THE CYNICS (Usa) & POWERSOLO (Dk) - 30.04.2022 - L'Ouvre-Boite - Beauvais (Fr)
I have to be honest.. I had never heard of these 2 bands before that night... I decided to go to the show, because it was quite close to my house, also because it is important to support the local scene, and because, more than ever, I feel the need to discover NEW bands, NEW sounds and enlarge my musical tastes. After all, open-mindedness ain't a skull fracture, i had nothing to risk !
I was surprised to see the show would take place on the smallest stage, the audience was really not numerous.. Not even sure we were 60 people for the show.. Sad... but that's the only negative aspect of the night, 'cos what was about to follow was top-notch !
Danish POWERSOLO take possession of the stage... and start the show.. from the first notes, you know it's gonna be something crazy, the threesome looks like being from another planet and is about to lead the audience in a very humorous/caustic live-experience .. At the very beginning, the audience is still a bit hesitating and cold - but who cares ? Certainly not singer Kim KIX who - after two songs - says very seriously (not even a smile on his face ,nothing ha !) "Please calm down, clam down" haha, PRICELESS - after that, things went really better, it warmed up the atmosphere and the delirious trip we were invited to was absolutely amazing ! Visually speaking, that's ACE ! Those guys have such facial expressions along the set, you can only hallucinate and they have a very communicative energy - the kind of bands you could see live all night long without getting bored
a second ! Musically.. well, it's hard to say.. a mix between various influences, ranging from nothing to everything, from 60's garage-rock and pop, rock'n'roll à la Fuzztones, Stray Cats... Country touches too... as well as psyche-rock influences... with a frantic attitude from A to Z ! Each song were pure "eargasms", try some like "Frantic", "Boom Babba Do Ba Dabba" or "Asshole", you'll get convinced ! POWERSOLO are for sure one of the CRAZIEST bands I saw live so far, a great experience & a greater surprise for me ! Can't wait to see them live again !
After that, what to say about the performance of THE CYNICS, an American band from Pittsburgh, PA/USA formed in 1985, disbanded in 1994 and reformed in 2002 ... with their last album released in .... 2011 ... quite a long time ago ! What did they have to offer "live" after all this time without anything new for our ears ? The answer is simple... a MASSIVE DOSE of high-energy Rock'n'Roll, taking influences from the garage-rock style, as well as 60's psyche-rock with a kinda "I-dont-give-a-damn" attitude ! Their set was made of various songs from their career, if I remember well, I can name "No reason", "Blue Train Station", "Baby, What's Wrong ?" and of course a load more, all played with an incredible mastery and an irrestible feeling ! A strong/solid rhythmical section - Impeccably Effective - kudos to Pablo "Pibli" Gonzalez & Angel Kaplan for their prestations ! From there, everything seems much easier for Gregg Kostelich to distill with great precision, his riffs and melodies, all very catchy and full of feeling, on his magnificent red Gretsch guitar, while singer Michael Kastelic led theshow and heated up the audience as it should be, with humor and a communicative good mood ! His vocal lines were impeccable and his screams no less impressive, I think there must have been pierced eardrums that night !
Well.. nothing more to add.. it was just another perfect night thanks to TWO amazing bands that played the game in spite of a not-so-numerous audience that has nevertheless really appreciated the shows ! Great bands and happy people - what else do you need ? SUPPORT local shows, SUPPORT touring bands, SUPPORT MUSIC !
