Rock En Seine 2009 - Saturday
One last chance during 'We Care A Lot' for Patton to prowl the stage like a man possessed, before we're forced to leave through the dust bowl the park has become.faith
Day two of the finest rock festival in France, and having been lured into seeing the delights of Paris (the centre is only ten minutes away on the metro) we roll into Domain de St. Cloud in time to see Ebony Bones on the Grande Scene (main stage). Dazzled by the outlandish costume the singer is wearing, like the spawn of Grace Jones and Karen O, it smacks of trying too hard with the wackiness. Ebony is an eager bunny, and attempts to command the crowd and the stage armed with an eclectic backing band, but her jumbled electro funk hip hop is overpowered by some over-the-top screeching. Directionless and meaningless, the will is there, but it ultimately grates.
Scene de la Cascade, the second stage, is the setting for the altogether more focused Dananananaykroyd. The Glasgow indie popsters are a delight of the shambolic variety, the kind that is actually tight as hell. Reassuringly awesome. Wandering around to soak up the atmosphere, the noise that is Billy Talent is endured. Any redeeming features the band may have are drowned out by the 'distinctive' vocals of Ben Kowalewicz, who looks fit to burst trying to keep up with the screeching guitars.
Rock en Seine has many redeeming features as a festival. For starters, the atmosphere is remarkably different to its UK counterparts as a rock festival with a line-up smaller in scale but just as high profile as Reading and Leeds. There's an air of sobriety, and a sense of calm - any rowdiness comes directly as a result of reacting to the music. A positive, embracing air surrounds, even when the biggest bug bear comes in the form of the lack of toilets. Lack of drunkeness may in fact be down to the 5.50 euro pints, enough to sober up the typical festival-goer.
So admittedly, the viewing of The Horrors is from the nearby toilet queue. The remarkable about-turn that was their second album 'Primary Colours' doesn't quite work live, not helped by the fact that they still have that air of style over substance. The heavy shoe-gaze is lost in the blazing Parisian sunshine. The Offspring are an unexpected delight. Admittedly expecting a naff rerun of those punk pop hits, it is, to be fair, exactly that, but done with such glee it's infectious. Almost feeling like a glorious headlining set, such is the enthusiasm from the French, the catalogue of hits is run through solidly, generating a massive party atmosphere.
If The Offspring are the adorable dorks, then Faith No More are the cool kids everyone wants to be. The final European stage of a triumphant comeback tour sees the reformed quintet topping the bill on the Grand Scene for their only French gig this year. A unclassifiable band that nobody has ever really been able to get a handle on, not reviewers, probably not their own fans, FNM were always one step ahead and knew when to call it a day, over a decade ago. Having stormed Europe all summer, and the night before pretty much showed up every other band at Reading Festival (yes Kings Of Leon I mean you), there's no new material to be begrudgingly endured by fans, but a chance for those who couldn't see them first time round to have the experience.
Sauntering onstage in their now-familiar lounge suits, the French are treated to the swaying opening of 'Reunited', before 'From Out Of Nowhere' unleashes the monster that lies within frontman Mike Patton. However, Patton is unusually subdued tonight, having followed his recent hilarious antics on tour. With his previous reputation now the stuff of urban legend, there had been a slow build-up of typical Patton behaviour recently, from stage-diving (at the age of 41), to mercilessly baiting VIPs, to swallowing and regurgitating a fan's shoelace onstage. Tonight, that wild glint is missing from his eyes, but there's no need to complain as the songs are enough. 'Evidence' is sung in Italian, probably to annoy the French, and Paris is treated to near-perfect runthroughs of a threatening 'Last Cup Of Sorrow', a wild 'Cuckoo For Caca' and an insane 'Surprise! You're Dead!', before the obligatory cheese-fest of 'Easy'. 'Midlife Crisis' shows off bassist Billy Gould's obsession with Eastenders, as the befuddled audience are treated to keyboardist Roddy Bottum's rendition of the theme halfway through.
The almighty 'Ashes To Ashes' is their crowning glory, and is a wonder to behold live. Set closer 'Just A Man' sees Patton getting the crowd to try and beat him in a note-holding contest during the song which shows off his unbeatable vocal range, but there is no sign of his usual shenanigans, and is unusually reserved, bar for wanting to smell the "musky motherfuckers' armpits". The encore is their wonderful version of the Midnight Cowboy theme, with Patton on melodica, and the movie theme continues with Chariots Of Fire giving way to the atmospheric 'Stripsearch'. One last chance during 'We Care A Lot' for Patton to prowl the stage like a man possessed, before we're forced to leave through the dust bowl the pretty park has become. Not a Faith No More show to go down in history, but an example of how staggeringly brilliant they still are.
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