The Duke & The King @ L'Album de la Semaine for Canal+, Paris Feb 28 2011

The Duke & The King @ L'Album de la Semaine TV Show, Canal+

Paris Feb 28 2011

New York state Folk-Soul-Rockers The Duke & The King are playing famous Canal+ TV Show.
We heard briefly their music before going there so we knew what to expect and we were not disappointed at all.
3 guys exchanging theirs instruments for each song and one girl on guitar and violin and all singing lead vocals.
The main singer is having a lot of fun as he's completely waysted on Armagnac (He's mixing it with water ! only americans can do that).
Their music is strongly influenced by Folk rock legends CSN ( Crosby Stills & Nash) & Neil Young (both acoustic & electric) or the early America.
The guys are making you feel confortable as if they were playing in your living room.
Between songs we had a couple of lines from Tina Turner's "We don't need another hero" from the Mad Max movie & Beasty Boys' "Fight for your right". Remember the main singer is a bit... drunk.
They all have perfect voices including the girl with her Rickie lee Jones' high & clear voice.
I thought there would be more soul influences into their music after listening to songs on their myspace but that's allright their were SO GOOD we didn't miss that.

Probably one of the best session we had for a long time @ L'Album de la Semaine.
And a pleasure to discover such a great band.

Jeff Beck to record an album with Rod Stewart

Jeff Beck confirms that he's to write new material with Rod Stewart:
"I saw him today, I've just come straight from a meeting��, he said. "He's dead serious as far as I could gather and therefore I'm serious. Because he's got a reputation and I've got a reputation, who wants to mess up? Nobody. Neither of us. So we're gonna choose material very carefully"
Source: Planet Rock

They did record together with Ronnie Wood & Rod Stewart in the late 60's as The Jeff Beck Group

Band Of Horses + Mike Noga @ Cigale, Paris Feb 26 2011

Band of Horses + Mike Noga & the Gents
@ Cigale , Paris Feb 26 2011
Last show on the European Tour

Mike Noga (above) & Ben Bridwell from BoH on the far right

Another sold-out show in Paris after PJ Harvey, Razorlight, Skunk Anansie...
This time it is for one of the best, if not the best, new band to appear these last few years.

This is our 5th show since April 2010 ( L'Album de la semaine TV Show on April 07 , La Fleche d'Or on April 08, Rock en Seine Festival on August 27 and C'est Lenoir Black Session on August 30 ) and each time they have deliver a great performance.

[Click on links for reviews with Pics, setlist & videos]

We're late tonight and we could only see the last 2 songs of support band Mike Noga & the Gents, we thought that Band of Horses were already playing as the guys were jamming with Mike Noga. It was rocking.
For Band of Horses there is a huge backdrop in the back that will play images of the band live at different concerts & festivals + images of landscapes and animals so the lightshow is not too bright (read crap).
On album the music is more ambient but live these motherfuckers are rocking, the first 4-5 songs were smoking before they played more mid-tempo songs.

The guys are having a lot of fun as it's the last show on the Europan Tour and i'm sure they're glad to go back home. Ben ,the singer, is smiling all the time & telling both the guitar players to sing from time to time his parts.
It's the first time I see them interacting like this between each-other, usually they are very focus on the music ... almost too serious.

It's probably the most heavier show I've seen.That's what we like @ Rockerparis.
They should be acting more often like this, Mike Noga and his Gents are returning the favour by playing with Band of Horses for a song to everyone's laughter including band members of both bands.

The setlist is quite long with many songs coming from the latest album ( see setlist for details)

Great 110 min show, this show will surely end up in our top 10 for 2011

Smell the Horse !

The audience /setlist/ Aftershow @ Merchandising with Mike Noga & the Gents

PJ Harvey @ Olympia, Paris Feb 24 2011

Updated Feb 25 : more links to videos from the 1st show @ Olympia

Polly @ Maroquinerie on Feb 14th 2011 (far left) + Olympia marquee & Virgin Commercial

SETLIST: (From Oliver Peel's) check his website for review & Pictures from the show.

01: Let England Shake
02: The Words That Maketh Murder
03: All & Everyone
04: The Guns Called Me Again
05: Written On The Forehead
06: In The Dark Places
07: The Devil
08: The River (click for video) Other version
09: The Sky Lit Up
10: The Glorious Land
11: The Last Living Rose
12: England
13: Bitter Branches
14: Down By The Water
15: C'mon Billy
16: Hanging In The Wire
17: On Battleship Hill
18: Big Exit
19: The Colour Of The Earth

20: Met Ze Monsta
21: Angeline
22: Silence

"In The dark Places":

Check our review with Pictures , setlist and videos from her private gig @ Maroquinerie last week.

Ben Harper's "Give Till It's Gone" cover & tracklisting revealed

Ben Harper's "Give Till It's Gone" Out on May 17th 2011

Cover on the left

Tracklisting:

1. Don't Give Up On Me Now

2. I Will Not Be Broken
3. Rock N' Roll Is Free
4. Feel Love
5. Clearly Severely
6. Spilling Faith ( With Ringo Starr)
7. Get There From Here ( With Ringo Starr)
8. Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn (with Jackson Browne)
9. Waiting On A Sign
10. Dirty Little Lover
11. Do It For You, Do It For Us

Check our previous reviews of Ben Harper & R7:
with Pics , Video & setlist @ Arras Main Square with Pearl Jam on July 3rd 2010, @ Cigale on April 20 2009 , private show @ Studio SFR on April 25 2009 & Fnac store Signing session on April 27 2009).

Warpaint @ C'est lenoir, Black Session, Paris Feb 24 2011 10:00pm

setlist

Lots of people are taking about this all girl band, they are the media darling in UK.
4 girls, the guitar players are also sharing lead vocals.
The gig started slowly with a very slow song and... it never took off for the hour long set.
I really wonder why there is such a buzzzzzzz ? they do sound like Sonic Youth or The Cure playing ambient music.
They have a couple of good songs but the rest is boring to death.
If it was an all-male band I think that no one would talk about them.
Average gig

PS: sorry no pics for this gig as Patrice Guino, our photographer, couldn't be with us tonight , we just hope he will be back in time for Band of Horses on saturday @ Cigale ( sold-out).

Kumi Solo + Anything Maria @ L'International, Paris Feb 23 2011

Oliver Peel presents:

Tonight @ The International ( free show)

Sorry too lazy to go out yesterday night , it was cold , raining.
We stayed home watching Manchester United vs Marseille.

Review & Pics from the show @ Oliver's & on his Flickr.
Videos HERE

Razorlight @ Fleche d'Or, Paris Feb 22 2011

Razorlight + Thos Henley @ Fleche d'Or
Paris, Feb 22 2011

Razorlight is playing two low-key club shows @ Fleche d'Or (500 capacity) in Paris, France to introduced the new line-up. Maybe we should call them New Razorlight as there has been many changes.
We are attending the second show which was the first one announced and sold-out in a day. Yesterday's gig was added later and was also quickly sold out too.
It's a 90 % female audience. :-)))
Their success has been going downhill for the last few years, from playing full house @ the Olympia theatre ( 2500 capacity) to an half full ( or half empty) Bataclan theatre (1200 capacity).

Chris Cornell has joined the New Razorlight !

Razorlight has two new members Freddie Stitz on bass, who looks like he escaped from a a southern rock band and Gus Robertson on guitar who looks like Chris Cornell from the early incarnation of Soundgarden just before he turned into a model for Gap.

We've never been fans of Razorlight, they were way too light for us and we always thought that Johnny Borrell looked like a dick with his white-sneaker-white pants & white INXS tee shirt.A good mama's boy.

Hey baby ! Things have changed for the new year, the guy looks like a tough mother-fucker now: dressed in black, short hair, moustache & beard , now he's looking like a proper rocker.
Even his attitude on stage is completely different ( see pics).
I don't know if it's a very honest move, the press will probably nail him to the wall for that but... we like it.

Johnny Borrell 2011: Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know

Even the music is much more rock than it used to... and we like it too this way.

The band is playing pretty late (10:00pm) with Thos Henley & his band opening with their cool folk. Thos played an Oliver Peel session on his own a few months ago so we're glad to see him here.

Lots of heavy guitars for the new Razorlight and fun set as the bass player is singing a song on his own, we also have a guess singing ( and playing guitar) on Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso". Looking for credibility ?
They've played some of their hits including "America" (click for video) plus many other songs (see setlist for details) we're not very familiar with but it was rocking.

setlist

The setlist is as long as my arm ( 28 songs ?) for a 90 min set.
They've changed a few things compare to the original setlist : (tbc)
Real thing
Perfectly high
America
Military Man
Pablo Picasso
Somewhere else
?
People who party

The new Razorlight is rocking and we like it.