mercredi 8 juillet 2015

Blackmore's Night @ Olympia, Paris July 08 2015

Blackmore's Night @ Olympia, Paris July 08 2015
First concert in Paris for Richie Blackmore & friends in almost 10 years, last one was recorded for a DVD at the very same venue in 2006, we were not there.
Last time we saw Richie was with Blackmore's Night in a theatre in London around 1999-2000. Of course we saw him with Deep Purple on "The Battle rages on" Tour @ Zénith.
It's been a long time...
Can't say that we're too fans of this kind of music...but that was our chance to see the man in black -he's not really in black anymore-  perform Live as he's not coming too often over here in Paris.
One thing is for sure Candice has a beautiful voice and is taking the lead ;  Richie is still playing wonderfully, he's now 70, but he stays in the back.
Beautiful stage props with plants, trees and rocks, musicians are dressed up for the occasion and nice projections on a huge screen in the back for the medieval atmosphere.
The band is playing songs from different records of Blackmore's Night including a couple of new songs that will be on the new record to be out in September.
We had a few covers including Procol Harum 's " a white shade of pale" and a wonderful version of Deep Purple's "Soldier of fortune" with a great intro on acoustic guitar (see video below)
Glad to hear Richie rocking when he played his white Stratocaster for a couple of songs.
Each of the musicians had their moment with a solo.
I've never seen Richie Blackmore acting like this before: he was in playful mode, giving out beers to people from the first row, shaking hands, joking constantly with his wife... and even signing numerous autographs on stage...
They even had their young children ( aged 3 and 5) out on stage for one number !
Too bad the security was a pain in the ass, first they've decided that we could not take pics anymore after 30 min (on the artist's request) but more important, for the last part of the concert, people started standing up and getting closer to the stage only to be told several times to go back to their seat and sit down. What a bummer !
Nevertheless, nice to hear that Richie hasn't lost any of his dexterity on guitar.
Overall good 2h30 show .
  setlist:
 Cartouche
        All our yesterdays
        Darkness
        Dance of the Darkness
        Queen for a Day, Part II
        Under a Violet Moon
        Soldier of Fortune (Deep Purple cover)
        Durch den Wald zum Bach Haus
        World of Stone
        Alann yn i fann
        Peasant's Promise
        Keyboard Solo
        Drum Solo
        The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over the Sea) (extended)
        Loreley (incl. excerpts of The Four Seasons and La Vie en rose)
        Toast to Tomorrow (incl. snippet of Moskau )
        Ghost of a Rose
        Wind in the Willows
        Home Again (incl. excerpts of the Hall of the Mountain King and Drink)
        Fires at Midnight
        Mid Winter's Night
        Windmills
        A Whiter Shade of Pale (Procol Harum cover)





lundi 6 juillet 2015

The Wedding Present & Cinerama @ Petit Bain, Paris, July 17 2015

The Wedding Present & Cinerama @ Petit Bain, Paris, July 17 2015



CONCERT EXCEPTIONNEL !
Cinérama & The Wedding Present au Petit Bain à Paris dans le cadre des Oliver Peel Session.

Le Petit Bain se situe à coté de la bibliothèque François Mitterrand 

7 Port de la Gare, 75013 Paris
Réservations ICI


samedi 4 juillet 2015

George Benson @ Jazz La Défense, 04 Juillet 2015

George Benson @ Jazz La Défense, 04 Juillet 2015
Free concert on the -esplanade de La Défense- just outside Paris, luckily there's a bit of fresh air, we suffered all day long because of the heat-wave.

George Benson started the show around 08:30 pm, we've missed the first 20 min as we were late..
First part of the set consisted of his tribute to Nat King Cole
Then he played some Funky stuff including a few ballads that get the audience going...
with "Give me the night", "Nothing's gonna change my love for you"... ending the set with a long version of "On Broadway".
Very nice.
Ce soir on a le choix entre The Horrors au Trianon, Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea @ Olympia et George Benson au Jazz La Défense... sur l'esplanade, vu la chaleur , on opte pour George Benson.
Nous l'avions déjà vu sur scène une seule fois, en tant qu'invité de luxe, lors de la Première Journée Internationale du Jazz à l'UNESCO en 2012, mais ce n'était qu'une petite intervention à la guitare au milieu d'une pléiade d’artistes de jazz. Aujourd'hui c'est un vrai concert en tête d'affiche.
La première partie est plutôt axée sur son hommage à Nat King Cole avec des titres toute en douceur sur lesquels George peut susurrer d'une voix suave, puis George Benson sort son coté Funky avec cuivres pour des titres plus enjoués qui font chanter et danser le public qui a répondu présent.
une très belle voix , de nombreuses interventions à la guitare ont fait de ce concert un moment extrêmement agréable nous permettant d'oublier la chaleur de ces derniers jours.


vendredi 3 juillet 2015

Shepard Fairey / Dennis Morris - Superman is dead @ Magda Danysz Gallery , Paris From 4 July, 2015 to 1 August, 2015

Shepard Fairey / Dennis Morris - Superman is dead @ Magda Danysz Gallery , Paris From 4 July, 2015 to 1 August, 2015
 Magda Danysz Gallery - 78, rue Amelot - Paris 11

A Collaborative Exhibition by Dennis Morris and Shepard Fairey Featuring Paintings, Prints & Photographs of Sid Vicious
The show S.I.D. : SUPERMAN IS DEAD features original unique paintings, rarely shown in Europe by the famour Shepard Fairey. 
Inspired by Dennis Morris’s photos of the Sex Pistols’s iconic bassist, Shepard Fairey creates a whole series as tribute to this contemporary Sid Vicious, a “Superman”.

jeudi 2 juillet 2015

Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind + The Bell Rays @ Jazz La Défense, July 02 2015

Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind + The Bell Rays @ Jazz La Défense, July 02 2015
Chaleur accablante mais largement supportable grâce à un petit vent bienvenu sur cette esplanade de la Défense, tant que l'on ne stationne pas au soleil.
Jim Jones a désormais un nouveau groupe, malheureusement par pour le meilleur, c'est beaucoup moins rock, sans vraiment de bons titres, je ne sais pas si c'est la chaleur ou l'heure matinale mais on a trouvé vraiment le concert pénible.

 Jim Jones & the Righteous Mind

Après une petite pause, Les Bell Rays débarque , sous les acclamations du public , plus nombreux, et comme toujours, les Bell Rays ont mis le feu, encore un concert sans faute. Lisa reste la même tigresse, une véritable bête de scène.
Superbe !

 setlist The Bell Rays