MESSE AT LE PLAN GRANDE SALLE IN RIS-ORANGIS
Following the three night festival of La Messe de Minuit in Lyon last September where we attended the first night with Last Train and Night Beats, a new “Messe” was organized near Paris. Same name, same objective: promote rock music that is organically played live, without any computer on stage. The line-up of the night gave a well-deserved advertising boost to several small French rock bands.
The first ones to play were The Indigoes. The Parisian project gathered 5 experienced musicians around the same goal: finish a first album and show the potential around their compositions, infused with rock from different generations. They had a small 30 minutes set at the opening, tonight. Their performance was full of promises. With energy and obvious pleasure, they delivered a very fun concert. We can’t wait for the album!
Following them on the biggest stage were Crocodiles. The American band stopped in France for one last time on their European tour with their new album ‘Love is Here’. Their set had a steady energy level over the 45 minutes, with catchy tunes and heavy guitar riffs. Efficient, for sure, but with a certain lack of desire of communication with the crowd that didn’t help to be in tune with the band. Good music, but okay-ish performance for a duo that has much more to offer, for sure.
Gutted to have missed the wacky band, Fabulous Sheep this summer when they played a small festival near my town, I was delighted to see them invited to the party tonight. On the small stage, they delivered a sweaty, explosive set full of punk energy. The lead singer finished the concert with the obvious intent of moving everything around the stage, from the drums to the mic stands. The craziest performance of the night, and one of the best for sure. Their first album, that went out this year, is a gathering of joyful, quick-paced punk invectives about various issues of our society. A must-listen to!
MNNQNS (pronounced “Mannequins”) are already announced as the next big French rock band. Truth be told, they are already one of the most exciting bands around. Their first album ‘Body Negative’ is a bold creation, mixing sounds from so many influences that it’s difficult to class in any genre. That is okay, really, because their live energy is definitely punk and that they don’t care about labels. They don’t want to do any “revival of revival of revival”. Adrian, the head of the project and singer, has this particular need to make things coexist, even more when they are not meant to be together. That is how you end up with a brilliant first album that is SO punk and SO pop, at the same time. As you can imagine from the studio versions of their music, the live performance is sight to behold. Tonight was no exception, with an explosive set from the 4-piece band. What a concert.
The 4 guys from Last Train have started their (very) long tour to present their second and current album, ‘The Big Picture’. After the amazing first night of this tour in Lyon, it was difficult to find the same exceptional atmosphere. Not to say that the performance was bad - I’m not sure that they will ever deliver a bad performance, but there was less emotion. The setlist was shortened, with a couple of songs left out. The crowd was, however, very happy to see them come back with new bangers such as “I Only Bet on Myself” and “The Big Picture”.
