Sebastian Tellier :: Live
Friday, May 15th, 2009Sebastian Tellier appears in wind swept dischevellment(apart from coat and tie) against tin siding.
The following was contributed to civl.ca by The Angus and Parker Show co-host…Angus Macdonell. Much thanks to Angus, Seb, and the Internet.
Well, Nathan asked me to write this review and given that it’s been almost a month since the show took place, and the amount of alcohol I consumed the night of the show, my recollection of the events that took place that night are a tad hazy. However, one thing has stood out amongst everything else and that is the sheer awesomeness which is Sebastien Tellier. Seb, as I like to call him, is a character who exudes charisma. Staying close to the French stereotype, he enjoys his wine (consuming a bottle and a half roughly over the course of his hour and halfish set) and maintains a low level of personal hygiene. Yet, despite his burly beard and greasy locks, he is a strangely seductive man who likely would’ve had no troubles bedding any of the ladies in attendance that night.
The night opened with Portland’s own Chairlift. Now I’m not too familiar with Chairlift, but from what I heard leading up to the night of the show I thought they were a group who played a lot of poppy piano tunes a la Feist, or basically half the songs you hear on Telus commercials. The set however displayed a different side to their music; mostly playing synthy oriented jams which served as a perfect segue for Tellier’s tunes. One highlight was a cover of Snoop Dogg’s Sexual Seduction and some 80’s love ballad for which I’ve forgotten the name (again, time and booze being a factor for this). In all, despite being down a member, Chairlift played a strong, short and sweet set.
When the man himself finally arrived on stage I was surprised to find myself cheering and screaming just as fanatically as one of those teeny bopper girls who go to Jonas Brothers concerts. Maybe it’s because I admire his beard so much, or the way he can move his fingers around a keyboard, whatever the reason I pretty much lost my voice by the end of the night. He kicked things off with ‘Kilometre’, a song from his latest album ‘Sexuality’, playing with a full band- no pre-recorded drum beat nonsense here. Other songs played included hits such as ‘Roche’, and crowd favourite ‘Divine’. As the night progressed, Seb got drunker, his bantering with the crowd became more incoherent, yet, the music remained impeccable. It would seem that alcohol for Tellier only serves to produce better playing skills evidenced in his faithful recreations of ‘La Ritournelle’ and ‘L’amour et la violence’, two songs I like to think were played as an encore solely through the efforts of Parker and myself. For the finale, the night ended with ‘Sexual Sportswear’ which had Tellier making sweet, sweet love to his mic stand- it was hilarious and well worth the $20 spent to get in, amongst everything else. Kudos must also be given to his bandmates who were on point the whole night as well. If he ever comes back again, make an effort to see this man play his beautiful, synth-soaked love jams for he is truly some of the best stuff happening in France right now.