Friday, April 23, 2021

EIFFEL - "Who Else ... Anyway ?" - DVD X 2 - Trabendo Session - Paris - 18-02-07  -  La Nef - Angoulême - 24-11-09

DVD 1 :
EIFFEL
Trabendo Session - Paris - 18-02-07
1 - Shalom
2 - Ma Part D'Ombre
3 - Ne Respire Pas
4 - Loony Tune For The Moon
5 - Saoul
6 - Dispersé
7 - Qu'Ai-Je Donc A Donner
8 - Bigger Than The Biggest
9 - Les Yeux Fermés
10 - Tes Vanités
11 - Modern Love (David Bowie)
12 - Tandoori
13 - Je Voudrais Pas Crever (Boris Vian)

DVD 2 :
EIFFEL
La Nef - Angoulême - 24-11-09
1 - Arrival
2 - Minouche
3 - Interview & Soundcheck
4 - Il Pleut Des Cordes 
5 - Interview 
6 - Saoul 
7 - Interview & Soundcheck 
8 - Ma Part D'Ombre 
9 - Interview 
10 - Mort J'Appelle
11 - Interview
12 - A Tout Moment La Rue 
13 - Soundcheck & Interview 
14 - Sous Ton Aile 
15 - Interview 
16 - Bigger Than The Biggest
17 - ... Hidden 2020 (!) live track
 
Technical info  :
DVD Pro-shot
Video : Mpeg - 720 X 576 - 25 FPS - 16:9
Audio : Mpeg - 48000 Hz
Running Time : 58 mns + 60 mns
Size : 4,04 + 2,79 Go
Menu & Chapters - Artwork included
 

 
 
  
Spring 1995, Eiffel first let out its primal scream under the moniker of Oobik And The Pucks. The band has gone through its share of line-up reshuffles since but the backbone of it, Romain and Estelle, have always held the rocking boat steady. They actually deserve praise for this. The would-be right-thinking intelligentsia of music critics have never shown support, to say the least, and for many years, they were too often overlooked as being a second rate copy of a more famous French band of the time. Truly unfair. Fame is out of place with Eiffel. What matters is arts and crafts. Still today, and maybe even stronger than ever, Romain and Estelle are goldsmiths refining their art and asserting their view of the world, made of genuine interactions and sincerity. Human quirks and revolt against the excesses of our society, whether they are political, economic or technological are endless inspiration for their songs. This need for uprightness may have made them missed a few stairs to compromising glory but it has for sure helped them stay true to themselves. This is probably the reason why I need to jostle around a bit every time I want to get to the front at one of their show. This generosity is felt and has rightfully created a loyal fanbase who can share straight with the band. This is this close warm directness which has led the group to be very critical against the cold music industry. The same push that has made them built their own studio and created their own label to enjoy their seminal freedom, far from the pressure of the mainstream audience ratings. All this is much better interestingly stated, and with more passion, by Romain in the interview parts of the second dvd.
 
By the way, on a technical level, this one gave me real hard time ... again. Both shows are from what I recorded on TV at the time. But the Angoulême one was way trickier to handle ! I remember now that I got some issues receiving TV back in the days. I didn't notice them at the time but that led to quite a few micro cuts in the stream which then created out-of-synch sequences. I had to edit the footage many times (I quit on the last song, just got enough, sorry !), without re-encoding, to preserve the initial quality. However, this is 2007-2009 era video. I tried my best brightening up the whole thing with "enjoyable" menus but don't expect HD here. 
 
On a side note, for the local fans who could possibly come across this, you would for sure recognise a familiar face from another band from this blog : Nicolas Bonnière, the talented guitarist who formed Dolly with Manu in the nineties. He has just joined the band in this second dvd, as well as Nicolas Couret (the original drummer of Oobik And The Pucks !) who got back to his friends shortly before. As a personal souvenir, I also tried to highlight a particular moment in the opening video (up) of the second menu when you see a yellow skull and crossbones sign. This was the logo of a dear long-gone festival held by the venue : The Garden Nef Party. A really nice festival that welcomed all the great alternative and rock bands of the time (The Hives, LCD Soundsystem, Iggy & The Stooges, The Raconteurs, Muse, Arcade Fire, The Kills, Gossip, Art Brut, The Ting Tings, Blood Red Shoes, Boss Hog, The Bellrays ... what a dream bill ! ) before it fell apart over some murky political business. Pffffff ... what a waste !!!! A feeling well encapsulated in the report here (the spirit of the festival is also nicely described by Serge Teyssot-Gay, former Noir Désir's guitar player). Unfortunately, the message of hope delivered at the end of the video still hasn't been fulfilled today for the same sad reasons.  
As for the first dvd, it is a bit older (2007), with again an all fresh line-up, supporting the release of the great new album, "Tandoori". The front cover of the present dvd takes its inspiration from the sleeve of this lp.
 
Hope you'll enjoy !

Cheers ! 

Chacaux