A few weeks ago, I found in my mailbox one of 'those' unexpected messages: "I've got an extra ticket for Kasabian's show in Paris. Next day is a day off. If you're interested…" YOU BET I'M INTERESTED!
So here I am, back in Paris. In a different venue though. Even though Le Bataclan is a well-known venue, it was our first "date" together. Once you realize how small this venue is, you immediately know you're gonna spend a perfect night! You also suddenly understand why all tickets were sold in only 5 minutes! And here we are, my two friends and yours truly, in the place, speaking of that "what-the-f** new single" and a few other musical things while waiting for the show to begin.
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| Le Bataclan |
Time for the opening act,
Martin C. A quite surprising one: a bunch of two DJ's actually. The songs on
their setlists were good but it's not exactly what to be expected in a rock
concert. Thinking back on it, Sir Paul McCartney did the same thing when he played
in Belgium in 2012 so… why not? I have to admit though that I liked so much Belakiss,
Kasabian's opening act in Brussels in 2012, that it was a bit disappointing.
Let's put this aside and remember that this show is not exactly a
"common" show. Tonight, Kasabian plays a warm-up gig for their next
tour. And we, people in the place, are privileged (and lucky!) human beings who
will witness the band's return after almost one year away from stages.
So… how was it?
Well…
Pardon my language but…
IT WAS F**** BRILLIANT!!!
There's one thing that haven't
changed since we last met: these guys really know the secrets of a good live
performance, are always comfortable on a stage and have a special connection
with the crowd. That is definitely one of their biggest and undisputable
strength. Therefore, the audience's response is always positive and it's really
hard not to enjoy a moment with Kasabian… whether you're in the middle of the crowd
or a distant witness. In 2012, I was at the back of the pit and watched the
crowd jumping and raising hands. This time, I was on the second (third?) row in
front of the stage. Both time, I left the venue with a large smile on my face
and extremely happy.
But let's get back to this show,
shall we?
The band enters the stage in
front of the large pink screen, a reminder of the color of their next album's
cover. The four guys are accompanied by their long-time partners in touring crime
Ben Kealey (keyboards) and Gary Alesbrook (trumpet). Jay Mehler is no longer in
the band since he left them last year to join Liam Gallagher's band, Beady Eye.
The man in charge is now Tim Carter, who had previously worked with the band on
"Velociraptor!" If Mr Carter's presence is no surprise to me, the
three background vocalists is something I didn't expect. To be truly honest –
and sorry, girls! – this is also something that wasn't useful at all. To me,
the boys' vocals are sufficient enough on a live performance. So be it for this
time… we'll see if the background vocalists will remain on the tour.
None of us can stay insensible
to Sergio Pizzorno's shirt, another reminder of their soon-to-be-released
album: he literally wears the title (AKA 48:13). The 48:13 can be seen on Ian
Matthews' drums as well.
Neither can we ignore Mr
Meighan's large sunglasses… The singer comes on the front stage to salute the
fans, Ian Matthews starts hitting the drums, giving everyone the signal that
it's about to start and… a 48:13 appears on the pink screen behind the band
while Kasabian opens the show with one of their new songs, "Bumble
Bee". A very powerful and full of energy song, perfect way to warm-up
everyone!
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| Those are damn impressive sunglasses, Tom |
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| Just in case you missed the new Kasabian album's title, it appears twice on this photo. :p |
The next songs are taken from
their four previous albums. Clubfoot from Kasabian, Shoot The Runner from
Empire, Underdog from West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum or Days Are Forgotten
from Velociraptor are among the songs that the band played tonight, with a
strong positive energy. The new intro of Shoot The Runner is simply awesome and
they definitely have to keep this one. I was also glad to have Me Plus One on
the setlist this time: didn't have it last time and this song has such a
pleasant guitar riff that it's such a shame to put it away…
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| Aah that guitar... |
Kasabian never fails to involve
their fans in the adventure: both Tom and Sergio often ask the crowd to join
them either by clapping hands or singing along (On Days Are Forgotten's chorus
or the "with you" part in Re-Wired chorus). Although asking fans to
sing along their songs isn't exactly necessary since they do it quite naturally
(Shoot The Runner, Fire…). :D
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| Tom : wanna sing, Paris? |
In fact, if fans are definitely
glad to have the Leicester-band back, it seems the band is really happy to be
back on stage as well and the bond between those 7 guys is obvious: winks,
smiles and laughs were on the menu! It's always such a pleasure to see
musicians having fun while doing their "thing". No pressure tonight,
in fact… everyone's in a good mood. At the end of Club Foot, Sergio speaks to
the audience and wants to introduce the next song, which he thought would be
Beanz, until Tom waves at him. All other band members are having a great laugh,
Tom approaches his microphone, lowers his voice and tells all of us that they'll
now play "Where Did All The Love F**ing Go" to which Sergio responds
with a massive laugh, after he realized he had inadvertently changed the
setlist.
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| Could it be that Ian's laughing at Sergio's mistake? Nah just having some fun on stage! |
It's finally Beanz's moment and
the semi-psychedelic B-side of Eez-Eh gives both Ian Matthews and Chris Edwards
an opportunity to show their respective skills.
Next songs are that always-favorite-of-mine
Re-Wired, followed by Empire… and, then…
Then comes Eez-Eh, THE comeback
single that caused so much controversy and made everyone go mad on the Internet
after being first aired on an Italian radio last Monday… My initial reaction
was "what the f**???!!" then stopped for a sec, smiled and thought,
with a lot of tenderness, "they did it again, these damn bastards!" By
'it', I mean that Kasabian has often taken us on unexpected roads. Remember
people's reaction when they released Switchblades Smiles? And yet… songs like
Switchblades, Vlad or Eez-Eh totally fits in Kasabian's live shows. The
Bataclan Eez-Eh version is slightly different from the single since we have an
additional (and great!) guitar riff of Tim Carter.
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| Pretty in Pink Kasabian |
Speaking of Carter, I've kept
my eyes on the guy a few times that night… That ain't easy to fit in Jay Mehler's
shoes but the involvement of the owner of that beautiful Gibson SG on Bumble
Bee's riff, Shoot The Runner's intro or perfect synchronization with Ben Kealey
on the opening of Re-Wired proved that Tim is a necessary and effective piece
in the Kasabian team.
Funnily, the Encore's list was
exactly the same than in my 2012's show: Switchblades, Vlad and Fire. Tonight,
the latest is dedicated to Bob Hoskins, who had died the day before. Fire is
definitely one of the best to wrap up the concert since it makes the crowd
going all mad, jumping, dancing and singing at the top of its lungs. That is
also the moment a guy or a girl did say goodbye to his cellphone… While the
crowd was jumping on the "Fiiiiiire" part of the song, I saw the phone
leaving its owner's hands to land God-knows-where-on-the-ground. Not a good
idea to try to take a picture during this one, buddy.
And then… that's all, folks.
Kasabian is gone, leaving us all soaked, physically exhausted but damn happy
and excited.
We leave Le Bataclan and hang
around the place, making new friends, hearing that some think they have seen
Geoffrey Baratheon in the place.
Who knows? Maybe he likes
Kasabian enough to step away from his Iron Throne for a night and have a good
time with us… :D (No spoilers here, people!)
A few fans were also hoping to
meet the band after the show.
Who knows? Maybe some of us did
actually meet some of them. Maybe… ;)
Before the show, fans were
wondering if the band would play most their new songs with a few of their old
ones or the reverse. The crowd was more in favor of the first option (including
me!)… which Kasabian didn't pick. So that's official: I'll definitely stop
trying to guess Kasabian's next move! And that's probably one of the main
reasons of why I like them. They never fail to surprise me… I don't always like
those surprises but at least, they never bored me. It's just like those words
that appeared tonight on the pink screen. During the show, we saw words like
TEZZA, ON TOAST, CANISTER, DETERGENT, CONJUCTIVITIS, BLU TAC, TOURNIQUET etc on
that screen. Of course, I started trying to find an explanation: words on the
songs they were playing at that moment? Nah. Words that will be on some of
their new songs? Don't know. I stopped trying to find a logical explanation.
They're probably trying to mess things up in my head again. Mischievous
Kasabian. And you know… in the end, that's how I like them. And that's why I
like them.
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| Perfect stage. Perfect band. Perfect night. |
Couldn't finish this review
without thanking the friend that offered me the chance to have such a wonderful
time with Kasabian… She's a shy one so I won't name her but she'll recognize
herself. ;)
Setlist :
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Bumble Bee
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Shoot The Runner
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Underdog
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Fast Fuse
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Days Are Forgotten
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Me Plus One
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Running Battle
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Doberman
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Take Aim (no intro)
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Clubfoot (no intro)
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Where Did All The Love Go
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Beanz
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Re-Wired
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Empire (new intro)
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Eez-Eh
Encore :
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Switchblade Smiles
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Vlad The Impaler
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Fire
All pictures : © Nat Lecoq
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