Time to discover the city of Evreux today. Evreux is a small city, about a hundred kilometres west of Paris, with a quite famous venue called l'Abordage. That's were 16hp is playing tonight.

Before the show we're having a drink in a bar, where we find a very curious picture of 16 Horsepower in a local newspaper… A short investigation proves that it's a portrait of a French hip-hop band! ;-) (see below)

As we enter the venue, we walk into Pascal Humbert and we talk a bit about Lilium. He seems very pleased to hear what people think of his album.
Then, during the opening act, an obscure French band from Lille called Lazzzi (with 3 z's, no typing mistake!), we sit on the wobbly seats in the back of the venue, and wait for the time to pass, hoping the set won't be too long. Because if the "zzz" in the name of the band is the noise one makes when sleeping, then their name is very appropriate, except that the music is a bit too noisy for one to sleep undisturbed...

Thankfully, it didn't take more than 2 notes from 16hp to make us forget what we had to listen to for the previous half hour.

Beginning a show with American Wheeze and its fabulous bass and guitar lines on the live versions (listen to the Hoarse version if you don't see what I mean), is really a great idea! This song is the perfect opener for a show, no doubt! Moreover, the sound is just perfect in the venue, which adds to the power of the songs. The bass even makes the floor and our stomachs move a little bit, which gives a very special feeling.

The setlist has changed a lot compared to last year's. Haw and Phillys Ruth are played; Low Estate and For Heaven's Sake are left aside, for instance. Poor Mouth and Clogger are still very powerful, and Cinder Alley is played in a better way than last year: the violin part is not missed anymore with their new approach of playing.

Jean-Yves Tola played very good tonight, but the best performer of the night was Steve Taylor. I have to say that my opinion may be influenced by the fact that usually one can't hear every single thing he plays, but tonight the sound was so perfect that we could hear all the little fill-ins and the small but very important additions he played.

The crowd was almost perfect, not a sound during the songs, which made the show very enjoyable! One of the nicest 16hp shows I have attended!

By Arnaud

Note: The last three songs on the setlist weren't played.