Second evening of the Amp it Up festival, following Simple Minds, it was time for our “Angel”, our “Alter Ego”, our “Friend” who regularly visits the Bay of Angels where we happily go to “fetch” him… Jean-Louis Aubert, accompanied by his faithful Ricci on drums, as energetic as when they started with Téléphone almost 40 years ago, jumped onto the stage of the pine forest in Juan.
“In his heart nothing changes,” Jean-Louis has kept his childlike soul while accepting the harsh realities of life, the disappearances, the losses, the absence… He chooses to believe and live by keeping hope in everything, love for everything, even “if it’s not a dream that you have to leave.” Goosebumps guaranteed through so much emotion, human feelings, and sensitivity. Tonight, we alternate between sensations, nostalgia to celebration, through reflection and lightness, Mr. Aubert embodies it all. It’s a cocktail of flavors served by a voice recognizable among all, accompanied by nine fantastic musicians, most of them very young and oh so proud to accompany THE leader of THE French rock band that has proven this musical style can indeed fit the language of Molière.
Well, of course, this doesn’t stop him from respecting the great English rock icons, strumming a few chords from Led Zep’ and the Stones at the middle or beginning of a song, even singing “No Satisfaction” during a full encore. The first encore, that is! Yes, because, unlike some others, Jean-Louis does not snub his audience—(a sarcastic wink at Madonna who left her Parisian fans hanging after 48 minutes of concert last night, at the same time by the way, at the Olympia). When he is called for, he returns, it’s as simple as that. He’s in the habit of playing for hours without wanting to stop, and as long as we want it, he wants it too. Since everyone knows his lengthy repertoire by heart, be it on Téléphone or his solo tracks, the choruses reverberate through the night during his concerts.
And tonight, we are spoilt, we get both atmospheres of Jean-Louis Aubert’s excellent concerts: the intimate vibe with piano/voice, guitar/voice, with touches of harmonica played by the master, and the “charged” atmosphere with three brass, three guitars (including his own), two drums (one being Richard Kolinka), one bass, and one keyboard that sometimes keeps the beat with the percussionists. Perfect mastery, palpable osmosis and exchanges, musicians having a blast on stage and drawing us into the bandleader’s trip from the first second to the last. All the ingredients of a good concert are here tonight. No accessories, no frills, no superficiality, just good sound, a sharing performance bringing Jean-Louis and his two other guitarists to their knees at the edge of the stage when the concert comes to an end, ballads, rock, smiles, and music! We leave with heart-shaped pupils.
Mr. Aubert, once again, bravo and thank you!
Photo credit: Flora Doin (www.flora-d.fr)
