Richard Wright ( Pink Floyd )dead at 65 from cancer

SEPT 16TH : BREAKING NEWS AND VERY SAD NEWS :

IT IS WITH GREAT SADNESS THAT WE BRING YOU THE NEWS THAT

RICHARD WRIGHT

KEYBOARD PLAYER FROM PINK FLOYD DIED A FEW HOURS AGO IN LONDON.
HE WAS 65

Our deepest condolences to his family and friends

Richard rehearsing with the Floyd for Live 8 in London , the day before the show.

July 1st 2005

Reformed PINK FLOYD with Richard @ Live 8

July 2nd 2005

Richard with David Gilmour @ Olympia in Paris
March 16th 2006

A big thank you to Patrice Guino for digging up in his archives so quickly and so early in the morning. i know he's very sad he's a big Pink Floyd fan and he met Richard a few times.

MERCURY REV Black Session " C'est Lenoir " Paris Sept 15th 2008

MERCURY REV a playing a late night promotional radio show for France Inter.
It's a Black session : live gig in front of 250 people in a studio which looks live a small movie theatre with very confortable seats.
We arrived just in time at the radio( 10 pm ) but we missed a couple of minutes from the first song.
They are here to promote their, soon to be released ( sept 30th ), new album "Snow flake midnight " .
This show is broadcasted live for an hour so we have a little surprise for you here.
The music is a bit like Janes Addiction meets Pink Floyd .
Some songs are really psyche and others are really heavy.
I don't know if i'm getting old but it's quite loud .
No breaks between songs as they're playing them one after another . So if you are not familiar with them it's as if they were playing one song for 75 min.

The singer is leaving his lyrics to the max and is sometimes funny to watch with his leg in the air ( a bit like that chap from Jethro tull )he also has some funny grins on his face .
Nice show but you really have to be into it to fully appreciate .
We were lucky to get 3 songs after the broadcast was over ( 11 pm ).[ not on the setlist ]
Those 3 songs are : ( from http://defgav.com/rev/)
Tonight it shows
Tides of the moon
Senses on fire

They will be back in Paris on NOV 25th @ the Elysée Montmartre.

Handwritten setlist ( left ) & mixing desk setlist ( right )

Here is a live video of MERCURY REV performing "tides of the moon" not broadcasted on the Black session:

The Virgins @ " L' Album de la semaine " Canal+ Paris sept 15th 2008

setlist

Promotional gig for french TV show "l 'album de la semaine " Canal+.
The Virgins are promoting their new cd ( released in June )with this gig in front of 120 people in live conditions.
They're from NYC and are an indie band playing a mix of New wave /r'n'b/soul ( that's what they say on their myspace page )
I saw them already a couple of years ago at the Olympia theatre in Paris for a private concert organised by designer Agnes B ( Patti Smith , Sonic Youth , Placebo and others were playing that night ).
The show was OK, nothing special , just another band ...
But they should pay more attention to the way they look , they're really dressed like shit with dodgy t-shirts, sneakers and torn up jeans .
Sorry no pictures or videos for this one ( verbotten )
They just play for 40 min , no encore ; good point so we rush to MERCURY REV which are playing at the other side of Paris for a Black session on "C'est Lenoir".

ROGER HODGSON fete de l' Humanité Sept 13th 2008 Paris

BREAKING NEWS : ROGER HODGSON will play The OLYMPIA in PARIS France on March 24th 2009
check Roger's site for more details : http://www.rogerhodgson.com/
or the Olympia 's site : http://www.olympiahall.com/

Roger Hodgson , the Voice of Supertramp , as it's been advertised.
One thing is for sure the voice is intact and crystal clear as 20 years ago.
Absolutely Brilliant show , the setlist speaks for itself , many Supertramp hits and a couple of solo songs thrown in ( they're great too ). 75 min show . Setlist below.
Roger wrote the best Supertramp songs , sad they're not playing together anymore as Supertramp was VERY popular in France.
Nice ending for the festival of " la fete de l' Humanité ", 50 000 people cheering and singing together on Supertramp songs.
Great
Afterwards we went backstage to meet him , there were lots of competition winners from the french site ( rogerhodgson.fr ) , most of them saw the gig from the wings of the stage.
Roger's a nice bloke he knows how to treat his fans .

Video " Don't leave me now " ( cut before the end sorry ! ) Here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Hi I've been asked if i can upload more videos from Roger on YouTube , the problem is that roger's songs are quite long so the file is too important to be uploaded on Youtube . Sorry .
I wish i could .

AYO played yesterday ( sunday 14th ) @ casino de Paris , i was too tired to go , last time i saw her at the Olympia ( she was recording her live dvd )it was very average , so i didn't mind ...

MERCURY REV is playing a Black Session tonight ( Monday 15th ).
THE VIRGINS are playing tonight ( monday 15th ) for Canal+ tv show " l' album de la semaine".

Tomorrow ( tuesday 16th ) it's JAMES HUNTER playing " l' album de la semaine" , there might be tickets left call bertrand on the 01 55 93 40 48.
Check his myspace he's a cool cat, if you love Soul-blues like in the 60's it's for ya :
http://www.myspace.com/jameshuntermusic

If you want to contact me :
irockinparis@yahoo.fr

BABYSHAMBLES @ Fete de l' Humanité Sept 13th 2008 Paris

UPDATED Sept 14th with new video " FUCK FOREVER" :
check my Youtube ( link below )

The show hasn't started yet that all the girls in the front rows are screaming their lungs out damaging our poor ears.
Lots of people in the VIP area to have a look at Pete Doherty's band : The Babyshambles .
They started smoothly and seem to be very relax tonight, maybe a bit too much. There's a kind of " nonchalance " or maybe is it the huge stage that gives me this feeling; The Babyshambles are fully appreciated in a hot & sweaty club ( or theatre ).
From the latest report i had it was complete chaos down the front ( i guess nothing could match what happened when the Stooges played here last year ) .
I'm a bit disappointed even though the show is good.
Maybe i was expecting something more 'rock ', don't get me wrong it was good but ...

Setlist: ( not sure if it's the right order so TBC... )
La Belle et la Bête
Carry On Up The Morning
Delivery
Beg Steal or Borrow
Baddies Boogie
Back From The Dead
UnbiloTitled
The Blinding
Killamangiro
Sedative
I Wish
Pipedown
Albion
Fuck Forever

No encore and we walked them to their dressing rooms , so that was really cool .
video is here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis
setlist to come shortly
Thanks to Patrice Guino for his beautiful live pictures and for getting us onstage to see the show ( with his friend Mathilde ).

Check my review with pictures and videos of Pete Doherty's secret gig in a pub in Paris in June :
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/06/pete-doherty-shambles-grand-rex-paris.html
Here's a video of Pete in June @ Truskel pub in Paris:
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=JhV_gdLyIqc

More videos from "La Fete de l' Huma" here :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

Plus video : Pipedown

BASHUNG @ Fete de l' Humanité Sept 13th 2008

First time i'm seeing this french singer live . he's popular in france and unlike many other french singer he has a credibility ( a bit like Gainsbourg ).
It's really crowdy , it's saturday, lots of youngsters ( for the Babyshambles ) and old geezers too ; Belgium singer ARNO played just before, but we arrived just in time ( 7 pm ) to see Bashung .
Nice bluesy pop rock set , the poor chap has lung cancer and is being treated so he's seating for most of the gig.
He may be a bit frail but the voice is perfect .
Nice show but i'm still wondering why he's inviting his wife to sing.

With his wife Chloé Mons

OASIS @ Bataclan Paris Sept 13th 2008 ( for the show of the 30th )

Fans waiting for tickets ...

Hi there
Tickets for OASIS' next show were on sale this morning Sept 13th @ the Bataclan for their concert in this venue at the end of the month ( sept 30th ). Price is 39 euros .
1000 tickets were on sale at noon ( 1200 capacity ), the queue was impressive going around the block.

N*E*R*D @ Fete de l' Humanité Paris, Parc du Bourget Sept 12 th 2008

For METALLICA @ Taratata , please scroll down a bit ...

Baby-face in action ...

Hi there
Well... there was another Taratata recording tonight with Carla Bruni & Roger Hodgson ( former Supertramp ) but it wasn't worth going just to see 2 songs from Roger so i' ve been to see N*E*R*D @ La fete de l' Humanité.

It was a fucking nightmare to go there ( it's in Paris' suburb ), lots of traffic .
Luckily we arrived in front of the stage just as the band was being introduced .
Many people down there, around 50 000 .
I went straight to the VIP area, which is a little bit crap , on the right of stage but it was too late to sneak in down the front with the audience as it was packed, at least i had some space around me

Patrice Guino , our photographer , went into the pit ( enjoy his pictures !!! ) and with his contacts could managed to get ON stage , once again , for the rest of the show ( Bastard ! )
Needless to tell you that they've Rap-Rock the mother-fucking place. I really dig their music a very intelligent mix of rock & rap with bits of soul thrown in .
Their record " fly or die" is absolutly fantastic , i haven't heard the new one .

The 3 rappers ( or 4 ) walked that stage to death. Amazing how Pharrel Williams looks young, he really has a baby face. the show was very lively , for the last 2-3 songs they asked people to come on stage to rousing applauses. Then they get rid of all the boys and kept the girls for the last song which included a few seconds of the White Stripes' "7 nation army".
Some of the girls made it backstage , i don't know if they took'em back to their hotel as they were barely 17 .
Absolutely BRILLIANT .

As if you were ON stage with'em ...

Can't wait to see THE BABYSHAMBLES tomorrow ( and Roger Hodgson as well ) @ "la fete de l' Huma... " . Babyshambles' drummer is playing a late night show with his own band @ Truskell in Paris after Babyshambles' set.

Review + photos and videos of Pete Doherty's show @ truskell in June :
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/06/pete-doherty-shambles-grand-rex-paris.html

METALLICA @ TARATATA & Virgin Radio Paris Sept 10th 2008

James & Rob

Kirk & Lars

Long day with The Almighty METALLICA in Paris
First was Virgin radio in the afternoon and then TARATATA
It was a KILLER ...

Metallica was in Paris for a short promotional trip. they arrived here on the 9th around 9 PM. They stayed in the same hotel as Coldplay , Tony Parker & Eva Longoria. From what i heard they all went ( Metallica ) to the restaurant that night and then Lars & Kirk went to a dancing club coming back very late ... hum ... very early in the morning. Lars was staying in another hotel two minutes walk from the others.
On the 10th they went to the rehearsals for Taratata ( see picture below ).
Lars & Rob did an interview for Virgin Radio @ 6 pm ( Lars arriving late ) , we couldn't get into the studio so we had to stay in the lobby to listen to the interview.Around 30 fans were there and Lars & Kirk pose for pictures and sign autographs for everyone They left @ 7pm to go back to Taratata.

The show was running late and didn't start before 9 pm .
Metallica was the first band to play and did their new single " The day that never comes" .
What you have to know is that Taratata is the french Jools Holland , stage is central and stalls are all around for 400 people. We were second row, 3 meters behind James, facing the others.
You can't imagine how close we were from James. Sound was neat and not to loud. Perfect.
Just as they finished their song there was a power failure backstage so it took a good 10 min before they did their interview. Lars asked if there were any Metallica fans in the audience checking Metallica t-shirts in the crowd and talking to fans. They were very relax and chatty even though they show little signs of boredom as they had their plane to catch just after the show. After the interview in which James had a laugh at dave Mustaine as Nagui ( the host ) played some Megadeth in the PA ( Lars prefer to stay out of it ), they went back to their dressing room. Several other bands followed : Gabriella Cilmi, Sahara Hotnights ( an all girl band ) with Sting's son Joe Sumner , Joseph D' Anvers.
Metallica came back to play 2 songs "Cyanide" & " Enter sandman ". That was it.
Only 3 songs but that was mind blowing.
We went straight to the backstage area , Rob said hello and signed a few cds to a few fans and then they all left ( we didn't see the others ) by a small door to avoid people to get their plane in ...Reims as Le Bourget was closed.
As you wake up this morning they should take their breakfast in Denmark.
GREAT EVENING !!!

Sorry no live pictures from Taratata as our photographer PATRICE GUINO left his camera in the clockroom of the dressing rooms and couldn't get it back in time .
He was shattered , poor boy ;-(((

Remember that The Melvins are playing the Elysée Montmartre on the 11th !


the rehearsals sheet

live tv show part1 + all access wrisband & James' plectrum

Tv show part 2

Contact : irockinparis@yahoo.fr
Check our video of other artists here, you Metalheads :
http://fr.youtube.com/user/rockingparis

COLDPLAY + Albert Hammond Jr Paris Bercy Sept 9th 2008

NEW:
The Virgins will play " L'album de la semaine" Canal+ on Sept 15th
James Hunter same tv show on Sept 16th
http://www.myspace.com/jameshuntermusic
--For bookings call Bertrand on 01 55 93 40 48--
Metallica will do a interview live on Virgin radio today at 6pm ( they are recording Taratata tonight )

With its new record Coldplay is probably the biggest band of 2008, they've been N° 1 in more than 30 countries and they're playing in Paris for 2 Sold out nights @ Bercy ( 17 000 capacity ).
Albert Hammond Jr is opening , he's the guitar player of The Strokes .
The concert was very late as Albert hammond Jr started his set at 8:40 pm
He should go back with them as soon as he can as his gig was plain boring , his singing is monotonous and the songs are just average. I already saw him and it wasn't as boring as tonight.
What happened Albert ?

I'll upload a couple videos of Albert Hammond Jr tomorrow on Youtube ( link below ).

Then at 9:50 pm Coldplay came on stage , Live they 're much more exciting than on cd , they may only have 4 records but they have lots of hit songs. The singer is still funny to watch and the musicians could be easily replaced no one will noticed it. The stage is very simple with the cd cover as backdrop and then a big screen in the back . They've played a couple of songs on a small stage.
They've also played at the back of the venue and this time it wasn't on a proper stage but directly in the aisle in Bercy , first time i'm seeing this happen. Chris made an effort to speak an almost perfect french. Good point.
Funny how some songs are sounding like U2 , they even did like U2 when their drummer came up front to play some drums. Lots of confettis at the end ...
Enjoyable night.

SETLIST
Life In Technicolor
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place
Speed Of Sound
Cemeteries Of London
Chinese Sleep Chant
42
Fix You
Strawberry Swing
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face (partial - techno version)
Talk (partial - techno version)
The Hardest Part (piano - Chris)
Postcards From Far Away (piano instrumental)
Viva La Vida
Lost!
The Scientist (acoustic)
Death Will Never Conquer (acoustic - Will singing)
Viva La Vida (remix interlude)
-------
Politik
Reign Of Love
Lovers In Japan
Death And All His Friends
-------
Yellow
The Escapist

( Sorry no pictures for this gig as Patrice Guino, our photographer, didn't take any, he just didn't care at all. )
See our review of the small show they've done in Paris for W9 TV in June here :
http://rockerparis.blogspot.com/2008/06/coldplay-w9-tv-show-jun-19th.html

Black Kids "C'est Lenoir" Black Session Paris Sept 8th 2008

I' m just back from the first Black Session on France Inter since the end of June.
Tonight it's the up and coming Black Kids from Florida.
Rolling Stone called them one of ten "Artists to Watch" in 2008.
Well let's see...
I listen to their music this afternoon and they sound a bit like the Brasilians' CSS , a pop dance band with a Robert Smith-like singer.
As always at the Black Sessions conditions are perfect , bands are playing live in a studio and the audience is sitting in stalls like in a movie theatre and the seats are very confortable.
Not the best way to headbang or dance but hey , i' m getting old ...
The Black kids are 5 ( drums , bass , singer-guitarist and 2 girls playing keyboards ) and are playing a mix of pop-rock-dance, which is normally not my cup of tea ( One of my worst concerts was The Rapture who are playing the same shit )
Well live they're ok but their songs are too similar to me. It's like CSS without the fun even though the 2 girls on keys add a little something.
Black Kids will be back in November for the Inrockuptibles Festival .
Check by yourself :
http://www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

and here's a video from the Black session :

What's next ... Black Kids, Coldplay, Metallica ...

Next shows in Paris ( some promotional ) :
08 Sept : Black kids "C'est Lenoir" 's Black session Radio show. ( 50 min showcase ) *
09 sept : Black Kids "Album de la semaine" for french TV Canal+ ( 50 min showcase )
09 Sept : Coldplay @ Bercy *
10 Sept : Coldplay @ Bercy
10 Sept : METALLICA ( 3 songs live ) + the Infadels + others . Recording for Taratata. *
11 Sept : Jamie Lidell, Shirleen Spiteri, estelle + others . recording for Taratata , a french Jools Holland Tv show.
12 Sept : Roger Hodgson + Carla Bruni + Katty Perry+ others . Taratata recording
ALL THESE SHOWS ABOVE ARE SOLD OUT
12 Sept : NERD + others Fete de L' Humanité
13 sept : Babyshambles + Roger Hodgson ( ex- Supertramp )+ others Fete de l' Humanité *
20 & 21 Sept : Madonna @ Stade de France *
22 Sept :Bryan Adams @ Zénith *
22 & 23 Sept Divine Comedy Cité de la musique Paris *
24 Sept : QUEEN + Paul Rodgers @ Bercy *
26 & 27 Sept : Killing Joke @ Trabendo
26 Sept : Elliott Murphy @ Paris' 6th district Town Hall ( free show )*
28 Sept : STEVIE WONDER @ Bercy ( sold out )*
I will go to all shows with a * ( maybe more )
So come back for reviews ...

KEZIAH JONES Metro Auber Paris Sept 6th 2008

Metro Auber

Last show for Keziah Jones @ station Auber.
Complete success for this parisian tour of the tube stations .
4 shows ( Metro Miromesnil , Olympiades , Montparnasse and Auber ) each time many journalists , cameramen and photographers for maximum publicity .
The record company did a good job ( for once ) it was all over the news and open to general public which doesn't happen very often when an artist is doing a showcase to promote a new record . Well... it was a limited access , " for security reasons"; 15000 people registered and less than a 100 people were contacted to be revealed the secret location of each gig. But ,Hey everybody has a cellphone now .
Nice week for me as i've been to 3 out of 4 shows ( didn't go at the first one but he only played for 20 min ), plus a radio recording yesterday ( he played 4 songs plus interview )

This afternoon it's party @ Auber , Keziah is playing with his band ( one bass plus Drums ) and its the biggest of all 4 shows ( around 400 people ) and it's a ( almost ) center stage with people all around.
Instead of the acoustic gig it's a more Hendrix-like gig , the guitar is screaming with a couple of technical problems but anyway that's Rock'n Roll , it can't be perfect .
Very lively atmosphere with fans , small kids and family and people who just happened to be at the right place at the right moment.
He played 9 songs , 40 min .
the best of all 4 shows .

Here's a video :