Le Petit Bain, Paris, France15th September 2023
And One & Waiting for Words
Having two legends of Synth Pop on the same bill was worth a trip to Paris. AND ONE and WAITING FOR WORDS have for sure a lot in common. Both formed in the early 90s, with all the challenges that go with surviving three decades in the music world. Both became references and cult acts in their respective country… and both have a strong sense of Independence and doing things their way. Surely, the worldwide success of AND ONE is far above the French act but being from and in Germany explains it all with this style of music.
Originally planned in May, the gig had to be postponed following a severe medical condition for Steve Naghavi. It’s on September 15th that the long-awaited party was set. A beautiful weather was a good way to enjoy this gig at Le Petit Bain, a beautiful boat on La Seine, just in front of the cult Bercy Arena. The concert room is set for 500ish persons and benefits from great sound and lights. At 7:30 pm sharp, lights go down and the five members of WAITING FOR WORDS enters the stage.
Waiting for Words
It’s been a decade I hadn’t seen WAITING FOR WORDS live. Last times were the gig with DE/VISION in Paris (March 2013) followed a couple of months after by the DEPECHE MODE after show party in Nimes (July 2013). At the time, the line-up consisted of ZeN (vocals / keyboards), Soe (vocals / keyboards) and Peter Rainman (keyboards / backing vocals). Therefore, it’s the first time I see the new formula with recently “returned back home” original drummer of the band, Fred Montana and the newly arrived Samantha Sirugue on both bass guitar and electric guitar. Current line-up: ZeN Smith (vocals, bass guitar), Soe V (vocals, backing vocals), Samantha Sirugue (bass guitar, electric guitar), Fred Montana (electronic drums) and Peter Rainman (keyboards, backing vocals).
Music & Performance
Peter starts the party with a synth intro allowing the other band members to take place and launch the gig with the last album opener and new single, ‘My Dignity’. The sound is perfect, drums are powerful, bass and vocals are clear. The screen behind takes all the space available which is perfect for the band as visual screening is the 6th band member. The projection of the video shot in New York puts you literally in the song from start to end. The band sounds united and clearly decided to make it a night to remember. A good thing they just had three shows in the week before to warm them up. The audience welcomes them loudly proving WAITING FOR WORDS was much more than a support act and at least 2/3 of the crowd was also here to see their champion.
The set starts literally with an incredible pack of hits that most of the bands would keep for their “encore”: The DURAN DURAN-esque ‘Hedonism’ that already is a classic to the fans as many sing along the “Over and Over… Again”, the cult ‘Miles Away’, emphasized by new arrangement and a funky slapped bass, the band’s first hit ‘Cause I Do Believe’ (Samantha leaving bass guitar for electric guitar) followed by the very emotional ‘To Avoid The Void’ set things straight: WAITING FOR WORDS is one of the most powerful live synth bands in action. Soe’s vocals, as back or lead, are stunning. Even the band members look amazed as Zen Smith clearly shows is admiration on ‘Miles Away’ and ‘Cause I Do Believe’.
As per ZeN, he just looks at the top of his game. It certainly took him a while to admit his charisma was more than enough to embark an audience. Less running and dancing than in the past, but a strong and assured position front stage and some smoother (more sensual?) moves. And the voice is assured, varying from huge sing along stadium hits to intimate and emotional tones. The anti-“Woke / Cancel Culture” ‘Take It As My PrideÄ follows with a darker tone. E-Bow guitar collapses with huge synth sounds whereas Fred Montana hits his drums powerfully (that’s how a drum should sound within an electronic band!), ending up with a very emotional piano / voice ending.
No time to rest as the poppy OMD alike ‘A Kiss Like This’ follows, bringing back the lights of hope and fun… but “It’s A Trap!” The end of the set turns to Industrial Electro Rock in a second. Soe takes the lead as ZeN borrows the bass guitar for one of the highest points of the album ‘Dignity’, ‘Interieur Nuit’ (French lyrics). The crowd goes wild as the song progresses from minimal electro to industrial chaos. The cult hit from the previous album, ‘Great New World’ follows, emphasized once again by the video screening. “We wrote this song five years ago… and we were far from reality” introduces ZeN. The addition of some NINE INCH NAILS alike Guitar riffs is great. It was not easy to re arrange some pure electronic songs to welcome guitar or bass, but they did it perfectly.
ZeN takes a moment to thanks the venue staffs, the promoter and most of all Steve Naghavi for trusting them to open the night. The set ends up with one of the most interesting covers I’ve heard of BRONSKI BEAT’s ‘Smalltown Boy’. Soe starting up with high vocals (up to which note can she go?) on a strong electronic bass takes the crowd with her. ZeN joins in soon for five minutes of controlled chaos. Fred brings in some groovy and powerful drums while Peter and Samantha do the rest. Soe shines once again a last time on the last part of the song and the break ‘Cry Boy Cry’ and the songs ends with some crowd singing. The band leaves the stage with some happy faces… there is some happiness in the room and a lot of emotion shared with the audience. With 10 tracks and a 50 minutes packed set, WAITING FOR WORDS proves they are a not yet ready to become a nostalgia act and is still on the way up.
I didn’t really know what to expect from this new line-up. Would it be a return to the Rock formula of the 90s with bass / drums / guitar? Far from it. Electronic still rules and there’s a real work on the guitars sounds, making it fit perfectly with the synths and samples. And as per drums, the use of an electronic set allows to give an incredible energy (this drummer is really impressive both in precision and in groove) while keeping the electronic DNA. And as always with them, I can help thinking “What the fuck are the German promoters doing with still ignoring this band”? Put them on the main stage of the Amphi or WGT and the crowd will go wild. They bring so much more than karaoke acts singing on top of a WAV track. Hopefully for them, USA seem more interested as they are booked for the cult LA’s venue Whisky A Go Go in March (with a California tour to be announced).
Setlist
01. My Dignity
02. Hedonism
03. Miles Away
04. Cause I Do Believe
05. To Avoid The Void
06. Take It As My Pride
07. A Kiss Like This
08. Interieur Nuit
09. Great New World
10. Smalltown Boy
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9.5 / 10
And One
It’s also been a very, very long time I haven’t seen AND ONE live (10, 15 years maybe?). I haven’t kept a great souvenir of it at the time to be honest. I remember thinking Steve Naghavi was a unique performer but felt after a couple of songs it was a bit repetitive. And it was really close, too close to the album versions. But hey… time flies and bands evolve. Especially since the last couple of albums that I really liked (‘S.T.O.P.’ and most of all, the gigantic triple album ‘Magnet’). Line-up with evening: Steve Naghavi (vocals), Joke Jay (drums and vocals) and ZeN Smith (keyboards and backing vocals).
Music & Performance
So, 30 minutes later, lights go down again for AND ONE’s entrance… and a huge surprise! Zen Smith is back on stage and goes towards the keyboards, followed by Steve Naghavi and Joke Jay to the drums. “What’s happening?” is the word circulating in the crowd who wonders. It will be explained later on Facebook that neither Rick Schah nor Nico Wieditz were available for the gig. ZeN Smith was asked to do the job a week earlier! The show starts with the brand-new song ‘Atomic Bomb’, and it’s a smash! A typical AND ONE’s hit: great Pop melody, catchy vocals and a synth gimmick that haunts you after a couple of seconds. Steve and Joke are in great form, and we can feel the pleasure of being on stage.
The first part of the show is placed under the dance floor vibe: ‘Shining Star’, ‘Krieger’, ‘Love You To The End’ and ‘Get You Closer’ takes the crowd to a hectic trip. The alchemy on stage between ZeN, Joke and Steve is incredible. It feels like the three are playing together for ages. The energy of Steve is amazing whereas Joke hits his drum set with power. And he’s a damn charismatic person too. It was the first time I saw AND ONE with Joke and the drums, and it really changes everything. It brings so much more power. Also, very pleased to hear there’s a real work on the live versions now. Different arrangements and synth sounds is pleasant to hear and discover.
Then it’s time for Joke to take the mike for ‘Sometimes’. Steve goes behind the drum kit before heading to ZeN to invite him to sing along the backing vocals. Some Wordies (fans of WFW) go nuts as you can guess. This is clearly a go for ZeN to provide backing vocals on almost all the next tracks, even those in German! A terrific ‘Black Generation’ follows, before a crazy ‘Steine sind Steine’. Steve shouts out to the crowd “Be Proud of being French” and a memorable “Vive la France”. A melancholic section follows with the superb ‘Unter Meiner Uniform’ (singed along by the crowed… yes, French can sing German!), ‘Enjoy The Unknown’ and ‘Killing The Mercy’.
The hymn ‘High’ sees Joke back on front and Steve back on the drum kit, once again going to ZeN’s a couple of time to sing with him the choirs. Joke even throws in a line of “Sous Le Pont d’Avignon” in the lyrics. And here we are in the EBM part, not my favourite on record but very fun and cool live, with ‘Männermusik’, ‘U-Boot Krieg In Ost Berlin’. At this stage we can feel Steve’s voice starts being tired (he was sick a couple of days before in South America) and Joke changes the lyrics with humour for “We Need A New Singer” at the end of the song. ‘Techno Man’ and ‘Second Voice’ follow and conclude the main set.
After a couple of minutes backstage, the band is back for more EBM with ‘Metalhammer’ and ‘Panzermensch’. Of course, ‘Military Fashion Show’ follows before ending on a fantastic version of ‘Shouts Of Joy’. The three musicians come front stage to salute the crowd. Steve and Joke thanking Zen for his great job and the audience being happy as possible. It was a real pleasure to me to see how AND ONE has evolved live and I will surely look forward seeing them again as soon as possible. In conclusion, Paris was definitely THE place to be on September 15th. Two great acts showcased the wide range of their talent.
Same family but distinct style and identity. And the crowd proves French audience has nothing to be ashamed of compared to German audiences. It’s always a fun party with a very nice atmosphere attending a concert there. Those two bands should really go on tour together, bringing the beauty and madness of this show to as many people as possible. Let’s hope we’ll see them together again (and ZeN with AND ONE!) rather sooner than later.
Setlist
01. Atomic Bomb
02. Shinning Star
03. Krieger
04. Love You To The End and
05. Get You Closer
06. Sometimes
07. Black Generation
08. Steine Sind Steine
09. Unter meiner Uniform
10. Enjoy The Unknown
11. Killing The Mercy
12. High
13. Männermusik
14. U-Boot Krieg In Ost Berlin
15. Techno Man
16. Second Voice
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17. Metalhammer
18. Panzermensch
19. Military Fashion Show
20. Shouts Of Joy
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 8.8 / 10
All Pictures by Stephane Vasco
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