While some Parisians opted for the mainstream camp a little further afield - that's Nine Ich Nails at the Accor Arena, which is, after all, stiff competition on all levels - others, the best, chose the real obscurity. Fortunately, we're not the only ones to have made this choice, as the duo of Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch, who since their collaboration on the superb soundtrack to Jarmusch's film Only Lovers Left Alive, have been enjoying composing melancholic string ballads as ethereal as they are mysterious. At this event organized by Persona Grata, they presented their latest album: The Day the Angels Cried, released on June 6. Some goths, some casual, of all ages and nationalities: the venue was not far from full, and that was a pleasure.
NADJA
Nadja, a Canadian duo of experimental ambient noise musicians Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff, open the evening, and the least we can say is that they immediately put us in the mood (and therefore in the dark). Aidan, a violin bow in one hand and his electric guitar in the other, Leah on bass, and off we go for a set that goes on without pause or breath. At first soft but haunting, then increasingly intense, the notes flirt with a completely assertive noisy genre that leaves the vocals completely to one side this time. You'll have to immerse yourself in this increasingly thick fog and let your funereal imagination take over a little, while listening attentively to appreciate the experience. Indeed, it's interesting to try and make out all the nuances added layer by layer as you go along, considerably fleshing out this experimental ensemble that turns into an infinite spiral of anguish, all structured by a rather depressive synth, the central element of the scene, for a supernatural, hallucinatory result. Of course, there's little or no lighting, with a few bluish hints and touches of red to reinforce the intimacy of the evening. Leah, for her part, will present her back to us throughout the show, preferring to leave all the space to the music and its texture. The attentive audience stayed right to the end, and seemed to appreciate this already immersive journey, as cold as the air outside, which, between two heatwaves this evening, aligned itself with our mood.
JOZEF VAN WISSEM & JIM JARMUSCH
A short pause, and then it's time for the long-awaited entrance of our two stars of the evening. Discreetly, under the cheers, a reserved smile, the time to settle each on one side of the stage, and off they go. This distancing does not prevent a discreet but sincere complicity between the two, in the eyes but above all in the immense musical symbiosis that comes to life before our eyes. We soon realize that the penumbra will be an integral part of the stage as a central character: this vampiric introspection will be illuminated by lights that draw more shadow and mystery than clarity. There are concerts for which the media are forbidden to take photos (hello Accor Arena) and there are others for which, apart from betting on a pact with the Devil for an acceptable result (but we didn't find it), the task proves just as complex. Added to the almost non-existent lighting (a few vaporous halos in bluish and purplish tones at the back of the stage occasionally embellish the background) is the timidity of these two very great musicians. Jozef Van Wissem, seated in the background, never takes his hat off, while Jim Jarmusch, wearing dark glasses and often with his head down, still fleeing from the ghostly lighting as soon as he gets too close, like a vampire fleeing the sun, plays a little more with the space and seems a little more at ease with the exercise.
From the very first notes, the resonance of the lute takes our breath away. It's rare to hear this instrument laid bare in this way, and the precision of each note as it flies away, at one with the guitar, acquires an incredible mystical and bewitching dimension in La Cigale. The tracks chosen, unified in this shadowy atmosphere, are short and keep the spleen at a certain pace, so that there's never a dull moment. When the first notes of The Taste of Blood resound, from the Only Lovers Left Alive soundtrack, the joyous cries of surprise are not long in coming from the audience, who are undoubtedly fans of music as much as cinema. It's true that the opportunity to hear his songs live and to immerse ourselves in this romantically horrific universe was a real thrill. The concert was short, but ended in apotheosis: the two artists standing side by side in what almost looked like light, articulating a few movements that could be likened to a dance: osmosis at its peak, ending in a diffuse, melodic joy: top class, right to the end. Certainly one of the best concerts of an already emotionally rich year.
