At first glance, undeniably, last night the Théâtre de Verdure was more packed than at any other point in this crazy week. It must be said that the electro rock band with hypnotic graphic effects was highly anticipated in Nice. The audience proved it by keeping time with a repetitive chant of “Shaka Ponk! Shaka Ponk! Shaka Ponk!” which sounded like a percussion rhythm turning into “Shakaaaaa?”, “Ponk!” in a “hip hip hip?”, “hooray” style.
The festivities kicked off with the Last Leeway, a Nice-based act for the night. Patrice Bouchon, who had accustomed us to his “Enfants du Rock” before renaming his festival “Crazy Week!!!”, reassures us that the original theme has not been forgotten. Phew, in Nice, we’re not sidelining rock.
In the second part of the evening, it was the turn of the four musicians from Stuck in the Sound, dressed casually in T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies, yet adopting a rather hardened demeanor to share their rock ‘n’ roll with metal accents. Frenchmen who only sing in English, as is often the case in this genre.
Then… Should we replay it to get back into the mood that lasted loooong minutes? “Shaka Ponk!”, “Shaka Ponk!!!” There was no respite for the audience, they wanted their headliner here and now! And they arrived. It was Steve, the imposing presence, who came on stage first, walking slowly to his keyboards with an improbable kilt and a bun on his head. Then the other band members appeared, followed by, “last but not leeway” uh… “least”, the two emblematic figures of the ensemble: Frah and Sam.
The circular screen at the back displayed red, only letting the silhouettes of the two singers appear in shadow. Graphic elements took the place of the red, sometimes revealing the other member of the group, its very icon: the ghost monkey, Goz. The crowd was wild, and Frah jumped into it, continuing the spirit of the previous evening with Mathias (Dionysos) a fan of slam and Mat (Skip the Use) jumping everywhere. Sam roamed the stage, radiant, letting her brown mane fly in the wind from a fan posted at the edge of the pit. Bassist, Mandris, twirled his golden locks, fundamental to remember that originally Shaka Ponk is a “zen metal” band. As you’ve guessed, Shaka is both good sound and equally important visual work. One does not go without the other, and the group plays their instruments as much as their stage decor. In this society where image has become paramount (Frah, a former web designer, knows this well), it works.
Yet another great success for this penultimate evening of the festival. Oh!… And yes, it’s almost over. We could have continued like this all summer. The good news is that tonight, to close this amazing edition, we have a meeting with THE voice of Supertramp, Mr. Roger Hodgson, accompanied by talented musicians to sing the hits of the legendary group that we all know across all generations.
Photo credit: Flora Doin (www.flora-d.fr)
