Asaf Avidan @ France Inter, studio 104, Paris, Jan 09 2015

Asaf Avidan @ France Inter, studio 104, Paris, Jan 09 2015

First concert of the year 2015 for ROCKERPARIS

See ya there

Asaf Avidan playing a free concert at the new studio 104 @ Maison de la Radio for a France Inter broadcast (Live on air). Beautiful place with a capacity of 800+, all seated.
He's here to promote his new album  "Gold Shadow" to be out on Jan 12.
That's his first concert with his new band to promote new album and he's playing 10 new songs tonight for the very first time in front of an audience.

The concert is introduced by none other that the big boss of Radio France as we're in the middle of difficult circumstances with the terrorist attacks ( the Police has just raided and killed terrorists a few hours before the concert), you have to have in mind that Asaf is from Israel...

Anyway... Asaf is making his way to the stage with his band including 3 sexy girls on guitar, keys and percussion. + two guys on bass and drums.
Mostly pop-folk songs with cabaret influences... That's OK not really the kind of music that we're usually grooving to.
He has a high pinched voice that sometimes can get on your nerves but he's a good showman playing the part like an actor would do.
He did a couple of songs on his own (here's one on video below)

 

 Le mois de janvier est traditionnellement extrêmement calme, juste après les fêtes, surtout la première quinzaine. Heureusement pour faire la promotion du nouvel album de Asaf Avidan,  France Inter a la bonne idée d'organiser un concert au nouveau studio 104 de la Maison de la Radio. La salle est superbe d'une capacité d'environ 800 places assises.

C'est le premier concert d'Asaf avec le nouveau line-up de son groupe (5 musiciens dont 3 jolies filles), la quasi-intégralité de son nouvel album qui sortira dans quelques jours est interprété ce soir. Pas de changements radicaux avec son premier disque: du folk rock gentillet fortement influencé par le cabaret. La voix est toujours aussi haut perché.Le bonhomme sait tenir une scène, il aura quelques mots pour évoquer l'actualité brulante.
Pour le rappel on aura tout de même droit à quelques "vieux" titres.
Concert très sympa dans l'ensemble.

He had a few words about what happened in Paris recently without doing too much which was a good thing.
Encore were songs from the first album which get a better reception from the audience.
Overall good show

 setlist

ROCKERPARIS' list of TOP 10 Rock concerts of 2014 & The Worsts...

ROCKERPARIS' list of TOP 10 Rock concerts of 2014 & The Worst...

THE BEST CONCERTS:

1) THE ROLLING STONES
We attended only 3 shows on this Tour @ Stade de France, Circo Massimo & Werchter festival and I have to say that we had a blast each time even though they were probably far from being their best shows on the tour.
Each time we were in the Golden Pit ( Platinum for Paris) with a great view, we took some nice Pics, our favourite was probably Rome @ Circo Massimo (though not their best show) because of the location and the fun we had for 3 days in Rome, probably the most beautiful city in the world.

2) AC/DC Video shooting for "Rock or Bust" in London, Black Island Studios.

A dream come true : attending a video shoot with AC/DC. Not a proper concert but the highlight of the year for us.

 Too bad Phil Rudd was NOT there but being with the boys for a couple of hours in such an intimate setting was perfect. If you're looking closely at the official video and extras you can see Rockerparis in the audience. That was Christmas before it's time.

3) ENNIO MORRICONE @ Paris Bercy Feb 04

Just in the middle of the Rolling Stones's rehearsing @ Bondy Studios, Ennio Morricone playing his famous soundtracks in front of a sold-out Bercy.  I've never seen so many people on a stage: 86 piece orchestra and 75 voice choir.

Amazing concert and we could met him before the show and get my "Good Bad Ugly " American Vinyl signed by the master himself. 

Then we did a few other concerts that we will remember for 2014:

Jeff Beck @ Grand Rex, Paris May 27 2014
Fantastic guitar player

 Prince, concert n°1, 6:00 pm @ Zénith, Paris June 01st 2014
 Two shows in one day, you don't do this everyday

 Prince @ Zénith, Paris, show n° 2 , June 01 2014
 second show was better and longer than the first one

 Buddy Guy + Quinn Sullivan @ Olympia, Paris July 03 2014

legendary bluesman with great support: a young virtuoso.

Scorpions @ Fête de l'Humanité, la Courneuve, Sept 13 2014

Rocking like never before , great setlist though too many ballads and we were on stage for this one in front of more than 80 000 people

Babyshambles @ Chorus Live fest, Paris , March 29 2014
 Peter still rocking, last babyshambles album is great and when peter is not out of it , he doing great performances

 Rodriguez @ Olympia, Paris March 16 2014
come back show after the disastrous concerts from last year at the Zénith , glad to see Sixto in better health

 Jello Biafra & the GSM @ 104, Paris April 23 2014
kick ass show from Jello

 Anna Calvi + Daughter @ Cité de la Musique for "Days Off", Paris July 07 2014
Sexy as hell and great guitar player

 Ty Segall @ Cigale, Paris Oct 21 2014
Rocking like a maniac

 The Strypes @ Gaité Lyrique, Paris April 30 2014
new band kicking ass

THE WORST show of 2014:
 YES @ Grand Rex, Paris May 13 2014
By far the worst of the year is YES, After reading our review written straight after the show, I Guess that we were a bit rough... in fact NO. Boring music played for & by boring old farts.
We have nothing against Prog, we're great fans of RUSH but this crap was beyond everything...

We've also attended a few disappointing , average or boring concerts:
Bryan Ferry @ Palais des Sports, Paris , Nov 21 2014
I guess he was sick. Very average show
 Mlle K @ L'Album de la Semaine, Canal+, Paris Dec 08 2014
just boring, no good songs at all
 The Do @ "Coming up session #1" France Inter, Paris Sept 24 2014
electro pop boring
 Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter @ Olympia, Paris July 15 2014
 Very disappointing concert, we were expecting a lot from these two legends but it turned out very... de-constructed and experimental...

 We can ad this two as well:

Jack White (2nd show) @ Olympia, Paris June 30 2014
New record not as good as the previous one and a bit disappointed by the show even though it was an overall good show

Cat Power solo @ Gaité Lyrique, Paris Oct 30 2014
Very strange concert, she was confused for the whole set, ending songs prematurely, not remembering her own songs, but we still love her very much , she's so sweet.

The Year in Rock 2014 by ROCKERPARIS

2014 is now over and we've done a short list of concerts, month by month, that we will remember for this year. 2014 was  very quiet concertwise, several times we only went to a handful of shows for a whole month so this short selection isn't our list of the Best shows we've been to this year. 

Just a good way to remember this year 2014:

L'Année 2014 a été assez calme, petit récapitulatif de quelques concerts, pour chaque mois, afin d'avoir une vision d'ensemble de l'année qui vient de s'écouler...

 Ennio & Rolling Stones with Bobby Keys

Jan 2014 

Depeche Mode @ Paris Bercy Jan 29 2014

 Warpaint @ Album de la Semaine

Feb 2014

rolling stones rehearsals: one month of rehearsals in Paris which culminated with a secret private show for 27 lucky fans in the rehearsals studio in Bondy. After numerous attempts to organize a proper club gig in Paris that never materialized.

Ennio Morricone @ Bercy:
the best of the numerous soundtracks of the Master with more than a 100 musicians and chorists on stage in a sold-out Bercy.

March 2014

 Babyshambles @ Chorus Fest
With a very good new album Babyshambles did a very good set much better than their previous concert at the Zénith in Paris

Rodriguez @ Olympia
Back for this sold-out and only gig in Paris after the disastrous gigs a few months earlier @ Zénith (Cigale show was better) This one was very nice

 April  2014

The Strypes @ Gaité Lyrique

up & coming band rocking, nice discovery

 Jello Biafra @ 104
Punk legend for a kick-ass set

 Eumir Deodato @ Pan Piper Club
Brazilian legend playing a small club gig in Paris

 May 2014

Manic Street Preachers @ Bataclan
First gig in Paris for more than 15 years bt the band did just the minimum

Ben Harper for 3 shows @ Folies bergere 
3 sold-out shows for Ben with 3 different setlists with his mother as a guest on a couple of songs

 Cat Power @ We Love Green Fest
Chan Marshall on her own for a solo spot, everyone listened to her songs religiously even though it was a festival in day light

Jeff Beck @ Grand Rex
fantastic concert by guitar virtuoso

Black Keys @ Album de la semaine & Studio de la grande Armée
The band is now very successful playing festivals and sold-out arenas and we were lucky to attend two shows in front of less than 150 people @ canal+ and no more than 100 lucky guests @ Studio Grande Armée

June 2014

 Rolling Stones @ Stade de France, Circo Massimo & Werchter festival
3 great shows by the Stones, We had a blast in Rome as the location was fantastic and we had a fantastic stay in Rome for 3 days, visiting the city...

Prince @ Zénith (two shows: 1st show, 2nd show)
Great shows by the midget, two shows, one in the afternoon and one later that night

July 2014

Nick Oliveri @ truskel
Acoustic and killer set, the man is crazy and it was heavy

Sinead O Connor + Plaza Francia @ Théatre de Paris
Sinead better than ever, fantastic voice, great set by Plaza Francia

Buddy Guy + Quinn Sullivan @ Olympia
Great set by the Blues legend and with superb young guitar virtuoso Quinn Sullivan

Anna Calvi @ Cité de la Musique
Great guitar player and so sexy

August 2014

Holidays

Sept 2014

Scorpions @ La Courneuve (Fete de l'Humanité)
Rockin like never before and we we were on stage for the whole set

Oct 2014

Cat Power Solo @ Gaité Lyrique
Strange concert by Shawn, acting strange for most of the set but still adorable

Morrissey @ Grand Rex
the return of the Moz 

Ty Segall @ Cigale + Album de la semaine
Killer set by Ty, rockin and smokin'

Patti Smith/ John Cale @ Fondation Cartier
First show together since 1977 (?)

Nov 2014

Bryan Ferry @ Palais des Sports
Average concert

Slash @ Zénith
Overall good show but very boring 20 min  guitar solo

Motorhead + The Damned @ Zénith
return of lemmy for a overall good show, glad to see Lemmy in better health 

Billy Cobham @ New morning
Jazz legend, fantastic drummer

Elliott Murphy @ Bibliotheque Buffon

Dec 2014

Blondie @ Vuitton Store
Private concert in the very posh Vuitton store Avenue montaigne, good set

Smashing Pumpkins @ Trabendo
Special line up for this show with Brad Wylke from RATM & the bass player from The Killers

Royal Blood @ Point Ephémere
Media darling playing a club, last time to see them in such an intimate place , next year they will headline the Olympia (2500 capacity)

Festival "Bring the Noise" with Royal Blood, Loading Data, Spark Gap @ Point Ephemere, Paris Dec 18 2014

Festival "Bring the Noise" for OUI FM with Royal Blood, Loading Data, Spark Gap @ Point Ephemere, Paris Dec 18 2014

Media darling ROYAL BLOOD playing this Festival.
Probably the last time to be able to see them in a club as they are playing the Olympia next year.

Drums, Drums & more Drums & a bit of bass too.

Certainement la dernière chance pour voir Royal Blood, les chouchous des médias, dans une petite salle, l'année prochaine il faudra se déplacer dans la salle du Bd des Italiens, l'Olympia, le "groupe" y donnera un concert le 17 Mars 2015 pour la St Patrick, dommage que ce soit dans ce cloaque du Point Ephémère coincé entre un canal et la Place Stalingrad. Ça change de la moquette du 22 Avenue Montaigne pour le concert de Blondie de lundi dernier.
Loading Data assure la première partie, on n'a pas vu Spark Gap qui ouvrait ce mini-festival OUI FM, et de belle façon, fortement influencé par les QOTSA mais avec de bons titres, ce qui n'est plus trop le cas des Queens depuis quelques années.
L'Ambiance monte d'un cran après la pose, les nombreux photographes se positionnent et les filles se faufilent au premier rang.
 Deux musiciens, les White Stripes, Les Kills et les Black Keys y sont arrivés pourquoi pas eux, mais dans une formation inédite Royal Blood c'est un batteur et un bassiste c'est tout, euh... les mecs vous n'avez pas oublié quelque chose en route ? Eh Bien ... Non ! Bon, c'est vrai, un peu comme Lemmy mais en beaucoup plus mélodique, la basse sonne comme une guitare. Le plus dure pour eux, ça va être de se renouveler, d’étoffer leur son pour le second album ou alors d'assurer niveau compo en gardant la même formation. Pour le moment c'est le cas, les compos tiennent excellemment la route même après une première écoute en Live. Le duo semble promis à un bel avenir.
Une bonne découverte.

setlist & merchandising