Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Social Distortion @ Bataclan, Paris - April 29, 2015


Social Distortion is celebrating twenty-five years of their self-titled record, and the celebration thankfully doesn't stop at hanging a backdrop in the image of that album sleeve behind the drum kit. They played ten songs off of that record, to the delight of every fan in the audience. Add a few tracks from their latest album Hard Times & Nursery Rhymes and a few more from Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell and White Light, White Heat, White Trash and you have a near-perfect setlist for the Orange County punk veterans.

Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas @ Bataclan, Paris - April 29, 2015


Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas play a vintage blend of old times rock and roll and swing with a punk edge. A very pleasant opener.



Saturday, April 25, 2015

Lynyrd Skynyrd @ Palais des Sports, Paris - April 25, 2015


No one is going to argue that Lynyrd Skynyrd is the band that has been dealt one of the worst hands in rock and roll. So I would not begrudge Gary Rossington for taking any version of the band out to reap what they sowed with their first four albums. It doesn't matter that he is the only original member left: the band he has assembled is as legitimate as they come.

Jared James Nichols @ Palais des Sports, Paris - April 25, 2015


This new gunslinger is one to watch. I had never heard of him but my bet is that he'll be huge in the next few years. H plays a brand of hard rocking blooze very reminiscent of Cactus or Moutain, with jaw-dropping guitar pyrotechnics. A great rocking discovery.




Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Gentle Storm @ Divan Du Monde, Paris - April 22, 2015


Anneke Van Giersbergen has kept herself busy in the years following her departure from The Gathering, and her latest project finds her delving into folk-influenced symphonic metal. Gone are the experimentations of her later years with the Gathering, and this is European metal by the numbers.

Stream of Passion @ Divan du Monde, Paris - April 22, 2015


Monday, April 13, 2015

Mike Stern @ New Morning, Paris - April 13, 2015


It's a bummer having to leave Marcus Miller's concert at the Olympia during intermission but Mike Stern is playing the New Morning and I haven't seen him since a blistering gig at the 55 Bar in New York back in December 1999...

Marcus Miller @ Olympia, Paris - April 13, 2015


Marcus Miller's new record Afrodeezia is perhaps his most ambitious, accomplished and exciting project, which is no small feat considering his vast body of work. On this album he finally gets to delve into his roots and build a bridge between ancient and modern, innovation and tradition, urban and rural, America and Africa.