So I waited way too long to post about the big Paris show but better late than never, hey?
On the 11th February The Divine Comedy took to the stage of the beautiful Philharmonie de Paris for our first big full band show in a fair old while. We did play a few festivals last year as a five-piece but we expanded to a much larger ensemble for this very special show.
The Philharmonie was in fact so new that they’d barely finished building it from the outside but luckily the auditorium was fully functional and their brand-spanking new sound system was really quite special indeed.
As I mentioned in my previous post the entire gig was streamed live by the Arte channel. No pressure! I know a lot of you watched the live stream which was also available for the next week on Arte, and by all accounts it looked and sounded wonderful. We were all very pleased with the live show. The whole show is still available to watch on the Philharmonie website until 11th July. You should all check it out!
In the meantime a few tasty crowd-shot videos have popped up on YouTube; here’s a few favourites…
Something For The Weekend
A Lady Of A Certain Age
Bang Goes The Knighthood
I posted a stack of photos on my Facebook page on the day, but here’s a little gallery for those of you that missed it…
I’m not sure what’s next with The Divine Comedy at this stage but I’m sure there’ll be some more shows later on this year. There will also be a new album at some point so watch this space! There has been plotting galore but we’re not quite there yet!
I’m about to head off to catch the tourbus over to Paris and I thought it would be prudent at this juncture to alert you to the fact that you will be able to stream tomorrow night’s big Paris show via the Arte website.
The Divine Comedy return once again to play the rather stunning Philharmonie de Paris tomorrow night to a sold out house so if you still want to see he show the live stream is your best bet. Located in the Parc de la Villette, the venue had it’s opening ceremony only a month ago so we’ll be one of the first bands to play there. Very cool indeed. I can’t wait to get a look at this place; the main hall looks a bit like this…
Yikes. There will be pics. Our first set is at 8.30pm (that’s Paris time so 7.30 here in the UK) so make sure you’re tuned in. As far as I can tell at this stage the link for tomorrow’s live stream is HERE on the Arte website. If it turns out I’m wrong and you know better please post the link in the comments for everybody else. I might be busy…
Keep your eyes peeled on my Twitter feed and/or my Facebook page for the usual running commentary from the frontline! Wish us luck…
I’ve been getting some great feedback about the new solo album [un]plugged, which was officially released on Tuesday. I thought I’d drop a quick post for those of you that missed the big announcement.
I’d been working on an acoustic album since the Autumn when I started A Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre. Â I was playing an acoustic bass guitar for the first time and really fell in love with the instrument. Well, not that particular instrument but the acoustic bass guitar in general! I went in search of my own bass and eventually found a beautiful Breedlove bass which I decided to use for the album.
Since I put the album out I’ve sent off a few copies to various reviewers and music writers; hopefully I’ll have some reviews out and about soon enough. I shall of course Tweet all the links so you can check them out.
The album is available in glorious 24-bit audio via Bandcamp (click on the Music tab above). This is better than CD quality. The album is now also available (as of yesterday) on iTunes, Spotify etc if you prefer. You can only get the hi-res version at Bandcamp though. You know what to do.
So, it’s over to you now folks. If you like the record; spread the word! The most difficult thing at the moment is letting people know the music is out there. So you can share the player above, you could Tweet about it, post about it on your Facebook pages, blogs, Tumblrs. The possibilities are endless! I’m sure you’ll know better than I who amongst your friends would be into this kind of music…
As a treat and to celebrate the release of [un]plugged, I’ve made the digital version of my first album Mandala available as a pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth (including free) download on the Bandcamp page. If you’re buying your copy of [un]plugged, do feel free to grab a free copy of Mandala whilst you’re there. And the same goes for the Rejectamenta EP whilst you’re at it. Of course you can still buy the Mandala CD from the same place. If you want it signed, let me know 😉
I’m really pleased with the reaction to [un]plugged so far and I’m looking forward to seeing what you all think too. It is quite different to my previous albums, but the new direction seems to be quite popular.
