Tonight I went to see Alcest at a club called Catch One, located on Pico near Western, on the outskirts of Koreatown in a neighborhood called Arlington Heights. I'd never heard of Catch One prior to this concert, probably because it is used mostly as a disco. I was worried about it - and the neighborhood - being a little sketchy, but neither turned out that way. Arlington Heights is an old part of town, and a little funky, but it didn't seem dangerous. In fact, I did most of my daily mileage on the streets around the club, putting in over three miles just walking around before the show, so that I wouldn't have to stand inside the club for hours on end listening to bad DJ music before the band came on.
I ended up going in just before the opening band went on. I hadn't planned on doing so, I thought it was time for Alcest, but I guess things were running a little late. There are no "ins and outs" at clubs, so once you're in, you're in. So I watched the openers, a band called "King Woman". They were what I'd call a doom band, or maybe a goth band without the makeup and accoutrements. They had a very dramatic female singer, and in Googling her after I got home, I see that her name is Kristina Esfandiari. She was very good, really pouring it out, but the problem for me was that the music, overall, was kind of "one idea", if you know what I mean. The songs are based on simple droning chord progressions, played at mega-volume with pounding drums, while the singer emotes over the top of it all. She goes by the stage name of "Miserable", which sounds about right, though in a good way! :)
She and her band were talented, no doubt, but after a few songs it just wasn't my thing and it became so earsplitting at the end of their set that I had to first cover my ears, and then when it kept going I finally had to walk out of the main room into a foyer off to the side so as not to go deaf. King Woman played for 45 minutes, a few minutes more than I had expected, and I hadn't even expected to see them.
Alcest did an ultra-fast set up afterward, and you know something? They may be the champs of the Ultra Fast Set-Up, because I am pretty sure I saw them do the same thing at the Roxy last year. After the opening band goes off, they don't fool around. They set up and start playing in fifteen minutes. Twice I have seen this, and I think it rules, cause I don't like twiddling my thumbs between bands. I'm 58 now, and I don't especially love standing in place in a crowded club anymore because my feet and legs start to hurt after a while. Yeah, I'm old (wait a minute, no I'm not!), but really, it's true that I don't enjoy standing in clubs, so I was appreciative of the Ultra Fast Alcest Setup Technique, which they apparently have perfected.
They came out and began by playing the "Kodama" album all the way through, only stopping once or twice for Neige to acknowledge the crowd, which was about 300-400 strong and very responsive. Neige and the band are a well-oiled machine by now, honed by constant touring. I've watched them go from "really good" in 2011 at The Troubador to "major league" by the time I saw them at the Regal Theater in 2015, and now they are a Steamroller. They've got it down backwards and sideways and the crowd goes nuts. There was even a brief mosh pit during "Percees de Lumiere", played later in the concert, and I got caught on the perimeter, but thank goodness it petered out within a minute of having started. I spent most of the show within 20 feet of the stage, no Giants in front of me, thanks very much.
The sound was not great at Catch One. It was passable, but compared to the near-pristine sound at the Roxy show in February 2017, in which the high end treble dynamics of Alcest's complex sound were clearly discernible, tonight a lot of the high end was lost in a bass heavy mix. It was not terrible, and I have heard way worse sound in clubs, but Catch One has some catching up to do if they are gonna be a premier club along the lines of the Whisky or Roxy.
Still and all, a great show. Alcest played 90 minutes, and I have gotta say......
Elizabeth, I wish you could've been there. I don't know if you went to the show at Reggie's on Halloween night, and I am guessing you were not able to make it or you probably would've posted, but as I watched the show, I thought, "tonight is for you", because you are such a huge fan and your version of "Autre Temps" started it all, almost seven years ago now. They played that song tonight, and all through it, the memories of that time, when I first saw your video, were running through my head. The band was playing the song onstage, and I was hearing them and your version and video simultaneously. Man, what an amazing time that was! (Stephen King is gonna be pissed because I have used "amazing" in two consecutive blogs, but right now I can't help it). It was an amazing time, and so were the ensuing years.
I know you are at your job now, and I don't know how you feel about it, but at the show tonight all I could think was "we've gotta get Elizabeth out of that cubicle"! That's just me thinking that, not you. I don't know how you feel about your job, maybe it's not so bad for the time being, and of course there is security to think of, and paying bills and all of that.
But I just mean in the big picture, in the overall scheme of things, I don't think you are meant to be in a cubicle. You are destined to be an Artist, and it's not just me who says so, because your friend from FB said so in his post too, commenting on your photo from Halloween. And everyone else who knows you knows it too.
So think big, because something good is destined to come your way, Elizabeth. I could feel it tonight while I was watching the show. Tonight's concert was for you. :)
Keep your focus, don't despair your job, good things are coming, count on it.
See you in the morning. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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