The whole history of rock, its hits and its stars, in seventy-five minutes

2023-10-25 18:00:05
Romain Piot (drums), Nicolas Liesnard (guitar and keyboard), Vincent Benoist (bass) and Claude Whipple (vocals and guitar), in the show “Little Rock Story”, presented at the Le 13ème Art theater. BERTRAND PERRIN

In the large hall of the Le 13e Art theater in Paris, three generations rub shoulders. The youngest, attentive to the music being played, enjoy the antics of the performers, and the teenagers spot a tune here and there, perhaps heard in the discos of their parents or grandparents. Who hum, take pleasure in recognizing hits from their more or less distant past, occasionally shout the name of a title, of a group.

In seventy-five minutes, the show Little Rock Story, presented at the 13e Art during the All Saints holidays, covers as many years of rock history. It begins at the source of the blues, with the song Me and the Devil Blueswhich was recorded in June 1937 by the American singer and guitarist Robert Johnson (1911-1938), and will go back to 2012, with a short quote from Locked Out of Heaven, by Bruno Mars. Some sequences are chronological, others are more about bringing together sound colors and styles.

On stage, Claude Whipple, on vocals and guitar, is also the storyteller of this very successful show in its combination of concert and clear, precise educational interludes. He presents the early days of rock’n’roll, the English wave of the early 1960s, the contributions to rock from other trends (reggae, funk, etc.), mentions technological developments… With him, Nicolas Liesnard at the guitar and keyboard, Vincent Benoist on bass and Romain Piot on drums (the three are also backing singers). The four talented musicians find the sounds, the vocal and instrumental phrasing of each piece, chosen as defining a solo artist, a group, at the same time as they are emblematic of a style.

Attitudes types et rites

Using effects from a pedal board, Claude Whipple approaches the guitaristic laments of Jimi Hendrix, evoked by Purple Haze et Voodoo Chileor the sparkle of chords Walking on the Moon, from The Police. From the database of his only keyboard, Nicolas Liesnard draws a bastringue piano, from the Hammond organ, the Oberheim OB-X synthesizer overture from Jump, by Van Halen. Vincent Benoist brings out the distinctly strong playings of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Jason Newsted for the dark Enter Sandman, by Metallica. Romain Piot’s style adapts to the styles of Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham… There is attention to being exact, respectful in the rendering.

As the fifth speaker, someone named Roberston appears from time to time on a screen. He embodies the Woodstock hippie, the punk with a crest and a falsetto voice, the hard-rock enthusiast in a leather jacket… These fantasies often make you smile, very well regulated in the interaction with the four musicians who adopt typical attitudes in the gestures, the rites of a rock concert.

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