It was a cruel evening for fans of melancholic darkness: at Glazart, Sanit Mils had lined up a bill featuring Sacred Skin, Morwan and Dancing Plague, while at Supersonic Records, JE T'AIME and Une Vraie Gothique were playing similar music... Then, for health reasons, Dancing Plague cancelled his appearance and was replaced by Faits d'Hiver. This year, we had already had the opportunity to see both bands playing near Bastille, so tonight we headed to Porte de la Villette to be sad in the darkness of Glazart.
FAITS D'HIVER
Now that's an inspired and seasonal name! While outside, tears were starting to freeze in our eyes, inside Glazart it's overheated. Faits d'Hiver's mission is to make sure the blood in our veins stays cool enough. There isn't a big crowd. Is it because of the other cold wave / goth concert in Paris the same evening, or a relatively recent (and free) gig by Sacred Skin a few months ago, or just because it's a Thursday night in late November? Last spring, Faits d'Hiver released Le Mensonge Règne, his first EP, on the essential label Icy Cold Records. Tonight, spring is no longer on the agenda.
Faits d'Hiver cools the atmosphere. Icy synths, aggressive rhythms with synthpunk minimalism, lyrics chanted in French with rage... Despite the red lights of the Glazart, Faits d'Hiver is not exactly warm and welcoming. 80s melancholy mixes with contemporary anger (Les Gens), a few fiery bursts like on Le Mensonge Règne, when he makes all the keys on his keyboard scream with an angry gesture. However, there is a tension in the artist that goes beyond the music: a few technical problems force him to restart two songs. We want to encourage him, to tell him that it doesn't matter, that these things happen, but we sense that beyond the intensity of the music, there is also a real annoyance on his part that adds to the nervousness of his creations. Performing alone on stage can be difficult at times like this, in front of a sparse and unfamiliar audience, which is not necessarily the most encouraging presence to defuse the situation... We were hoping for an icy atmosphere, and we got it! Come on, next time it will go more smoothly and we'll be able to sulk for the right reasons!
MORWAN
Morwan recently released an excellent second album, Vse po kolu, znovu (review), on which Ukrainian Alex Ashtaui's project presented a heavier, more aggressive, more incantatory side. Morwan is now a duo, including in the studio, and Ashtaui is accompanied by bassist Stefan Shtuchenko. Together, they offer us an embodied set, their vision of post-punk that smells of basements and concrete blocks.
While a real drum kit would have added impact to the songs on stage, the melodies are easier to appreciate when the two musicians strum their strings. The Eastern influences in Morwan's music becore more obvious when played live. And then suddenly, it explodes: the hypnotic slogans of Без обличчя or the aggressive riffs of Мої дні, with noise rock and metal influences adding a touch of chaos and heaviness.
Morwan rocks. In the expression ‘post-punk’, here, the emphasis is on ‘punk’, with a visceral energy, a darkness made up of anxiety, despair, resentment and rebellion, but where we can still glimpse a few escape routes, discreet daydreams whose contours are revealed in the twists and turns of a melody. After several dates in France last year, the beautiful story between Morwan and our country continues: lots of people were there for them tonight. We should see them again soon, and that's a good thing!
SACRED SKIN
"Paris, so sexy!" shouts singer Brian, under the amused gaze of his partner Brian, behind his synthesiser. You're cute, guys, but don't overdo it: for Californians, finding themselves at Porte de la Villette on a Thursday night in November can't really have been the picture-perfect scene! It must be a change from Supersonic, where they played for free last February...
But those guys are indeed cute. Sacred Skin is generous, with theatrical stage presence, smiles, and exchanges. They give their all despite a sparse audience: strangely, part of the crowd deserted the venue during the evening. Too late for a weeknight? Dancing Plague fans disappointed by the cancellation? It's a mystery. So we enjoy the bittersweet nostalgia of Sacred Skin without them. The drums add more impact to the music, perhaps to the point, given the technical conditions at Glazart, of slightly stifling the melancholic nostalgia of their compositions. On stage, Sacred Skin is more rock, both in terms of sound and attitude.
Brian takes off his dark glasses while Brian takes off his jacket. It's just between us, it's intimate. In the red gloom, lost in the mist created by the smoke machine, the few silhouettes present sway gently. We might have liked to see more people, but it gives the scene a dreamlike quality. Far from the coldness of the bands that played earlier in the evening, Sacred Skin's synths express a whirlwind of feelings with elegant and poetic nuances. Ultimately, this bittersweet mood suits the evening very well: the line-up deserved better than a half-empty venue, but Sacred Skin played enthusiastically for those who were there. While they created an immediate rapport and camaraderie on stage that made them instantly likeable, they had previously watched the other concerts from the audience. That's what passion is all about, and we were delighted to be able to share this somewhat surreal moment with them.
