Paul Benedict Henderson reviews the recent visit to Paisley of the brilliant, Frànçois and the Atlas Mountains at the Spree Festival.
I’m far more used to the Spiegeltent as a feature of the Scottish ‘summer’ at the Edinburgh Festival but here it was transported to County Square in Paisley in the shadow of what used to be the local jail with the wintery fingers of Halloween all around us.
When Francois and The Atlas Mountains took to the stage I wondered if they’d be a bit jaded as they’d been in Bristol and Sheffield on the previous two nights and would be spending the next two in Belfast and Dublin as they wrapped up their tour. By the end of their first song Les Plus Beaux it was obvious that they were far from fatigued and we were about to be treated to a brilliantly entertaining and playful performance that would have thawed even the coldest witch’s bosom.
Francois and percussionist-come-bassist Amaury then left the stage and wandered into the crowd pointing their guitars like guns at us all before launching into a great version of Edge of Town. The band now seems to have included dance routines into their stage show and we were treated to them for the next couple of tunes but don’t worry I think they were there only for comedic value and it worked.
Each time I see this band I grow more impressed by the drumming displays of Amaury Ranger. His passion for African rhythms has seen his arsenal of drums grow ever more impressive; Djembe and djun-djuns stacked horizontally on what looks like converted surfboards cut in half make for a great visual display. I love watching him before the show starts too, strapping various conches and shakers on to very available ankle and wrist until he ends up looking like a percussive suicide bomber. His energy and big smile are an infectious part of the band’s performances and appeal. Monsieur Francois Marry also used his customary Gallic charm, thanking Scots for their hospitality down the years and saying that he hoped we’d still invite him back if we voted for independence in 2014.
Amaury’s passion for African rhythms has seen his arsenal of drums grow ever more impressive; Djembe and djun-djuns stacked horizontally on what looks like converted surfboards cut in half make for a great visual display.
The set had the eclectic mix of styles and songs that you hope for in their shows, melodic jangly pop punctuated with a little bit of Zulu guitar or Malian rhythms but recent shows have seen them add a slightly harder, funkier edge with a soupcon of electronica thrown in for good measure.
They had obviously scoped the venue ahead of their performance and during one song half the band left the stage and wandered amongst the seated audience with various shakers, sleigh bells, sekeres and something that I can only describe as a “percussive kebab” beating out a rhythm before re-joining the rest of the band onstage for the start of the next song. The crowd were loving it by now.
Francois then told us that the next song La Piscine was in French and we should close our eyes and think of somewhere warm. He also told us that whilst he’d been to Glasgow many times he’d never been to Paisley before. “I’ve heard of Paisley Park, where Prince lives” he said before adding drolly “I’ve never been to Paisley Park either, but at least now I can say that I’ve been to Paisley”
Before you knew it we were in the middle of a longer more electronic song and if you’d closed your eyes for this one you might have been forgiven that you were listening to LCD Soundsystem… seriously.
At one point we saw four members of the band drumming at the same time and the addition of a trumpet and fiddle during other songs made for a glorious melange where rarely two songs sounded the same and the same applied for what you were seeing onstage, constantly changing, surprising and entertaining. By the end of their set it was hard not to have a smile on your face.
They were roared back on for an encore and managed to squeeze in one final song before the 10pm curfew which brought Paisley’s Spree Festival to a close. They finished with Tour De France – not that one, their own song before we were all booted out of the beautiful mirrored tent back into the harsh reality of the Scottish winter and the train back to Glasgow. Whether we opt for independence or not the Auld Alliance between me and the Atlas Mountains means that I’d have them back in a moment.
– PBH
Have a read of our interview feature with Francois Marry from back in February 2012.