She has walked through the desert and she's not scared.. Impressions...

Bettye Lavette, Ancienne Belgique, 04/08/2008

Alan on keys has warmed up the audience with two songs and It's a very good way to discover the band, funky and soul, bluesy and groovy. A fantastic gunslinger on guitar, he clutches, he slaps back, he can make the guitar shouts, cries, a true stratocaster player, not any other guitar on stage, always impulsing the general dynamic of the sound. That's what you can call a soul/blues player, every code is understood...he even has that so old fashion thumbing technique. The bass player and the drummer are killers too, as... Alan. You know, when you can hear that kind of cool cats, you're sure to have a good show... The mix is not good yet, undermixed voice of Alan proves it... And then came The Lady... You can't imagine how classy she is, a true feline perfomer and the way she walked through the stage means everything... And then, SOUL was here, guys, not a soul singer, SOUL, flesh and bones and better known as a human being called Bettye Lavette... The show began with sound problems, you just couldn't hear her voice... Too bad don't you think? The technician worked fast and the general balance got quickly better even if the guitar stood loud... So, her voice was in the mix and I was petrified, from the front row when she looked at me on a "you", with a finger in my direction... She's a true survivor (The battle of Bettye Lavette) and it's one of the axis of the show... But it's not too heavy: she's glad to be back, the show's just a kind of story telling to say how it's good to be back, not any revenge in the air...

Many musicians who think they have talent should have seen her, not because of the performance, believe me, I was really really close, she was in a real state of emotion to see the crowd, here, back for her... It was hard for her to go over that strong strong feeling, I could see her hands shook by nervous tremor... That was beautiful to see. She made her first 45 rpm in 1963, 45 years ago, she was 16...and she was so nervous she had to breathe deeply between the song despite her fantastic physical shape. It was not tires, it was deep soul emotion... Everything I could add is said in Dave's great boot and will be shown on tonight's broadcast on fab channel (7.30 pm). You may think I'm an enthusiast for every gig I see? Oh No! I've been really disappointed this year and all along the years... and by bands I do like, I just don't write post when I'm disappointed... And because I've seen something like 200 gigs I'm a little bit demanding and anoraky when I go to another one (Ian Brown, monkey king, next week) and when I drive 90 miles to reach Brussels. Listen and watch her and tell me more! I don't believe in any special god, I believe in spirituality, the connection between human beings and "something"... Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far way, I was connected. She dit it, she said the fact and the adventure of being human with Soul...Soul is my music, music is my soul. I don't ask what I haven't got. She ended with an amazing a capella number, dropped the mic on the floor and went slowly away, she walked trough the stage and wasn't scared anymore, no encore, It wasn't necessary, everything was said.