PRETTY DAMN GOOD I MUST SAY

Je Suis France - The Drunken Unicorn - 7-14-07



Saturday night I attended a show at the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta. I had never been there before and was impressed, it was a very good room to showcase bands. It was just big enough to still be intimate without feeling like you were jammed into a sardine can, but enough about the venue, on to the show.

There were three bands playing, but the main reason I was there was to check out Athens, GA's own JE SUIS FRANCE. They were crammed into the middle between BRASS CASTLE and the RUMP POSSE. I saw a little of BRASS CASTLE, two guys, a guitar and a drum set, not bad, but I spent most of their set in the bar as for the RUMP POSSE, not much to say about them. Then the FRANCE hit the stage. It was the first show they had all played together in a while, and it was the first show of the tour, and they had limited rehearsal, and they were all tired, but they KICKED ASS. Seven guys were all crammed onto a stage that was clearly made for no more than 4 yet they moved as one living thing, switching guitars, moving to mics, changing drummers and keyboard players without stepping on feet or knocking over each other. With the exception of one mix up and blowing the bass amp the set was flawless. They sounded tight, as if they had been playing together for months.

They only played for 45 minutes but boy was it a good 45 minutes. They had a good mix of older material with stuff off of their new record. It was good hearing "Memorial Day", "California Rules" and "Fantastic Area" and "Ice Age". The new stuff sounded good live, "That Don't Work That Well For Us", "Whalebone" and "California Still Rules". "Whalebone" may have been the best song of the night, it was pretty damn incredible live. DJ Hammond totally kicked the keyboards ass while singing in almost perfect unison with Jeff Griggs who never once put down his Miller High Life. The multiple guitarists throughout the show, Darkenss, Ice, Crog, DJ and the others played together as one monster guitar unit which really slammed your ears, I knew I should have brought my ear plugs. They finished the show with a scaled down version of their ever present instrumental "Sufficiently Breakfast". While not the 15+ minute version that runs the gamut of musical genres, it still packed a nice punch. People were dancing, high-fiving and having an all around good time while they ran through the final tune.

This show was pretty damn good for their opening night, hell it was pretty damn good for any night. I was a little disappointed they didn't play a cover song which they usually mix into their set but I will survive. I would suggest you check them out live if you get the chance. They are playing 8 shows in 7 nights, traveling from GA to the north east to KY and back to GA where they will end the tour with a slammin show at the Caledonia Lounge in Athens, GA on July 21st.

Check out their web site, www.jesuisfrance.com , their myspace page, http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=19142528 , or their record label page, http://www.antennafarmrecords.com/2.0/index.htm for more info on the tour and their new album AFRIKAN MAJIK. You can also google them, there are quite a few reviews and blog articles about the band and their new record.

Later.