Trust the French, They Know What They're Doing

Note: this photo was not taken at the Triple Rock, but it looks like it was. Although, I don't recall the Aerosmith shirt.

Did I ever mention that I love the French? Seriously. I love their culture. I love their history. I love their language. I love their food. I love their public transportation. What's more, the Bush Administration’s negative attitude toward France only serves to increase my love for the French. I’ve had nothing but amazing experiences during my visits to France. It is an extremely beautiful country filled with extremely beautiful people. I’m determined to live there one day (so spare me the if-you-hate-America-so-much-why-don’t-you-move-to-France speech). By the way, I don’t hate America; I hate Americans. Wait…did I say that correctly?

Did I ever mention that I love music? Yeah, I do. Especially innovative/independent/underground/forward-thinking music. Just imagine what it would be like if my two obsessions – music and the French – joined forces. I’ll tell you what happens. M83 happens. And it is everything I could hope for.

For some reason, M83 decided to leave their fabulous country to tour the US (where touring bands are paid peanuts compared to what they get in France). And lucky for me, they stopped by the Twin Cities last Saturday to play an awesome show at the Triple Rock.

I got to the show just in time. Soon after I arrived, the Triple Rock hit capacity, and they had to turn a bunch of people away (including some friends who were supposed to meet me there). In keeping with the night’s theme of European electronic shoegaze, Berlin’s Ulrich Schnauss filled the opening slot. Now, I love Germany too, but I’ve had some less than perfect experiences in Berlin (thanks a lot, S-Bahn ticket-checker). Nevertheless, it was cool to see Ulrich, and his music was great. Hopefully no one was expecting much of a stage show, or any stage show at all. Herr Schnauss sure knew how to make a lot of noise by sitting alone on the stage in front of a keyboard and computer.

I was expecting M83’s set to be very similar since most of the noise on their albums was made with synthesizers and drum machines. But no! To my surprise, they were touring as a full four-piece band. There were guitars and drums and everything! Sure, they had a slightly different sound, but it didn’t matter. They worked very well as a live band. The music was just as appealing (if not more), and they were actually interesting to watch (quite an accomplishment for an electronic instrumental band). Ils étaient très étonnants. Je les aime!