Holy shit ! No doubt ! Summer is hitting Reunion island ! Heavy hot unbearable temperatures, no wind blowing and high humidity; Dengue-carrier mosquitoes and starving sharks ; tons of stinky mangoes to remove from the garden ; experienced old Creole guys washing their sweaty faces with their dirty tissues while their wives try to escape the sun below their umbrellas ; couples arguing or splitting up ; cyclones, tropical depressions, low pression, low tension. Hey ! Do you know that a close friend working at Meteo France has named Olivier the 15th forthcoming Indian Ocean depression that will surely strike the area this summer! A vibrant homage to this 2019 harsh year for sure ! Funny things happen sometimes. Ok… Better than talking about my melting brains, let’s have a fresh blow with some reviews of nice gigs that happened all around here last winter.
FOREST POOKY - 12th of June 2019 - Hauts Sons des Couverts bar, Le Bernica, Reunion
The guy in Forest Pooky x seems to have some shares in the Air Austral company as he flies every year to the island for a handful of gigs, during that cheerful season when we can finally wear jeans and socks.
Getting totally lost while trying to find the StudioTic place (1km away from home!) three years ago, I managed to catch him at the Saint Denis’ Food’Art last year during the promotion tour of David Basso’s compulsory film x Diesel. The movie dealt with the story of the band UncommomMen From Mars, kind of a the froggy version of Green Day, from its staggering start on the Wagram major to the final Hellfest show. Not really my cup of tea in the early noughties for sure, but the fact was that the film mostly underlined the best moments of the band, when they left the major company and started dealing with the underground scene... A masterpiece for any punks, folkers or rockers in love with DIY spirit... Forest Pooky played after the video session a really pleasant folk show.
So, no hesitation this year for a little jump at the Bar Hauts Sons des Couverts, Le Bernica, to catch him live again : tasty local IPA, moving no-folk songs with that flavoring skate-punk touch (thinking of the solo of Peter Black (the Hard-Ons) or Kepi Ghoulies (Groovie Ghoulies), two artists with whom Forest Pooky shared shows and nice split-records), aggressive play on his handmade-by-a-luthier guitar, outstanding American accent, clear sound in the whole stuff, good mood and jokes with the audience, nice jovial talks with him after : the perfect recipe for an enjoyable party. And check his hit x : Dance with me !, a David Basso 's clip once again.
Forest Pooky comes from Lyon, he used to play the guitar in skate-punk bands such as the Pookies, Sons of Buddha and many others from the post-Burning Heads wave. He's an experienced open-minded traveller, on the road over and over, playing shows in tiny villages' bars as a one-man-band as well as festivals with his punk band Supermumk, and always proudly lifting high the flag of DIY-punk, freedom and gladness.
DISTURBANCE - 28th of Septembre 2019 - StudioTic, Saint Denis, Réunion
Strange to write this review today as, on my way back to Reunion Island yesterday, I had a little stop in Reims to check my mate Boris Le Hachoir. Lots of happy souvenirs… He used to be the last punk in that city in the noughties - perfect spiky hair cut, Perfecto & Martens, Scottish pants and a strong temper, kind of a stupid jerk always in for a good hangover or a silly rumble. Before we started to organise our own local gigs, we were always on the road to catch some anarco-punk bands and live intensely any skins & punx united shows. Disturbance x was one of his favorite band, we checked them every time they were in the area, whether it be in Troyes with the Black Out x team or Mantes-la-Jolie with the Disgusted crew.
Disturbance was a 4 pieces band from Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fast tempo on the drums, strret-punk/Oi bass lines, a clear guitar punky play with short appropriate solo parts, an aggressive, abrassive voice and pervasive hooligans choirs shaped a classy revival sound close to the one of the 82’s UK punk wave (Special Duties, Abrassive Wheels, One Way System…) and pretty similar to the beloved Lower Class Brats.
After a short rest in the early teenies, they’ve come back to stick together and present their new album, Tox Populi, released last year on the French long-lasting punk label x Dirty Punk Records. The same sound, the same energy and the same call for a total disorder surrounded the whole stuff. Great job !
Did the local punk association x Plus de Bruit, linked to the punk band Tukatukas, find the treasure of La Buse or something? They can’t help organising tours in the bars of the island for the foreign/mainland bands they’re fond of. Between a Human Dogfood tour in September (ok, sorry, I missed this Punk As Fuck band built on the ashes of the Disgusted) and a Banane Metalik show in December, they settled down a Disturbance little tour in October. For their fans’ delight !
I caught the band at the x StudioTic, Saint Denis (yes, I finally managed to find the place last year). This lovely place, located in the underground of a huge 70’s building, has a few rehearsal studios, a little intimist stage and a perfect-for-punk-shows-in-a-bunker atmosphere. The boss is a local figure of the Reunion metal scene.
That night, Bonescape, a metal band, opened the party. Not my thing… Disturbance played a great and visually pleasant show despite the sparse audience (welcome in the North of the island !) : the spiky punx & skins styles of the guys, the punk anthems, the energy in the whole set, the sing-along songs in the public, the tough dancing, the head-banging of the singer’s girlfriend with her dread-locks long hair… A really nice party !