Fan with a fan
06-18-2008, 11:26 AM
2 nights/2 shows in Paris
The start has to be a word of gratitude to the creator, providence, and booking agents who made possible such a double header. I bought the tix to Radiohead last November (they were playing June 9 & 10 and I chose the second date.) and they became the anchor for an amazing, 4 in a rental car for 3 weeks trip, flying into London May 24, driving around France and Spain, flying out of Paris June 11.
Months went by, and my excitement only grew, as first one friend and then another bought their tickets and we made plans. Meanwhile, it turned out that Radiohead’s newest was their best...
& then the super superb new Bad Seeds came out...
And I began to fantasize about seeing NickCave play. But he hadn’t been nearby since a little thing called Lollapalooza in 1994 (with the Boys, Tribe and holy fuck I missed it. But that’s another story.) and he’d cancelled his last North American tour because of 9/11...
In early May (have you bought Dig Lazarus Dig yet? I’ll wait.) I did a Hail Mary search and found that the Bad Seeds were playing the last date of their European tour June 9. I’m still astonished. And not only was the night right, but they were at the Olympia, the theatre Josephine Baker was playing at when she died. (What I learned on vacation!) It’s a small, handsome, intelligently designed place – the kind of place for a Gala Event, people! Raked wooden floors, red velvet & gold leaf, balcony seating extending to the lip of the stage – plush.
The acoustics rang like a bell, and the crowd was one of the most stylish and reserved I’ve ever seen. (‘Course I got floor – who the hell would want to sit still?
Um - the French, as it turns out. Was it their clothes? Their culture? Hurty shoes? I’ll never know. All I do know is that we few Americans had to get down EXTRA HARD.)
They took the stage at 9 and blew the roof off for almost 3 hours. They played 9 (the right 9, baby) of the 11 songs on Dig and their energy never flagged – they did it as it should be done. It was once of the best shows I’ve seen IN MY LIFE IN WHICH I’VE MADE A POINT OF SEEING SHOWS.
Couldn’t help but contrast (you know, when I wasn’t thinking “HOLY YAH” and “!”) their hurricane performance with some of the saggy young man shows I’ve seen... (Chromeo and LCD, I’m looking at you.)
And then the encores, people. What can I tell you? The energy just got higher and higher. They played songs I never thought I’d hear live – like “Tupelo” & “Weeping Song” -
am I being clear that they blew my mind all over my face? “Whaddya wanna hear?” “Motherfucking Stagger Lee S’il vous plait!”
They closed with it. Goddamn amazing.
Tidbits:
1) At one point, NC ripped a ring off and threw it. Next day, at a metro entrance near the EiffelTower, a man gave me a ring and blew me a kiss. I’m guessing 2 things: first, I might be married. Second, Nick pitched it ‘cause it turned his right index finger green... Nice green.)
2) Although I saw some of one of the opening acts, they literally left no impression after the gale force Bad Seeds gig.
3) Set lists are done differently. The crowd dispersed as the crew began to dismantle the gear, crumpling up and throwing down various papers as they went. I went to the barrier and opened my hand –how the hell do you say ‘setlist’ in French? – and a security guy picked a balled up copy off of the floor and gave it to me.
4) They sold panties at their merch booth. I got the green ones.
Radiohead –
They played the Bercy – which is an enormous sports arena. One of my group needed a ticket, so we had the cultural learning opportunity of dealing with Parisian scalpers. Their technique is to carry a sign saying ‘ticket’ and when you approach; they ask you if you have a ticket. The wrong answer is to say “no – I need one!” The right answer is to say the price you can pay – at least, I think that this is what the hell was going on. Something else interesting was that, with the show set to begin at 9 prices didn’t drop at 9:15. And I don’t mean drop under the actual price – I mean drop from twice as much to something reasonable.
So not all of us saw the show. Fact of the matter is, from the back of the cement mixer, I hardly saw the show – although the low-emission light display was nice. I’d never seen them before, so this assessment might be off base – but I wonder if, like the Beatles, their sound has become/is so reliant on knob twiddling that passionate performance has been sacrificed to an album accurate display? In any case, they sounded great. Just like the album, in fact. They played a generous set – 5 encores - but unless they decide to go small in future, don’t think I’ll witness them again. During their show, it occurred to me that I’d had more a profound reaction to their songs just listening late night and seeing an owl fly by.
Where the Beasties fit in:
Praise the smaller show! Long live the Gala Event!
The start has to be a word of gratitude to the creator, providence, and booking agents who made possible such a double header. I bought the tix to Radiohead last November (they were playing June 9 & 10 and I chose the second date.) and they became the anchor for an amazing, 4 in a rental car for 3 weeks trip, flying into London May 24, driving around France and Spain, flying out of Paris June 11.
Months went by, and my excitement only grew, as first one friend and then another bought their tickets and we made plans. Meanwhile, it turned out that Radiohead’s newest was their best...
& then the super superb new Bad Seeds came out...
And I began to fantasize about seeing NickCave play. But he hadn’t been nearby since a little thing called Lollapalooza in 1994 (with the Boys, Tribe and holy fuck I missed it. But that’s another story.) and he’d cancelled his last North American tour because of 9/11...
In early May (have you bought Dig Lazarus Dig yet? I’ll wait.) I did a Hail Mary search and found that the Bad Seeds were playing the last date of their European tour June 9. I’m still astonished. And not only was the night right, but they were at the Olympia, the theatre Josephine Baker was playing at when she died. (What I learned on vacation!) It’s a small, handsome, intelligently designed place – the kind of place for a Gala Event, people! Raked wooden floors, red velvet & gold leaf, balcony seating extending to the lip of the stage – plush.
The acoustics rang like a bell, and the crowd was one of the most stylish and reserved I’ve ever seen. (‘Course I got floor – who the hell would want to sit still?
Um - the French, as it turns out. Was it their clothes? Their culture? Hurty shoes? I’ll never know. All I do know is that we few Americans had to get down EXTRA HARD.)
They took the stage at 9 and blew the roof off for almost 3 hours. They played 9 (the right 9, baby) of the 11 songs on Dig and their energy never flagged – they did it as it should be done. It was once of the best shows I’ve seen IN MY LIFE IN WHICH I’VE MADE A POINT OF SEEING SHOWS.
Couldn’t help but contrast (you know, when I wasn’t thinking “HOLY YAH” and “!”) their hurricane performance with some of the saggy young man shows I’ve seen... (Chromeo and LCD, I’m looking at you.)
And then the encores, people. What can I tell you? The energy just got higher and higher. They played songs I never thought I’d hear live – like “Tupelo” & “Weeping Song” -
am I being clear that they blew my mind all over my face? “Whaddya wanna hear?” “Motherfucking Stagger Lee S’il vous plait!”
They closed with it. Goddamn amazing.
Tidbits:
1) At one point, NC ripped a ring off and threw it. Next day, at a metro entrance near the EiffelTower, a man gave me a ring and blew me a kiss. I’m guessing 2 things: first, I might be married. Second, Nick pitched it ‘cause it turned his right index finger green... Nice green.)
2) Although I saw some of one of the opening acts, they literally left no impression after the gale force Bad Seeds gig.
3) Set lists are done differently. The crowd dispersed as the crew began to dismantle the gear, crumpling up and throwing down various papers as they went. I went to the barrier and opened my hand –how the hell do you say ‘setlist’ in French? – and a security guy picked a balled up copy off of the floor and gave it to me.
4) They sold panties at their merch booth. I got the green ones.
Radiohead –
They played the Bercy – which is an enormous sports arena. One of my group needed a ticket, so we had the cultural learning opportunity of dealing with Parisian scalpers. Their technique is to carry a sign saying ‘ticket’ and when you approach; they ask you if you have a ticket. The wrong answer is to say “no – I need one!” The right answer is to say the price you can pay – at least, I think that this is what the hell was going on. Something else interesting was that, with the show set to begin at 9 prices didn’t drop at 9:15. And I don’t mean drop under the actual price – I mean drop from twice as much to something reasonable.
So not all of us saw the show. Fact of the matter is, from the back of the cement mixer, I hardly saw the show – although the low-emission light display was nice. I’d never seen them before, so this assessment might be off base – but I wonder if, like the Beatles, their sound has become/is so reliant on knob twiddling that passionate performance has been sacrificed to an album accurate display? In any case, they sounded great. Just like the album, in fact. They played a generous set – 5 encores - but unless they decide to go small in future, don’t think I’ll witness them again. During their show, it occurred to me that I’d had more a profound reaction to their songs just listening late night and seeing an owl fly by.
Where the Beasties fit in:
Praise the smaller show! Long live the Gala Event!