Seb's weblog

I have rarely seen so few people at a concert, even if the Ubu is small, it was almost scary. I thought this was only concerning the first part and people would come for the main band, but there wasn’t many more people then. It gave a somewhat more intimate effect, but I feel a bit sorry for both bands and they gave us a very nice experience in such harsh conditions.

I already talked about L’Effet Défée which had already opened for Magma in last december. No cymbals or sticks were harmed this time, but they again played a nice set.

Slug plays a pop-jazz-rock kind of music which is interesting, but I thought there wasn’t enough “high” moments in the concert to my taste. Not to dismiss the others, but I think Antoine Paganotti on drums was the most interesting on stage, even though Emmanuel Borghi was almost close to waking up at some point and that would too have been interesting.

Damn, I wonder if that’s just the use of very low sounds or if this concert wasn’t a bit over the decibels limitation; at times it was like my chest was exploding.

First first part was assumed by a guitar and bass hardcore duo. At first I was a bit non-plussed by effects on the voice (as usual, viking style) and by the over-use of a backing track, but they nevertheless hold the stage with style, fighting a really dull crowd. I’m in admiration.

Second first part was assumed by a DJ (whose name also escapes me). I’m not a specialist of this kind of music but it was quite enjoyable, with lots of BOM-BOM to resonate inside oneself.

Then came Atari Teenage Riot, and as there was a lot more people than when Alec Empire came “alone” at the same place a few years ago, and after taking off his shirt during the first two songs, he was able to do some crowd surfing without much trouble (even though he kept his wired mic— not that easy to do!). I’m not a fan of the mix, but there were a lot of sounds, it moved, it rocked and it felt good.

(there was a fourth act after that and some guy even asked me if I knew about it, but really it was already a bit late and I had some road ahead, so I didn’t even try to stay).

Anyway, one thing I keep wondering is how/why people can go to such loud concerts without any ear protections. Yeah, it may be more fun without and I’m just an old fart, but I’m thankful for my earplugs.