The Blues Brothers Band @ Trianon, Paris July 19 2013

The Blues Brothers Band @ Trianon, Paris July 19 2013

Steve Cropper is back in Paris, a few months after playing with The Animals @ New Morning club. From the original band there's only The Colonel & Lou Marini.

The Blues Brothers are playing quite often over here, they were @ Enghien les Bains for a free show on July 02 2011, first gig after Alan Rubin's death a month earlier. They also played @ the Olympia theatre on July 05 2008 with guest Eddie Floyd on vocals.

We arrived too late to see opener Mountain Mex, both balconies are full but the pit is pretty empty as we're making our way in, everyone's at the bar , it's so hot in there and the show hasn't started yet.

It's 8:30 when the musicians are getting on stage one by one unannounced to everyone's surprise to start with two instrumentals "Booker T's " Green Onions" and the theme from Peter Gunn before the first singer, dressed up as a Blues Brother with the trademark black hat, sunglasses,white shirt/ black suit makes his entrance for a set of blues and soul covers made famous by the movie to a whole new generation of fans. Only classics are performed (see setlist for details below) and with the addition of a second singer and with the Jack/ Elwood dance routine it's like attending the shooting of the original Blues Brothers movie as both singers are doing a terrific job.

Show is ending with great renditions of Steve Winwood's "gimme some Loving" and the Classic "Everybody need Somebody to love".
Great show !!!

 setlist (above)

"Gimme Some Lovin' "

Melissa Laveaux @ Parvis Hotel de Ville, Fnac Live, Paris , July 19 2013

Melissa Laveaux @ Parvis Hotel de Ville, Fnac Live, Paris , July 19 2013

Before going to The Blues Brothers band @ Trianon, short stop @ Parvis de l'Hotel de Ville to see Melissa Laveaux. Pop-Folk with some African influences, not really our thing , enjoyable though.
Keziah Jones was next.

Miles Kane + Palma Violets + Villagers @ Hotel de Ville de Paris , Fnac Live, July 18 2013

Miles Kane + Palma Violets + Villagers @ Hotel de Ville de Paris , Fnac Live, July 18 2013

 The nice & clean VILLAGERS (above)

Free festival organized by FNAC stores on the Parvis de l'Hotel de Ville. It started yesterday with at least 6 bands playing every night from 5:00pm to 11:00pm.
Tonight IS the night with Miles Kane but we decided to come earlier to check Villagers & Palma Violets, we already saw both bands this year @ L'Album de la Semaine tv show ( Jan 09 2013 for Villagers) & Jan 15 2013 for Palma Violets)

Villagers for some chamber pop-folk, not really the best place to listen to that kind of music, in day light with people talking and drinking wine... they did OK.

 Garage rock with PALMA VIOLETS (above)

Different kind of music, now we're talking ! The guys are having fun with some kick ass garage rock, it's a family audience from teenagers to people over 60 and some of those bastards are complaining when youngsters are pogoing down the front.

That's what I like to see, people enjoying themselves. It was rockin' !!!

 Palma Violets setlist (far right)

 MILES KANE Rockin' with Class (as usual)

Nothing that much to say about Miles Kane, we saw him already dozens of times and it was " encore un sans faute", The guy is Rockin' with Class, lots of catchy songs. All the girls are down the front for him, headbanging like mad. see setlist below for details
Great set !!!

One question though: WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GET THAT COSTUME ?

We left the premises to go home, Oxmo Puccimo and Olivia Ruiz were next, How can we stay for that crap ?

 "Come Closer"

CAT POWER @ Olympia, Paris July 17 2013

CAT POWER @ Olympia, Paris July 17 2013

Can't believe it's been 5 years since we last saw CAT POWER live in Paris and it was at the very same Olympia Hall on June 1st 2008. We couldn't go at her last show in Paris @ Salle Pleyel on July 3rd 2011 as The Doors were playing on the same night @ Bataclan.

This gig has been postponed as she cancelled her whole European Tour a few months ago. She was supposed to play two nights @ Olympia, it turned out that there is only one show in Paris and it's not sold-out.

I guess her last album "Sun" was not well received over here, never heard any songs on the radio, it wasn't the case for "The Greatest" and "Jukebox" which had lots of air-plays. Couldn't go to a movie either without hearing one of her songs.

The stage is minimalist with a huge screen in the back playing short movies. There are 3 girls in the band on guitars, drums & bass and Gregg Foreman on guitar and piano. Chan has now short bleach blond hair and doesn't seem to be at her best, she's constantly touching her nose and sometimes coughing (catch a cold?) and she has trouble walking ( twisted her ankle ?).

There was a time when she was having fun on stage or it was looking as if she was having fun, she was looking very fragile yesterday night on razor's edge.

She's the kind of girl you want to comfort and hold her tight in your arms.

There were some really good moments unfortunately we had to endure the whole new album "Sun" that I really don't like so I guess we were disappointed, too many of these new (boring) songs.

Hope to see her back soon alive & kicking but not with "Sun" songs.

 setlist & Merchandising