20080704 - Scars on Broadway in Paris

Bonjour,

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Pour cette fois, je vais faire cette chronique en ANGLAIS car les fans sont souvent anglophones ou comprennent cette langue ;-)
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A long wait
When I arrived before La Maroquinerie yesterday evening about 19H12, there was a large crowd massed in front of the entrance, along a "TourBus" that would be the transportation mean for SoB live tour crew and material. Just to recall things, the time for the beginning was noticed at 1930 on the ticket.
We waited there until 19H45 when they opened the gate to the concert hall (in the Basement), then people were so excited they pressed to enter and it was difficult to sneak between this crowd.
Once we were inside the concert hall, we (we = me and by brother) managed to place ourselves on the right edge of the stage so nobody could bother us or kick us [yeah SoaD fans do pogo often] ;-)

The meantime before the show
We waited about 1H in a room where the temperature was raising every minute, especially on the front of the stage.
We were at first surprised there was no first appearance with another group while we were waiting for SoB to come before us. ANyway, the music that was played in the speakers was cool (Kraftwerk, Queen, Portishead...)

The SoB performance
About 20H5, the light go down and we finally see the group enter on the stage: first the drummer, second the bassist, third the singer/guitarist, fourth the keyboard and percussion player and the second guitarist to complete.
These 5 guys gave in 45 minutes almost all they had to us, I saw a drummer accelerating and stopping the rhythm of the beats with easiness :)
We saw a bassist completely inside his music, almost always showing his back to the audience since he was too concentrated in his task, we could hardly see his pupils when he blanked his eyes :D
The singer entered with a bob on his head and dark sunglasses at first, he kept making faces and signs with his hands (a bit vulgar but in the mood).
The keyboard/percussionist waved his head up & down during the whole session, very funny sometimes.
The second guitarist with a ZZ-Top look gave a certain touch of craziness to the whole stage :D
Great performers!
The challenge is to play such rhythm changing tracks with such intensity, it goes slow, then very fast, then normal then cool and suddenly goes mad... The effect is stunning!

Sum-up
I was a bit disappointed because the performance was short (45minutes) but it was full of rhythm and heaviness, I think they played the whole not yet released album "Scars on Broadway" :-)
This album is sure a success (beware of the lyrics that could shock some audience, parental guidance is advised under 16).

On the overall, it was great fun and it is the first time in my life I get out of a concert hall before 22H00 with a smile on my face :-D

P.S.: fortunately, I did not forget to bring my earplugs with me, the sound level was so high it could dammage the ears ;-)