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Updated July 2009 .Jarboe, L'Embobineuse, Marseille Fr, June 18th. By Laurent, translation Mère Maquerelle Jarboe, Jarboe... A great stage name, a kind of priestess visiting Marseille. It is hard to easily judge this mythical name, it is so evocative. Former member of cult band The Swans (with a possible future reformation), Jarboe is like a survivor who would have found a way to communicate with both pagan and Indian gods then spend some days in hell to give birth to a devilish baby : Mahakali (2008, The End Records, Season Of Mist).After an album with Neurosis, Mahakali is a shamanic and haunting opus for listeners. The whole thing is engrossing: an aerial and stifling in turn. A balance winning the luxury of playing with the codes and generating primal emotions. For its promotion, Jarboe began a European tour, the "Mother of Changes Tour, which stops in Marseille for a Kill The Trend evening at L'Embobineuse. But will the ex-Swans succeed to make us forget her past as a mythical member and to assert Jarboe as a reference type ? Arrived late because announced by eclectic bands: BEX guitarist having fun sampling himself finally gets an interesting mix, Kulfi, band from Marseille with the psychedelic soul whose performance becomes very difficult due to huge technical problems and a 3rd group, Naer Mataron (black metal whose value is relative), Jarboe finally appears. Well, the band but without Jarboe, who takes perverse pleasure in hiding in the audience. She is anonymous in the crowd, then looks at her stooges. Does she evaluate them, does she become impregnated with the place? She is the only one to know. And this will be the watchword of the evening. Jarboe then does a show of force by her overwhelming presence. No doubt is possible, she draws all eyes with no rivalry when she goes on stage, leaving behind her musicians. Then the concert really begins. As in the album, the played songs are like rituals, playing with feelings: Jarboe handles them easily! She highlights the primary emotions that live inside us and pass on her transe to the audience. The melodies contribute greatly by following a logical sequence. The tension they are sending first insinuate themselves through a ponderous litany to grow towards blacks and tortuous paths: the litany becomes harder, more violent and often ends the long songs into a battleground. Jarboe ends up playing with the public: she remains static, then sings among the people, then comes back on stage, cold shoulder. Her stage acting is mannered. That creates a profitable osmosis between the audience and her. No, seeing Jarboe is not attending a show, but an experience. Yet in the long run, the voluntary film she is inserting amongst the (expert) public ends up weary. Her attitude looks more like the one of someone precious and capricious than genuine spontaneity. No thanks nor a look make the character looks cold and distant. Hoping this is only due to stage acting... Then it has to be said that her voice, that, listening to the ablum, is piercing the body, struggles to find the required power to be highlighed in front of the accompanying musicians. The bass, the guitar, drums and keyboards swirl into a diabolical melody and carry spectators away, deeper with each new song. This is where we notice that despite her magnificent voice and overly impressive presence, her lyrics charged with meaning can not find their place and unfortunately end up relegated to the 2nd level, stifled by too heavy instruments. Fortunately, this is not always the case, and in short and rare moments, we fully feel the power of the enigmatic woman, her songs such as a call from the limbo or grumbles of the worst beast, prophesy our animal side as a shaman. Flashes of pure power, jouissive as far as possible that break our consciousness. In the space of 7 songs exclusively Mahakali's, her presence will slip away as she came: in the anonymity of the audience. Leaving the crowd strangely silent divided between respecting and questioning the Lady's charm. Jarboe don't really delight applause and allow no encore. Like a fantasy of old times, she came, and left after striking the consciences.
.New sound series, Rockstore, Montpellier, Fr : (translation Mère Maquerelle). Imagine The Lush under speed with Micky singing true. The Vivian Girls at Rockstore, it's kind of the same sound mess, clearly less surf than on record, clearly more noise with chorus who hit the bull's eye in the girl band's purest spirit. It suits all tastes, the red head bassist Kickball Kathy who doesn't stop moving, big smiles to charm the audience, blonde singer Cassie applied herself to the guitar, and Ali the brunette drummer with glasses combined with the severity of a teacher who's not there for fun. No high heels, no ostentatious makeup, no unnecessary decoration. we're not here for broad jokes and we definitely feel that tattoos are not a passing fad. A "you take my guitar, I take the bass, she takes the drums" final, where Katy was able to finally explode in a joyful refreshing mess.
Part 4 tuesday june 2nd : Deerhoof Back at the crime scene 5 days later. A roughly similar gauge for Deerhoof, Kill Rock Stars representative, the oh-so-venerated label by Bib. J. took this opportunity to thank Portia Sabin once again;)A first for Deerhoof in Montpellier and the audience made no mistake about it, not many but hearing and reactive. The band group will even be entitled to two encores, not so usual for the audience in Montpellier, known for not to be the most demonstrative one.No useless support act and that's not a bad thing after all. Deerhoof is first of Satomi Matsuzaki, bass, voice, jump and outfit. Also a leader if we believe the signs and instructions she's giving to the other three. Her alter ego is Greg Saunier on drums, he's tall, very tall, so tall that the drums seem to be made for a child, minimal, compact and a formidable efficiency. This man is amazingly impressive, this man is an octopus, this man assures the entertainment all by himself. Even though... they're also lined up on the front of the stage, but the effect is quite different. We quickly realize that is the only way for us not to miss a bit. There's so many things to observe, they all four live their music, are haunted, all in different ways, jumping, grimacing, a lot of funny faces. Deerhoof on stage is an aural and a visual show. Some shared happiness. It's often unstructured, going inside out to upside down, we have to persevere to stay focused, the marks are mixed up, but we can not be insensitive. The final will reveal us that the crazy drummer is also a fucking good guitar player, this guy is about to become my new idol. He even spoke french with application and got for sure everyone's attention. Thank you guys for this lovely time and thanx to Rockstore for taking further risks.
.Metric, Maroquinerie, Paris Fr, may 4th. By C, translation Mère Maquerelle. Keyed up, the lucky ones who managed to get a ticket reserved a warm welcome to the Canadian band, who was presenting his 4th album, the very good "Fantasies". The equation "hotted up room + high scenic energy + good songs including the old "Dead Disco" = succeeded show" always works well. Only one damper, the spread impression that Emily Haines is a bit 'too much'. She is beautiful, she knows it, and when she's dancing to perfection with skilfully tousled hair, tightly fitted in her sequin dress, it is a little bit too natural to be true. Everything looks too perfect in Metric, the technique of the musicians, the voice of the singer, their rock'n'roll attitude on stage, even the champagne that Emily drinks from the bottle before giving it to the audience seems fresh. But when the music sounds good, as people say, and it indeniably does, we can forgive them everything, and impatiently wait for their passage at Rock en Seine.
Updated May 2009. .Bat For Lashes, Salle Victoire 2, Montpellier Fr, may 23th. By S, translation Mère Maquerelle. It was in the Victoire 2 venue, filled to one third, that Natasha Khan made her entry at 22:30.Disco ball, statuettes of the Blessed Virgin, elk heads, candles, the setting is settled. Bat For Lashes took possession of the premises to lead us into her world. Throughout the 90 minutes length of the set, the band's 2 albums are played. Opening with "Glass", definitely my favorite song of "Two suns", released in April. I compliment the rhythmic line, not the least since on the tour are associated Sarah Jones who is usually playing drums for New Young Pony Club and Charlotte Hatherley, ex Ash. The combinaison works perfectly, and tracks like "Pearl's Dream" and "Two planets" are getting an almost tribal dimension. Natasha, a little jumping barefoot elf who only stops to grope about her keyboard. The voice is powerful, captivating and hypnotizing. I have to say, it took me a while to appreciate both albums, but the live performance turns songs into something transcendental. Two versions of Daniel will be played, of which a dancefloor slanted one, that closes the evening against all expectations. We could indeed believe that the show would end up on a smoothness that brings us to Dreamland, but the mischievous has decided otherwise, the disco ball makes sense, saturday night was made for dancing.
.Andromakers, Les Disquaires, Paris May 16th, by S. translation Mère Maquerelle. No we won't mention the central post of the room that blocks the sight and forces to leave the tables to enjoy the concert, because after all, it is also strategic.And we won't mention the dubious kindness of the barman who eats while serving, we may have came at the wrong time. But let's focus on the main point of the evening, the reason of our presence in these places, the set of Andromakers. We had left Nadege and Lucille, both angry within One More Season, to find them again in a young girls models duet and it is a rather unexpected reconversion. Provided with old Bontempis and xylophone, they link up pleasant tracks reminding Au Revoir Simone, without the arty aspect. Here, everything is smiles and joy to play, a pleasure for both ears and eyes. The set may be a little linear, but it is certainly due to the fact that we are here in full discovery of the repertoire without anything to hold on to. Except... a magnificent cover of The Smiths "There is a light that never goes out", accompagnied by the audience filled by the originality of the interpretation. At the end, compositions that would have quite a place on a Tsunami Addiction compilation somewhere between Milkymee and the Konki Duet. Appointments made for the tour in September, in the "Discoveries of the year" Top 5, Les Femmes S'En Mêlent really should keep an eye on them... www.myspace.com/andromakers
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