Sophia - November 25th 2003 - Le Pop In, Paris (F)

A 600 kilometer return trip to see what was supposed to be a 30 minutes' showcase, I guess we're a little crazy...
Last time I went to Paris for a gig was back in 1988, unfortunately R.E.M. didn't show up that night. Luck was on our side yesterday as Robin and Will Foster did show up and left us a showcase to cherish.
The reduced Sophia line-up hit the stage (or rather the corner of the midget venue ...) of Le Pop In - for those of you familiar with the City of Light, the bar is situated somewhere halfway the Place de la R�publique and l'Op�ra and definitely worth a visit! - to kick off with some old songs. We heard intense versions of �I Left You� and �If Only�.
Robin on guitar and Sideshow Will on piano (that means keyboards indeed since a piano simply doesn't fit into that tiny room) continued with a song from the upcoming "People Are Like Seasons" album, �Fool�. Robin interrupted Will's nice piano intro for a commercial : the album version of this song will feature lots of backing vocals. They continued with another new one, �Swept Back�. To be honest, the song didn't really touch me, but I guess it's one of those tunes that need to grow on me. Probably my fault, since Carsten already called it one of the highlights in his Berlin review ...
Robin was clearly surprised to see and feel how immensely the 50 or 60 people who made it to Le Pop In enjoyed the show. Unlike a normal showcase, there was a profound silence and you could feel the respect the audience had for the duo on stage. I guess he was even more amazed by the stalinist majority for a new song when he offered the audience the choice between another new song or an oldie. Our enthousiasm to hear some new stuff was gratefully rewarded with one of the most promising songs of the new album. �Desert Song No. 2� started as a rather quiet song but ended in a guitars galore grande finale (with reprise!). After the show, Robin told us the song has some of his heaviest guitar parts ever (and that includes The God Machine era). Well, we can�t wait to hear the album version!
Time for another vote: did Le Pop In want to hear �So Slow� or �Ship In The Sand�. The first song won, but the second one just followed. Robin had some difficulties in starting �So Slow� (and it�s probably the song the played the most over the years ...), it took him about one minute of clumsiness to realize �Oh Will, you start anyway�. Robin complained previous reviews made fun of him for failing to play the intro of �Another Trauma� correctly, but this time he got it quite right. It would have been a nice song to end the show, but as le tout Pop In shouted for an encore, Will and Foster finished their free gig with �The Sea�. �Free� is of course a flexible concept as French bars charge 22 euro for 4 beers. However, we don�t complain since a bartender wearing a Pixies-shirt and playing all my fave Sebadoh tunes always wins my sympathy!
We drove over seven hours to get about one hour of Sophia tunes, but believe me, it was worth the trip! You can all start yearning for the full line-up shows early 2004 ...

Christophe Demunter