Archive's Classic Albums - Live at Paris Zenith - February 14 & 15, 2025
I saw Archive live relatively recently (as in: 18 months ago, in November 2023 - see that post for more details).
About a year ago, Archive announced that they would be touring to play some of
their old classic albums:
I've named You all Look the Same to Me (2002), Noise (2005) and Controlling
Crowds (2009).
This would be happening 2 days in a row.
Of course I bought a ticket as soon as they were available, and also proposed Guitou to come and join me!
2 gigs in a row - not new but this one's special
Right, so doing 2 concerts from the same artist in a row, while not frequent, is
something I did at least 2 times.
And this was... drum roll... for Radiohead!
- In 2012 in London, at the O2 Arena,
- and in 2016 at the Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall for the "A Moon Shaped Pool" tour.
- I could add the 2009 concerts in Prague, Czech Republic - followed by the one in Poznan, Poland - but they were not 2 days in a row, as Prague was on the 23rd of August 2009 and Poznan was on the 25th of August 2009 (with a epic bus ride from Prague to Poznan which I still remember 16 years afterwards!)
Anyway, I digress - my point is that these 2 gigs were a bit unique: it was the first time I would see 2 concerts with a complete different setlist - and also, not having the artist/group playing their latest album.
The venue
I have an upcoming article about the Archive's gigs I've been to, but I'm
spoiling it a bit here: I have seen Archive mostly at the Zenith in Paris.
I like this venue: it is not as big as say the Accor Arena (where I saw them
last time), so it feels a bit more intimate.
I bought tickets in the so-called "Gold square" (Carré Or), which Guitou and I
initially regretted as we'd rather be standing in front of the stage. Heck, we
even tried to go there, but got told that we could not and had to go to our
seats.
But in the end, we were extremely well seated, and closed to the stage to enjoy
the show, and also being able to stand up in the aisle without disturbing other
spectators.
The Show
As usual with Archive, it really felt like the band utterly enjoyed playing.
It was also the first time I was actually seeing Rosko John performing, and while this was only for 3 songs, it was really impressive to see so much energy on stage!
Darius was super energetic as usual, Dave Pen and Pollard Berrier were excellent, Danny Griffiths was into it and shy/discreet.
Most of the gig was songs after songs, with some "Merci Paris", "Merci beaucoup" in between - not that I'm complaining, but it's nice to have the band interacting with the audience.
Which Dave did on the first night, before playing "Fuck U", going on a speech about how the world is becoming crazy, and sometimes when it's too crazy, just yelling "Fuck you" is the way to go (OK, I'm over-simplifying but you get the idea) <3
The setlist
First night
- Get Out
- Numb
- Sleep
- Noise
- Love Song
- Meon
- Now and Then
- Finding It So Hard
- Fool
- Conscience
- Waste
- Pulse
Encore:
- Goodbye
- Again
- Hate
- Fuck U
Second night
- Controlling Crowds
- Bullets
- Kings of Speed
- The Feeling of Losing Everything
- Blood in Numbers
- Quiet Time
- Bastardised Ink
- Collapse/Collide
- Clones
- Words on Signs
- Whore
- Come On Get High
- Chaos
- Razed to the Ground
- Funeral
Encore:
- Pills
- Lines
- The Empty Bottle
- Remove
- Dangervisit
Conclusion
Guitou and I were discussing about when Radiohead would go back to the studio and
then to touring, as it's been almost 10 years (2016) since their last album. And
we joked that even if they were not to release new albums, we'd be totally in
for a "classic albums" tour with 2 or 3 dates in a row per country :)
Think "OK Computer" followed by "Kid A" then finishing with say... "In Rainbows"?
I bought gear!
I wanted to bring home a nice Archive T-Shirt, so I went with this "Fuck U Anyway" one.
There was also a nice poster - the cover of You All Look the Same to Me signed by the band members, but at 40€ it was a bit too much.
Tags: Music