The evening at Nouveau Casino, Paris, was part of UK label Wichita Recordings’ showcase tour. American label mates Les Savy Fav and Cloud Nothings were joined by UK’s Sky Larkin. Being that shows start earlier than expected in Paris, we arrived at 8:30 and were informed Cloud Nothings was already done with his set. A total bummer, considering how good they were at the Imposition. Sky Larkin’s set, on the other hand, provided a nice opportunity to check out the smoking lounge, a closed-off pocket with a good view hanging off the upper level.
The irony was not lost on us, we were seeing an American band with a French name in a French city. Front man Tim Harrington came out and exclaimed, “We’re a French band.” Their set wasn’t short of the expected Harrington antics: stripping, grinding and kissing male members of the audience, climbing up whatever inch of the venue that could be climbed up, even going as far as the smoking lounge upstairs and pondering, “Is this where they quarantine the people with STDs?” The crowd lapped up every bit of it. Hell, Tim wasn’t even the least dressed man on stage by the end of the night. Overall, this was a night to wear your American pride on full display; they came, they saw, they conquered.
