Yann Tiersen

Three facts about Yann Tiersen:

- He is undoubtedly the most talented French composer/songwriter since Gainsbourg.

- He is mostly known for writing the soundtrack for the movie Amelie. At last on this side of the Channel sea.

- He cannot sing.

And that was the biggest disappointment of the evening, really. I mean, he used to know not to sing, and that's why in his previous albums he always had loads of guest singers. But for some reason he decided to put his poor vocals forward in his latest album, and inevitably on his live shows as well. A big mistake, in my mind.
I mean, the instrumental songs were still excellent (especially when he plays the violin), both dark and subtle, but every time he started singing (and that was almost half of the set) it became a bit, well... boring.

Also, there wasn't a supporting band which I think is not a very good think, don't tell me it's hard to find a band to play in London.
And to make things worse, the public was just too... intellectual I think, I don't know. Probably only graduates or art students would go see such a gig, but as a result there was no crowd atmosphere or movement, so not much fun. It's what I call "Too posh to push"... Ah ah ah...

So I must say that compared to the other times I've seen playing (in festivals mostly), this was a big let down. Ah well, still the albums to listen to...