This time I was a newbie at Ebullition in Bulle, it’s always cool to discover new venues and I really liked this one. It’s a bit underground with walls covered in gigs’ posters and that cozy atmosphere. It used to be a small cinema so the floor is higher in the back, which allows you to see the concert perfectly no matter where you stand. Tonight it hosts two rock and post-rock British bands.

 

 

21:30-22 Flood of Red 

The first band to take Ebullition stage tonight is Flood of Red, a Scottish rock band formed by six guys. They start with great energy straight away, with heavy drums beats and powerful riffs. Everything is topped with singer Jordan Spiers‘s delicate and very melodic voice. The singer asks the audience to come closer to the stage at which one guy answers “we’re Swiss”, yep Swiss people are more shy at gigs than Scottish people are, but the audience approaches a bit more to the stage. At one point the singer comes off the stage and just puts his microphone pole in front of it and sings from there. The atmosphere is rendered magical by the dreamy-like voice and the sounds which get higher in intensity with the synth and riffs. The vocals in the background embellish the atmosphere even more.Before leaving towards the end of the last song the piano and synth are distorted in purpose along with the guitar riffs and drums beat.  An amazing new discovery mixing instrumental rock and dreamy sound and voices, not to be missed! They released their new album Throw, go and get it! I also had a nice chat about Scotland and such with some of the lads after the gig, they’re very friendly guys!

 

22:30-23:45 Maybeshewill 

See Maybeshewill live is a sort of parallel experience, of course you have to be willing to be carried away by the music and if you do I can guarantee it can be quite supernatural. As the opening space sounds of “In Amber” are heard, the audience’ attention is once again drawn to the stage where Maybeshewill are playing. As with Flood of Red beforehand the audience is catapulted straight away into powerful sounds with the drums’ constant beat, the bass and the guitar riffs. The piano keys convey a more delicate touch to the music as the sounds build up in a fascinating crescendo. Bassist Jamie Ward, tilting his head right and left, pushes his bass down to the rhythm of the music to render the riffs even stronger. The third song they play is “Red Paper Lanterns” with its addictive notes and sounds it takes you into a colourful musical journey. Those repeated guitar and bass chords along with the synths and the strong drums beats in the background make you want to hear the track on repeat and have it as your life’s soundtrack or at least it does for me. Guitarist John Helps, spokesperson of the band, asks the shy Swiss audience to come closer to the stage.

Their last album Fair Youth is really more positive than the others, as the band itself claimed, the sounds have higher notes and are less dark than before. The themes explored are also different, while a few songs in the previous albums were introduced by pre-recorded voice-tracks (from movies and such) speaking about tough themes, this album has no words in it, just stunning music.

 

 

They go on with “Fair Youth”, the track which gives the title to their last album. It starts off with positive sounds and a fast rhythm with a touch of xylophone created with the synth. Half way through it, the sounds get more quiet just to build up in all their power with hard drums beats and the synth taking over, the light flashing in tune with the music, And then, once again the music calms down, as the lights dim. Wow!

For “Accolades” they start with a bang, the sounds rolling increasingly faster until they are replaced by the guitar and bass strings, then by the piano and the synth. The crescendo of sounds is quite impressive in this song. “Sanctuary” despite its title, which recalls something dark, has many colourful sounds in it; the piano notes are intertwined with James Collins’ drums beats creating a sort of chase between the two. While playing “Critical Distance”, which starts rather quietly and then becomes increasingly more aggressive they all play their own instruments with all their powers. You can feel the energy they are putting into it, and it sounds oh so good! Throughout the gig guitarist Robin Southby frequently uses the tapping technique on his guitar, which makes it look as if he is playing a piano, the sounds created are beautiful and melodic.

It’s then the turn of “In The Blind”, an amazing journey into a forests of synth sounds broken by the drums beats and the delicate notes of the piano. While they play “To The Skies From A Hillside” everything gets more rock and the guitars and bass riffs take over in all their majesty. They close the set with the noisy rock track “Not For Want Of Trying” which at some point seems to get closer to metal with the heavy riffs and the metallic drums beat. In between there’s a voice-track accompanied by the xylophone sound of the synth, after which the band plays once more with all its energy. They leave the stage with the audience in awe asking for more and screaming for them to come back. They do come back for an encore, opened by “Seraphim & Cherubim” and then they close in great style with “He Films The Clouds Pt. 2”. Guitarist John Helps thanks the audience for coming out as the other members of the band also cheer the audience. For the last song Robin Southby and Matthew Daly switch their own instruments so that the former is on the keyboards and the latter on the guitar. There’s a touching piano intro and then the melodic riffs slowly start coming in. The pre-recorded female voice-track starts and then is joined in a mighty chorus by the band members. And then followed once again by the keyboard notes which this time build up into space sounds combined with the drums and powerful riffs. It ends as it had started, with the delicate piano notes spreading in the room and leaving everybody once again in awe. What a treat!

 

Setlist:

In Amber
Co-Conspirators
Red Paper Lanterns
Fair Youth
Cats
Accolades
Sanctuary
Critical Distance
All Things Transient
In The Blind
To The Skies From A Hillside
Not For Want Of Trying
Seraphim & Cherubim (Encore)
He Films The Clouds Pt. 2 (Encore)

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert