mardi 26 août 2008

The Last Shadow Puppets Olympia Paris August 26th 2008


Hi Lads
Just back from holidays and already in the pit for some good rocking tonight .
THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS is The up and rising band featuring Miles Kane from The Rascals and Alex Turner from the Artic Monkeys.
There's a real hype with this band and the Olympia is SOLD OUT.
There was a real hype too with the Artic Monkeys last year , i wonder why because they're really (just above )average on cd and live.
So i'm doubtful .
From what i've heard ( a couple of songs ) i'm even more doubtful.
Tonight is the last gig on their European tour before touring England in October ( not really the last one as they're playing a show tomorrow afternoon for french tv Canal+ )
The stage is beautifully set with a 12( ? ) piece orchestra in the back + the LSP ( 5 lads ).
Lots of young girls in the audience so the atmosphere is quite hot straight from the beginning.
They opened with " Calm like you " before playing their single "The age of the understatement" to an already conquered audience. The sound is clear and the addition of the orchestra adds a little something that makes the difference. The orchestration is perfect and enhanced perfectly their songs giving them a 60's OST feel.
Miles Kane is handling most of the vocals and it's hard to believe but he just looks like John Lennon meets Richard Ashcroft, the way he plays his acoustic guitar and the way he speaks is totally Lennonesque even tough he had a take on LOVE 's " Little red book" .
Sometimes it's hard when you're hearing songs for the first time to fully appreciate a gig but tonight i was into it from the beginning ... to the end .
17 songs , they played all of their album plus a few others.
Special treat for Paris as Alison " VV" Mosshart from The Kills came to sing "Paris summer".
Show ended with David Bowie's " In the heat of the morning" and "in my room" .
They're so tight it's hard to believe that they've played their first ever concert 6 months ago.
Great Gig !
Former CSS's female Brasilian bass player and Nicolas Godin ( half of AIR ) went to the gig together.

Miles Kane & Alex Turner

setlist

Video The Last Shadow Puppets playing "Paris summer" with "VV" from The Kills:


More to come here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

lundi 25 août 2008

Next shows... in Paris

A few promo TV shows for these artists :
Keziah Jones August 25th
Santogold August 26th
Last Shadow Puppets August 27th
Tricky August 29th
They're all playing the " Album de la Semaine " for Canal + ( all Sold out but Tricky ) in Paris
Live shows in front of a selected audience of 120 people. Usually they're playing for 50 min .
Check Canal+ website for more infos :
http://www.canalplus.fr/tous-les-programmes/les-emissions/pid2245-c-p-album-de-la-semaine.html

Metallica will be in Paris mid-september to promote their new cd with 2 tv shows planned.
ROCK EN SEINE Festival August 28th and 29th , see ya there
BYE

samedi 9 août 2008

dimanche 3 août 2008

SEX PISTOLS + NEW YORK DOLLS & BUZZCOCKS Belgium 2008

SEX PISTOLS + NEW YORK DOLLS & BUZZCOCKS
Live at the Lokerse Festival in Belgium.
Festival site is in the town center's main square which is unusual for a rock fest next to a funfair and a second stage with local bands. Price admission for the main stage is only 30 euros which is very cheap to see 4 bands.
First to play ( around 8 PM ) are local punk band THE KIDS we don't really see them as we are hanging around in the streets but they finish their set with Sham 69s " If the kids are united".
Next to play are THE BUZZCOCKS, Steve Giggle is in good spirit ( he was drinking a lot before the gig backstage ) They're rocking fast and the audience is really enjoying the songs ( "boredom", "fast cars", "autonomy", "breakdown", "what do i get","promises", "harmony in my head" , "orgasm addict", and " ever fallen in love" ). Good 45 min of pure rock ' n roll. At the end of the show Steve wrecked the drum kit à la WHO .
Backstage we had a chat with Glen Matlock ( Sex Pistol ) who invited us to the show courtesy of our english mate Ray Morrissey. He was the only one to come backstage the others prefer to stay in the dressing rooms.
Then we have The NEW YORK DOLLS, i really love them, their last record " one day it will please us to remember even this " released two years ago when they reformed is probably one of the best rock record done these last few years by any rock band. Live they're very enjoyable.
Lots of great tunes (" Rainbow store", "dance like a monkey", "private world", " dance on a lip of a volcano" and " we're all in love " from their last cd ) + some classics ( "Pills" , "looking for a kiss" , " babylon" ) some covers ( Janis Joplin's " piece of my heart" and Johnny thunder's " you can't put your arm around a memory " sing by Sylvain Sylvain ) .
They finish their 60 min show with "Trash" and "Jetboy" . they were brilliant and David Johansen is still funny to watch in his skinny baby t-shirt.
They were supposed to play an encore but the organisers almost kicked them out of the stage as they were afraid to run late. There was a funny thing when Sylvain Sylvain spoke french , the thing he doesn't know is that Lokeren is in Flemish country and they really HATE French speaking people.Ah Ah Ah !!! "Flemish Bastards" ( dixit our photographer Patrice Guino ) You could really feel their hate as we were in Ghent sightseeing in the afternoon.
Anyway, We are here for the SEX PISTOLS so let's forget about those suckers.
They come on at midnight , as we are the Sex Pistols' guests we stay in the photographers pit for the first 3 songs and than down the front pogoing with the audience for the rest of the gig.
Johnny is dressed with a very strange outfit ( see pictures ) Glen is sun tan and has a fresh "new romantic" haircut. Steve is steve ( fat) and Cookie is hidden behind is drum kit , the stage is so high that we can't see him at all.
Of course they play the same set over and over again for the last twelve years ( since they reformed in 1996 ) , remember they only have only ONE record .
The main square is full ( 15000 people ) and it's chaos in the first rows.
They open with " pretty vacant" and play all their classics ( " holidays in the sun", " no fun", " stepping stone", "seventeen" , " problems", "god save the queen" ) Last song is " EMI" before the encores " bodies" and "anarchy in the UK" .
As usual Johnny sometimes cannot remember the lyrics and as to rely on his lyrics book or the band is stretching a song when Johnny doesn't sing at the right moment. But that's part of the trip with them. Second encore is Hawkwind 's " silver machine " and " roadrunner".
Great gig !!!
After the show we hang around backstage and have a chat with Glen and Cookie just before they leave the venue back to Bruxelles. They have an early flight in the morning to Glasgow, where they're playing the day after.


The Buzzcocks

The NEW YORK DOLLS

The Sex Pistols

Not my best videos as i am down the front with the audience:
More here:
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis
"God save the Queen " :