On the late in-scene label website , a brief summary of two Little Nemo
gigs:
Little Nemo + Neutral Project
26/05/1989 - Paris, Théatre Mouffetard
Little Nemo + Lolldi 9/12/1989 - Saint Germain en Laye, La Clé 40 Francs
setlist Little Nemo :
New Flood - Marine - Fear in colour - à une passante - sandcastle - you
again - old age - hillside manor - promise of storm - the city lights
- garden wall - god of indifference - running to the sun - blue year -
love is a lie + Electric jive - l'heure d'hiver
3 pictures taken during this gig here
Memories of a Little Nemo gig at
La Clef (Saint Germain en Laye) on the 19th of June 1992. the webmaster
of Turquoise Fields was there.
Little Nemo is back at La Cle three
years after the concert I missed in 1989. Before them, MAT plays its industrial
rock and as a surprise, Philippe Planchon of the late Asylum Party is
in charge of the lights. It's an opportunity to have a brief talk with
him, nothing is planned for the moment.
Then, a tailless piano is brought on stage and here comes Vincent Le Gallo,
dressed in a tailcoat (his taste for classical mood has already been noticed
in Little Nemo songs and on the Unreleased III sampler). he sits behind
the piano and a woman is in charge of the vocals. The unknown tracks are
from his solo Lp (unfortunately never released) and I only know
Les pierres de Gavrinis (Gavrinis stones) which was played on Bernard
Lenoir's show on the national radio (our french John Peel). There's also
another Baudelaire poem put in music, La cloche felee. The younger part
of the audience is not always receptive to the intimate mood of these
tracks that I do hear with great pleasure.
Then, a full Little Nemo gig team settles
on stage (Vincent Le Gallo and another guitarist , Bill the bass player,
a keyboards player, a drummer and Olivier who focuses on the vocals).
The temperature rises and the audience is very receptive to the rockier
tracks, mainly taken from the World is flat LP. Olivier sings on Au milieu
du ciel while Vincent, who sings this track on the album can concentrate
on his guitar playing. Teenagers dressed in black coats climb on stage
and do a bit of slamming, while an anxious Olivier advices them not to
hurt themselves. Musically, the band is well trained and delivers rearranged
versions of their oldest tracks: Hillside manor includes a reggae bridge
and between two songs, Bill and the drummer even improvise a funky jam!
Old classics are also played, such as A une passante with Vincent on vocals
and Olivier on melodica, chained with New flodd. The gig ends with the
groovy Thoughts and words and Electric Jive.
Here's the set-list, in disorder:
Vincent le Gallo solo (several tracks including Les pierres de Gavrinis)
When summer's gone - Pray for the great day - Journey to Ixtlan - Rubbert
Hearts - Au milieu du ciel - Overprose - Railways and roads - A une passante
- New Flood - Hearts burn - Hillside manor (passage reggae) - In the heat
- Anybody home - Rumours - impro funk - Thougths
and words - Electric Jive.
An account of the first
come back concert in 2009 at La Locomotive, in Paris, on April 29th, for
the "Infras-T-Pop Party", by the webmaster of this site.
|
For his great come back, Little Nemo plays on stage after Babel 17 and
Complot Bronswick. Over 300 people came to the Locomotive gig, mainlly
the audience of the 80's, in their late thirties and forties and a few
young fans, among which anglosaxon and numerous talkative (according to
my friend Fred B.) spaniard natives. Even a famous french singer, whose
first name is Vincent (not Little Nemo's one) arrives just before the
Little Nemo set.
To climb on stage, Yves the drummer wears summer clothes, an indication
of an energetic performance to come while Bill is dressed in black and
leather jacket, Ronan is sober in black and Vincent, his eyes stressed
with discret eyeliner, wears a psychedelic shirt under a black waistcoat..
Bill is in charge of the guitar, leads vocals on the song Olivier used
to sing while Vincent has switched to the bass guitar, leads vocal on
the songs he used to sing and sings backing vocals on the others. The
set begins with the barely (never?) played live "Turquoise fields",
with an electric feeling on the second instrumental and third sung parts,
Bill assuming with efficiency his new singer duties, sometimes with impetuousness.
The setlist is mostly drawn from "Sounds
in the attic" and "Past and future", with a little wink to the Prisonner
TV serial before performing an energetic rendition of "Be seeing you"
as track number four. The band performs a rockier set (than in the 90's)
set, without deafening the audience like the band just before (don't forget
we are a mostly mature audience§), the sound well balanced but the
voices are sometimes drowned on the most sonic parts. Yves shows an impressive
energy at the drum set, Bill and Vincent, concentrated, sometimes face
each other on the instrumental parts and Ronan, when he's not taking advantage
of the keyboardless parts to dance on stage, fills the sound with melodic
arpeggio, sometimes sounding like a piano or accordion (on "A une
passante") or leads the dance with inflammating organ bumpers on
the guitarless "Bee seeing you" or "Alan is waiting"
(and this time "something is happening!").
Bill dedicates to the "ones we lost and found" and Vincent simply
to Olivier, the missing one of this live formation, the next track "Anybody
home". Then, a guest violoncellist, Ian-Elfinn
of the band Les fragments de la nuit, takes place on stage and starts
with Vincent on vocals the first measures of the extremely rare "Balade
des pendus", before being joined by the others on this melancholic waltz.
In the same "French accursed poets" vein, Little Nemo will also
play two Baudelaire poems, "A une passante" and "La cloche fêlée",
a song from Vincent's unreleased solo album, played on the "World
is flat" tour. The band even draws in his pre "Past and Future"
repertoire with "September" of the "cassette froide"
and "Mad Master", an old unreleased demo, introduced by Bill
as an "unreleased song from the first album".
For the encore, they perform the famous "A une passante" and
"You again", first beginning soft with just guitars and voices
and an invited amateur stage dancer. Then, Aurelia of the band Eole joins
Little Nemo on stage to perform the backing vocals on "Cadavres exquis".
She sings alone the verses on "Tales of the wind", and is joined
on the chorus by Bill and Vincent. This energic and melodic version closes
this successful and appreciated live come back..
top
|
A rehearsal in 1985, with the first bass player named
Gordon.
pictures Emmanuelle Debaussart
A curiosity: Little Nemo's first bio in 1987 (Thanks
to Gildas!)
Here's the translation:
Little Nemo is a duet founded
in 1983, their first songs were recorded on four-tracks the following
year. They have written at least thirty tracks.
Two long-time friends with the help of temporary members for a
gig. Both of them are composing, singing and taking in charge
various tasks:
(Vincent: guitar, bass, piano, vocals in french, Olivier: keyboards,
drumbox, technical parts, vocals in english). They don't have
a fixed role.
Yes but ... what about the style? If you want to put them in embarassement,
that's the question to ask them! So many influences and different
tastes (from the most obvious scars - from Erik Satie to The Stranglers
while passing by The Beatles - to the most unexpected reminiscences...).
Finally, if you really wish to stick a label, choose "eclectic
pop".
Tapography: (same informations as on the discography page of
this site)
Gigography:
1985:
September: MJC Villebon
October: Cithea
Jacques Tatie Public Hall (Orsay)
interrupted because of a material theft
1986:
December: Palaiseau
1987:
January: Le Parc (Ivry)
February: number one at the Grandes Ecoles rock contest in Lyon
March: Le Parc (Ivry)
April: Le Kristal (Grigny)
|
Some press pictures(1986-1987)
pictures Emmanuelle Debaussart
Pictures taken with the DJs of
the radio programm "British Connection" on Radio Val (France,
in the Essonne) in 1989
Olivier & Vincent with the team of the radio
programm
Four people of the radio programm with members of the
three bands forming the original Touching Pop:
Cecile
(Mary Goes Round), Pascale (Asylum Patry), Olivier (Little Nemo), Philippe
(AP), Jerome (MGR) and Thierry (AP)
The
gig at Saint Germain en Laye's La Clef on the 9th of december 1989 (pictures
Stephane Sotkine)
Vincent, Bill et Olivier (not on the picture,
the drumbox...)
Bill in charge of guitar duties on one track
Vincent
Bill and Vince during the Ronchin gig in 1989.
Photo Paul Fiction
Olivier shot by Fushia for an
interview in the Kissing Booklet fanzine (1990)
Pictures taken by Fushia while the band was recording the Turquoise Fields
LP (1989)
Vincent busy with his guitar
... and in action
the sound-engineer Jean Taxis, Bill and his bass and Olivier
Bill & Olivier
Olivier facing Bill
About the influence of beer on Touching Pop: a few moments
of good time...
A few pictures of the 1990 Turquoise Tour, thanks to
the Babel 17.(more pictures on their
site)
Holyvier
Holyvier and Herr Doktor, sound ingeneer for
Babel 17, Little Nemo and co-producer on the Cadavres Exquis EP, Bio-Logic
EP and The World is flat.
Emmanuelle Debaussart (famous french rock reporter
writing for Best) shooting Yves Charreire, Ronan Lesergeant et Holyvier.
Little Nemo and Babel 17 on tour: Herr Doktor, Holyvier, Vincent Lepeaucre,
Bill, Emmanuelle Debaussart.
LITTLE NEMO'S GIG AT THE EUROCKEENNES DE BELFORT ROCK
FESTIVAL IN 1992
Photo Paul Fiction
This was Little Nemo's last gig, with bermuda shorts (read the history
section of this site)
|