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Translation
Rock
Peter Hammill was at the Grand Mix in
Tourcoing last night
The Roaring Forties!
Van der Graaf Generator, remember them? In the 70's, this progressive
rock group was as renown as Yes and Genesis and had Peter Hammill as one of
it's members. The singer/compositor/musician whose music is most certainly
unclassifiable, was on stage last night at the Grand Mix.
He was the second act of the evening (10:30pm) after the much talented Eric
Linder, the Swiss-Irish known as Polar, Peter Hammill celebrated his
fortieth album (This) with vigour and conviction until the end of the night.
Soon to be 51, this solitary artist, eccentric poet, hasn't lost his touch
in 30 years in the business. Mixing lyricism with vocal violence, he
electrified his audience with every intonation of his voice.
Accompanied by Stuart Gordon, a violin virtuoso, Peter Hammill stirred up a
few good memories to an audience that some of which did not hesitate to
cross the Channel, the Belgian border or even leave the capital for a few
hours of pure happiness.
Much different than ballet music or even his opera inspired by Edgar Poe's
The Fall of the House of Usher, this new concert, packed with classic hits
that influenced superstars such as David Bowie and Peter Gabriel, was
confirmed by a howling and yet soft voice.
This Stakhanovism of rock music, untiring worker of words and music, Peter
Hammill remained last night the outsider, impossible to categorize,
worshiped by a certain Johnny Rotten, singer of the Sex Pistols.
Crazed singer, eccentric genius, he leaves a permanent mark on the stage of
the Grand Mix.
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