Live report: 16th February 2011, FRANK!!!(FR) + ALEXANDER KINN(FR) + THE PHOENIX FOUNDATION(NZ) + WEEKEND(US) at Flèche d'Or, Paris

A New Zealand day for me. In the afternoon I met an English teacher who comes from New Zealand. Then, at the gig, the first French band which opened the show has a female lead singer from New Zealand, and I didn't want to miss the New Zealand band The Phoenix Foundation whose performance was their first one in Paris!

As most of the Paris people went to see Alessi's Ark and Noah and The Whale at Café de la Danse or Lulu and The Lampshades at l'International, I was quite surprised to see about 100-120 persons in the audience during the performances of the two French bands, then even more for The Phoenix Foundation! Very warm inside the venue (as usual).

(approximative stage times)

Frank!!!(FR)

MySpace
 

8:30pm - 9:05pm
I was quite surprised by this 5-piece band. Good songs from this French band with a female lead singer from New Zealand! 70s pop music, including solo electric guitar in the songs. "Sunday morning music". They are being said to be reminescent of Burt Bacharach, Paul McCartney, The Carpenters and Carole King. They worked with Stéphane Briat (Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Phoenix, Sébastien Tellier, Arnaud Fleurant-Didier…) and some of the members played for Loane, Brisa Roché, Autour de Lucie, Love Bizarre, Carla Bruni, Dominique A.

Alexander Kinn(FR)

MySpace / Facebook

9:20pm - 10:00pm

The last time they played a gig was two years ago and they did remember how was the Flèche d'Or before its renovation. I think it was the 1st time that I attended a performance from a French band singing all their songs only in French, and not at all in English. Really weird to understand all the lyrics... Quite good band. They considered John Butler trio, Dave Matthews, G.Love and Special Sauce, Jack Johnson, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper as their influences. Some song titles are unusual, like "Tuer Un Homme" (Kill A Man) or "Moi, Moi-Même et Ma Bouteille" (Me, Myself and My Bottle), and the lead singer introduced well his songs with short explanations about why he chose the titles and why he decided to write such songs. You can hear some reggae tunes in the songs.

The Phoenix Foundation(NZ)

MySpace / Facebook / Twitter / Website / Official Youtube // Samuel's Youtube

10:25pm - 11:20pm
Do you know well New Zealand bands? Not me. I only know Lawrence Arabia and Secret Knives. And recently The Phoenix Foundation! (No, it's neither the political organization nor the fictional foundation where McGyver worked for as a trouble shooter.) This band from Wellington, New Zealand is one of the best bands I've ever seen live and that you have to discover and follow for sure. They've already released 4 albums and the last one "Buffalo" is absolutely gorgeous! You can listen to it on Spotify. It's a shame that I didn't know them earlier! Six musicians on stage: a drummer, a percussionist//tam tam/glokenspiel/keyboard player, two bass players, two bearded guitar players/singers. Also a computer. No doubt that the show was excellent with so many instruments. Their songs are as nice and colorful as the stickers on their keyboard on the picture below. They played most of the songs from their last album, but they also played the excellent "Damn The River", "40 Years", "Bruiser" from previous albums. The audience consisted of a great bunch of very happy and funny New Zealand expatriates, including beautiful young ladies. Someone called the lead singer "white chocolate", which he replied with "fromage frais de Nouvelle-Zélande" (=fresh cheese from New Zealand)... I'm pretty sure that you liked/will like this band as much as I do. The French blog Hop Blog and the Guardian wrote positive reviews about the last LP.

Sadly, the band was not at the merchandising table, but I had the chance to meet American women in the street team. One of them was very lovely and even recommended me a few New Zealand bands she likes, as I told her that I don't know well bands from this island. Amazing!

Setlist: (I didn't have the setlist, thanks brain)

Eventually

Bitte Bitte

Flock of Hearts

Pot

- ? -

Damn The River

Bruiser

40 Years

- ? -

Buffalo

The Phoenix Foundation - Damn The River


The Phoenix Foundation - 40 Years



The Phoenix Foundation - Bleaching Sun



The Phoenix Foundation - Pot



The Phoenix Foundation - Flock of Hearts
Favorite song from the LP "Buffalo". The video is... wtf. haha

The Phoenix Foundation - Buffalo

Be sure to watch all their great and extravagant videos on the both Youtube links above. 
And also check out their previous albums, especially "Pegasus"(2005).

Weekend(US)

MySpace / Facebook / Website/Blog

11:35pm - 00:15am
Post-punk/Shoegaze fan, this band from San Francisco is for you!

More pictures: