Heaven & Hell + Black Stone Cherry @ Casino de Paris June 23rd 2009

Contact: irockinparis ( @ ) yahoo.fr

Heaven & Hell + Black Stone Cherry

@ Casino de Paris June 23rd 2009

Black Stone Cherry

First on stage in a packed Casino de Paris is Black Stone Cherry , lots of wild guitars and heavy Metal clichés. The kind of band Idon't listen to anymore.

Black Sabbath is back in Paris for the first time in 14 years and this line up ( Tony , Geezer, Vinnie & Ronnie ) for the first time in 17 years ( Dehumanizer tour ).
Oh my god , just to think of it , my hair is turning grey. So long ago, it's hard to believe.

Black sabb... sorry Heaven & Hell is one of my favorite band and this particular line up with Ronnie James Dio is my favorite incarnation of Black Sabbath , too bad Bill Ward's not here.
Hard to understand that the show's not sold-out , yesterday they've cancelled the gig in Toulouse : they've only sold 500 tickets out of 3000 .
Anyway, things started nicely with "The Mob Rules" ( Mob rules LP ) then " children of the sea" , couldn't ask for a better start .
The sound is very ( too ) loud with lots of bass , but I'm on Tony's side.
The only thing I can't understand is why we have to endure a Drum solo after just five or six songs into the set, I mean drum solos ... so boring.

Ronnie's voice is great and Tony's guitar licks and riffs are ... HE IS Black Sabbath, NOT Ozzy

Thankfully we didn't get too many songs from the last record which didn't convinced me at all but I didn't get the time to listen to it properly. So ...

There's a screen in the back showing animations or pictures for a few songs and the stage is simple but beautifully decorated. Are they the gates of a graveyard ?

We had a long version of "H & H" with a guitar solo.
And after less than 90 min they're leaving the stage.

Maybe they should play the whole of " country Girl " instead of just a minute before a fantastic and heavy rendition of "Neon Knights" which is closing the set to rousing applauses.

GREAT set , just hope I won't have to wait another 15 years to see them back in Paris

SABBATH RULES !!!

SETLIST :

01. E5150

02. Mob Rules
03. Children of the Sea
04. I
05. Bible Black
06. Time Machine
07. Solo Batería
08. Fear
09. Falling off the Edge of the World
10. Follow the Tears
11. Die Young
12. Heaven & Hell
ENCORE
13. Country Girl (teaser) / Neon Knights

We were lucky to meet all of them after the show , Ronnie is sooo nice.

Tony & Geezer

Vinnie & Aftershow with Ronnie James Dio

From the new cd :

Piers Faccini + Son of Dave @ La Défense jazz festival Paris June 22nd 2009 12 :00 PM

Piers Faccini & Son of Dave @ La Défense Jazz festival
June 22nd 2009 12:00PM

La Défense Jazz Festival this year with bluesman Son of Dave & Folk singer Piers Faccini.
Very good festival on the Esplanade de la défense just outside Paris. It's free and bands are always good ( when they're coming unlike Solomon Burke last year who cancelled at the eleventh hour, in fact we've been told he was not coming when they announced him on stage so we had his band instead , Bastards ).
Herbie Hancock , Dr John , Buddy Guy , Mick Taylor... all played here.
Early show today at noon with business (wo)men on their lunch break as we are in the business district of Paris.

First on stage is bluesman Son of Dave ,he's on his own , playing harmonica. He's help with some loops he's making live for the rythm. Don't know if it's the right time or place to listen to his rural blues but the guy is funny and making the show.

Then we have Piers Faccini, he opened not so long ago for Ben Harper at La Cigale in Paris ( click to see previous review ) I wasn't really convinced at the time.
With the sun shining and in a very relax atmosphere Piers faccini's folk-rock is perfect.
On his own with an acoustic guitar for the first song things started smoothly then the drummer came in and Piers switched to electric , no wild guitars here but just cool songs.
He's also fluent in french ( so is Son of Dave ) which is helpfull to communicate.
Cool set

Daniel Darc @ Jardins du Palais Royal " Fete de la Musique" June 21st 2009

Daniel Darc @ Fete de La Musique
Jardins du Palais Royal Paris
with Guests Nosfell & Berry

Bands are playing everywhere for the Fete de La Musique in France , hundreds of concerts just in Paris.
We decided to go and see Daniel Darc ( former singer for french band Taxi Girl ) in the beautiful gardens of the Palais Royal in the heart of Paris.
The gig started at 9:00 PM sharp and daniel is playing with only a piano player and a cello player.
You can see that the guy had several lives, all full of excesses and substances. He's a bit of an Icon over here like Serge Gainsbourg.
The voice is far from being perfect he's got problem standing still and is acting funny but it's part of the trip with Daniel.
Most of the songs played tonight were from his solo records , no Taxi Girl.

daniel & Berry

French artist and guitar player Nosfell was invited to play one song: " La romance des cruels " as well as french female singer Berry for an absolutely great version of " La chanson d' Hélene " ( taken from the classic movie " Les Choses de la Vie" with Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli ). They held each-other like two lovers , the original song is very emotional and tells the story of the end of a relationship between two lovers. Probably the highlight of this concert.
See complete setlist below ( I don't know if it's accurate I'll check )
Daniel Darc also played a couple of covers " My funny valentine" ( a jazz classic )and Lou Reed's " Perfect day " and a few seconds of "Sad song" to end this very dark show.
Nice 90 min gig but the atmosphere was so dark that a few people felt like drowning themselves in the river afterwards.

"La Romance des cruels" with guest Nosfell ( click on link to watch the video )

The Band

Setlist

" Les choses de la vie " with Berry :

Sliimy @ Fnac Forum Paris June 19th 2009

Sliimy @ Fnac Forum Paris
June 19th 2009

Sliimy ( yes, Sliimy ) the new pop and gay icon was doing a showcase , I was expecting hundreds of sceaming young girls ...and young boys waiting in line to see him.
I though it would be funny to see such a mess in front of the fnac store on a friday afternoon.
In fact no one came there was 20-30 people; I won't tell you WHO drag me here ( Name starts with a M... ).
He played 6-7 songs with his guitar player on acoustic, well it wasn't that bad, the guy is acting funny as if he was playing in " La cage aux folles".
Then he signed cds to people queueing and took pictures.

Sunday is the " Fete de la Musique", usually I don't go out that day but I might to the Palais Royal to see daniel darc.

Marianne Faithfull 2nd show @ Cité de la Musique Paris June 18th 2009

Marianne Faithfull 2nd Show
@ Cité de la Musique Paris june 18th 2009

Back to La Cité de la Musique for Marianne's second gig which is in fact the original ( yesterday's show was added later ).
Same concert as yesterday maybe she changed the order of the songs. She's still stuck behind the mike sometimes looking at the lyrics and still coughing a bit.
The show was as good as yesterday even tough the audience was much more quiet ( French-English actress Charlotte Rampling was here ).
A mix of jazz rock cabaret plus the hits ( see complete setlist below ).

The whole show was video-recorded and can be seen for a month on the Cité de la Musique's website , starting in a few days.

Bye Bye !

Setlist

Before the official footages enjoy "Sister Morphine" :

Marianne Faithfull 1st gig @ Cité de la Musique Paris June 17th 2009 9:30 PM

Marianne Faithfull @ Cité de la Musique
June 17th 2009

Marianne Faithfull , 60's Icon is playing the first show on her " The Easy Come Easy Go Tour 2009". This is also the first of two shows in Paris , She'll be back here tomorrow.
The place is packed but not sold-out , there are still a few tickets left at the Box office for tomorrow as well. It's an all seated event even tough it's a first come first serve.

Many musicians on stage tonight ( 9 ) , the bass player is probably the Musical director as he's nodding to the others for the fade in and fade out.
Marianne is relax stuck behind her mike and looking sometimes at the lyrics on her left side.
I'm not too familiar with the recent material but the songs are going down well with the full band and the orchestration is really nice , rock with a bit of Classical with cello , violin and flute.
She doesn't talk that much between songs but takes the time to thank the audience several times.
See her version of " as tears go by " below ( she hates that song ). We also had "Broken English" , " Lucy jordan" and a geat version of " Sister morphine" all played earlier in the set.
Last song was a slow song with just the guitar player.
very good set , see ya tomorrow.

" As tears go by" :

Madness@ Ciné Aqua Paris June 17th 2009 6:00 PM

MADNESS @ Ciné Aqua Paris
June 17th 2009 6:00 PM

Always smart

Madness is in Paris to promote their new album " The Liberty of Norton Folgate".
they're playing lots of festival this summer , including the Rock en Seine festival at the end of August so it' s a real treat to see them in this conditions.
The Ciné Aqua is a huge aquarium with rare tropical fishes and they sometimes organise parties and concerts there.
John Butler Trio , Archive , Christopher Cross ... all played private gigs in this lovely and tiny place just in front of a huge tank full of fishes.
It holds barely 200 people and I'm seating front row.

Show started the best way with their huge hit " One step beyond" , the guys are having fun and are making funny faces to a group of girls barely 10 years old ,who were visiting the aquarium and have been invited to the gig.
Lightning conditions are very hard as they can't have a big lightshow because of the fishes which are very sensible to light.
A few songs from the new record were played but we were lucky to be treated with a Best of ...of their best songs " Embarassement" , " My Girl", "House of fun" ... ( see complete and corrected setlist below ).
Some fast songs, some more laid back songs a few ska songs , these guys can play everything.
Of course " Our House " went down a storm.
Cool encore with "Madness- Night boat to Cairo"
Great 1 hour+ set
This band must be seen in England with 30 000 drunken English dancing and singing to everysong.
Patrice Guino , our photographer , could get the skull they had on stage at the end.
Lucky bastard !

" Madness + Nightboat to Cairo" on Video HERE

Setlist & skull

" Our House" :

Hugh Coltman + La Grande Sophie @ Fnac Forum June 17th 2009

Hugh Coltman + La Grande Sophie ( + Les Wampas )
@ Fnac Forum Paris June 17th 2009

Hugh Coltman

To promote Solidays' Festival next week-end in Paris ( all the money is going to fight AIDS, click on link for full line-up ), 3 artists were invited to play a free acoustic show at the Fnac store in Les Halles.
First on stage @ 4: 00 pm is English singer-songwritter Hugh Coltman , who is now leaving in Paris ( and is fluent in French ).
I knew his name but never heard anything before today , quite a surprise , a very good surprise should I say.
This lad 's got talent , his songs are really emotional and he has an amazing voice . If you can put your hands on one of his cds take it and put it next to Jeff Buckley's cds.
Great !

Video later

La Grande Sophie

Then we had La Grande Sophie , she used to play in an "alternative" French band but she's doing a solo career and is very successfull thanks to a couple of catchy single.
She's now playing some French pop-rock variétés ( she did a duet a few years ago with Lee Hazlewood ).
She's good looking and very tall ( in English " the tall Sophie " ) , the music is nice but too much 'french variété' for me. Maybe that's because she's singing in French.
She seems very nice always smiling and interacting with the audience.

Both artists played 5-6 songs for a 30 min+ set.
The Wampas were next but I had to leave to go to see Madness playing a private show at 6:00 pm @ Ciné Aqua next to the Eiffel Tower.

The Dead Weather @ L' Album de la Semaine on June 30th 2009

The Dead Weather the band with VV from The Kills and Jack White from the White Stripes will play a private gig for L' Album de la Semaine on Canal+
The news has been circulating in private circles for the last 3 weeks but now i can tell you when : June 30th ,
just one day after their sold-out show @ La Cigale.

See our review of the gig @ La Cigale HERE ( with more than 20 pics & 2 great videos )
see our review of "L' Album de la semaine" TV show HERE ( with A/S Pic & setlist ) to be broacasted end of August beginning of Sept 2009

Pete Doherty cancels show for the Fete de la Musique @ Chateau de Vincennes on June 21st 2009

Official statement: ( in French ) :

Annulation du concert parisien de Peter Doherty, remplacé par Paolo Nutini

Pete Doherty won't play @ Chateau de Vincennes for the Fete de la Musique

PARIS (AFP) — Le chanteur anglais Peter Doherty a annulé le concert qu'il devait donner le 21 juin au château de Vincennes dans le cadre d'un plateau d'artistes à l'occasion de la 28e Fête de la musique, ont annoncé mardi les organisateurs.

Peter Doherty sera remplacé par l'Ecossais Paolo Nutini, qui se produira aussi le lendemain à guichets fermés au Bataclan.

Arrêté après un concert à Gloucester (sud-ouest de l'Angleterre), Peter Doherty, 30 ans, a été inculpé la semaine dernière pour plusieurs infractions dont conduite en état d'ivresse et possession de drogue dure.

Soap & Skin @ Black Session # 301 France Inter Paris June 15th 2009

Anja Plaschg aka Soap & Skin @ C'est Lenoir Black Session # 301
Paris France Inter June 15th 2009

Young Austrian Singer is playing the last Black Session before the summer holidays, I 've never heard anything of her before so it' a complete discovery.
She's playing the piano and is playing backing tapes on her mac.
Some people might say ( including me ) that she's playing a similar music ( and and has the same voice ) as the early Cat Power but more electronic.
The girl is acting funny sometimes.
Cool 45 min + set
The video below is not really representative of what she's playing as it was the only song she's not on the piano and the music is closer to Bjork

Thos Henley @ Oliver Peel Session # 7 Paris June 14th 2009

Thos Henley @ Oliver Peel session # 7
Paris June 14th 2009

Young English folk singer from Winchester Thos Henley came, on this hot sunday afternoon, with his all female Swedish fan club.
Now we know how to get more girls in the audience for the private Oliver Peel session , Oliver has to invite a young male singer instead of all the female folk singers we had before.
With this Swedish contingent , this Oliver Peel session # 7 is the most popular he ever had , the place is packed and it's hot & sweaty.
Thankfully, our host , Cécile is providing Rosé to cool us down.
Strange to attend such an intimate gig , just two days after seeing the biggest rock'n roll band on earth ( AC/DC ) in front of 76 000 people at the Stade de France.

What's your name babe ?

Usually Thos is also playing the ukulele , not this afternoon , we had a 40 min+ set on acoustic guitar. This young fellow is charming with his angelic voice and his compositions are quite mature for his young age.
Listen to his myspace page to hear what he's capable of and watch our video below.

Not everybody could fit in

The beautiful people & Stéphane ready to cut the cake

AC/DC @ Hotel June 13th 2009

Phil & Cliff @ Hotel
Paris June 13th 2009

The man with the red t-sirt

As I was walking on the Champs Elysées I spotted Phil and his girlfriend so we asked him for a picture.
And a little later on Cliff who signed a few cds for fans in front of the hotel.

Cliff & Fan ( nice cap honey ! )

Contact : irockinparis(@)yahoo.fr

Pictures from the show at the Stade de France HERE ( click on link )