I-94 BAR TOP TENS

Baby-faced Parisian bass-player for Dimi Dero Inc, Penelope Inc and Holy Curse

A Top Ten? Aah, that’s a good exercise for me, cause I never know what day it is - ask my bandmates : whenever I have to design a flyer for a show, I fuck up on the date everytime. And I mean EVERYTIME. So that will be good to help me remember where I was and when, since January, 2008. Yeah,  whatever. Here we go – in no particular order, 10 memorable shows of 2008 :

Dead Clodettes @ Machine à Coudre, Marseille. 
Three girls, who can  hardly play together, but there’s more ideas, style and sound in two of their songs that many bands will have in their whole career.

Bellrays @ Corner Hotel, Melbourne. 
As performers, few can compare –  cliché, I know, but so true – The thing is that if they can put on fantastic shows like that, what will it be like when they have a great song or two ?

The Holy Soul @ Pony Club, Melbs. 
They were good before, but their new drummer Kate really brought them to a new level.

New Christs European tour in May.  
On top of playing from very  good to excellent shows, you could see the guys are happy doing it, get along well, and Brent’s switching from guitar to keyboards adds a new  dimension to their sound. Can’t wait for the new album.

Dirtbombs Maroquinerie, Paris. 
Nothing beats a packed place, two drummers in full groove and the rest of the band working their asses off to make the audience be part of the show.

Spoils + Don Lurie, le 1929, Rennes. 
The Spoils are a great Melbourne band, in the Dirty Three/ Black Pony Express family… Don Lurie is alone with his guitar, and though not a brilliant guitarist, this limitation only enhances and strengthens the emotion with which he delivers his songs. Raw, moving, and intense.

The Groovers @ le Volume, Nice. 
Awesome show from this classy  rock/power pop band. These guys should be on Off the Hip (Chris & Mickster, are you listening ?)

Whodunit @ la Miroiterie, Paris. 
They stole our thunder that night…

Ron Peno trying to show Penny Ikinger how she should play and sing  the song they wrote together while we were recording the bass & drums  tracks @ Hothouse studio. 
Dimi and I were looking at them through the  window of the control room where they were, and could hear them talk and sing through the headphones. Ron dancing and singing around Penny… the kind of moment that makes up for all the shit you go through as an underdog rock’n'roller. OK, that’s not a show, but it was great all the same.

6FtHick @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire, Paris. 
A bit like seeing the Beastie Boys of Bourbon. Fantastic show, rocking harder than the rest by far, and they play an X cover (“The Feel”, if I’m not mistaken). What more can you ask?