They announced it as an acoustic concert on Facebook. But the Burnin’ Jacks’ show at the Horror Picture Tea in Paris last night was anything but – it was the full band and keyboards too… sorry, indeed, no drums please. Aside from the drums – the venue is not big enough – it was the whole band. And a great show, they got the joint rocking.
I’ve seen the Burnin’ Jacks a lot, including in their very early efforts at Earle’s open mic at the Lizard Lounge, then the Truskel, then the Mecano. I’ve seen them in bigger venues like the Gibus, too. And I don’t get tire of them. Last night was no exception. Even with a crappy sound system, the show was great. Don’t miss the lead breaks of Felix Beguin, who also plays with me occasionally, like on my recordings at the Point Ephemere last summer.
And at the end I saw something I’d never seen before, which was Syd exercising his hidden musical knowledge, talents and training as he did some keyboard stuff and played The Doors’ “Light My Fire.” Cool stuff.
By the way, the Horror Picture Tea is a very cool venue, with a part bar, a part restaurant, a bit of a horror and gothic theme and if you go downstairs you can have, or watch, a tatoo artist at work – at least you could last night. The web site says it is a tea room that mixes rock and gastronomy. Yeah, it seems to do that, all right.