Transfer + Tribes + Kaiser Chiefs @ L'Olympia, Paris (29/11/11)

  Kaiser Chiefs invested the legendary venue of the Olympia last night accompanied by two opening acts: Transfer and Tribes. It was the last date of their European tour and the occasion they set fire!

   First the Californians Transfer came on stage in front of an audience more or less receptive. Being the opening act is never easy but they did a great job, they were good and managed to capture the public's attention.

Then it was Tribes' turn. They came straight from England and they had the difficult task of being the second opening act. The audience was attentive to Transfer but for Tribes it was different. I have to say that it was 8:45p.m when the boys came on stage, we realized that we had to wait again for Kaiser Chiefs gig! 

Musically it was not bad but the singer's voice was a bit too garish. I discovered that I've already knew them because when I lived in London some of their songs were played on the radio such as Saffo or When My Day Comes. But obviously French people did not know them.

It is a little more than 9:30 p.m. when Kaiser Chiefs made its entrance with Money for Nothing by Dire Straits. The first notes of Everyday I Love You Less And Less immediately made the crowd as mad as Ricky Wilson, the singer was. He did not hesitate to approach the mosh pit at the start of the show and kept more surprises in store for later.

The English from Leeds sang lots of hits, also after the concert I heard someone saying "I did not think they had as many hits, I knew almost everything". I must say that the setlist included mostly songs from their debut album Employment in the detriment of those from The Future is Medieval whose fans were involved in picking the tracklist. Ricky Wilson did not hesitate to play with his audience, whether from a general point of view or by giving personal items to specific individuals. The fans knew all the songs, so they had the choirs on The Angry Mob, Na Na Na Na Naa and Oh My God. It reigned a great atmosphere in the mosh pit, everybody was jumping in unison on almost every song!

I found the setlist a bit short (17 songs) when you know they have four albums to their credit, a show of just 1h30. But the show was worth it! To see Ricky Wilson so full of energy jumping and running around, I can understand that perhaps the show was that "short". He went for a walk on the floor near the balcony, singing and best of all, he took himself for Moïse! During Oh My God in the encore he asked the mosh pit to split into two parts, he joined us maintaining the separation, he even sat down and stretched between us. Then, after a countdown, the mosh pit closed itself, huge pogos erupted and Ricky Wislon took part of this craziness!

To be brief, an explosive concert, it's nice to see a band that gives that much on stage! Their set was one of my favorites ones of summer festivals (I saw them at Hard Rock Calling and Main Square), last night they  proved they can sold out venues by themselves providing a show as huge as they do when they headline festivals. Why not the Zenith next time?
I filmed some songs that are on Youtube, crowd movements were quite muscular so I do not guarantee a perfect picture.

La setlist:
Everyday I Love You Less and Less
Never Miss A Beat
Little Shocks
Everything Is Average Nowadays
Good Days Bad Days
Put Me On The Cover Of Your Magazine
Modern Way
Man On Mars
Ruby
The Angry Mob
Na Na Na Na Naa
Starts With Nothing
I Predict a Riot
Kinda Girl You Are
Take My Temperature

Encore:
Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)
Oh My God

Lucy Rose + Bombay Bicycle Club @ La Maroquinerie (28/11/11)

Yesterday evening I went to Bombay Bicycle Club's gig at the Maroquinerie, young British band which has already three albums to his credit. Discovered at the V Festival in 2006, these little English are back this year with their new album A Different Kind of Fix released this summer.

In the privacy of the Maroquinerie, which was slowly filling up, Lucy Rose came on stage accompanied by a cellist. This is the one who laid her voice on some songs from Flaws and A Different Kind of Fix by Bombay Bicycle Club. She gave her guitar / voice compositions in  front of an attentive audience.

She was quite talkative on the fact that she was on the cover of her album with her grandmother who was not aware. She also told us that with the Bombay Bicycle Club they decided to take the road for 18h from Germany to be Paris for their day off. She was nice to see playing but I think it's better to listen to her music rather relax on a deckchair than during a concert itself.

After leaving the scene, Lucy Rose then came back with Bombay Bicycle Club for their first song Shuffle. Meanwhile, the room was now well filled since it was sold out. The atmosphere was warmer than during the opening act but the young audience was still a little on the reserve.

They interpreted titles from their three albums like Magnet, Always Like This, Rinse Me Down, Ivy and Gold or Leave It and What You Want that appear their latest album. They played just over 1h30 in front of an audience which has relaxed itself throughout the concert. At the end some were jumping on some songs (Beggars, What If, What You Want).

They were quite communicative with the crowd. Jamie MacColl (guitarist) said they had not played one of their songs for a long time and Jack Steadman (singer) said they were pretty excited about Paris. The band has been very successful in both ways: Sometimes acoustic, sometimes energetic depending on the songs.

I let you discover the setlist below. As usual you can find videos of the concert on Youtube because I filmed Shuffle and How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep.

The Subways + Kasabian @ Zénith, Paris (22/11/11)

Touring for their fourth studio album Velociraptor!, Kasabian put their suitcases at the Zenith in Paris this week for a night of madness!

The british band The Subways assured the opening act. They were in Paris to promote the release of their new album Money & Celebrity and they set fire to the Zenith with the first notes of Oh Yeah! Very dynamic, Billy and Charlotte jumped all over the place and invited the public to do the same. 

They mixed new songs like We Don't Need Money To Have A Good Time with older ones like Rock & Roll Queen, where Billy incorporated a wink to Paris adding "Paris is rock and roll" to the lyrics.

  They played a little more than 30 minutes that passed very quickly because the atmosphere was good. It was a very efficient opening act that has excited the public for Kasabian's arrival. They will come back to Paris next year and will be playing at the Alhambra.

Let's go to the essential: Kasabian concert itself. I had already been surprised when I saw them as Muse's opening act at the Stade de France and this summer at the Main Square Festival but I have to say I've been even more blown away! The concert began with Days Are Forgotten sang along by the crowd although this song is very recent, it announced the color!
Shoot the Runner was greeted by a delirious audience, whether in the mosh pit or in the standing area where everybody stood up for the occasion. The band from Leicester in the UK has chained hits (Underdog, Club Foot, LSF), more intimate songs (La Fee Verte, Kiss Goodbye) with their latest tracks (Re-wired) in a public reactive and responsive! Underdog was one of the highlights of the evening, the public sang along the "Kill me if you dare, hold my hand up in the air" parts of the lyrics.

Tom the singer did not hesitate to play with the public, from right to left on the stage, throwing his microphone to the ground, rewarding some girls with a look and welcoming those who were on the shoulders of their friends. His right arm Sergio was also communicative with the crowd! There was a great complicity between those two. Jay Mehler, the second guitarist was hilarious and happy to see such a good atmosphere in the venue.

After Pulp Fiction Theme and LSF (among others) the band left the stage. In the meantime the crowd became unleashed and when they came back for the encore everybody sang the "Aaaah aaaaaaah aah" of LSF! The atmosphere and the heat in the venue were at their peak, we were about to live a pure moment. First Switchblade Smiles with very electronic sounds, then Vlad The Impaler with the audience screaming "Get loose, get loose" and finally Fire. These three songs have ended the concert perfectly, the Zenith WAS on fire!

The band thanked the Zenith for a long time. They seemed very pleased and happy to have spent an evening with the Parisian public. It seemed that they did not realize the crowd's enthusiasm for them. Very spontaneous, Tom covered a few words of Michelle by The Beatles accapella for a final goodbye.

I spent a wonderful evening, Kasabian's gig is one of the best I've done so far. Some days ago Kasabian told the English magazine NME "We're made ​​to headline festivals," I am now firmly convinced. They evolved fast and are ready for the next level. I filmed Shoot The Runner, Fire, Michelle and their arrival with Days Are Forgotten, videos are available on the Youtube channel on the right. You can find the setlist below:

Evanescence @ L'Olympia (16/11/11)

Last night I was at the Olympia to see Evanescence that I had not seen since 2007! They were stoping by Paris in their European tour for their latest self-titled album.

I arrived at 17:30 and I joined the queue that was already very long to my amazement! We finally got in and we sat in the mosh pit.

The opening act was Me, a band from Australia. It was nice though largely inspired by Muse and My Chemical Romance. Their energy and catchy rhythms failed to win the hearts of the crowd that remained rather passive.

Shortly after 9pm the lights went out, Amy, Will, Troy, Terry and Tim came on stage to play the first notes of What You Want to an audience much more reactive than for Me! They quickly continued with Going Under, second single from their debut album, and everyone seemed to be enjoying! It was my personal pleasure because this song is probably my favorite from Evanescence! Amy greeted the Parisian audience saying "It's good to be back" and thanked French fans that are particulars for the band.

The band went on mixing songs from their latest album and The Open Door as The Other Side, Made of Stone, Lithium, Call Me When You're Sober. Amy was making round trips to the synthesizer when necessary and a piano arrived on stage in the middle of the set. The concert was marked by some "Thank you" in French from Amy and a pleasant ambience although sometimes a little too shy to my opinion. I was very surprised to see Imaginary included on the setlist as it is a song dear to my heart and not a single, so I was thrilled! Bring Me To Life just before the encore was a pleasure for older fans who could not help singing "Wake me up, can not wake up, save me", the words of McCoy in the original version of the song.

The band made itself desired for 5 long minutes under screamings and applause from the audience before coming back on stage for two songs performed by Amy at the piano and another one: the sublime Your Star and the classical My Immortal.

The concert went quickly, barely 1h20. Although I found it a bit short I was not shocked because I'm used to it. However, Amy's voice has improved dramatically! You can find videos of Going Under, Imaginary, Bring Me To Life and Your Star on Youtube (in the sidebar) and here is the setlist that was played:

What You Want 

Going under 

The Other Side 

Weight of the World 

The Change 

Made Of Stone 

Lost In Paradise 

My Heart Is Broken 

Lithium 

Sick 

Oceans 

Call Me When You're Sober 

Imaginary 

Bring Me To Life 

Encore:

Never Go Back 

Your Star 

My Immortal 

Despite the cold of November I waited for the eventual leaving of the band at the end of the concert and I was right because after an hour Amy came to see us. It was more to see her face to face and be able to say a few words than to get an autograph. She was as nice as when I met her several times between 2004 and 2007, she even remembered me and hugged me !