Sunday, March 17, 2024

Popa Chubby @ Olympia, Paris - March 17th, 2024

 

It's been nearly 28 years since we first saw the Chubster on stage in a now-defunct blues club in Manhattan. We've seen him several times since, and he always delivers. Last time was almost two years ago at Cabaret Sauvage and the dude showed no sign of slowing down, despite his girth now forcing him to perform seated. If you've seen the the big man on stage any time in the past three decades, then you know what he's all about: groovy, muscular blooze-rock performed with gusto and reverence, killer guitar solos inspired by Hendrix, Stevie Ray and the usual suspects, and a no-bullshit attitude inherited from his punk-roc days. You know, good times rock n' roll music.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Kris Barras Band @ Backstage By The Mill, Paris - March 13th, 2024

 

In the nearly five years since we last saw the Kris Barras Band (Kris did play two solo acoustic sets opening for Beth Hart at the Olympia in February 2020, but we missed those), their sound has toughened up substantially, evolving from a muscular, blues-infused alternative rock to full-on, crushing Hard Rock, as evidenced by the few tracks we got to hear from from their upcoming album "The Halo Effect" due out on April 12th via Earache records.

Run Ronie Run @ Backstage By The Mill, Paris - March 13th, 2024

 

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Therion @ la Machine, Paris - February 25th, 2024

With its Wagnerian cavalcades, gothic harmonies, instrumental bombast ans operatic vocals, it was always inevitable that Heavy Metal would mate with symphonic classical music. Therion was one of the first bands to successfully attempt such an ungodly alchemy over thirty years ago, straying far away from their Death Metal roots and refining a formula only hinted at by Deep Purple in the late sixties. It seems obvious now that hundreds of bands have followed suit but in the Extreme Metal scene of the early nineties, it was a small revolution.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Beach Fossils @ Trabendo, Paris - February 24th, 2024

 

Beach Fossils made a triumphant return to France for the first time since 2017 (and their first headlining show in Paris since 2013!) and the crowd at the sold-out Trabendo was buzzing with anticipation. Kicking off their set with a subtle yet captivating piece from their latest album "Bunny," the band gradually ramped up the energy, delivering an electrifying performance that left the audience in a state of rock n' roll euphoria.

Winter @ Trabendo, Paris - February 24th, 2024

 




Last night at Trabendo, Winter, fronted by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Samira Winter played a short set opening for Beach Fossils at the Trabendo in Paris and its blend of shoegaze and dream pop set the perfect tone for the night ahead.

Friday, February 23, 2024

The Pineapple Thief @ Élysée-Montmartre, Paris - February 23rd, 2024

 


Two years after their concert in the same venue, The Pineapple Thief is back at the Paris Élysée-Montmartre in support of their new album "It Leads To This", another fine serving of Neo-Progressive Rock falling somewhere between Porcupine Tree and Radiohead. Like the album, the show was a fantastic offering of sophisticated music, with immediate, urgent melodies, intricate rhythms and almost cinematic vibes.

Friday, February 16, 2024

Lucifer @ Petit Bain, Paris - February 16th, 2024



German band Lucifer's took the Petit Bain audience on a mesmerizing journey into the depths of Occult Heavy Metal. Led by the enigmatic frontwoman and bandleader Johanna, the band delivered a performance that seamlessly blended Doom Metal aesthetics with the power of seventies Hard Rock, evoking similarly-minded purveyors of Retro Metal thrills as Blood Ceremony or Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats.

Attic @ Petit Bain, Paris - February 16th, 2024


The second band on this Teutonic Santanic Panic bill was Attic, who play a brand of fairly traditional Metal heavily indebted to Mercyful Fate. It's not just the singer's make-up and fashion sense: his vocals are also very reminiscent of King Diamond, and the guitar attack also recalls some of the Denner/Shermann interplay of yore, with a splash of Death SS for good measure.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Robert Jon & the Wreck announce new tour!


Yeah, OK, so maybe that other tour announcement is going to steal some of their, erm... thunder. Robert Jon & the Wreck have announced their new European tour. Check out the tour dates, including a stop at the Trabendo in Paris on November 16th, below.

It's official: AC/DC to embark on Power Up European tour in the summer of 2024

Rumors had been swirling for the past ten days, and it turns out they were mostly correct. Four years after the release of their latest album Power Up, AC/DC has announced their European trek, the first one since the end of the Rock Or Bust tour back in 2016, when Axl Rose had to step in for an ailing Brian. Check out the official announcement below!

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Rhiannon Giddens @ Maison des Arts, Créteil - February 10th, 2024

The act of giving birth to music is already miraculous in itself, but sometimes a concert transcends the mere performance. What it takes to reach this almost divine realm is elusive: sometimes it's just a matter of context, sometimes it's a performer just allowing themselves to let go, sometimes it's an audience getting rid of expectations and allowing itself to get raptured away. In the case of Rhiannon Giddens' recital at the Maison des Arts in Créteil, it was an amalgamation of things; the beauty of the compositions was, of course, a determining factor, as well as the performers' commitment. The historical subtext of the songs, the importance of the stories being told, and yes, the political statements that transpired, were also crucial to the experience. Because Giddens is not just a musician: she's a musicologist, she's a historian, and she's an activist. All of those aspects of her professional personality are intertwined and inform her artistic output.

Leyla McCalla @ Maison des Arts, Créteil - February 10th, 2024


Leyla McCalla has always been building musical bridges between styles and continents. Equally proficient on the banjo, the guitar and the cello and equally at ease navigating the blues, folk and classical genres, this format sees her exploring the similarities and mutual influences of Haitian and Louisiana folk music. At the core of these idioms is the blues, which can take many guises and feature a variety of instruments. In this case, it's her cello, banjo and guitar, both played Louis Michot and Corey Ledet's fiddles and accordions,  and some thunderous percussions courtesy of special guests Claude Saturne and Kebyesu, all in support of McCalla's mesmerizing, impassioned vocals.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Upcoming Gigs

2024 is off to a great start: we already have 8 shows under our belt, and plenty more to come! Below are some of the gigs we'll be covering in the upcoming weeks/months. We will be adding more as we get confirmation from the promoters/producers/managers... Keep checking back!

Disclaimer: wherever ticketing links are provided, we get a (very) tiny commission from our partner Ticketmaster.


Leyla McCalla and Rhiannon Giddens @ Maison des Arts (Créteil) - February 10, 2024

Sons d'Hiver has always had a demanding but satisfying line-up, and this year's curators have decided to end the festival with an exquisite evening of "folk" music with two former members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops: Leyla McCalla and Rhiannon Giddens, eminent musicians and musicologists who have built careers out of building bridges between continents, cultures and musical idioms. Simply unmissable.




As you can probably tell from their name, retro Doom rockers Lucifer have a thing for the occult. They've brought similarly-minded colleagues Attic and The Night Eternal along at Petit Bain on February 16th for what promises to be a black mass to remember. Click HERE to get tickets.





British Neo-Prog rockers The Pineapple Thief have announced a new European tour to take place next year, including a string of French datesWe last caught up with them two years ago at the Élysée-Montmartre in Paris and they are set to place that same venue on February 24th. You can get your tickets for the Paris show HERE.




Beach Fossils has been active for fifteen years yet I still tend to think of them as a new band... Their new album Bunny was released last June and it's absolutely excellent. They'll be bringing their cinematic, lo-fi alternative-rock sound to the Trabendo on February 24th.



Therion has been unleashing its unique Symphonic Death Metal upon the masses for nearly thirty-five years. They are embarking on a tour to promote part 3 of their ambitious Leviathan project which was just released last December, including a stop at La Machine in Paris. Don't miss it!




Our man Slash is keeping busy. He's just finished the Guns N' Roses 2023 tour with two shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and a headlining set at Hell & Heaven Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico last November, before hitting the road again with his solo band featuring Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators in January. The tour will start in Mexico City on January 23rd and end in Paris on April 29th. We will of course be at the tour closer to report and bring you some photos from the show. Support for all dates will be from none other than Mammoth WVH.





Eric Clapton has announced two shows at the Paris Accor Arena on May 26 and 27 of next year.These will be the legendary guitarist's first Paris dates in almost exactly fourteen years when he played the very same venue with Steve Winwood on May 25th, 2010 (the private corporate gig he did a few years ago doesn't count...) so we're excited to see one of our favorite musicians on stage again.He has been very controversial lately because of his positions on the COVID vaccine, and his association with some more than unsavory characters... But on stage, with a guitar in his hands, he will put politics and other personal considerations to the side and let the music do the talking. And on that front, he has very few equals.Both concerts are very close to being sold out so don't wait to get your tickets!