Clue Cult

And here’s to our new idol Kai! Straight out from Dogtown (???) this surfer dude sure looks like another hitchhiker hippie tripping on mushrooms and looking for some waves, but he’s actually a very cool and ballsy guy who will save your life in a dangerous situation! Bravo Kai, I hope you get your hatchet back!

Lol, and I love how there is no delay long enough to bleep all those F**bombs!

“Well well well, what do we got here ? Black Light Burns you said… That’s a pretty cool name, what is it about ? Oh, a solo project from Wes Borland, known as being the mastermind behind all cool guitar parts in Limp Bizkit. Wait what ? Gimme that !” Basically, this could be your reaction when first hearing about this not so new band.

Not so new because they already released 2 records and the first one (Cruel Melody released in 2007) is simply one of the best thing I’ve heard within the last few years ! Wes Borland’s creativity doesn’t need to be proved, and the fact he was helped by Ross Robinson (aka God in case you didn’t know yet), Josh Freese (check his wikipedia page and who he played with, you gonna cry) or Danny Lohner (ex Nine Inch Nails) gives you an idea of what we were expecting. The idea here was to express all the anger kept during years, one can definitely hear that this record switches from pure controlled wrath (“Lie“) to beautiful ambient songs (“Iodine Sky“). Whatever your kind of music is, you’d find something that moves your guts, chances are, it’d build a ball in your stomach or your throat, something that want to go out.

Where Cruel Melody had a clean, surgery like, sound which made the album sounds really metal, The Moment You Realize You’re Going To Fall is way more raw than it’s predecessor. Here we can hear and feel experiences done in the studio with a lot of unusual instruments (banjo on “How To Look Naked” !) and weird sounds (is that a track click on obsessive track “The Colour Escapes” ?). And if Wes Borland is not an amazing singer, he at least gives it all with sincerity and developed his own universe. What to expect ? Beards, WTF, anger and more WTF. As a proof we invite you to take a look at the video below.

Black Light Burns is more than just a rock/metal band, it’s a will from a multi talented artist to introduce the rest of the world inside his  crazy/angry universe. He already caught us and we hope you’ll join soon !

After such an amazing new record, we surely couldn’t miss Archive’s come back in France. As part of their headlined European tour, the English band was playing two nights in the big Parisian venue called le Zenith. We still don’t understand why this band is not that popular in its own country and can only wish them things are gonna change in 2013.

Because again (ah ah), they delivered a really good show ! We didn’t really know what to expect giving the often changing line up but after seeing them multiple times and in very different set up, we went there pretty trustful. The venue isn’t sold out tonight and surprisingly it’s almost freezing down in the crowd. Yes, Archive is not attracting a crazy teenage audience and the seats are immediately attacked. More space for us to appreciate the amazing song “Wiped Out” by the amazing Pollard Berrier. A good time to notice that the masterminds Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths were not lying during their last interviews: this new record forced their singers to push themselves and give everything they have. Mission accomplished as the live version is as astonishing as the studio version. They kept on going with their hit “You Make Me Feel” introducing the brand new voice Holly Martin (Cheers mate !) who’s in charge of replacing usual samples on that song. Maria Q strangely seems not to be in the mood and we’ll have to wait until her next appearance to get things warmer.

This first part of the show is clearly dedicated to With Us Until You’re Dead, the new record. And if we noticed a few improvements prior to warm up shows, the audience seems not to have assimilated these songs yet. As we told before, general temperature wasn’t that warm and now it appears like the sound is really really low. Don’t get us wrong, the general mix was amazing during the whole two hours (what a pleasure to hear everything with such a rich music) but ridiculously low! We just couldn’t stand hearing neighbor’s comments, especially when you stand a few meters from the stage and PA! These two details combined made the ambiance a bit strange: a bit cold and polite, as if everybody stayed on his guard. “Violently” was expecting as most of us probably wanted to hear what Holly Martin can do. Well, looks like Archive just found a new talented singer. She’s obviously still a bit shy when it comes to quiet parts, but when things are going a bit stronger, she sure answers present. Can’t wait to hear her evolve!

The new arranged version of “Again” will be one of tonight’s highlight moment, thanks to Dave Pen performance (what? You heard that before?). What the audience probably waited was more punchy songs and “Fuck U” was the beginning of something, followed by the catchy “Pills” and an unreleased song. Faithful to their reputation, our two masterminds stand on both sides, guiding their friends during the whole night. Rumors even say that Danny Griffiths may have smile (meaning it was a good show). Smiley (drums) never deserved more his nickname and is really a pleasure to watch and hear while Steve Harris is still one of the classiest guitarist. Tonight’s encores were definitely the best times, proving that songs from Controlling Crowds records are now considered as “must be played” by fans. “Hatchet” confirmed Holly Martin’s promising voice and “King Of Speed” brilliantly concluded this show.

Like we said, Archive proved again tonight that they’re one of the best rock band currently playing. They offered us a show not as good as usual (yes, we missed “Lights” and “Finding It So Hard” and the performance deserved to be a bit louder) but still more powerful and sensitive than so many other acts. We can only wish that their new songs are gonna change and evolve so it will fit better in future sets.

Click here for complete setlist

Archive (Le Zénith – Paris – 11.16.2012)

Thanks to Alexandre !

I still remember the first time I accidently saw this band playing live. It was at this year’s Hellfest and I just didn’t understand at all why so many people looked that much interested. What is this band stuck in the 80’s and completely ridiculous? I ended up not paying  attention to their show. What a big mistake! Because I obviously totally missed the point that day: Steel Panther is a parody! But they do it so well that anyone could believe it’s for real. I decided to definitely change my point of view by enjoying of one their show.

What if Back To The Future car was stolen by four musicians in the 80’s and that they end up in 2012 playing the same music (with the same look!) as before? Well, here you are! You may think that metalheads don’t have a good sense of humour, to prove you wrong, just take a look at tonight’s set list : “Just Like Tiger Woods”, “Asian Hooker”, “It Won’t Suck Itself” or “17 Girls In A Row”. Now we’re talking. And when you got four dudes in their forties wearing amazing spandex pants playing these tunes on stage, you know you gonna spend a good time. I do believe that the best parodies are the one done with at least as much ambition and quality than the originals. In this case, Steel Panther is formed by four really talented musicians (I actually thought as some point that they were using playback!). Let’s specially mention Mr Michael Starr (singer) and his wingman Mr Satchel (guitar). If you understand English (well if you read that, you should…), then I defy you not to laugh while listening to a song like “If you really really love me” or “Tomorrow Night”:

“Ponies and Clowns, they’ll be walking around
Naked People having sex all over the ground
Britney Spears is making out with Christopher Walken
In the backyard Iron Maiden is rockin’
The couch is on fire and nobody cares
Charlie Sheen is winning in the bedroom upstairs YEAH! “

The recipe is simple : short catchy songs with (really) funny (and stupid) lyrics. All of this pushed by four members, each one playing a role. Have you ever seen a musician putting some spray in his hair or checking his make up with a mirror on stage ? Welcome to Steel Panther’s world !
Oh well, I was about to forget something. You may not remember, but rock music in the 80’s was mainly all about girls and boobs right ? So yeah, they do respect the tradition… and the audience too ! I’ve never seen that many boobies at a concert, it was just insane. Satchel had the good idea to write a few dirty sentences in French on his hand to interact with the crowd. Result : they ended up playing a song with 12 half naked girls from the audience on stage. Party time !

As Mickey Rourke character was saying in The Wrestler : Nirvana killed all the fun from the 80’s. That’s probably true but lucky us, because Steel Panther can just make us feel like we all took a ride in Doc’s Delorean !

Click here for complete setlist

Steel Panther (Le Bataclan – Paris – 10.30.2012)

About freakin time ! I finally get to see Brian Jonestown Massacre! Led by the notoriously crazy dude Anton Newcombe aaaaaaand Joel Gion. Two breath-taking guys. Musically speaking of course ;) Yes, I am completely pure and innocent, I live for music and music only. And when I saw DIG! for the first time (watch it here, I seriously recommend it – a quirky documentary where you get to meet two of our favourite bands ever – I completely fell for these guys.

The gig starts with a bang and we get to hear Stairway to the Best Party, a very cool track. BJM is all over the place. There’s a lot of them and it’s kind of noisy. Joel is magnificent, just in the middle of the stage: black hat and black shades – regal and true to himself with his tambourine, maracas and often singing as well.
And then there’s Anton. If you’re not familiar with the habits of Mr. Newcombe you don’t know that he plays hide-and-seek on stage and it makes you go “Shit where did Anton go? Is that him hidden behind his mike far from the stage lights? Yep that’s him”. Which makes us think that he does that because A) he’s super shy – consider that he usually turns his back to the crowd when he plays – or B) he’s a vampire.

Leaving aside the Twilight Zone thoughts that were crossing my mind for a second there, all I can say is that this concert was really sick. The place (the glorious Trianon in Paris) has an incredible décor and I really wanted to show you some pics but buhuuuu I had forgot my brain and my camera that day. Luckily there some more serious bloggers out there who have some great pictures from the gig – check these out.

It was my first BJM gig (hopefully not the last!) and I was excited to finally get to see them…especially considering that their last album Aufheben was really a little gem. Really guys, listen to it, it’s good and totally flows in its entirety.

Ah, before I forget, here’s the set-list (one bomb after the other, don’t you think?):

1. Stairway To The Best Party
2. Vacuum Boots
3. I Wanna Hold Your Other Hand
4. Got My Eye On You
5. this Is Why You Love Me
6. Wisdom
7. Super-Sonic
8. You Have Been Disconnected
9. There’s A War Going On
10. Not If You were The Last Dandy On Earth
11. Clouds Are Lies
12. David Bowie I Love You) Since I Was Six
13. Open Heart Surgery
14. Waking Up To Hand Grenades
15. Prozac vs. Heroin
16. That Girl Suicide
17. Servo
18. Oh Lord
19. Straight Up And Down

As you can confirm if you are already a BJM fan, this was an awesome set-list. The band was relaxed and very much in shape, no drama, no accidents. Anton himself is a changed man: no more drugs, no more booze. A polished and sober artist who only addresses the crowd with a polite “Could you please shut the fuck up? I have a bad sound here. Thank you very much”. And it must be weird for those who came in order to witness one of the notorious BJM fights that were common back in the days. Now BJM has matured and it’s more about tripping than fighting.

There’s no encore but the gig ends with a mind-expanding ten minutes of Anton, by himself, at the piano, charming us with his special formula of awesomeness of which he alone has the secret. A cool guy this Anton.