They say never meet your heroes (or heroines) but in June we did just that and could not have had a better time if we were trying.
Chrysta Bell arrived in Edinburgh for two nights at The Voodoo Rooms as part of her ‘We Dissolve’ tour and Sacre Noir were honoured to be the support act for both shows.
For those who don’t already know Chrysta Bell, let me introduce you to the most enigmatic lady I’ve ever met.
Having spent the last 17 years working closely with David Lynch (a huge inspiration for everything we do with Sacre Noir), Chrysta Bell and her band are now promoting a new LP filled with lo-fi lush soundscapes, polished musicianship and stunning vocals.
“As background atmospheric sounds play through the PA, Bell takes to the stage, tall, elegant and mysterious. Immediately, she holds the attention of the audience. Some singers have excellent technical voices, while some performers have real presence. Bell combines both, in one, gorgeous package.” – Kenny Mathieson @ http://theweereview.com/review/chrysta-bell/
The Voodoo Rooms is a beautiful venue in the heart of Edinburgh (just off Princes Street), and although we have played in their smaller Speakeasy venue a few times in a previous musical life (Guantanmo Bay band circa 2006), we have never had the pleasure of playing in their main ballroom before.
“Lavishly decorated in blacks, golds and reds, The Voodoo Rooms is making the most of the neo-burlesque and retro chic movements currently in vogue and attracts a young and hip clientele as a result.” – Edinburgh Spotlight (2009-17)
As this was a really important gig for us, our friends and collaborators came out to support.
On both evenings Erin Culley re-created the make-up/styling from our forth-coming video. There are 2 looks in the new video ‘Rebels & Loners’, one pure and the other dark… we went for the striking black scatter eye with long vintage gown and black feather cape.
#SNY was also on hand both evenings to provide some video / photo / social media support. As always it was a joy working with him (and great to catch up after his recent succesful debut exhibition of portrait photography).
He really a fantastically creative individual, who we are extremely lucky to count amongst our friends and supporters. Responsible for our Listen To Me video & promotional images for 2015, he set up our first ever Sacre Noir Facebook Live videos (some of these may have been about chips… I did say he was ‘individual’ and that’s why we love him!) and too some captured some fab images during both evenings.
We treated these gigs as our own ‘pre-tour warm up’ shows and tried out the new duo set-up (acoustic guitar, loop vocals with the Boss VE-20 and samples / fx from the Korg Kaoss Pad 3+).
You can check out a live video from the set on our YouTube channel.
YouTube_Print Message Here live @ The Voodoo Rooms
The audience on both evenings were very positive and the feedback was lovely. Most common comment was “the electronic stuff was really cool”… so I think we’ll add a few more looped tracks to the set for some of the London & Paris shows.
Chrysta’s set on both evenings was inspirational.
The band are super talented (Jon Sanchez – guitar, Christopher Smart – bass / theremin, Jayson Altman – drums) and apparently just finding their feet with their live show (I’d love to see what their version of perfection is if it’s not the show they gave us in Edinburgh).
We were treated to tracks from both previous LPs written and recorded with David Lynch (This Train & Somewhere In The Nowhere) as well as tracks from her brand new LP (We Dissolve) and even an unreleased track called “Undertow” – think Wicked Game with lush female vocals and a bit of a sultry beat.
The new LP ‘We Dissolve’ has been produced by John Parish who is known for his work with PJ Harvey & features Adrian Utley of Portishead & Stephen O’Malley from Sunn O))), so you can see why we were keen to pay attention during these shows; we’re always learning ‘on the job’ and this was a show where I feel I learned a lot!
Stagecraft, live production, style and songwriting, set delivery and so much more; it really was a masterclass as far as I’m concerned & I feel honoured to have been part of these very special nights.
I think one of my favourite tracks was “Monday”: here’s a link to her playing it live exactly 1 month after her 2nd night at The Voodoo Rooms.
These will be nights that will live long in our memories – #catchingthebigfish
SIDE NOTE: Chrysta Bell’s website is beautiful and well worth checking out
sacrenoir 