A training course in Toulouse in November 2018 ? Hell yeah ! That's mainly the good opportunity to go there for local gigs and live it up! A little groundwork before leaving Reunion Island - contacts with some gigs' organisations and scheduling of the forthcoming shows (thanx to Distorama (x) agenda!), some mails to my friends there,- and that's it, bye bye to my sunny daily life & beloved family !
A hard 10hours' night in the plane and exhausting transfers later, I finally meet my friends at night and we all jump together to the Ravelin place.
Cannibal Animal + Human Pet - 03/11/2018 - Le Ravelin - Bitume Rugueux
Le Ravelin is a small bar located in the St Cyprien district, one of those perfect-for-gigs-in-the-close-neighborhood bars : a rock'n'roll bartender offering quite fair fees and meals to the bands, dealing with enthusiastic little gigs' organisations and selling not too expensive beers. Looking at its agenda (x) make understand why it is often compared to a local CGBG.
This week-end, Bitume Rugueux (x) is organizing a 2-days postpunk festival. This charming, smart 2-members organisation (Aurore & Amaury) produces some tapes' recordings of local bands in which they are involved (Asphalt - the most interesting French punk band over the last 5 years for sure !, Armure, The Space Padlocks, Bogan). Beside this project, they organize many post-punk/garage punk/weirdos punk/oldschool hxc/Rock'n'Oi gigs , mostly in this place, inviting uprising, international or French bands. Check their bandcamp (x) for the label & facebook (x) for the events !
Yesterday, they had Casual Hex (x) (a girly, mid-tempo, dark cold-punk band from Seattle), Hyäne (x)(a fast-tempo post-punk from Berlin with anthems' like german songs – Pinoreks' (x)) little brothers?) and Fotomatic (x) (really addictive and jumpy tunes for this new local girl's singing post-punk band). I won't have the chance to discover them « live » but I always love to dig up for some new catchy punk bands. Tonight is now the British part of this festival!
The first to play is a post-punk/melodic hardcore/noise trio from London : Human Pet (x). Wall of guitar crashing your face on fast and melodic songs... Post-punk tunes with energic beats and appropriate guitar surges and choirs that reminds the early albums of The Fall... Noisy feedbacks on haunting songs. A nice show! Permanent Creeps records (x) released their debut (digital) ep « Linda Pinky » early 2018.
While climbing on the tiny stage, we all know the rough, stylish guys of Cannibal Animal (x) are going to give us an stunning show ! There're coming from Hull, a Yorshire's austere-style town rebuilt after ww2 bombings. This one for the context...
The long-bearded, short-hair bassist with revolving eyes seems to be possessed by the music, the angry-face singer jumps and climbs everywhere in the bar, yelling to death his aggressivity and sleaziness, the cold-looking guitarist handles his instrument like a powerful chainsaw, the tough drummer kicks his drums heavily as if it's a question of survival. What a fucking wild experience!!! A band to catch live!! The performance, the madness, the violence, the desperation and the complex cold punk/post-punk /death-punk mixture reminds me both of Frustration (x) and Turbonegro (x) ... Two Cds and some digital singles can be listened or bought on their bandcamp.
End of the gig... The opportunity for me to speak a bit with the members of Cannibal Animal (really nice, almost shy guys, they're touring on a 3-dates-2000kms first tour in France (Le Havre, Toulouse, then Normandy again in Cherbourg - Where you can measure their high motivation !)), and with the Asphalt crew. Thanx to all of them !
Street exhibition of steampunk Machines - 04/11 - Streets of Toulouse
We all know about these mechanical, giant machines based on the island of Nantes : Les Machines de l'île (x). Initially, the project was created in the 80's by Le Royal Deluxe, a street art, theater and mechanical structures' creations' company.. There's a great video about their South American tour with La Mano Negra (x) in 1991. The company has grown up bigger and is now well-known for the building of huge steampunk creatures and structures (the giant elephant, mechanical merry-go-round...).
Beside the city of Nantes, they're opening another place in Toulouse to exhibit their products : Le Halle de La Machine (x). For the inauguration of this place, the city hall of Toulouse organizes this week-end a huge street exhibition of 2 moving, giant mecha-Machine (a 10m-high Spider and a 15m-high Minotaur). Lots of people were hanging around the streets to watch these 2 amazing structures. Crowded places aren't my cup of tea, but I must admit the show was surprising...
Francky & the Saboteurs - 07/11 - Radio FM'R
Jet Reactions - 08/11 - Le Ravelin - Organisation : Le Blob
The beginning of the week is quiet : jet lag effects and temperature differences with Reunion island, the cold I manage to catch this week-end, the training course I need to perform … Anyway, interesting things have started again from the mid-week.
Beers, wine, ducky restaurant with friends... We move then to Radio FMR, a local radio place where the VOMIX (x) art exhibition and a rock'n'roll gig is organized tonight. We arrive early enough to see the end of the show of Francky & the Saboteurs. The guitarist/singer seems to be back from the mid 80's, physically and musically speaking... The sound looks like those French provincial-cities forgotten rock bands such as Les Privés (x)... Funny and quite old-fashion stuffs, and a good try of the local cacao-flavored beers before the next pub...
Same kind of party night with the friends the day after with a first stop at the Dispensary for the Fränek (x) exhibition (the 1st Cathedrale (x) 7inch artwork among other things) and a longer break for a show at Le Ravelin. Le Blob (x), a punk/garage/mods gigs' organiser, has invited the punk77 Jet Reactions (x) from Bordeaux. The band has been created by the leading members of the now-dead Flying Over (French punk77 from the mid 00's). The bassist's play is impressive, the girly vocals are nice and at the end, we've got here a rather energic stuff walking on the steps of the Gee Strings and other Briefs-like bands. The crew is/was also involved in many other great bands from Bordeaux' area : Arno de Cea & the Clockwork Wizards (x) (brutal surf), Complications (x)(lo-fi garage), the Wild Bud (swampy garage/surf), Videodrome (x)(synth-punk)... The girly singer and lead guitarist also rule the label Adrenalin Fix Music (x), they released a 7inch of the band this year.
The Liminanas - 09/11 - La Halle des Machines
Since the release of their first 7inch on Hozac Records, not a week has happened without a song of this band from Perpignan at home. We finally managed to see them live at La Reunion (at le Kabardock) a few months ago. So I'm pretty glad to jump on this show in Toulouse and see them again !
The Liminanas (x) has been formed with former French members of the fantastic Les Bellas (x)(great mid 2000's «Girls in the Garage» style band ), El Vicio (mid 2000's lo-fi garage) , Beach Bitches (mid 90's garage punk/surf) and Hair & the Iotas (x)(great garage band, still active, they were touring La Reunion 4 years ago). A great background that easily explains this perfect mixture of psychedelism, pop, garage, punk, rock'n'roll with Ennio Morricone-like musical arrangements.
Since the last week-end mecha-Machines' exhibition, the two structures have been parked at La Halle des Machines. Today is the inauguration's day of this place. The band has been invited to play on an outdoor stage. It's cold outside, but all the steampunk structures, industrial pipes with fire flammes and braseros warm up the atmosphere. Lots of curious people and families are discovering the band. Funny to see Les Liminanas in such a place...
The gig is perfect even if the show is quite the same as the one played in La Reunion. They've good damned good songs that take you high, a happy complicity of the leading couple on stage, a perfect symbiosis among the musicians, the vocals are magic (girl and male singers, alternately), no talks, just great tunes. A great great band !
Bloody Mary Una Chica Band + Sisters MindTrap - 10/11 - Le Ravelin
Back to Le Ravelin again for a Brazilian girls garage show ! Three smiling girls for a two bands' set that has been touring France for a few days to introduce its 7inch-split released this year on the Et Mon Cul c'est du Tofu ? (x) label. Sadly for them, there's only 20 people in the place and the atmosphere will remain a bit calm and polite...
Sisters MinTrap (x) is a pretty cool bluesy garage duo ! A girl at the mid-tempo drums, the other singing (should I say miowing ?) and playing on its guitar trashy blues tunes with grungy surges. A really nice discovery ! They've got also a self-released vinyl recording.
Bloody Mary Una Chica Band (x) is a one-girl band, with a grungy guitar, bluesy beat drums and lo-fi garage yelling vocals, all together. A good show ! She also released a 7inch ep on the same French label.
The girls perfom at the end an encore as a trio with a delightful Gun Club cover (« for the love of Ivy »). Waow, this one is just awesome and the small audience hailed them for it !
A Deaf Audience - 11/11 - The Dispensary
The Dispensary (x) is a great English pub in the St Cyprien district : a hot, warm place (that matters above all for tropicalized people coming during the mainland's winter !), good burgers, good beers and located abeam Le Ravelin. They sometimes have good bands playing there too. And the advertising in the men's toilets brings a funny hint... It has been my headquarker and my friends' meeting place since the beginning of the stay...
So, last party in Toulouse. A short speech about A Deaf Audience, playing there tonight: a Muse-like stuff and definitely not my cup of tea... Lots of drinks with the friends, interesting talks with Le Ravelin's bartender & his wife, and great ones with the Asphalt crew in the place...
Sad to leave Toulouse, especially when, the incredible Minneapolis Uranium Club, Asphalt, Armure, Fotomatic, Cathedrale, La Flingue and many more are playing in the next days... But what an intense, stunning week !
End of the night at Le Filochard with Cuban songs, funny Burkinabe rastas, serious Costa Rican Commies and a friendly bartender happy to offer lots of rhum shots to a lost Reunion guy. He managed to kill me...
End of the night at Le Filochard with Cuban songs, funny Burkinabe rastas, serious Costa Rican Commies and a friendly bartender happy to offer lots of rhum shots to a lost Reunion guy. He managed to kill me...
A good hangover later and after being high for a long day in airports, I finally fall in a 10hours non-stop sleep on the return flight. Back to my happy family and chilling life...
