Video by Ana Stefaniak. [Tumblr] [Twitter] [Deviantart]
Gigs I went to (with pictures & stuff) – June 2011
June wasn’t a busy month for me. I’ve missed a lot of great gigs, mostly because I had ‘slumber & memory issues’ and also because I was broke (sorry Johnny Foreigner, Bibio, Battles, Wye Oak, Cloud Control, Abe Vigoda, Prince of Assyria, Thos Henley & co.). But this doesn’t mean that June was a boring month. Here’s what happened…
- With Eyes So Full Of Sparks Of Love (acoustic) - T E Morris - House gig in the suburbs of Paris - June 22nd
![Josh T. Pearson - Rough Trade Paris (Agnès B) - April 16th. [taken with my mobile phone]
Top gigs (April 11th - April 17th)
1) Her Name Is Calla - Espace B - April 13th*
L’Espace B is not my favourite venue (because it’s way too far from where I live and the neighbourhood is not a very safe place) so if I decide to go there, that means the band is worth the trip.
Her Name Is Calla is one of these bands who are really unlucky when they are touring. And as some of you might know, the main problem bands have while touring is van problems. Let’s put it this way : vans = nightmare.
But they did arrive in Paris on time for the show. And as a reward, I bought them some macaroons and French pastries. I hope they enjoyed them.
The show was really good despite some communication problems (= the soundguy didn’t seem to understand English very well). It’s one of these shows you wish they could never end. The setlist was perfect and the band managed to do a faultless show as a four piece. And that is what makes a band so awesome : they stay professionnal even if the playing conditions aren’t excellent.
Chapeau bas!
2) Villagers - La Maroquinerie - April 11th
Almost one year after the first time I saw them, Villagers (as a full band this time) gave us a really great show.
They only have one album released but they managed to play 16 songs which was awesome. We had some b-sides and new songs. I saw a lot of friends there and that made my night. We laughed a lot after the show, especially when we realized that Conor O’Brien couldn’t even remember how to spell his name (it was only 11pm!).
Dear guys at Domino Records France : thanks for the show. I always keep great memories of Villagers shows. Me and my friends can’t get enough of this band.
3) Josh T. Pearson - Rough Trade Paris / Agnès B - April 16th
It was only 3 songs but it was really good. If Jesus were a talented musician, he would propably look like him. The crowd was so silent I almost could hear myself breathe! Josh came into the audience (there were about 20 people) to sing two songs. He was standing near the fitting room, and gave every woman a nod as soon as they got off there. It was quite funny. He also said “j’aime tes collants” (I like your tights) to a girl in the audience.
So in the end, we had laughs but we also nearly cried when he sang “Sweetboy, I ain’t your Christ”. It’s always amazing when shows conveys different emotions.
4) Mark Ronson DJ Set - Social Club - April 14th
From 1.40am to 3.30am, Mark Ronson decided to play us some of his favourite songs. The crowd went mental. We had some remixes of the following bands : Radiohead, The Strokes, MGMT, Amy Winehouse, Blur, M.I.A, and some of his songs (for example, the Lily Allen version of Kaiser Chief’s Oh My God). Mark Ronson proved us that we can actually dance to these songs.
5) The Rodeo - La Maroquinerie - April 11th
The Rodeo was Villagers’ support band. If you don’t know The Rodeo, they’re a French band. Dorothée Hannequin was on her own this time, and she played some acoustic songs. Not bad for a French band. She said she was a great Villagers fan and that it was an honour to play before them.
6) The Kennedys - L’Espace B - April 13th
This band is one of the many reasons why I hate the French music scene. And sadly for us, Parisian people, the crowd (aka their friends) seemed to enjoy it. Their sound ? well, they sound like any other band who wants to sound like the Stokes. Boring. 30 minutes of torture. Trust me, I hate speaking evil of bands and I try to be understanding with support bands, but this kind of bands really annoys me. If you sound like any other band, just don’t play!
Bands I didn’t see this week :
1) Huxley Met Soda - Espace B - April 13th
I was at the bar. Apparently, I didn’t miss anything.
2) The Dears - La Flèche d’Or - April 15th
I love this band. I actually had free tickets to see them but I was just too tired. I hate my body right now.
* I spoke to Rod from Le Hiboo that night. He first wanted the band to play a session for him, but as Sophie wasn’t here, he decided to reschedule the session. His idea is to go to England, near the seaside, and record “the song that has this amazing violin piece”. Stay tunned. it’s going to be really beautiful.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljs3lkeqpo1qin3r4o1_1280.jpg)
Josh T. Pearson - Rough Trade Paris (Agnès B) - April 16th. [taken with my mobile phone]
- Top gigs (April 11th - April 17th)
1) Her Name Is Calla - Espace B - April 13th*
L’Espace B is not my favourite venue (because it’s way too far from where I live and the neighbourhood is not a very safe place) so if I decide to go there, that means the band is worth the trip.
Her Name Is Calla is one of these bands who are really unlucky when they are touring. And as some of you might know, the main problem bands have while touring is van problems. Let’s put it this way : vans = nightmare.
But they did arrive in Paris on time for the show. And as a reward, I bought them some macaroons and French pastries. I hope they enjoyed them.
The show was really good despite some communication problems (= the soundguy didn’t seem to understand English very well). It’s one of these shows you wish they could never end. The setlist was perfect and the band managed to do a faultless show as a four piece. And that is what makes a band so awesome : they stay professionnal even if the playing conditions aren’t excellent.
Chapeau bas!
2) Villagers - La Maroquinerie - April 11th
Almost one year after the first time I saw them, Villagers (as a full band this time) gave us a really great show.
They only have one album released but they managed to play 16 songs which was awesome. We had some b-sides and new songs. I saw a lot of friends there and that made my night. We laughed a lot after the show, especially when we realized that Conor O’Brien couldn’t even remember how to spell his name (it was only 11pm!).
Dear guys at Domino Records France : thanks for the show. I always keep great memories of Villagers shows. Me and my friends can’t get enough of this band.
3) Josh T. Pearson - Rough Trade Paris / Agnès B - April 16th
It was only 3 songs but it was really good. If Jesus were a talented musician, he would propably look like him. The crowd was so silent I almost could hear myself breathe! Josh came into the audience (there were about 20 people) to sing two songs. He was standing near the fitting room, and gave every woman a nod as soon as they got off there. It was quite funny. He also said “j’aime tes collants” (I like your tights) to a girl in the audience.
So in the end, we had laughs but we also nearly cried when he sang “Sweetboy, I ain’t your Christ”. It’s always amazing when shows conveys different emotions.
4) Mark Ronson DJ Set - Social Club - April 14th
From 1.40am to 3.30am, Mark Ronson decided to play us some of his favourite songs. The crowd went mental. We had some remixes of the following bands : Radiohead, The Strokes, MGMT, Amy Winehouse, Blur, M.I.A, and some of his songs (for example, the Lily Allen version of Kaiser Chief’s Oh My God). Mark Ronson proved us that we can actually dance to these songs.
5) The Rodeo - La Maroquinerie - April 11th
The Rodeo was Villagers’ support band. If you don’t know The Rodeo, they’re a French band. Dorothée Hannequin was on her own this time, and she played some acoustic songs. Not bad for a French band. She said she was a great Villagers fan and that it was an honour to play before them.
6) The Kennedys - L’Espace B - April 13th
This band is one of the many reasons why I hate the French music scene. And sadly for us, Parisian people, the crowd (aka their friends) seemed to enjoy it. Their sound ? well, they sound like any other band who wants to sound like the Stokes. Boring. 30 minutes of torture. Trust me, I hate speaking evil of bands and I try to be understanding with support bands, but this kind of bands really annoys me. If you sound like any other band, just don’t play!
Bands I didn’t see this week :
1) Huxley Met Soda - Espace B - April 13th
I was at the bar. Apparently, I didn’t miss anything.
2) The Dears - La Flèche d’Or - April 15th
I love this band. I actually had free tickets to see them but I was just too tired. I hate my body right now.
* I spoke to Rod from Le Hiboo that night. He first wanted the band to play a session for him, but as Sophie wasn’t here, he decided to reschedule the session. His idea is to go to England, near the seaside, and record “the song that has this amazing violin piece”. Stay tunned. it’s going to be really beautiful.
Yes, I know it’s Sunday morning, and I know you don’t like to think too much because your brain is overheating. But Sundays are the only days when I can write long blog posts about bands I love and support. So I hope you don’t mind if I introduce you to a great band called Her Name Is Calla.
How I discovered Her Name Is Calla? Well, I first heard of them by my friend Amazinglyblog who wrote an article about the band (you should check out this website by the way, I’ve discovered lots of great bands & lived lots of amazing moments thanks to this website and the person who runs it!).
But you know, I’m a very lazy person so even if I knew they were a good band, it took me about 3 months to discover them and listen to their music properly.
What really made me fall in love with the band was Ashley Dean’s video of New England (that you can watch above). Ashley Dean, aka Brokenpixel, is an amazing director. You will soon see in the next posts that he has influenced my musical taste for the better.
Videos are really important in the music industry. If your song has got a crap video, nobody will be interested in listening to it (unless you’re Justin Bieber and you have lots of people around you to promote & sell your sh!t and short-lived music).
New England is a great example. If you listen to the song on your computer while doing some work, you probably won’t remember how it sounds after a few minutes… And that’s a shame because it’s a really good song. So the video is here to help your memory fixing this song into your brain. This nine-minutes-long short movie is a masterpiece; it really gives justice to this song.
So thanks Ashley for this amazing piece of work.
Now let’s talk a bit about the music. It’s not easy to like Her Name Is Calla because their songs aren’t fitted to air on the radio. There are even songs that are 17mins long! Yes, 17. Our culture isn’t prepared for this piece of music. We’re accommodated to songs that last 3mins with the same structure “verse-chorus-verse-[chorus-verse-chorus: this part is cut on the radio-edit version]-chorus-chorus”, and when a song isn’t structured like this, we feel completely lost.
So here’s my advice (it’s actually Amazinglyblog’s one): let your imagination work. If you can’t sleep, just listen to these songs and picture a short movie. You will be surprised to see how far your imagination can go.
They recently released a new EP called Maw. Maw (the song I posted yesterday) is actually 3minutes long which makes my blog post totally inaccurate.
Band (source : facebook) :
Thom Corah: Trombotronics, harmonica, percussion, vocals.
Sophie Green: Violin, vocals, Lefty
Michael Love: Bass, vocals, Shoes
Tom Morris: Lead Vocals, piano, guitar, banjo
Adam Weikert: Drums, organ, voice, banjo, mandolin, piano, guitar, double bass.
Also occasionally featuring :
Sophie Barnes: trumpet, voice, accordion
Dave Dhonau: cello
Ola Szimdt: Flute
Children: crying
Songs you should listen to :
· A Moment of Clarity
· Pour More Oil
· Long Grass
· A Sleeper
· The White And The Skin
· Condor and River
· New England
· Maw
Listen :
- Spotify
- Deezer
- Bandcamp
Links :
- Official Website (Tumblr)
- Myspace
- Shop
- Last.fm
- iTunes
Watch :
- Youtube
- Broken Pixel Showreel Summer 2009
(An introduction to Ashley Dean’s work _ song : A Moment Of Clarity [intro])
Reviews (French) :
Other links :
(if you want to know more about the band… it contains interesting links)
- Label
- Le Hiboo
Bonus :
- French people! They will play in Paris next Wednesday (Espace B, April 13th), don’t miss them. They will also play in Bordeaux (l’Heretic) on April 12th.
- Sebastien Dehesdin is currently following the band on tour. Follow his video diary on Vimeo.
- You can download 6 tracks for free [here]
I’ve got a long post coming up. It will feature … this band.
I’ll post it tomorrow morning. Stay tuned x
