FRANCK CARDUCCI BAND
Joe Payne is not making things easy for himself on his debut tour. He’s performing solo on electric piano and opening with two lengthy numbers, One And The Many and Who Created Me?, which made his name as the frontman of The Enid. The vocals are stunning, at the very upper end of his five-octave range. However, he admits, “This year I set myself the challenge of singing and playing the piano at the same time, for the first time,” and there are several mistakes in the first familiar number, and these continue throughout the set.
He’s performing under the name That
Joe Payne, one reading of which implies exasperation, but this is an entertainer brimming with confidence. With the small but appreciative audience behind him, he pushes past the errors, covering material from his Methexis collaboration before moving on to new songs. Moonlit Love borrows from Beethoven, but as well as linking back to the neoclassical Enid, it shows serious crossover potential. I Need A Change may be very prophetic, and if he finds his way to the right audience, we may be seeing a lot more of Payne in the mainstream, where prog doesn’t often reach.
The Franck Carducci Band operate like a well-oiled machine. Hitting the stage in a blur of costumes and props, Slave To Rock’n’Roll is a Meat Loaf video come to life, singer Mary Renaud as Rock Chick, keyboardist Olivier Castan as Disreputable Manager, and Carducci himself braving the heat as the Rocker in furs, a cowboy hat and carrying a double-necked guitar. It gets more sedate for Closer To Irreversible, which originally featured guitar from Steve Hackett, before ramping things up for new song The After Effect, which has a theremin solo played in a pole dance style.
The theremin sticks around for the first of the evening’s concept pieces, Achilles, although guitarist Christophe Obadia takes over as Renaud switches to belly dancing. She remains a focus for Angel, a mid-set ballad that helps the band get their breath back.
New song On The Road To Nowhere sees the group pay tribute to The Beatles completely unplugged. The set closes with another concept piece, Alice’s Eerie Dream, a recasting of the Wonderland tale featuring Alice as a sex worker and involving a standoff with a didgeridoo.
Encore Artificial Paradises segues into a version of Pink Floyd’s Eclipse and, with a few spare minutes left, we’re treated to an unplanned rendition of Supertramp’s School to bring the evening to a close.
Looking for a current but old-style prog band untouched by post-rock, metal or djent, complete with double-neck guitars, song suites and drum solos? This could be your new favourite group.
“AN OLD-STYLE PROG BAND UNTOUCHED BY POST-ROCK, METAL OR DJENT, COMPLETE WITH DOUBLE-NECK GUITARS AND SONG SUITES.”