It is always a pleasure to see Jared James Nichols return to a Paris stage. By now, we've lost count of how many times we've caught him here, whether headlining his own shows or opening for someone else. Occasionally, those support slots have made for slightly awkward pairings. This one is anything but: George Thorogood's audience is exactly the sort of crowd likely to appreciate Nichols' muscular brand of blues-rock.
Leading a stripped-down power trio, Nichols attacks every song with the intensity of a man determined to wring every last note from his guitar. His approach is considerably more flamboyant than Thorogood's, with no shortage of six-string heroics, yet the foundations remain the same: blues, boogie and rock and roll delivered with conviction rather than nostalgia.
Judging by the reaction in the Bataclan, he wins over more than a few newcomers. It has become something of a pattern over the years. Jared James Nichols keeps conquering audiences the old-fashioned way: one show at a time.
