Anyone that followed our list of acts that we recommended to go and see at Long Road, should surely be thanking us for highlighting Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse - anyone who saw their performance instantly agreed that this was possibly the set of the weekend. The next few paragraphs will attempt to recall the joy, the madness and the musicality of what took place, however if we manage to capture half of what occurred then we will be doing well. This was a total senses overload - your ears and eyes could only take so much in!
The band while setting up seemed to have a fairly standard set up of drum, bass, guitar and keyboards the only unusual feature maybe being the bright blue hair of lead singer Greta Valenti or so we thought! The opening song "Trouble Is Coming" commenced with drums and a searing guitar riff, before Greta joined in with some powerful vocals and it must be said some vigorous shaking of her er shaker! There was time for a quick piano solo, while Greta prowled the stage holding the mic in her hand and the bass guitarist was providing backing vocals, meanwhile the guitarist moved to the front of the stage to provide a solo - it may sound chaotic yet somehow it all looked perfectly planned - it was noisy enthralling and breathtaking - hard to believe but that was just the opening number!
Greta would remove her jacket saying she did not know it would get so hot before launching into "Bungalow Paradise" - it had a slight white reggae vibe and would once again see Greta move to the very edge of the stage and would see both drummer and bass player provide backing vocals. It was back to that rocking guitar for a repeating riff throughout to "Louisiana Good Ride" - it would see Greta sing while effecting a sort of line dance at the same time meanwhile the guitarist was doing a perilous tight rope walk along the front of the stage while also providing a searing solo. the keyboard player who had up until that point been reasonably restrained then removed it from its stand and played it positioned as a guitar would be - only when Greta put her hand in the air to signal the end, did the exhilarating madness temporarily stop!
A slowdown of pace and volume came with "Baby Baby", with the band looking on as just the keyboard player and Greta would take part in the first part of the song, a tender piano ballad. The second half would see the whole band return restoring noise levels to where they had been - it had shown that Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse have many strings to their bow.
Dedicated to "all the bastards in your life", the bluesy rock of "Don't Let The Bastards Drag You Down" saw even more of a spectacle - the surprisingly singalong chorus chorus saw at least 4 members of the band providing vocals - it also saw Greta move from being at the front of the stage to being in the photographers pit standing on the railing offering out the microphone for the audience to join in.
With no time for a breather, the drummer was already preparing the intro for "Fill Me Up" a glorious punky rock 'n' roll number during which the whole audience of Buddy's were clapping along, there were solos galore, back and forth between the piano player and the guitarist - Greta was back on shaker duties and all levels of mayhem seemed to be breaking out.
The final song of quite simply the most energetic and mind blowing set of the entire festival came with "What's My Name" which came with its own unique singalong in French
"Ooh La La Ya Beaux Gris Gris"
Needless to say it was complete madness with Greta at the front of the stage holding the microphone cable and shouting out ""What's My Name?" to which both the band and audience would reply at volume with the required chant. There followed more madcap guitar solos , feverish audience participation and probably so much more - we only had one pair of eyes, it was impossible to catch everything. One of the most insane shows #TEAMw21 have ever attended - we loved every second of it!!!