselves as 'half French' just to humour the crowds, but to be honest it didn't matter. Despite loads of problems with the sound (the mix just didn't feel right), they entertain and amaze in equal fashion, they are truly amazing, and it's a pleasant surprise. Most (well OK, many is more appropriate I think) have heard of You Can't Fool Me Dennis, which is loudly cheered for (I was nearly tempted to come here with my Bergkamp shirt here, even if the song's not about him), but as I said, the rest is also enough to win people over, the new songs are really good too, and just before starting the final Alas Agnes, they seem to spot en enthusiastic guy in the crowd and offer him to perform onstage with them. So the guitarist lends him his guitar, the bloke asks for a plectrum, which he gets off a member of the audience (the Jets don't use plectrums, they pick the chords with their fingers, proper!), Blaine asks if he knows the chords and...well the guy doesn't, he's a bit of a tosser, gets a few chords from Purple Haze completely wrong or something and then is asked to go off cos they want to do the song, you know. Oh well, it was a nice gesture, didn't work out, but could have if they'd come across someone less engrossed with himself. Anyway, Blaine tells us that this last song has a bit of a rhythm to it and it would be nice if people danced. But unfortunately, this being a French 'hype' public coming from the Monkeys (although at some point in the set, the response to 'Do You Like Arctic Monkeys?' is somewhat underwhelming it has to be said, proving the audience is after all here principally for themselves.....), it doesn't really happen, and the public stays quite static for this otherwise fantastic song. It makes me feel a bit sad, and also slightly negative about the upcoming Monkeys set (though by no fault of theirs, just the audience's really).

But, once more, a band just won me over. The Monleys did it, and I don't know why. I'm ignoring the massive crowd-surfing epidemy (and the not so-nice bouncers) and outrageous pogo bouts happening in front of the stage, and I'll just talk about the band and the songs. Or possibly just the band. I know they are young, but the first thing that struck me when they appeared onstage was that they indeed looked very very yound. Funnily enough, they may have a bit of a monkey-ish demeanour to them (fat clumsy bass player, guitarist built like brick shithouse and scruffy singer), but what really strikes is their young rosy cheeks. Charismatic doesn't initially strike as the first word to describe Alex Turner, but there's something totally magnetic about his presence onstage. Maybe it's just the white jumper with the white Fender, or maybe it's the way the stage is lit tonight, but you can't take your eyes off him. At first he mumbles very incoherently invetween the songs, and you kinda feel sorry for him ('son, just concentrate on the music, your babbling doesn't make any sense, you're gonna crash into a wall'), but there's something awkwardly affecting at work there, an uncanny charm, and little by little, he also grows in confidence, if only talking to a few people near the front of the stage, or taking the piss out of one of his bandmates or someone else in the audience. Or maybe it's just the cider which he makes a point of lauding at various points during the gig ('natural trouble', just your normal Normand bottled cider, probably very light in alcohol, don't get fooled, it's not Strongbow, definitely not enough to get him drunk I would say). Either way, the fumbling young man who took the stage at 9pm is still a fumbling young man at 10pm, but by then he's gained more confidence, he sounds like a nice down-to-earth lad who's just having a good time, and more importantly, he's got the crowds in his pockets. In the end I'm blown away, it's been a truly amazing gig, even the songs I liked less on record appear very good (though the concluding A Certain Romance to me remains extremely overrated), and there's frenzy moshing all along. There's nothing remotely funny or clever about anything Alex Turner ever says tonight (just the way he says it though), but as a band tonight, they proved truly brilliant, and like a very good dish, you can't always discern all the ingredients that come into the recipe, but they just work together to produce this. As I said, I was fairly disappointed about the album, and very wary about the hype, and it was going to take something special to convince me tonight, maybe even more after Mystery Jets, but hey kudos to them, they did it. Having said that, I obviously declined to buy a ticket for their next gig (it was sold out by then anyway), whereas I'd jump on the chance to see the Jets again. But tonight, I got a grasp and understood what the fuss was about. Will it last, I don't know, but it was well worth it. Do believe the hype !

Clap your Hands say Yeah                Le Trabendo    13/2/2006    ****

I'd better not talk too much about the support band Dr Dog. Apparently most people found them good, but they're just the archetype of the rubbish band to me. Woolly hats, hirsute boys, some with unnecessary shades, then there's the drummer with th driver's cap. Even Nelson are possibly better. If at least they'd all be like the two hairy boys with the white shirts, looking part of the same sect, I'd king od understand, but no, there's no unity in the look so I don't get the point. No melody, no energy, no style, no substence, even no proper singing, no really nothing. But then a lot of people like Ocean Colour Scene too.

So I was understandly pleased when Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (allow me to shorten it to CYHSY if I need to mention their name again) took the stage. I have to admit it's one of these gigs I wasn't sure of, got the ticket early enough on the back of the buzz they'd created, before getting the album. I liked the album OK, but not in a way that would have pushed me to see them perform, and I'd heard a lot of people saying they were rubbish live. So the odds were stacked against them, but after a slow start, they won me over with the sheer quality of their music and songwriting. Yes I understand that Alex Ounsworth whiny voice can be grating and annoying but I got used to that, and the sound was just really good (as almost always in this venue), and the songs had an appealing sense of melody and charm that I didn't quite expect, exuding more charisma than I could have imagined. One or two songs aside, I can never remember their titles, but of course my favourites were the New Order-tinged one, especially the one during which the unfortunate bass player broke a string not just once, but twice, so having to use a third bass guitar from the support band I thing. In This Home On Ice is another one that has a N.O. vibe I enjoyed, but all around the set you could fine some great, quasi-hypnotic songs, and it was a classic example of a set that just got better as it went on and I was well captivated by the end of the main set, finding them very very good,  which really wasn't a given at the start. So yeah, a lot of great tunes, but keeping a sense of perspective, there's this nagging feeling that if they really had an outstanding voice that  could transcend the songs, rather than just a very distinctive whine to go along with it, these boys could climb up another division. However, as is sometimes the case, they came back for an encore that was a step too far. Whereas the main set was a constant progression, the following release wasn't a prelude to more joy, but a moment to regain consciousness and realise that all their compositions aren't up to scratch. So as it happened, the encore rather bored me, with two rocking by numbers but totally uninteresting songs, and another slow and just as underwhelming one. The bass player seemed to be looking at the walls, stage presence that was always at a premium appeared completely non-existent, charisma disappeared, and interaction with the public, not necessarily their strong point anyway, just faded completely. Or maybe it had been like that all gig ? Just a word of advice boys: if the stage is not your kingdom, just play the 'growing' kind of set, with your best songs at the end, and leave it at that. No encore. That was true for Yeti (writes he, retrospectively, nearly two months later), it's true for you too.

 

Art Brut                                    La Maroquinerie    6/2/2006    ***(*)

So back to La Maroquinerie a few weeks later, and this time it's absolutely packed. I arrive just as the opening band finish, which is like the ideal moment to sneak in and manage to get to a spot with a decent view (funnily enough, as I'm typing that at the end of March, I haven't been to the front of the stage for any of the gigs this year so far, amazing ! Apart from The Mardous, but that was a special gig, not reviewed, because I forgot to, or because it was once again to me more like seeing mates play, so it's hard to review).

  Another strange bunch, these. Apart from main man Eddie Argos, there' s a plump girl with purple shades on bass, a new guitarist who's probably scandinavian (his name is Jasper, and he indeed looks like he could play in Roxette), an unbeknowable extra guitarist, and a standing drummer who looks a but like Sting. 'Form a band, we formed a band' opens the show in suitably chaotic fashion, My Little Brother features the inevitable dig at Pete D at the end. If you don't know, the final lyrics of this go 'Stay off the crack....', tonight complemented by 'don't be like Pete Doherty, if he's such a genius, why can't he face the world straight?', stuff I obviously don't cheer for. But Eddie Argos is a tremendous frontman, goes out for a little pogo and crowd-surfing in the crowd during Modern Art ('makes me want to rock out'), changing the lyrics to Moving to L.A. ('there's not much glam about the French weather'), also choreographing the song so that everyone points in one direction (which I wouldn't be surprised to find is towards the actual direction of LA but it doesn't matter), little jokes, little anecdotes before Rusted Guns of Milan or hits like Good Weekend and Emily Kane. There's a few new songs being played (Eddie explains 'it's a new song but it's being sung with the old lyrics for the last time' cos he's got some new ones for it now), quite good actually. The most important thing that they got right today was like, unlike for the Mardous a few days before, they got the voice right up in the mix, way above the instruments, which, let's face it, for a band like Art Brut where the lyrics are the most important bit, is just an absolute necessity. The band, especially new boy Jasper and his silly poses are very much just performing a backing soundtrack to the main attraction.

The encore is well up to the task too, starting slowly with Stand Down, then a short 18,000 Lira before morphing Bad Weekend into the Kinks' You Really Got Me then back ('Art Brut, Top Of The Pops!', repeated ad lib, changing also with 'Steeple Remove, Top Of The Pops!' (they were the support band), and getting more fast and furious until the final climax when everyone including Eddie just goes berserk.

Eddie Argos says they'll be back in Paris soon, and that he wants us all to have formed a band by then, that he'll have memorised all our faces and will be very disappointed and furious and will kill us if we haven't. Well, I might give the next gig a miss then. They may not be the most compelling band to watch in the world, but nevertheless, Art Brut is a gig you must go and see at least once if they play in your town.

 

 

Brakes+Yeti                             La Maroquinerie    19/1/2006    ***(*)

OK here we go for the first gig of the year, seems like there will be a few in La Maroquinerie this time. A suitably low-key for a start with a far less than empty venue to see the least famous Libertine I would say.But first support act Joseph d'Anvers, plays varied stuff but sings like every French chanteur you can imagine. Ultimately he manages the trick to bore me through variety. I nearly fall asleep even during the light bits; all I want tonight is some light pop.

    Thankfully Yeti are on hand to provide exactly that. Sweet sixties' harmonies and jangly guitars. With Yeti, I will have now seen all three 'solo' libs project. This lot had a head start (I'm not counting the first incarnation of a band called Babyshambles that had nothing to do with the current line-up apart from Peter obviously), sort of pointing out that John Hassall was also probably the least happy person to be in the Libs. Anyway, a bad of laughs they aren't, there is hardly any smile in sight on the stage for a start, and they make the guy from Joseph d'Anvers appear positively beaming in retrospect. But while John was -- and still is -- always the serious Lib, the one least likely to, there's some seriously good and classic songwriting at the heart of this project. Wearing his posh flat cap, you can see the man is tense just playing here in front of an adoring audience, but he's happy relishing frontman duties to his co-writer, co-guitarist (a man going by the fitting name of 'Harmony' -- there's loads of them beautifully sung tonight), just placed centre-stage practically by mistake. There's a certain melancholy emerging from the singing and the strumming, but this is all charmingly devoid of any pretension or grandiloquence. John even manages to crack a couple of shy smiles near the end, when we announces 'we only have time for one more but we don't...', kind of confusedly, like joking to himself. Never Lose your sense of Wonder is a true pop gem, while the final track from the main set, The Last Time You Go, is another golden nugget. The band leave the scene quietly and modestly, unfortunately coming back for an unwelcome  (well welcome by its presence by most, very superfluous if you ask me, and most unwelcome to me in its content) encore consisting of an extended jam of Vampire Blues. It's a shame really, because this self-indulgent display of their muso talents diverts the focus from the nice byrdsian cute 60s leaning displayed previously. Special mention to the main backing vocalist with the acoustic guitar who also takes the lead singing on that final stunning gem on the main set. To be fair, he could well be the true frontman here. So yeah, lovely little band, but there's no real spark so the jury's still out. But you suspect that Carl(+Gary) is gonna be the most successful of the solo Libs, what with being more in touch with the zeitgeist than John, and way more disciplined and controlled than Peter.

    I expect loads of fun from Brakes who are a very unusual act, including Eamon Hamilton from British Sea Power (or rather ex- from) on mainman singing (or screaming, more accurately) and electro-acoustic guitar duty, the bass player from The Tenderfoot, and Alex and Tom White from The Electric Soft Parade on sticks and electric guitar respectively. Yes, the Brighton super-indie group, unfortunately without guest vocalists tonight, but that's not really a problem. If you didn't know what to expect (i.e. if you hadn't heard the album), after only five minutes you would  be 'wow' ! Because they have some very very very short songs, and they do most of them in the first part of the set. Eamon's voice is like a million shards being forced into your ears: after the initial shriek, you get used to it. He's also standing on his tiptoes all the time, and all this screaming and standing seems to be taking so much energy out of him he doesn't have much time for big smiles and inter song banter. Or maybe it's the funny shape of his head. But yes, he's very nice, try to speak a bit of French and seems to be overwhelmed with joy and being there, headlining (yes it's somehow bizarre that they would be considered more reknown than Yeti but...), and he's all like 'oh yeah, thanks to Yeti, they're from London, fucking hell, they're brilliant, hey ?'. Eamon is a concentrate of sheer energy, he goes through the song, they do their cover of Jesus and Mary Chain (Sometimes Always -'brilliant!'), there's a sudden outbreak of pogo for the joyous fun of All Night Disco Party (unsurprisingly enough due to the level of Libs fandom, the dancefloor is actually more sparse now than during Yeti, but really if you left at the end of Yeti you were very very silly), and they finish the set I think with Comma Comma Comma Full Stop, which is just like bang bang bang and Eamon screaming 'comma comma comma full stop'. And no that's not the chorus, that's the whole song. The spirit of the Ramones lives on. It's an amazing show really, not nevessarily one I'd go and see again, but who that leaves me completely befuddled. So Eamon left British Sea Power, The Electric Soft Parade is still an on-going concern, but there are signs tonight that this band may truly be a longer term concern that what I expected on hearing the album. The clearer indication comes at the start of the encore, when Eamon takes to the stage on his own to strum a quite beautiful acoustic number (that he claims to be auto-biographical), before the rest of the band join him for a final Jackson ('Johnny Cash, man! Fucking amazing, he's brilliant, hey ?'). Final ? Tom White's been laughing and having fun all night and he wants more. He royally takes the piss out of someone in the audience who says 'rock, motherfucker!' by striking silly poses and striking cheesy mellow chords, and then they have time for a rockier number, to the delight of the crowd and their own, Tom's having a great time with his guitar, and it all ends up with a bang. Brakes were by far the best band tonight, and somehow saved my evening from boring failure (yes, I arrived late, but not late enough to miss the first band which kinda was the plan). But beware, Brakes ar also fucking loud, and my ears were whistling a lot momre than I would have thought after the gig.