130: Music Never Dies or “All farewells should be sudden, when forever”

The last 2 Sacre Noir live shows were a joy to take part in; firstly showing off our stripped-back duo set at The Monarch Bar in Dunfermline then ripping it up at The Safari Lounge in Edinburgh with a full-on electro/rock showcase which featured Phil on guitar.

We’ve had a blast over the years playing with many wonderful live musicians in many wonderful venues across the UK & Europe and these are experiences we’ll never forget.
From our first live performance at Tam Dean Burn’s Politikal Manifesto night back in 2008 at the beautiful Tron Theatre in Glasgow to supporting Chrysta Bell this summer at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms and all the other crazy shows in Paris, Berlin, London, Liverpool, Gateshead, Glasgow and many more locations… it’s all been amazing!

The 2017 tour video will be online soon but in the meantime you can look back at all our other adventures via this playlist on YouTube.

One of the highlights of this year’s tour was playing in Paris – you can now watch our 2017 arrangement of Everything We’re Running Away From (Sinking Into Darkness 2012 – Savage Recordings) live at La Cave Cafe in Montmartre, on our YouTube channel.

Another Paris highlight was being able to perform something from our E.P. with Canadian artist D.Soul the Soulsamurai (our good friend and label buddy at Dejine:Rec). We’ve had some amazing feedback from this release and it’s something that both Alexis & I were super keen to make happen during our final year writing and recording as Sacre Noir. So when we were invited to be the featured artist at Paris Lit Up at Culture Rapide, we decided it would be a perfect opportunity to arrange a performance of ‘Stories Begin‘ from Scattershot.

We’ve got a lot to thank the good folks at Dejine:Rec for – they really believed in us at the very start of our journey and it was a privilege to have our music featured alongside some of our favourite music makers (James P. Honey, Asthmatic Astronaut and Marco Donnarumma to name just a few).

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Over the next few months we’ll have some more videos from this year’s tour, some behind the scenes from our final video shoot (Rebels & Loners – Nothing Falls Apart 2016 – Savage Recordings) and a few other surprises… keep an eye out for new posts on our YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

 

“All farewells should be sudden, when forever.”
―Lord Byron

129: The Final Sacre Noir Shows

Marilyn Carino
Her saga began in the form of Mudville, a duo that produced three critically-acclaimed albums. As the singing and songwriting half, Marilyn inflamed and stunned, praised as “Nina Simone coming back from the dead to front Morcheeba.” Her song “Wicked” won a 2008 Independent Music Award, and it has continued to be a signature song as she moved on from Mudville to her 2011 solo album, Little Genius and 2015’sLeaves, Sadness, Science. Her music is sexy and thick, her voice an affecting instrument with an elegant grittiness, soaring above violent organs and chunky beats. As a solo artist, Carino does all the recording, mixing, producing and plays all the instruments herself, her personality imbued in the smoky-dark production, expressive singing and themes that dig for hope. “I think happiness is about a person freeing themselves, and that’s the idea I’m interested in. We’ve got to feel free to fall down and be a mess, maybe fuck the wrong people. We can fail 99 times and keep coming back to get it right on the 100th. The solution to the hardening of the world around us is personal human revolution.”

We’ll be providing our usual brand of electronica fuelled by lo-fi aspirations and a non-conformist attitude.
The Dunfermline show at The Monarch Bar (06/10/2017) will feature a duo guitar / vocal set with samples and ambient atmospherics plus layered vocal parts to produce dark haunting soundscapes.
The Edinburgh show at The Safari Lounge (08/10/2017) will be our final trio set (Phil will be back on guitar duties for one last time) – a full on rock-electronica set featuring tracks from the current LP and more.

081 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2014

Saturday 2nd August – Day Off, London
For our final day in London we went out early to make the most of our time; Celeb spotting in Soho without even trying over a coffee… Peter Capaldi (Thick of It / Dr Who), a picnic in Soho Square, an hour in Bar Italia for apple juice and a catch up with KMT (The Penny Black Remedy), free chocolate at Choccy Woccy Doo Dah (mmmm) and a chat with Ann in My Art Invest (an art share idea from Paris – investments coming soon) before heading over to Whitechapel for dinner.

Last Day Triptich 1

We had made a reservation at Café Spice Namastae which is the restaurant run by Cyrus Todiwala (The Spice Boys / Celebrity Masterchef) and was possibly the best Indian food I’ve ever eaten. We started with the homemade chutneys and popadoms (all excellent, but the crab apple was the most unusual) before our ‘real’ starters arrived, then the Thalis for main, all washed down with mocktails and lassi – it was a perfect 2 hours of chatting, eating and being looked after by the fantastic staff. We left feeling very luck to have experienced such original, freshly prepared food in a fantastic atmosphere on our last night in such an exciting city.

Last Day Triptich 2

Sunday 3rd August – Travel Day (London – Edinburgh)
We had a lazy Sunday morning with coffees on Pitshanger Lane before the ritual of packing, un-packing and re-packing on a travel day. Then it was off to Euston Station for our traditional meal at Ed’s diner before leaving London once more. We’ve had a great time in London staying with the super-cool Joe McG (one time flatmate of Robert Plant / designer of Black Sabbath LP covers / daughter who works at Vogue etc etc). We’ve had so much freedom whilst being looked after at the same time; BBQs in the garden and limitless tea and wee-fee… we love staying at Ealing Towers and hope we can show Joe a good time in Edinburgh if he makes it up for a show or two during the Fringe.
The train journey home was painless – no delays or problems with luggage and we arrived as expected into the madness that is The Fringe Festival.
Home Sweet Home

We still have a few shows to play & a video to launch this month, but it feels like the bulk of this tour is done and dusted.

Paris was amazing!
Thanks to; TT – for the great apartment / Pierre, Juliette, Laetitia and all the staff at La Dame De Canton / Teresa, Chakal & all the staff at AbracadaBar / Vincent and all the staff at Au Chat Noir / Dave, Lea, Ben, Leatitia & Tom for being cool / Victor at Midnight Special Records / Popper Must (Be) for a great set at Au Chat Noir / Aubry at Madoro Music Management for being the nicest person we didn’t meet (you really helped loads and we’ll be forever grateful to you for being so cool and professional) and most of all our new best friends Chloé, Ben, Ablass, Dan, Charly, Damien and Robert from AsOne – by far the best band in Paris!
Extra thanks to Chaval for the fantastic pics and to Sithara Ieng for the amazing video of our show at AbracadaBar from his “j’ai filmé pour vous” series.

London was fantastic!
Thanks to; Joe for the run of Ealing Towers / Martin / Andy Docherty and all the staff at The Village Inn for letting us hijack your acoustic show / all the “open mic’ers” we met in Putney & Ealing / Barry & Ray / Lisa & Bob / Phil M / Muir V / Tinderdust / Grand Bassam / all the staff at Power Lunches (especially their amazing sound engineer) / Andunemir for filming the show at Power Lunches and to Tom, Charles, David & Ben (dressmaker) for all their support.

NEXT SHOW
Summer Tour 2014: Gig 9 Wednesday 6th August @ The Central Bar (Gateshead)

065 – Sacre Noir Summer Tour 2013 (gig 14)

Gig 14 – Sunday 1st September 2013 @ Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
The end is neigh and the final show of this year’s summer tour looms large!
A last minute line-up change is called for after Lewis Gibson goes on a last minute holiday… to the rescue are a drum student, a local guitar legend and a couple of festival performers all brought together by the one and only Ewan Gibson. Naming themselves after a poetry meet The Soul Cypher featuring Mekkah & Twenty20 had a practice in the afternoon before the show and delivered a pretty convincing set (I’d love to have seen them if they were a full-time collective). Along with their sense of adventure the two American MCs also brought a touch of musical magic to the start of this event as everything was so relaxed and in the spirit of making good music and enjoying sharing the results.

The Soul Cypher live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh

We get ourselves set-up on the familiar stage of Henry’s and launch into our forty-minute set of dark electronica. The sound is tight and loud and we are pleased to hear that we’ve ‘awakened the goth’ in one enthusiastic fan in particular. It’s a good crowd that includes some familiar faces who are here to support our last show of the tour and check out The Penny Black Remedy. We’re really pleased with the response and happy to have played 14 great gigs stretching back to the first night of the tour back in July.

Sacre Noir live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh – Photo by Flare Photography

By the time The Penny Black Remedy took to the stage everyone in the venue was ready for their unique brand of musical mayhem, and once again the group didn’t disappoint. As with their show in Glasgow they mixed tracks from their debut LP with tracks from their latest release ‘Inhale… Exhale… Ok, Now You Can Panic!’ to great effect and had the crowd dancing and whooping for Keith’s guitar solos.

The Penny Black Remedy live at Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh

Looking back it’s been an amazing month and a half of gigs and travelling, playing to the new audiences and hanging out in some great cities. Big thanks are due to all the venues and promoters who have helped along the way; The Banshee Labyrinth, Box, The Vibe Bar, The Arc, Power’s Bar, The Dublin Castle, Belushi’s Gare du Nord and Canal Paris, Le Vieux Leon, Soupanova, Little Stage, Pfefferbett Hostel, Pivo Pivo, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Craig McGee, Plugged In Switched On, Bearsuit Promotions, Ben & Lio @ Belushi’s, Selina @ Soupanova, Alex @ Little Stage, Charlotte @ Pfefferbett, It’s a XXXX Blog Thing and Claire @ Henry’s. Big thanks are also due to all the fine bands we played with along the way; Llennett, Hot Jupiter, Little Love and the Friendly Vibes, Tom Coyne, Sir Spence, The Joy, George Frakes, Andy Docherty and The Caped Crusaders, Dressmaker, The Ocean’s Above, Mickey 9s, The Soul Cypher featuring Mekkah and Twenty20 and The Penny Black Remedy.
You can check out a video below which features footage from the gigs, interviews during the tour and more – a great snapshot into the touring life with Sacre Noir.

042 – Summer tour 2012 (the last night of the tour)

Tuesday 28th August – gig at Pivo Pivo, Glasgow
After a week of being back in Edinburgh we’ve just about caught up with all the work awaiting our return and are ready for the final show of the Summer Tour. We’re lucky enough to be joined once again by Phil on electric guitar and Alexis switches to electronic drums for this last show at Pivo Pivo in Glasgow.

Blackboard at Pivo Pivo, Glasgow

Got the train through just in time for the rush hour crowds to be heading home, with all our gear it was a bit of a squeeze, but we made it with plenty of time to set up and get a good sound check. The sound in the venue is superb & it’s nice to be back to the familiar line-up of guitar, drums and vocals. It’s the first time any of us have been in the venue and we’re all really impressed (space, facilities, staff & pizza were all excellent).

Alexis & Phil pre-gig @ Pivo Pivo, Glasgow

We played first to a fairly appreciative audience and chatting to peeps afterwards once again proved insightful; putting faces to names and getting feedback on the set from peers and audience members are always fun parts of any gig. I was really impressed with the overall sound at Pivo Pivo and having not practiced with Phil since before the Hyperbubble show in mid July (and even that was a different line-up with Alexis playing 2nd guitar) we all seemed to fit straight back into the swing of things. Tracks of the night that stood out were ‘Rue Crimee’ and ‘Night Flight’.
Next up was Becci Wallace & Bill Breaks who I enjoyed very much indeed. I’d heard Becci do guitar vocal stuff via her YouTube page before but didn’t really know what to expect from this collaboration. From the very first track, the beatz were crisp, the bass was heavy and the vocals were delightfully original and delivered with style and an honesty rarely seem in music these days. Their set was a blend of down-tempo hip-hop vibes and trippy lyrical delights. For me the set was reminiscent of Helicopter Girl or Martina Topley-Bird and ticked all of my musical likes for this kind stuff.

Becci Wallace & Bill Breaks

So that was us, packed up and heading back to Edinburgh & before we knew it, the summer tour 2012 was well and truly wrapped up.
You can check out our video of the tour featuring live footage and more here: