The insiders present were successively offered a dive into the depths of L.A. garage rock with Flash Express and a one-way ticket to paradise with the telluric soul of the Bellrays, masterfully led by its charismatic feline singer, the divine: Lisa Kekaula. Let’s revisit, if you will, an incredibly orgasmic musical evening.
Prestigious Guests
When I tell you that the radiant programming at Volume is not to be trifled with, it’s by no means biased, nor an arbitrary or totally incongruous desire to place an outdated word in a catchy phrase. Rather, it is the will to demonstrate how hard this association strives, blood and sweat, to quench the thirst of its faithful followers with the purest music. That night, not just one, but two renowned American bands, to say the least, took to the stage at Volume.
Opening the show, the highly inspired cannoneers of Flash Express, already a staple in the Californian garage rock scene, offered us a most “crunchy” appetizer, before stepping aside for the aesthetic shock of the evening, the explosive archangels of Detroit’s “power soul,” the prodigious: Bellrays. Led by their diva singer, already a member of the cult group Basement Jaxx, this very “West Coast” combo, armed with its telluric soul, literally set Volume ablaze all night long for the modest sum of 12 euros, if you please. A fee, all in all, quite derisory for an unprecedented musical orgy.
So, farewell to the long weeks of musical distress, wandering aimlessly in search of an original live performance to sink your teeth into, feverishly awaiting the arrival of the providential sacred weekend. Volume sweeps away all your bad habits and offers you a program throughout the week, including weekends, worthy of the best alternative European clubs. I then sense a glimmer of hope at the corner of your gloomy faces at the delightful idea of being able to quench your thirst all week from the “source” of an inexhaustible musical fountain. However, it might be that despite all my efforts and this avalanche of “goodies,” you are still not convinced of the absolute necessity of visiting this magical place, so let your servant tell you the rest…
An Unprecedented Musical Orgy
Undoubtedly, if our friend Rabelais had had hearing as developed as his palate, he certainly would have made this venue his “Abbey of Thélème,” so fantastic was the sound offered that night, giving us the marvelous sensation of being musically sated.
To satisfy our ears, avid for riffs, a transcendent band capable of bringing us to this musical nirvana was required, and it turned out that the “power soul” quartet of the Bellrays managed to meet this appetite beyond our expectations. A true jewel, carved from the purest soul, they managed to achieve the perfect fusion between the most roots rhythm ‘n’ blues and harder rock. It’s a bit like if Aretha Franklin had been a singer with the Stooges. A fascinating mix of telluric riffs and warm voice, this was the explosive cocktail we were drenched in all evening. Leading this joyfully “power mass,” the high priestess of the evening, the fiery: Lisa Kekaula. The beauty, armed with her flamboyant guffaw, literally plunged her audience into a trance for nearly an hour and a half, even offering, as an encore, the very monolithic, Highway to Hell.
Helped by this music that first strikes the chest before ascending to the brain, this panther diva managed to revive almost bestial desires in me of “homo musicalis,” buried since my post-Zeppelin period. To be honest, with each lyrical flight of the beauty, I felt my chest tearing a little more before my heart suddenly revealed itself, to the point, moreover, that she was able to revive in me groupie instincts I thought had disappeared with my last acne treatment. “Tell the Lie,” “Pay the Cobra,” and the very hypnotic “Time is Gone” are as many inhabited, haunted tracks that will make you love life, and love it even if… Trust me on that.
Dazed, stunned but still conquered by the blows of this ravishing soul, I let myself be mistreated, then soothed, and finally uncovered, before being possessed until the early morning. But the embrace has the unfortunate tendency to be limited in time, and the moment of goodbyes was for me, in all proportions, comparable to a solitary awakening after a beautiful night of love. I had to face the fact that Miss Kekaula, like all beauties, was indomitable, and with regret, I had to let her go off to fulfill other aspiring “soul men” who will in turn be captured by the contagious zest for life of this Nubian goddess. Thus, with a heavy heart and a head aching from a frenzied headbanging session, I returned to my life as a humble mortal, but with the invaluable satisfaction of having participated in an extraordinary evening.
Long live the Bellrays and their enchanting singer. But on that side, no worries, because as you know as well as I do, divas have this in common: they are like the purest of souls, immortal… www.thebellrays.com
