So last night was a blast. After I left you I ended up drinking red wine with a French music journalist named Vincent. Spoke to Vincent about those post punk bands that I saw and he said that they are all really young and they have a way to go yet. We agreed that making crazy comparisons to legends of the genre really doesnt help their cause. Anyway good to get some perspective on what I was watching.
Then we met up with Jean-Louis and his friend Sammy, who used to be the singer for 80s French Band Minimal Compact. He had some great stories to tell! Sammy is now a DJ and he played some rave in Jozi back in 1996 so he was interested to know what had become of our country. We chatted through some official opening ceremony as it was all in French, funny that.
Then it was off to the Ubu club where we saw three bands. The club is shaped like an ear, imagine that! The first was a French singer songwriter named Peter Winslow, who had recently got himself a band, apparently it was there second gig, very impressive if true. They were tight man, a really good pop band with touches of Americana and rock n roll thrown into the mix.
Second was the old Indian Crooner that I mentioned yesterday. What a revalation! Slow Joe was like an Indian version of Leonhard Cohen, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash rolled into one. While his band, four French guys, veered between the sound of The Doors and The Yardbirds. This was the real deal and I loved every second of it. Quite a racket, the surprise package, smokin hot! Slow Joe telling stories about being down and out in Bombay while the drums, guitar, bass and organ do battle royale.
The last band was called Transformer and they are from Brighton. Disco Punk along the lines of the first Radio 4 album, when James Murphey was at the helm. Also reminded me of that American band !!!, pronounced CHK CHK CHK. While they were great to dance to after an evening of beer and red wine, they really didnt own the sound until the last quarter of the gig, when they seemed to take things up a notch!
So Day 2 is about to begin, catch you later down the trail!