image de couverture: Faze
Jane Inc.
O Patro Vys is an intimate and relaxed venue that I had previously visited for a hip-hop/jazz jam session. On this Friday of the Taverne Tour, upon arrival, I could have easily imagined myself walking into a nightclub. The electronic rhythms that resonate through the walls perfectly complement the vocals of Carolyn Bezic, leader of the band Jane Inc.
At first glance, I notice the lineup on stage: two backing vocalists to the right of the singer and a keyboardist to her left. The band occupies the stage widthwise, but I get a sense of emptiness. It doesn’t take much for me to realize that most of the music we’re hearing comes from a separate backing track, which seems to be triggered by the keyboardist at the beginning of each song.
Although I see him playing and Carolyn singing, sometimes even adding electric guitar to certain pieces, the fact that half the people on stage are only intermittently involved prevents me from fully engaging with the performance. In this respect, the noisy crowd around me doesn’t help matters, especially during the softer, more intimate pieces.
Nevertheless, I appreciate the stage presence of this singer who seems to stop at nothing to deliver a good show. The band even returns to an energetic repertoire for the last few songs, where the audience becomes more engaged. The singer finishes her set by going down into the crowd, sparking brief dance-offs with the most enthusiastic fans in the front rows.
CEASE
The Toscadura venue is deeper and wider than the previous one. The vastness of the space is nonetheless filled with fellow fans, reminding me of the exhilarating shows of my teenage years. The punk and metal community has this knack for imbuing any performance venue with a sense of familiar security.
I enter right at the beginning of the set. If the silences between Jane Inc.’s songs were filled by the crowd at O Patro Vys, here they’re filled by the screeching feedback of the guitar and bass. Four musicians, monolithic amps at the back of the stage; I’m ready to receive what CEASE has to offer. Without wasting any time, the guitarist unleashes a fast riff before we’re hit by a violent wall of sound. The musicians are busy with their instruments while the singer oscillates between displays of intense aggression and exhaustion. The next twenty minutes unfold in this way: the band blends blast beats and heavy riffs, the interplay of tension and release achieved through frequent breaks of a few seconds where we’re deprived of tempo, pulled between these moments of weightlessness and the plunge back into the cacophony.
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Faze
The musicians don’t even need to play for me to sense their confidence. I watch them calmly set up their equipment; the drummer makes numerous micro-adjustments to his snare and toms. At first, I can’t quite tell who will take the microphone, which, for me, is an excellent sign in this kind of musical context.
After a few minutes, the singer steps forward and asks the technician to dim the stage lights. He opens his eyes wide, smiles, and gives a thumbs-up.
The drummer launches into a tom ostinato as the guitars wail in feedback, a typically hardcore introduction that inevitably raises the audience’s heart rate. The excitement reaches its peak when the singer lets out a scream, and the music floods the room like an explosion. Faze’s « concrete » side is immediately revealed. The singer writhes in frenzied jubilation, like a leech that’s been salted, barely managing to grab the microphone to unleash a cascade of echoes with his rhythmic howls. The band’s stage experience shines through in the naturalness of this commotion: the musicians’ proprioception is impressive, each of them constantly swaying without ever colliding with one another.
Their set is generous in intensity, inviting us body and soul to join the happy clamor of this second evening of the Taverne Tour.
I leave Toscadura feeling sated, as if purified. I have a smile plastered on my lips and my ears ringing.
