04 May 14

garciaphone

Hola, mis amigos! Bonjour, mis amis!

Lalo Cura

Yep, that’s right, blogspot readers, SouthSide has gone international for this special On The Town review! Making a rare Sunday outing to Lakeview’s Elbo Room, she was there to officially welcome the band garciaphone – currently on its first US tour, to Chicago. This French melodic/alternative rock trio were sharing the stage with other bands like Lalo Cura (from IN) and Sadie & The Stark. And as a bonus feature, this reviewer was granted in depth access interviewing Olivier, Matthieu, and Raphael of garciaphone before rockin’ the Sunday night audience gathered downstairs in the main lounge. But first, this reviewer highly recommends blogspot readers getting juiced by the muy caliente Spanish rock from Lalo Cura. Did SouthSide say "muy caliente"? What she meant to say spicy problano pepper hot! This Latin-infused band featured an energizing performance in which had this reviewer's hips salsa swaying to the intense Carlos Santana-like guitar riffs (by front man and guitarist Rafael) especially  during each song's instrumental bridge thus creating a steamy floetry of sound and rhythmic tempo. Add the sultry heat of a saxophone and docile tones of a flute into the mix as well as the tempered music from the other Lalo band members  and you have one truly rockin' show from beginning to end. For more information about Lalo Cura and where the band will be performing next, visit http://www.lalocurarock.com.

 



"...Your city looks okay..." ~ garciaphone

 

 

 
They're describe as the band with "...songs melodies quiet loud and ...loud...", blogspot readers. Traveling across the pond from Clermont-Ferrand, France, this rock trio aimed to conquer the U.S. one fan at time with their melodic combination of soft and loud songs off the band's current release Constancia. But why this unique? "...because we it's how we like it in life ...soft, loud [and then] louder..." says front man Olivier who started this band as a solo project at first with him doing the guitars and drum beats. And while searching for a name to call his band, he found it by mixing two words which were strange as well as familiar for fans to connect - "garciaphone". "...'Garcia' is very common name ...it's also my family name ...and 'phone' ...[it's] speaking the language of..." different meanings, blogbspot readers, even though he himself hasn't learned (yet) what it (garciaphone) truly means. So where does this concept of playing soft and loud fit into their shows? Well, the trio likes to perform acoustically and amplified within their performance to which they might change up the original setlist to accommodate one cover song. "...playing songs we love..." And how is the band enjoying their first tour in the U.S.? "...we're enjoying it..." says Olivier despite having a few bad days in New York but so far have visited Philadelphia and Cincinnati ...and now Chicago. Compared to performing in France and here, garciaphone immediately noticed something different about the American audience - we're more open to music (and bands in general) and less judgmental than our French counterparts, blogspot readers. This reviewer found that very discouraging when the guys explained that in France, there's already a pre-judgment about your band before you've even hit the stage. It could be your band name ...music and simply you're not interesting or from New York. Here "...people pay attention to the music and what's around the music..."

 

Listen up, France, give garciaphone a chance. This trio opened strong (with track 7 - "Thou Shall Not Talk Shit") as well as finished strong to a very receptive audience at Elbo Room recently. Yes, it was quite different to have Olivier walking amongst the audience while performing an acoustic solo sans being attached to the microphone on stage but it was a very powerful moment to hear his vocals loud and clear over the deafening stillness which surrounded the captivated listeners. He felt right at home as a wandering troubadour on the acoustic guitar serenading the audience with his unwavering yet emotionally passionate voice. Then there were moments when garciaphone combined both quiet and loud at the same time during their set in which featured intense guitar riffs (from both acoustic and bass) and light thundering percussion. Yet what really made the "loud" parts to their music truly interesting, blogspot readers, was how Olivier could turn acoustic rhythms into the electrifying sound of an electric with his special amp. Whenever he did that, it got the band's energetic juices flowing thus bringing out the intense melodic vibe within an upbeat rhythmic tempo. Performing other songs off Constancia like "Bad Sheperd" (track 1) and "Lukoie" (track 8), songs that Olivier recommended to SouthSide earlier during the interview saying "...[they] somewhat [define] what the band is about...", this reviewer also suggested getting wrapped inside the mystery of the title track as well as quiet haunting melodies of track 12 simply titled "Patience". She thoroughly enjoyed how garciaphone's live performance was easily translated from the recorded side yet with more in depth intensity and passion. She highly suggests catching this French trio while you still can before they return home. They will be returning to New York on May 12th to perform with Weird Owl, Les Big Bird and Mirror Queen with Aqua Nebula Oscillator headlining at Pianos.

 

For more information about garciaphone and tour dates/places, visit http://www.garciaphone.com or "like" them on Facebook.

 

 

Until next time, support your local music scene,

SouthSide