The Script, 3 piece Irish Band, who just came out with a self titled album (i.e. « The script » what a surprise yaaaaayyyyy). 12€ in one of my favorite venue in Town, for something really different from what I’ve seen this last couple of weeks, between Noise sound of Parts & Labor, Mcing Puppets of Puppetmastaz, Sweetness of Woodpigeon, Pure inflammable Rock from Bloc Party, Electro from Delphic, beeps from Metronomy and so on. Here.. pop.. but like.. pop… I arrived early as usual, it wasn’t soldout, but the venue was let’s say 80% full (which is 1500ish personn I’d say right..?). I was one of the few with no bracelets on the teeth, one head above everybody, a beard… yeah.. You got that right.. I was trapped in a girlie concert, and I actually didn’t see that coming honestly… (but to spoil, in the end, it was a lot of fun, I swear).

What was going to happen is oddly enough why I love going to gigs like that. Yes. At some point I’d say… Am I old enough to go on the 1st floor like this mid-40’s couple I see? Naaaa… C’mon, just turned 27… which is 10 years more that all the people directly surrounding me, but I just don’t care, I heard at the album, I liked it, why not give it a shot afterall. « The Script » blanket are on the drums and so on… I barely see the set that is already here, a speaker allowing me only to see a part of the illustration on the drum. As a waiting music.. Coldplay.. Weird.. it gives me goose bump.. being in a gig place listening to some Coldplay, just memories like that.. what can I say *remembering the butterflies.. sigh*

And another surrealist moments arrives, just some notes, everyone recognize « chasing car » by Snow Patrol. Everyone starts whispering at first, then singin’.. but like.. singin’.. unreal I’m telling you. Sometimes I wonder why the crowd here makes me love going to venues that have that kind of spirit. So far away from what I’ve seen abroad. Not always perfect of course, but usually a lot, I mean, a lot, of fun. Then will arrive as a supporting act : Gary Go : Brit, hype glasses, Beckham hair style (dunno the year, he changed so much over the year you know… hehe), but don’t stop to that, this guy got talent, catch phrases, and a nice attitude that makes everyone move, sing, shout.

I don’t blog often since a year now let’s say. I don’t often talk about the many concerts I’m going to (65 last year my lucky guess would be). I don’t often (meaning never), talk about the supporting act I’m going to see. My post are already way too long « as is » (et non « azziz » lumière.. french humour.. ). But here. I can recall the really good supporting act I’ve seen, randomly I’d say Delphic (bloc party gig), Luciole (Camille gig), Krystl Warren (Rodrigo y gabriela gig) or Pepper (Floggin Molly, 1st out of 3time last year). I can recall bad ones as well (for many and oftenly unrelated reasons), the Luxemburgish Group before PWT’s, the « I don’t give a crap and I don’t recall ur name » (Cat Power gig).. and so on. Here. It will go on the « damn good side, cya back on the road very soon! ».

Gary Go, Self titled album to come out (somewhere around May I think), but damn, happy to be here, smiling, a thousand people in front of him, clapping, singing, just happy. And happiness, right now, it’s really a nice feeling to share. Thought I could share a little piece of my joy with who wants to, so here it is. The last track was « wonderful ». Careful, might be the thing that will last in ur mind. Gary taking the time to learn us the chorus (might be wrong, but the track is unknown in Belgium, whereas nicely going up in the charts in UK). ♫ Say “I am”/Say “I am”/Say “I am wonderful”/Oh you are/ Cause we are all miracles/wrapped up in chemicals/We are incredible/Don’t take it for granted, no/We are all miracles/Oh we are » ♫ -Wonderful-

I definitely know some people I could call « miracle » in my life, I never tell them enough how much they are important to me… Even if the person reads this, doesn’t mean the person will know I’m talking about him/her, but well… part of the deal.. the people I’m like coding stuff in here never understands what I can’t say face to face anyway.. i’m used to it know hehe ^^. Back to Gary, « Filming is life » as he said, welcome to Brussels, which is not my Hometown, not my Country, I always said i’ll ever feel more Irish than Belgium, but tonite, I’m welcoming you with everybody, and discovering some nice lyrics, arrangement, everything is not perfect, but we just don’t give a 2nd thought to it, Arms in the air, waving, ♫ « It took some time to realise/ But it just occured to me/ That what we have, is what we choose to see/ There’s nothing to stop us/ To lose it all » ♫ -Hearts and soul-

Already, this is a night well spent, I’ve discovered an Artist, now waiting for the album, but it’s always special when you first see someone live then hear the album. But you’ve got the whole deal hear, nice musicians, changes in the rythm/tempo, produced well with loads of nice arrangements/settings.. really good stuff… I finish also sharing a « Say I ammmm wonderfffullll…. »… and will arrive on stage The Script.

First the scene… A huge speaker, keyboard on it, I’m guessing it will be Danny O’Donaghue (yes, Irish Band I said), on the left, guitar, somewhere on the far right of the scene (opposite of me) a drum set, I might see bits of the drummer, but that would be all, and a bassist behind the keyboard, the same, way to close, huge speaker in sight, not sure i’ll even take a picture of him..

And the room goes dark.. I lost 8/10th of my  hearing capabilities.. Think I’m actually at a Michael Jackson, a Spice Girls or a Tokio Hotel (choose depending on ur generation hehe) concert, surrounded by groupies (and no, I see you who wanna ask if I screamed, no, I didn’t, commmmme on!).

They are all coming on stage.. one by one… And will start « Before the worst »… arrfff.. got to say that those lyrics are just talking to me. Replace Coke by Red Bull, and Vodka, Guinness, Grafton Street, love was a part of my life Back in Dublin.. And hearing Grafton Street echoing in the AB I was just.. woowwww… Sound is ok… He has wayyy to much reverb on the voice (even I could hear that, and I’m not THAT of a melomane.. ). But damn a nice start!  ♫ « It’s been a while since the two of us talked/About a week since the day that you walked/Knowing things would never be the same/With your empty heart and mine full of pain/So explain to me, how it came to this/Take it back to the night we kissed/It was Dublin City on a Friday night/You were vodkas and coke, I was Guinness all night [...] It was Grafton Street on a rainy night /I was down on one knee and you were mine for life » ♫

Then « Talk  you down », nice, chorus of course sang by everybody, « Break even » is next.. and ok guys… stop making come back memories ok… I’m all over that period of my life now… Weird to see how sometimes lyrics are just talking to you, doesn’t matter the time or the place… And yes, gosh I didn’t believe it, but she was right (as usual I might say, but she knows it), a blog is personnal, I’m talking too much about myself, shouldn’t, but well, that’s just how I am… and I definitely don’t say all what I want to, that’s a fact  ♫ « What am I suppose to do when the best part of me was always you/ what am I suppose to say when i’m all choked up and you’re OK/ I’m falling to pieces« ♫

« The end » is almost anecdotic compared to the « We Cry » they will sing. « this is a song that starts everything back home », I can imagine why, definitely   And a song that says that we are all equals in pain, but it’s just a better place when you know that not far from you, someone can help you, eventhough that person is also dealing with problem. Sharing is making everything possible. « if you see kay » is more ballad like, and with a strange different tempo, the guitarist making some of the back voice, but quieting the crowd (a nice idea after the mayhem from the previous tracks)

Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

« fall for anything », more piano like, be he’s actually pushing a lot of his voice (or so it’s what his veins on his throat are making us believe), still in tunes though ^^ « the man who can’t be moved » will then ignite once again the place. And raise a good question. If I know someone would be looking for me, would I know where to go for sure so that this perso will find me? nice question.. very nice… Might have an answer, but it probably actually depends on which person would be lookin’ for me… But I god an idea hehe ^^ (ok, I’m the only one wandering is that it, I’m sure no one else here knows where they would go.. honestly…?!?!?!?) ♫ « Cos if one day you wake up and find that you’re missing me, /And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I can be, /Thinking maybe you’ll come back here to the place that we’d meet, /And you’d see me waiting for you on the corner of the street./So I’m not moving… » ♫

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« Rusty Halo » is entertaining, but gotta confess that the g string written « rusty halo » on the merchandise stuff kinda disturbed me  :[  but well, they politely say goodbye, the audience is going crazy (I should have recorded that, I swear, wow scream and everything you want, but damn good audience).

They'll come back, just with a guitar and sat down for Danny to sing. And damn, Damien Rice style (voice being way different), it's just a very nice, quiet stuff to finish the gig, and here, I just love the voice he's having, more calm, more present, maybe even more sincere because of that... it sound like 90's take that lover's time track, but it's just sweet  ♫ "I may not have the softest touch/I may not say the words as such/And though I may not look like much/I'm yours."♫

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It wasn’t the last track actually, they had a cover of « we can be heroes » on their luggage… and it’s quiet something gotta say, ok. Damn it, I started not that into it at all, and 2 grand bands made me happy to be here. Quiet sum-uping (and yeah, this word doesn’t exist.. so wha? :p ) me right now, an irish band with sweet lyrics and general mood, me taking pictures in a venue I like, and discovering some new stuff.. yeah.. it’s really a nice sum up (including the issues lyrics brought, but that I won’t discuss here obviously).

Gary go, cya soon, and will look for your cd, The Script, way to go, Slainte, and cya in a couple of years! And if u went all the way down to this long post, just congrats to you, cya on the next post ^^

All the pictures are on Flickr as usual/ Note to self : gigs fullfilled with youngs are way better for the stats on Flickr and youtube ^^.
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In my hears : James Blunt -Love, Love, Love-  ♫ « love love love/I can’t take your love love love/ and so I say I don’t love you,/ though it kills me./ It’s a lie that sets you free »

Et voilà, encore un concert, cette fois-ci, les Dropkick Murphys, groupe de punk-rock celtique, bien connu des hautes terres irlandaises, un peu moi sur le reste du continent, sauf depuis que l’un de leur morceau fût repris dans « Les Infiltrés » de Scorcese… Le concert à l’Ancienne Belgique à Bruxelles était complet, mais je ne pouvait pas les louper, envie de m’exploser la voix, de sauter un peu partout, et surtout de me remémorer pourquoi ce groupe fût un des déclencheurs de mes pérégrinations en Angleterre et Irlande…
And so another live concert.. this time? the Dropkick Murphys, celtic punk-rock band, kinda known in all the irish lands, far less on the continent I have to confess, maybe except since the time Scorcese put one of their track into « The departed »…. The Ancienne Belgique gig was sold out (took the tix too late ), but I couldn’t miss them, wanna shout, wanna jump a little bit, need to jump a little but, but more than that, finally seeing live one of the reasons why I wanted to discover England and Ireland…

Première fois que je viens à « Den Atelier » (en luxembourgeois dans le texte), petite salle s’il en est, mais quand même, concert Sold Out, pris la route direct après la fin de la semaine au Studio, et direction la salle… bouchons etc… mais j’arrive à la fin de la pré 1ère partie… et me rends compte que la configuration de la salle est assez étouffante en soi, carrée, avec un balcon imposant mais pratique, je dis pas….
First time at « Den Atelier » (Luxemburgish style), small place, sold out concert, was on my way 2minutes after the end of the week at the studio… I’m just arriving at the end of the Pre-support act… and I realise how akward the configuration of the room is, square, with a huge balcony.. eventhough it seems handy.. wow…

Il faut vraiment savoir à quoi l’on va s’attendre en allant regarder un tel concert, moi, je me doutais, mais je ne savais pas… Les Dropkick, c’est en fait un tour quasi permanent, ils enchainent les dates, inlassablement, vraiment souvent sur les routes, européennes ou Americaines, un concert tous les jours ou tous les 2 jours… quand même… respect ^^ Cela forcément amène un concert rondement mené, mais il faut surtout garder à l’esprit que les gens connaissent les Murphys, en ressort forcément des habitudes, la démonstration la plus simple étant celle là (pas d’image, car salle dans le noir, mais imaginez un peu à la vu du son… ^^)
We really need to know what we’re going to live… I was expecting some, but didn’t realised that much.. The Dropkick, it’s almost a never ending tour, going all over Europe and the US with a gig every day or two… respect!! ^^ Of course it means the gig is perfectly worked through, but it also brings habit in the crowd… the easiest one is just this one : (no image ’cause the place was in the dark, but just imagine just by listening to the crowd ^^)

Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

La 1ère partie était pas mal… mais c’est là que… je m’aperçois que le « pogo », c’est une philosophie que je n’ai pas… étrange et bizarre… sans aucun rapport avec la musique, ca ou autre chose, les djeuns pogotent, limite en train de volontairement se donner des coups de coudes… allez comprendre.. il faut que jeunesse se passe, mais là, je n’ai jamais vraiment capté le coté pragmatique de la chose ^^
The support act was ok.. can’t even remember the name actually… and the young who started to jump on each other and throw them at each other.. I never quiet understood that attitude… but maybe because I’m already « old school » for them.. who knows…

Et on partait pour 90 minutes de furie, de chants repris, de thèmes connus, mais aussi d’ambiance festive comme rarement j’en avais connu, alors oui, j’avoue que le son n’était pas non plus extra (a base de trop fort pr pas assez de différenciation entre les instruments), mais quand même, le charisme du groupe (parce que pour le coup, c’est vraiment un groupe!), l’effet rouleau compresseur qu’on se prends dans la figure, la volonté de se dire que oui, tous ses airs m’ont marqués pour la plupart, et le fait de pouvoir l’entonner avec un petit millier de personne c’est juste euphorisant….
And here we were going for 90 minutes of fury, songs that the crowd sang, and a festive mood in the whole room, like I rarely saw (well, the sound wasn’t so great, loud and without real differences between all of the instruments.. iiikkkk), but nonetheless, the charisma of the group (cause that is just defnitely a group, no point arguing), ur just slapped at every song by the energy going on, and the memories of how and why some of those themes moved me, and singing them with a thousand people is just astonishingly exhilarating…

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Le groupe est, dans sa configuration actuelle, composée de 2 chanteurs, l’un est là depuis le début, Ken Casey, fondateur du groupe, presque l’âme à lui tout seul, bien moins demonstratif que le 2eme, Al Barr, qui est là depuis qd même un bout de temps aussi. Ken Casey, un gaucher à la guitare (première fois que je vois cela d’ailleurs), qui prends du plaisir avec son groupe, avec le public, rigole, parle peu mais suffisament pour enflammer à chaque fois la salle
The group is, on his actual configuration, composed of 2 singers, One is here since the beginning, Ken Casey, Founder of the group, almost the spirit of the whole on hiw own, even if less showman than the 2nd, Al Barr, who’s actually also here for a while now. Ken Casey a lefty guitarist (First time I saw that), that takes pleasure speaking to the crow, the public, laugh, talk not that much to the audience but enough to make everyone rumble when he does.

Ils reprendront aussi des titres classique du répertoire celtique/irlandais, dont « the wild rover », chanson de pub par excellence, et là, un public qui répond présent, s’arrache les poumons pour le couplet, c’est juste incroyable, ca fait énormément plaisir, encore et toujours ce public incroyable du nord de la France… Je ne m’en lasse pas ^^
They will also go into classical celtic/irish songs, like « the wild rover », the awesomest pub’s song.. and here the audience is there, shouting as hell for the chorus.. Still and always amazed by this audience from the North of France, definitely one of the best I’ve known.

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Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

Ils sont américains, de Boston, et ils enchaineront plusieurs de leurs titres phares, jusqu’a même, à la fin du 1er acte, faire monter toutes les demoiselles sur scène, elles forcément, hystériques, mais respectueuse du groupe, chantant, bougeant comme un choeur presque. A la fin du concert, ils feront monter les mecs, et là, c’est vraiment plus le chaos, ca se pousse, ca essaye d’attrapper le chanteur par l’épaule etc… wow les mecs!!! mais bon, ainsi la nature est faites… :-#
They’re american, from Boston, and they also played all of their best hits, until the end of the 1st act, where they made all the ladies go on stage… of course it was just awesome, but with respect, just singing loud and dancing.. not like at the end of the show where they let the boys go, and it was just horrible… trying to grab the singer on the shoulder etc…. wow dudes!

Je sortais de là, heureux d’avoir vu ce groupe, dont j’avais entendu parlé bien avant de mettre un pied en Irlande, la 1ere fois, c’était l’ami d’une collègue stagiaire à l’ambassade de France lors d’une soirée, je lui dis que j’allais aller en Irlande, et il me dit que d’où il vient, Boston, y’a un bon groupe que je pourrais aimer du nom des Dropkick Murphys.. allez comprendre… c’était y’a… plus de 3 ans… la vie est bien faites par moment, car j’avais besoin de cette piqure de rappel de mon passé pour commencer et enclencher les changements que je désirais depuis longtemps….
I left there happy for having saw this group, that I heard about way before putting a foot in Ireland. the 1st time, it was a friend of a intern collegue at the French embassy, told me I was going down there, and he told me that in his town, Boston, there was a group I could like, the Dropkcik Murphys.. life’s starnge sometimes.. and it was.. more than 3 years ago… I need this shot from my past to move on, and start the changes and decisions I wanted to make for a while now…

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Je passe outre le fait que je me trouvais sur le chemin du Backstage, high fivant certains des membres (Al barr & le Bassiste notamment), juste par pure plaisir, eux le sourire aux lèvres autant que moi, une energie postive, communicative, difficilement descriptible, un bon coup de pied, je demandais que cela…
Just to finish by having High Fived some of the guys because I was on the way to the Backstage (Al Barr & the bassist amongst others), just to say, pure pleasure, them smiling as much as I was, a positiv energy, communicative too, hard to describe, but hell yeah exactly what I needed….

Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

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