Bercy is far from being full tonight , it's an all seated concert , there's a huge gap between blocks and black curtains in the back to cover empty seats. Maybe less than 10 000 out of 17 000. A french female singer opened the show, nice voice but nobody seemed to care.
Lionel Richie ( without T ) is a ladies singer and believe me, there are lots of them tonight , most of them in their 20's and 30's and all very georgous. It's a festival of beautiful girls enough to keep me busy before the start of the show at 9:30 PM.
Lionel started the show with " easy" alone on the piano , then they opened the black curtains , there's a couple of screens in the back. With Lionel Richie , you can expect lots of hits from his solo career and from The Commodores : " Hello " , Say you say me " , " 3 times a lady" ( here on video ) ... We also had his new single " Just go" but the girls are here to hear the hits.
Lionel as always is very communicative with the audience and in a joyfull mood. Once again the security ( what a bunch of fucking morons ) pissed off everyone down the front asking people to sit down while Lionel was asking them to get up and dance. For the first half the audience was very quiet then they started to get into it. Lionel is walking the stage , playing with his bass and guitar player down the front several times. Musically all the songs are not that good , there are lots of very easy-listening kind of songs.
" Dancing on the ceiling " and , of course the last song of the show , " All night long " were well received. Overall good show but it's way too soft for me.
Telepathe @ "C'est Lenoir" Radio France Black Session n° 298 April 27th 2009
After seeing The Veils at L' album de la semaine we went to the other side of Paris to see Telepathe with my friend Mathilde who drag me with her. Never heard of that band too. Of course we were 10 min late and the show had already started. It's not really a band but more a duet , two girls in front of keyboards and electronic machines and some percussions. Needless to tell you I hate that shit, not because they're bad , i'm sure that people who are digging this music like them. It's just not my cup of tea at all.
Here's a video of their last song, for you to judge, if you're into electronic music. It's a treat as they said that they never played it before.
The Veils are playing this famous Canal+ tv show in front of a selected audience of 150 people. I' ve never heard this English band before so it's a complete discovery for me even though I heard great reviews about them. First song is really heavy , a kind of U2 on amphetamines ( if that's possible ) with a bit of mescaline , second song is more laid back but that's ok until the guitar player and singer switches to the electric piano. Then things are getting a bit ugly. Who are they trying to fight with Keane ? Coldplay ? Fortunately for them the female bass player is hot as hell and she knows it and is playing with it in her skinny white tee-shirt . Her little tits are moving to the rythm, Nice. The red hair girl on the lead- backing vocals is also very cute all dressed in an old english victorian style. When the singer is back on the guitar, things are getting MUCH more better. Good band but Hey guys , leave this bloody piano to Coldplay !
They're playing the Maroquinerie , Tomorrow on April 28th
Ben Harper & Relentless7 @ Fnac Forum Paris April 27th 2009
After playing La Cigale on April 20th and le Studio SFR on April 25th ( click on both links to see review with setlist , Pics & videos ), Ben Harper and his new band Relentless7 are still in Paris doing promotional stuff. He's playing live tonight one song at Le Grand Journal @ Canal+ This time he's meeting his fans @ 1 PM @ Fnac for a signing session. Everything went smoothly thanks to a heavy security and to my surprise not too many people ( it was planned at 5:30 PM but changed ). A friend of mine had his first EP " Pleasure & Pain" signed , Ben was absolutely stunned to see a copy as there were only 1500 made. Ben & the band were friendly to everyone ever though the security tried to make things go as fast as they could.
A CAMP + St VINCENT + MAI @ Maroquinerie Paris April 26th 2009 Festival " Les Femmes s'en Melent" Mai (Johanna Wedin )
Not sold-out tonight , how come ? Lots of beautiful girls in the audience and on stage , I like this festival ;-)
First on stage is Swedish band MAI with the lovely singer Johanna Wedin. The band is playing a very aerian Pop-Folk . She's fluent in French , she's playing the piano, she has the voice of an angel and she's sexy . We met her A/S and she's really cool so ... What more are you asking for ? So sad i missed the beginning of the set. Just GREAT
St Vincent ( nice red shoes, honey)
Then we have St Vincent, she 's on her own with her guitar and pre-recorded music samples and loops , she's actionning it all by herself and she's also singing. A one woman band . She'd better not be distracted by some drunken dumb-ass , she needs to focus. Her indie rock is quite strange but these froggies welcome her with open arms and were waiting for an Encore that didn't come. Nice discovery , oh yeah she's also cute.
A CAMP feat Nina Persson from The Cardigans
Last but not least is A Camp , Nina Persson 's side band with her husband Nathan Larson. I really love The Cardigans but I have to say that the first time i listened to A CAMP i just couldn't believe what i heard. Their first self-titled debut album is The perfect combination of pop-rock , a masterpiece , it's one of my favorite record ever.The music is perfect and Nina's voice is absolutely stunning. Better than the Cardigans. They're here to promote their new cd " Colonia" ( which i haven't heard yet ). Needless to say i'm under Nina's spell from the first chord of the first song till the last one. All the subtility of their songs are perfectly played live by the 5 piece band ( sometimes 6 ). It's the first time i was seeing them live and wasn't disappointed. People listened religiously to the 13 songs they've performed tonight. Maybe they should have played more songs as they've only been on for just an hour. Please COME BACK soon.
Watch ze official video diary of their trip to Paris HERE Bon appetit mes ami(e)s
