REVIEW: KT Tunstall- Tiger Suit

FRENCH VERSION ALSO ON sound of violence

Third album for KT Tunstall. And we can easily tell you it's a damn pretty good one. Kate is like your usual girl next door, the good friend who takes her guitar wherever she goes and decides to start improvising over a Bob Dylan's song. Rewind: KT reached fame in 2004 with Black Horse And The Cherry Tree and its easy-to-remember « wouhou ». But she had had her share of difficulties for almost 10 years before that. From bars to mini tours, the Scotsgirl has learnt how to captivate an audience and to give her listeners the songs they want to hear and that she likes to play.


Since 2005, KT Tunstall got us used to her bluesy pop-rock. Of course, it's pretty conformist and selling but it's also fucking enjoyable. For Tiger's Suit, she had Jim Abyss, the producer of the demential Kasabian beat, to work for her. Not to change her folk tunes into some Vlad The Impaler soundalike but to include more electro sounds and rhythms, like on Uummannaq Song. And that was a good idea: Abyss managed to give her some fresh air. 

First impression with the design- gee, is it really  KT Tunstall's new album? I mean, she looks totally like Natalie Appleton on it! (come on, Natalie Appleton, Liam Gallagher's sister-in-law, Liam Howlett's wife...the former All Saints!). Well, anyway, despite this little visual bug, it's clear that KT knows her job. Of course, some people will say that there's nothing new in it, that Come On, Get In is just a copy of Black Horse, that sometimes she sounds just like Sheryl Crow (on The Entertainer or Glamour Puss), that her attempts to verge on the electro side like in Lost will go unnoticed or that this album is designed to please the ears of the average over-thirty woman and will leave a younger, rockier audience totally indifferent.


Yet KT is, before and over all, an urban folksinger, a female version of Bruce Springsteen, in skinny jeans and leather boots, a John Fogerty from the Highlands, a girl cradled by the 1990s Britrock. And that is what she keeps delivering us. Glamour Puss, Push That Knot Away or Difficulty remain in a very American blues trend, with hints of sounds Muse could use in their albums.


So if you didn't like her previous albums, you will certainly not go for Tiger Suit. But if you somehow appreciated Eye To The Telescope and Drastic Fantastic, then this album should become a classic in your record collection.

INTERVIEW: The Wombats

FRENCH VERSION AVAILABLE WITH PICS FROM THE CONCERT on www.soundofviolence.net

Google map was wrong. And it took me about 45 minutes trying to find my way around the Canal Saint Martin to get to the venue where The Wombats were playing and where I was to interview the band. But it was worth it as the gig was legendary and the interview turned out to be a nice chat with Tord Overland-Knudsen, the bass player, about the (in)famous pressure of the second album , working with four producers and becoming a Norwegian legend on the Merseyside.

HAL : You're at the beginning of the European leg of the tour. So how do you feel?

Tord: Well, apart from having a cold, I'm really excited about showing people our new songs, the things we've been working on for a year and a half now. I think.... It's gonna be really exciting to see how people react to the songs. There are a lot of of new elements, a lot of keyboards going on that we didn't have previously so it's all like, you know, things that technically work out live. I think we're gonna be OK. Fingers crossed!

HAL : This tour will last about five months and you will come back to Paris in February. How do you explain such a popularity in our country, which is not particularly famous for loving rock bands?

Tord: Well, I can't really tell why but I guess, I mean I do like our music, obviously that's why I'm in this band, and I can see why I would like it if I were a teenager. I mean, we're pretty good live.

HAL: You've got lots of very young fans already queueing for the gig. (pointing to a young German fan trying to get her name on the list)

Tord: actually, I don't know if it's an all-age or 18 + gig tonight

HAL: Well, there's no 18+ in France.

Tord: Oh? really? OK then!

HAL: You're back with your new single entitled « Tokyo:Vampires and Wolves » which is like the perfect dancefloor song. Is it important for you, as a band, to have people dance on your songs?

Tord: I don't know, it doesn't really have to be dancing. If a song inspires you to do something- even relax, or be cheerful- it can have various effects on people, I think it's great if music makes people happy in whichever kind of way, if music is doing something right to people

HAL: And why this title « Vampires and Wolves?

Tord: Well, Murph wrote this song, It's about escaping daily life, being away, having fun being on tour and coming back and having to face reality. It's a bit of a let down thing at the beginning and also the process of writing songs and having the band write or perform songs that are supposed to be better, well at least as good as the o nes on the previous album. That's what people expect from us. Even ourselves as well, we want that to happen. So it's all about the pressure of doing a second album

HAL: Well, that's true coz it's a highly-anticipated album. I mean you've got a great press coverage but you must feel a lot of pressure.

Tord: We do. But I think pressure can be good in terms of pushing yourself creatively and aesthetically. I think that the songs that we've written for this album, some of the songs are probably the best songs we've ever written. Whether it is the pressure or not, I don't know but it's been definitely a lot of pressure, having a successful first album. Well, the label wants us to repeat the success we've had with the first album so I think the biggest pressure has been from the label. We've written 30 songs but its only 10 songs on the album you know.

HAL: Did you pick up the songs you wanted or...

Tord: it was the label choice but we wouldn't have been able to choose the best in the 30 songs so we kind of agreed. We picked the songs together. The songs that we wanted wouldn't probably have been the best for the album.

HAL: When will you release this album? Coz there's no official release date yet.

Tord: Well, this is the thing: it was supposed to be at the end of November but it's now been pushed back. It's gonna be early February. So we have more time to promote it. It all came a bit of a sudden coz we basically finished studio 3 weeks ago so we need to take time to promote and we felt we would have done it in a rush otherwise.

CC: What is the name for the album? Is it already chosen?

Tord: No, there is no title yet. But it will probably be the title from a song on the album. Maybe like Jump Into The Fog.

HAL: You recorded the album with 3 producers.

Tord: Well, now 4 actually! (laughs)

HAL: wow! But why 4 producers?

Tord: Because the producers went away for longer than 2 weeks at a time. The first one only had 2 weeks. And 2 and a half weeks with Eric Valentine and we went to LA, and then back to the UK for two weeks. Then 3 weeks with Rich Costey and 3 weeks with Butch Walker. They're all producers we wanted to work with. Rich Costey mixed our 1^st album so we knew it was gonna be fun. Eric Valentine was the label's suggestion. A lot of things he'd done was like cheesy American rock music that we didn't really like. But as a producer, he is a genius, he ended up being one of the producers we liked best.

HAL: So what was it like, working with someone you didn't really choose?

Tord: He only did 2 and a half songs. He's just like, he had a very msuical approach to things. He was geeky about sounds. But the thing is that you lose the right feeling if you don't have that live approach. It's fun though. It's cool to work with many producers because they have very different ways to approach the recording and mixing.

HAL: Those who've heard the album already compares it to The Horrors, Depeche Mode, The Killers. Is it a mix of all this or did you try to put your influences away and do something that could become typically Wombats? I mean you are becoming a reference for new bands.

Tord: Actually, I don't know who's heard the whole album! But people have to refer to whatever they like. I personally, and we, as a band collectively don't drag our references. We don't refer to them. A song is a song, whatever suits the song is good. Any genre can be fine.

HAL: And what about you? What are your influences?

Tord: Me personnally? When I was a kid, it wasn't like one band or one guitarist. It was more, I liked the idea of making music that I enjoyed listening. I was really into Weezer, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, it was grunge, I grew up in the 90s.

HAL: So no Britpop. You were more on the US side.

Tord: I grew up in Norway you know, so we were more influenced by America. I loved Blur though but they were almost a grunge band, an English version. At the time, I didn't like Oasis. I learned to like them afterwards. Basically I played classical music. I got tired of playing an instrument that played music I wouldn't listen to.

Which intrument did you play?

Tord: Cello.But it wasn't creative enough. And I came to think: « why should I even bother playing this when some people can do it ten times better than me? » I knew how to read music, it was useful, I used my classical experience in rock and indie music

HAL: You never wanted to put cello in your songs?

Tord: we did on the 1^st album. For one of the songs we'll record the strings in Abbey Road. I don't know if I'm going to be on it though. I think they're going to hire someone coz I haven't played it for so long. I'd screw everything up! (laughs)

HAL: Or they'd tell you it's you, when it's a professionnal cello player.

Tord: yeah, probably! « yes, listen, it's you »! (laughs)

HAL: You said you used more keyboards on this album. Was it an attempt to get a more 80s sound or were you tired of playing the guitar?

Tord: Yep, the second one! We really liked with the idea of playing many instruments at the same time. « How can we get all these sounds playing at the same time? »

HAL: You're gonna play many instruments tonight?

Tord: yes! But it's a surprise.

HAL:The last tour was pretty harsh on you all. Is it why you're having this 2-month break in the middle of the tour this time?

Tord: No, well ,the reason is that we want to do promotion around the album. I don't think there was any reason. It's not gonna be a gap, as we've got radio and TV things to do. And hopefully meet the fans. It's not gonna be time off.

HAL: You're from Norway but you moved to Liverpool. Why did you decide to move there and did the town have any influence on your music?

Tord: I chose Liverpool because of the university, it's got a good reputation in Norway, it's like Paul Mc Cartney founded it! so I wanted to go to Paul McCartney's school. (laughs) Now, I'm gonna stay, I've got a girlfriend in Liverpool.

HAL: As we're reaching the end if the interview, is there a new band you particularly like, or that you think the readers should know about?

Tord: I listen to a band called Miniature Tigers. They're from NY. But I quite like older bands. Nothing particularly new. No, it's more like new releases. I'm not really finding much these days. There was a lot of things last year like Passion Pit and Phoenix. PVT also. They're good live.

HAL: Well PVT is really more electro than rock. Are you into a lot of electro?

Tord: Well,I would listen to anything as long as there is something that is inspiring in it

REVIEW: The Bees- Every Step's A Yes

Si vous êtes adeptes d'un folk urbain, fans de Simon and Garfunkel ou encore appréciateurs de Sean Lennon, le nouvel album de The Bees devrait être pour vous. Avec Every Step's A Yes, le quatuor livre ici dix titres parlant d'amour et de joies quotidiennes. Un retour musical à une époque- les années 1967-1970 - qui fait encore fantasmer la jeune génération.

Le combo n'en est pas à son coup d'essai: avec trois albums au compteur, une nomination au Mercury Prize et deux soirs à Glastonbury, The Bees est un groupe qui sait ce qu'il fait et est conscient de son potentiel. Cinq soirées d'affilée à l'Olympia de Dublin notamment sur cette tournée, une jolie performance pour un groupe dont finalement, les média ne parlent que très peu.

The Bees, ce sont avant tout un duo de songwriters: Aaron Fletcher et Paul Archer ; ce dernier a notamment contribué à la production du dernier Devendra Banhart, ce qui laisse suggérer la couleur que cet opus peut avoir. C'est donc trois ans après Octopus sorti chez Fiction que nous revient le groupe avec cet album, sorti cette fois-ci chez Darling.

L'album s'ouvre sur le single I Really Need Love. Petite pépite folk-pop qui pourrait être tout droit sortie d'un ce ces album séminaux du milieu des années soixante, elle a depuis été reprise en session acoustique sur diverses radios. Même le Sun, qui s’attache plus souvent à diffuser des live de groupes archi-connus, a récemment organisé un mini-concert pour la sortie de Every Step's A Yes. Silver Line, autre titre folk, suinte l’influence du songwriting de Paul Simon. Mais, malgré des titres de bonne facture ensuite, on ne cessera d'attendre la chanson qui donnera une identité particulière à cet album, la chanson qui le fera sortir du lot des nouveautés de la rentrée. En effet, si No More Excuses, Change Can Happen ou encore Island Love Letter ressemblent à s’y méprendre à du Sean Lennon- timbre de voix inclus- et si Winter Rose transpire une influence mi-byrdsienne, mi-reggae, l'ensemble, bien que cohérent dans son optique néo-hippie, laisse un goût d'inachevé.

Manque de mélodies récurrentes ou mémorables, production éthérée, révérb’ sur les voix parfois trop présentes, titres trop mielleux voire mièvres, le duo n’a pas réussi à reproduire sur la longueur l’intensité de I Really Need Love ou le cachet de Silver Line et n’a pas pu ou pas voulu se soustraire au carcan du « San Francisco revival ». Dommage car ce groupe transpire une volonté de bien faire et un amour pour sa musique. A voir sur scène, car comme tout album acoustique, celui-ci prendra peut-être son envol en live.

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If you are an urban folk lover, a fan of Simon and Garfunkel or a Sean Lennon follower, the new album by The Bees should be the “album of the month” for you. With Every Step's A Yes, the quartet delivers ten songs talking about love and daily little pleasures. A musical comeback to an era- the years 1967-1970- that still makes youngsters fantasize about what it was like.

The band is not having a try: having three albums, being nominees for the Mercury Prize and singing two nights in Glastonbury, The Bees is a band who know what they do and is pretty aware of their high potential. Can you imagine: five concerts in a row at the Dublin Olympia on this tour! That is a genuine success for a band that is often left on the side by the mass media.

The Bees are a band- that’s for sure- but first and foremost, it’s a duo of songwriters: Aaron Fletcher and Paul Archer. He recently contributed to the last Devendra Banhart’s opus so that is food for thought. So here they are, back again, three years after Octopus, released on Fiction.

The album opens with the single I Really Need Love, little folk and pop nugget that could well be taken from one of these seminal 1960s records. It has already been played and re-played in acoustic sessions on many radios. Even The Sun, which usually gives more importance to famous bands, recently organised a mini-concert for the release of Every Step's A Yes. Silver Line, another folk tune, is pure Paul Simon. But, despite some fancily good tunes, we keep waiting for the song that will give a particular musical colour to this album, the song that will make it pop out of the bunch of new releases. Indeed, if No More Excuses, Change Can Happen or Island Love Letter sound like Sean Lennon – even when it comes to vocal similarities- and if Winter Rose is somewhat a Byrds-reggae song, this set, though pretty coherent in it new-hippie perspective, leaves the listener with a sort of left-undone feeling.

A cruel lack of recurring or memorable melodies, an ethereal production, too much reverb on the voices, and too many mellowish songs, the band didn't manage to reproduce the intensity of I Really Need Love or the style of Silver Line and could not or would not escape from the “San Francisco revival” stranglehold.

Too bad as this band demonstrates the will to do things right and a love for its music. Hopefully, we'll see them live and they might surprise us, as many other folk bands before them.

LIVE REPORT: Love Amongst Ruin @ La Flèche d'Or Oct 14th 2010

Jeudi soir, la Flèche d'Or recevait Love Amongst Ruin, nouveau projet solo de Steve Hewitt, ex-batteur et co-compositeur de Placebo. Le musicien avait été limogé du groupe en 2007 pour des motifs plus ou moins obscurs et avait pris, pendant les dix-huit mois suivants, le temps de se recentrer sur la musique qui, au milieu des années 90, l'avait poussé inexorablement à intégrer le groupe de Brian Molko. C'est donc au printemps de cette année qu'il était revenu, entouré de cinq musiciens et avec un album éponyme, sous le très dark pseudo de Love Amongst Ruin. Avec cet album et cette tournée, Steve Hewitt se fait plaisir: il joue les titres qu'il veut, il les chante comme il veut, il mène sa barque sans pression de maisons de disques ou d'attentes de fans. Libérateur pour celui qui était souvent relégué à l'arrière-plan médiatique de Placebo. Un peu comme Dave Grohl en son temps, Hewitt a décidé de prendre les rênes et de devenir le frontman.

Et ce soir, à la Flèche d'Or, c'est clairement un retour aux sources que Steve opère. Après deux premières parties pas franchement mémorables, Glow et Lys, groupes electro-rock français, et dans une Flèche d'Or clairesemée- les perturbations et grève de RER l'ayant certainement emporté sur la volonté de se déplacer jusque dans le 20ème arrodissement- les LAR montent sur scène. Bien évidemment, ce sont des fans de Placebo qui ont majoritairement fait le déplacement mais pas seulement. Moins électro, plus roots, plus vrai, Hewitt a réussir à attirer un public plus mainstream.

Petite dédicace à Molko, « un ex-ami », avant de commencer. Ce qui fait sourire les fans, visiblement en empathie avec Steve. Pas faciles, les deux premiers titres, Blood And Earth et Alone, semblent être pour lui une épreuve, passant son temps à demander plus de retour dans les amplis, balançant quelques « fucking » à l'ingénieur du son – et peut être finalement aussi à la foule, peu réactive. Mais avec Heaven and Hell, Steve reprend la main. Enjôleur, souriant, avec une volonté de bien faire, il s'attelle à démontrer que son groupe a de la ressource. Et il a bien raison. Ancien batteur, il a eu la volonté de mettre en avant le son de son ami Keith Yorke. Il laisse volontiers les projecteurs se braquer sur son guitariste ou sur celui qui prend le violoncelle électrique sur quelques titres. Mais c'est avec Got To Give It Up que le groupe atteint son sommet ce soir-là. A la fois rock, métal mélodique et anthémique, ce titre a toute la potentialité d'un single. S'excusant de jouer peu de titres -onze ce soir-là- Hewitt précisera qu'il ne gonflera pas la setlist avec des titres de Placebo. Sourires en coin, pour les musiciens comme pour le public. Un peu comme un tout jeune groupe, les Love Amongst Ruin sont venus avec familles et amis, et c'est tout ce petit monde qui réclame à force de « come on » un rappel, qui se fera avec Rise.

Alors bien sûr, ce soir, les Love Amongst Ruin n'ont révolutionné ni le rock, ni le métal mais c'est avec tendresse que l'on ne peut que regarder ces musiciens faire la musique qu'ils aiment et prendre leur pied. Love Amongst Ruin 1- Placebo 0.

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Thursday night, La Flèche d'Or was welcoming Love Amongst Ruin, the new solo project of Steve Hewitt, ex-drummer and co-songwriter of Placebo. The musician had been fired from the electro-androgynous- rock band in 2007 for very obscure reasons and had taken the following eighteen months to focus on the music which, in the 1990s, had pushed him relentlessly in the musical arms of Brian Molko. He came back this springtime with a new album and surrounded by five musicians, with an eponymous album, under the very dark name of Love Amongst Ruin. With this album and this tour, Steve Hewitt has decided that his pleasure comes first: he plays the songs he wants, sings them the way he wants without any pressure from the record company or the fans. Pretty liberating for the one who was often relegated to the background of the Placebo media circus. A bit like Dave Grohl in 1994, Hewitt has decided to become the frontman.


And Thursday, at La Flèche d'or, it was clearly a come back to his sources that Steve was operating. After two support bands, whose names are not even worth being written down here, and a scattered venue – the strikes being certainly the main reason for having so few people that night- the LAR came on stage. Of course, mostly Placebo fans had turned up. But not only actually. Less electro, more real, Hewitt had managed to also attract a more mainstream public.


A little word for Molko, « an ex-friend », before starting. This made the fans smile. Obviously, they all support him in that crusade. The first two songs, Blood And Earth and Alone, seemed to be pretty harsh for the guy who spent his time asking for more sound in his amp, shouting some F- words to the sound engineer, and maybe, also, to the apathetic crowd. But with Heaven And Hell he regained his hand. Glib, smiling, with a visible will to do things right, he got down to demonstrating that his band is a good one. And he is just right. As a former drummer, he wanted that the sound given by his friend Keith Yorke to be perfect. And he let the light shine on his guitar player or the guy who played the electric cello. But it's with Got To Give It Up that the band reached the top that night. Rock, metal and anthemic, this song is a highly-potential single. He apologized for playing few songs – eleven as a whole- Hewitt felt the need to precise that the setlist would not get any bigger with songs from Placebo. That put a smile on everyone's faces. Just like any new or young band, the Love Amongst Ruin had come with their families and friends and they shouted a few come ons to have them back with one last song, Rise.


Well, some will say that the Love Amongst Ruin have neither revolutionized rock nor metal but it's with a certain tenderness that I want to look at these musicians who play the music they like whatever happens.
Love Amongst Ruin 1- Placebo O.

LIVE REPORT: Morcheeba @Bataclan Oct 12th 2010

Morcheeba à Paris, c'est forcément un événement. Surtout depuis que Skye, chanteuse historique, identité vocale du groupe, est de retour avec les frères Godfrey. Après sept années qui ont vu défiler trois frontwomen, Daisy Martey, Jody Sternberg et finalement Manda, le groupe revient à ses origines et l'alchimie originelle métamorphose à nouveau les titres, qui chez d'autres auraient fait ritournelles pop, en un trip hop classieux. Ce soir, c'est leur septième album Blood Like Lemonade que le groupe du Kent vient promouvoir. Deux concerts parisiens sold out, une presse en ébullition et des fans transis, c'est l'exploit qu'ils auront réalisés cette semaine.

Il est 20h05 quand j'arrive au bataclan. Entre les classiques revendeurs à la sauvette et ceux qui distribuent moults flyers, je me fraie un passage à l'intérieur de la salle où Nic Bennett, première partie du groupe, est déjà en train de jouer. Jolie surprise: voix folk plutôt agréable, habileté à raconter des histoires. Accoudée à la barrière en bout de salle et malgré -ou peut être à cause- d' un son assez étouffé, j'ai l'impression de me retrouver au fin fond d'un pub Londonien un soir de novembre. Visiblement, le public de Morcheeba ne doit trop apprécier l'ambiance « public house » car après quelques applaudissements épars et pas franchement convaincus, il laisse partir le songwriter dans l'indifférence la plus totale.

C'est vers 20h50 qu'apparaissent tout d'abord Ross et Paul, chaudement applaudis. Le reste des musiciens prend ensuite place avant que Skye en mini-robe rouge evanescente ne fasse son apparition. Un ventilateur idéalement placé donne l'impression qu'elle est une sorte de papillion tropical, virevoltant au dessus de ses très terre-à-terre comparses. Visiblement ravie de retrouver la scène et le public- elle passera son temps à papoter avec les premiers rangs, à embêter gentiment les autres musiciens, eux aussi plutôt contents que la miss soit de retour avec eux – Skye retrouve ses anciennes habitudes avec une facilité déconcertante et une voix qui n'a pas changé.

Set list quasi parfaite pour l'occasion, bien qu'un peu courte. On aurait certainement aimé avoir plus de quatorze titres pour un groupe avec quinze années de carrière. Le nouveau single Blood Like Lemonade, en rotation maximale sur les sites musicaux, mais aussi les plus anciens comme Rome, Part Of The Process ou Be Yourself déclenchent des sourires entendus sur les visages des fans. Mention spéciale à Slow Down, Never An Easy Way, et bien sûr Beat Of The Drum pour lequel Skye organise un petit concours de chant inter-sexe et nous prouve qu'elle n'a pas qu'une vois doucereuse et trip hop mais aussi un sacré coffre de chanteuse blues.

Cependant, il n'y a pas à dire, Morcheeba possède aussi une capacité singulière à agacer. Agacement provoqué par les petits rires de Skye, qui minaudait beaucoup. Ceux qui n'étaient pas venus en vénérateurs de la belle se demandaient parfois où ils avaient atterri , s'en fichaient clairement de savoir que c'était elle qui avait fait sa robe et ont trouvé franchement ridicule les références quasi-constantes aux pétards, herbe et autre cannabis. D'accord, les Morcheeba ont toujours assez honnêtement revendiqué leur passion commune pour la weed mais passé un certain âge, le côté drôle, sympathique et un peu rebelle a tendance à devenir ridicule voire ringard. Un peu gênant aussi, comme si, à l'adolescence, votre mère venait raconter à vos potes ses souvenirs de jeunesse embrumée. Ou comme si Noel Gallagher continuait à discourir sur les bienfaits de la coke.

 A chaque âge ses passions. A un moment, il faut aussi savoir vieillir avec grâce. Si l'on veut devenir culte.

images:   www.le-hiboo.com 

photographe NYCD

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Morcheeba in Paris, it is a special event. First and foremost because Skye, the historical singer, vocal face of the band, is back with theGodfrey brothers. After 7 years and three frontwomen , Daisy Martey, Jody Sternberg and finally Manda, the band has decided to come back to their roots and the original alchemy turns some of the songs, that would have sounded bubblegum pop, into classy trip hop again. Tuesday night, the band from Kent was promoting their 7^th album Blood Like Lemonade. Two sold-out gigs, a press with some fever of excitement and bashful fans, that's the little feat the band made this week.

It was already 8:05 when I arrived at the Bataclan. I made my way through the crowd of black market ticket sellers and into the venue where Nic Bennett, support singer of the band, was already playing. Nice surprise: he's got a good folk voice and a certain capacity to tell everyday life stories. Leaning against the barrier at the back of the venue and despite – or let's say maybe because of- a muffled sound, I felt like being in a pub somewhere in Chelmsford on a November night. Well, the Morcheeba crowd must not be a pub-crawling one as after some scattered and not so-convinced applause, they let the songwriter go away in total indifference.

It was towards 8:50 that Ross and and Paul decided to come on stage. Heartily applauded by the fans. The rest of the musicians took their places before Skye, in a red evanescent mini-dress, appeared. An ideally-placed fan (the one making wind, not the cheering one!) gave the impression she was a sort of tropical butterfly, twirling over her very down-to-earth sidekicks. It was visible she was happy to be back on stage with a cheering public- she spent her time chatting with the first rows, teasing the lads who were obvisously also very happy that the lady was back with them. Skye has succeeded in coming back with an easiness and a voice that has not changed a bit.

A near-perfection setlist, yet a bit short. I mean 14 songs covering a fifteen-year career, this sounds a bit meagre. Their new single, Blood Like Lemonade but also the old tunes like Rome, Part Of The Process or Be Yourself triggered knowing smiles on the fans' faces. A special award could have been handed to Slow Down, Never An Easy Way, and of course Beat Of The Drum for which Skye organised an inter-sex singing contest and proved that she has the lungs of a blues singer and not only a soft and mellow voice.

However- because there is a however, Morcheeba has the peculiar ability to irritate. Irritation caused by Skye's gigglings and mincings about. Those who had not come as worshippers were clearly wondering where the heck they had landed. They did not care about the fact that she had designed and sewed her dress and they found pretty ridiculous all the references to cannabis and joints. So what? We all know Morcheeba are weed lovers but at a certain point in your life (and age), the funny, nice, friendly and rebel side of it tends to become ridiculous and obsolete. All the more when the demands come from one of the most un-rock n' roll bands on the British scene. A bit awkward also, as if, when you were a teen, your mum had come to your friends to tell them all about her sex life. Or as if Noel Gallagher, now 43, was still discursing about taking coke like sugar on corn-flakes.

Yes, just like The Byrds would sing, to everything, there is a season. And Morcheeba will have to age gracefully. If they want to become a cult band.

pictures, courtesy of www.le-hiboo.com 

photographer NYCD