PAUL SIMON Paris July 11th 2008

ZZ TOP : UPDATED JULY 13th WITH NEW FANTASTIC PICS

NEW VIDEOS ONLINE (updated July 13th) :

PAUL SIMON ' s "Sound of silence" here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

New Brian Jonestown Massacre video ( same link )

Otherwise Paul Simon was playing the Palais des Sports yesterday and it was ...
sooo boring.
First : tickets were once again ridiculously expensive ( up to a 100 euros ).
Second : it was half empty.
I mean really boring ;-((( even Simon & Garfunkel songs were played sooo slooow i though i was going to sleep.
Paul ' got a guitar but barely plays it at all.
A couple of songs in the middle section were ok and people started rushing to the front to dance and were stopped by security. Once again people can't enjoy a show, they have to remain seated. FUCK THAT. It's a concert for christ's sake .
Both encores were really good and lively ( at last ).

Headbanging forbidden tonight , standing up too !

"Sound of silence" here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Here's a video from the encore : " still crazy after all this years " ( nda ?!? )

ZZ TOP Paris Zénith July 10th 2008

UPDATED JULY 12TH WITH SETLIST & NEW PICTURES :

So many people are playing in Paris this June. after Kiss and Iron Maiden another Classic Rock act is in town : ZZ TOPTickets are once again very expensive ( 55 to 80 euros )but the zénith is quiet full.
Can't remember last time i saw them , They haven't been in Paris for a while , their popularity after a couple of average records went downhill here . They haven't released any cd for a few years but who wants to hear any new material . Tonight they're gonna give what people want : Classic songs. So Rock on Baby !!!

Sharp dressed men

" Got me under pressure " started the gig like some nytro would do to a hot rod engine and then we were treated with classics and only classics . ( setlist to come soon ... )
The sound is clear , the stage is neat and the lightshow is absolutely stunning. some people might argue that they're playing on auto-pilot but even then they're kicking ass .
Of course they've changed their guitars several times ( see pictures ) that's their trademark .
So sad that only after 80 min they're leaving the stage for the first time ( ZZ Top has never played long sets ) ." Tush" had everyone, not convinced yet, on their knees and a rare second encore is played with " Jailhouse rock " the Coup de Grace.

Rock On Baby !!!

SETLIST:

Got Me Under Pressure, Waiting for the Bus, Jesus Left Chicago, Chevrolet, Pincushion, I'm Bad I'm Nationwide, Heard It On The X, Just Got Paid, I Need You Tonight, Cheap Sunglasses, Planet of Women, Gimme All Your Lovin, Sharp Dressed Man, Legs, Tube Snake Boogie, La Grange/Sloppy Drunk/Bar-B-Q, Tush, Jailhouse Rock.

THE KILLS + Jonh & Jenh @Palais de Tokyo July 9th 2008

The Elephant Hip -Hop BeforeParty / Opening Band Jonh & Jehn

AfterParty Burlesque

No video for this event sorry ...
The Kills @ the trendy Palais de Tokyo in Paris for the Stage of the art # 4

Jonh & Jenh opened : a guy on the guitar and a girl on keyboard/bass/vocals ,
Remember something ? yeah right ! Nice but are The kills playing later ?
For this event the room ( with carpet please ) can hold 500 people but it's half full or half empty , it depends which side you're on ; but it's Sold Out. no AC so it's quiet hot in there.
You've already seen the Kills live ?
So same shit as usual but good shit. I mean there's nothing more to say They Foockin' rock. Hotel is possessed as if he had hoovered all of Colombia and VV is like a lion in a cage .
One thing i couldn't understand is why they 've played with no lightshow at all . They can't afford even a few candles , there was some light for the opening band.
It might be part of the concept. Well i didn't get it .
Anyway what's important is that we had a good time even though it was a short set but they're giving it all on stage.
Aftershow party was cool with short-dressed dancing girls in a 1930's atmosphere.
When's The Stage of the art # 5 ?

WILLY DEVILLE Paris Cigale July 8th 2008

Willy Deville is still popular in France as this concert at la Cigale is SOLD OUT ( all seated event )
I've got to tell you i went there more by curiosity than anything else and on the advice of a few friends because i do not really know what he has done musically apart from the "Hey Joe" cover he did a few years ago.
And that was a real surprise to me.
Support band was an african band in the style of Tinariwen ( can't remember their name ) which went ok.
Things started smoothly with the Mink Deville band playing Herbie Hancock's " Watermelon man " before Willie was introduced on stage.
His skin is as white as a wedding dress and he looks frail but he can deliver.
He's got the Voice , the Look and the attitude to go with ... and the sense of humor too.
He may be playing most of the show sitting on a bar stool with his lyrics in front of him but the whiskey fuelled voice is still intact.
The music is diverse from blues to rock to spanish influenced .
Only 2 songs from his most recent record were played, he stayed focus on his most famous songs including the " Hey Joe " cover .
After asking a few fans who saw him a few times over these last 20 years on the -Willie Deville scale- it was a really good show and that's exactly what i though.
Very enjoyable night .
I would like to thank personally Patrice Guino for the pictures once again , he was supposed to go to the Kings of Leon / Mgmt gig at the Zénith yesterday. After i asked him he switched to Willy Deville so he had to ask for a photo pass at the last minute and was turned down by the PR. So i felt a little bit guilty but he's full of resources and he's a rebel; His answer was
" Fuck'em i'll take pictures anyway " and that's what he did .
He's right " Fuck this vermine PR " we don't need any of their arrogant shit.
To whom it may concerned !

Oh , here's " Hey Joe" :


Here's another one :

More to come ...
Enjoy

BECK Paris Olympia July 7th 2008

Beck is at Paris' Olympia to promote is then unreleased new cd "Modern Guilt" ( It's coming out today )
The Olympia is Sold-out and we're expecting a lot from this talented 38 year old young man,
Maybe we're expecting too much ; from what i heard from the new record he left all his electronic shit at home and took back his guitar to the studio , Right.
He used to have many , many people on stage , tonight it's stripped down to a more conventional Drums , Bass , Guitars ( 2 including his ) and Keyboards . So it should rock ...
The gig started in a nice way with some rock tunes , the band is rocking unfortunately it didn't last long . It's also obvious that some of the backing vocals are pre-recorded tapes.
I don't know what's wrong with the guy , he's got the material but that's the way he plays it .
He looks like a 70 year old man on stage , it's like his power had vanished or he's somewhere else .
The gig was good but we feel that it could have been sooo much better.
After ONLY 1h20 he's escorted backstage ...
All we have here is unfinished business ...

Thanks to Guino Patrice for the pictures.
Videos to come soon

check for more : http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Blues Brothers Band & Eddie Floyd Paris Olympia July 5th

"Brother Jake " and Steve Cropper ( left ) Eddie Floyd ( right )

UPDATED JULY 7th WITH NEW VIDEO HERE
Wilson Pickett's 634-5789 featuring Eddie Floyd :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis


The Original Blues Brothers Band back at the Olympia. the first time Steve Cropper played there was more than 40 years ago in 1967 with Booker T and the MG's , Carla thomas , Sam & Dave , Eddie Floyd and Otis Redding all on the same bill for 2 shows at the Olympia .
This time only Eddie Floyd remains from this line -up .
The gig started very slowly with 2 instrumentals : Booker T's " Green Onions " and the " Peter Gunn theme" from the Blues Brothers original soundtrack .
The show really started when the new 'Brother' Jake came on stage and started singing ; from then on it was Hits after Hits : " She cought the Katy" , "Sweat home Chicago " , " Minnie the Moocher"...
Don't know why they call themselves "The Original BBB " when there are only 3 members from the original band Steve plus 2 of the brass players , they are more like a cover band anyway ...
Things started to get hot when Eddie " Mr Knock on Wood" Floyd was introduced for the second part of the show dressed in a shiny white costume.
Some Jake & Elwood clones from the audience were asked to join for a wonderful rendition of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man "
Show ended with " everybody needs somebody to love " and Steve Winwood's " Gimme some lovin " .
Fun show !!!

"Soul Man" for ya :

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Paris Bataclan July 3rd

UPDATED JULY 13th WITH NEW BJM VIDEO check here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

With ( far left ) and without Anton

A Couple of pics from Patrice Guino ( thanks mate ! )

Back to the Hot & Sweaty Bataclan theatre ( The Counting crows played here a few days ago , check picture review AND videos on this site ) to see The Brian Jonestown Massacre and his mad leader Anton Newcombe .
We arrived too late to see The Blakes.
Strange gig than this one.
1st:
Anton seems to be infuenced by all this psyche scene from the 60's but his band the BJM sounds more like the Cure at their worst.
There is this famous quote at a Neil Young concert when someone shouted "It all sounds the same" and Neil Young to answered back " well it's all one song"
This could apply tonight as our photographer Patrice Guino noticed jokingly : " The BJM they 're like the Ramones ! they changed the lyrics but they're playing the same song ".
2nd :
They might be on stage for more than 90 min but the affective time they are really playing is just less than 70 min.
There is a 2-3 min gap between each song ( to tune or to talk ) sometimes much more when Anton is leaving the stage for god knows which reason and leaves the others improvising some weird noises.
3rd :
They're playing most of the set completely in the dark.
So all this is pretty average.

Here's a video , don't ask me which song :

PERCY SLEDGE Paris Olympia July 2nd 2008

UPDATED JULY 4TH WITH NEW VIDEO

Complete different style of music this evening, Iron Maiden played a stunning show yesterday in a Sold-out Bercy, Tonight Soul legend Percy Sledge is at the Olympia.
Complete different atmosphere also and much more quiet than those metalheads.
Shame only 1000 tickets have been sold .
Support band is a young black female singer Lisa Doby check her myspace page she was good :
http://www.myspace.com/lisadoby
Nice introduction to Mr Sledge
As usual with these 'old' artist the house band ( The New Aces Band ) is playing a few songs on their own before they introduced the main attraction Soul Legend Percy Sledge.
I was lucky to see him at the LED ZEPPELIN aftershow party at the Indigo in London with other greats ( Solomon Burke , Sam Moore and Ben E King ) .

Unlike many other artists his age his Soulful Voice is as good as it was in the late 60's when he was riding high in the charts. Maybe he has a few more pounds but the voice is still intact .
Lots of classics tonight his and a few covers including Ottis Redding's " sitting on the dock of the Bay" and a fantastic rendition of Procol Harum 's " A whiter shade of pale ".
The concert couldn't have been perfect without his N° 1 smash Hit " When a man loves a woman".
Great evening !

On Stage and Off stage after the Show

" Sitting on the dock of the bay" :

" A whiter shade of Pale " :

IRON MAIDEN BERCY July 1st

UPDATED JULY 3rd NEW VIDEO ONLINE " Wasted years " here :

http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Fantastic show from Iron Maiden they can't be beaten when they're playing all their hits.
Great stage too.
Bruce Dickinson was sometimes struggling with his voice but the problem is and has allways been Janick Gers. Since they "reform' and call back adrian Smith , this poor chap is useless and fucking ridiculous on stage. GET HIM OUT NOW !!!




SETLIST :
Intro - Churchills Speech
1. Aces High
2. 2 Minutes To Midnight
3. Revelations
4. The Trooper
5. Wasted Years
6. The Number Of The Beast
7. Can I Play With Madness?
8. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
9. Powerslave
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Run To The Hills
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden
---
14. Moonchild
15. The Clairvoyant
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name

"Aces High "


"The Trooper " :

MORE VIDEOS POSTED EVERYDAY HERE :

http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

COUNTING CROWS Paris Bataclan June 30th

The Counting Crows are back in Paris after a long absence.
This time they're playing the Bataclan ( 1200 capacity ). The weather has been sunny and warm in Paris these last few days and in this case it's a nightmare to go and see a band in this theatre as the air conditioning is just too bad .
It's been like this for years no exception tonight it's hot as hell.

The show is supposed to be sold-out but there are still plenty of empty seats at the balcony.

As usual they're starting the gig with a slow song before really kicking it off.
The band has always been 'relax' on stage only the singer Adam lives his lyrics to the full even if he's fighting food poisoning since this morning .
They're hot ( especially tonight ;-) with heavier songs unfortunately there are too many mid-tempo songs in their repertoire to offer a real excitement which are, fortunately played perfectly ; remember they are 6 musicians plus a singer on the tiny stage.

Songs included "Mr Jones" , "Hangingaround" , Joni Mitchell 's "Big yellow taxi" and last song " holyday is spain " after receiving from a fan a Spanish football t-shirt even if Adam didn't noticed its nationality.
Shame on you Man they're the Euro champion 2008 !!!

SETLIST :
Ballet d'or
Seen me lately
Hanging tree
Mr Jones
Colorblind
Anna
Cowboys
Good time
Potters
Taxi
Accidently in love
Satellites
On almost any sunday
You can't count on me
Sundays
December
Hangingaround
___
Washington square
Come around
Candy
+ Holyday in spain ( not on the setlist )

FOR MORE VIDEOS FROM THE BATACLAN GO TO :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Here's one " Mr Jones" :