livetransbordeurlyon

>The Strokes at The Transbordeur, Lyon France (13-03-02)
by Morgane
(how I officially fell in love with The Strokes)

I was so excited at the idea of going to this gig that I had almost forgotten I do not live in Lyon, and I don't even live near Lyon. No need to tell you my life but actually the date of this concert, though it was a wednesday which means I was supposed to be working my ass off at uni, was perfect. I absolutely needed to go out of all this shit so my friend Marie & I just bought ticket trains for Lyon.
I didn't know the impact of The Strokes in France yet so I didn't know how the crowd would be like, how many people would there be and so on. I also had never been to the Transbordeur, which is a famous venue down here but as I don't live in Lyon I had no reason to go there. The people, the roadies, the staff were really really really nice.

There first were a french band called W4 or something that played for 8:30pm on ... I didn't know what to do so I sat on a balcony and watched them play drinking beer, and looking at the people around me. They were almost all dressed with vintage jeans and converse shoes, that was pretty funny. There also were this guy who looked a lot like Nikolai with a Ramones shirt. That band didn't interess me and I thought there were only one band opening but no ... I was on the mosh pit waiting for The Strokes but it was Stereo Total, a british (german ?) boy with a french girl singing some disco-old rock-electronic music with some really WEIRD lyrics. That was funny. They dedicated their last song "sex is better at three" to The Strokes, I don't know how the boys reacted.

They stopped playing at 10pm and the roadies of The Strokes entered the stage and arranged the material ... that was absolutely fantasting ... I love Albert's guitar, the Gibson white one. A guy who looked a lot like Fab and who was taking care of the drums came in and everyone thought it was him so you could hear screams and yells, he had old jeans, a green shirt and an afro, he was sitting behind a drum machine ... but it wasn't Fab ; the guy just thought it was great to have a glory moment so he kept on passing throughout the stage pretending he was Fab. The Strokes were either eating or drinking beer or wanting us to scream we loved them, because it took them more than half an hour to enter the stage. Meanwhile we had heard the whole discography of Michael Jackson. The atmosphere was nice, everyone was talking to everyone, you could hear french, english and german being spoken, and the crowd went on growing bigger and bigger. I was in the fourth row and began to be really strangled. And then they arrived !!! Albert first, then Julian, then Fab and Nick, then Nikolai. I think it's the exact setlist, but I don't remember it exactly ... all my apologies for any mistakes :

Meet me in the bathroom
Soma
"ze newie"
Hard to explain
Is this it ?
Someday
Alone, together
Barely legal
New York City Cops
When it started
Last Nite
Trying your luck
Take it or leave it

It was cool to see those huge fans here in France. I only knew british or american ones before. The biggest moment was "NYCC", that was sung by the whole crowd as an anthem, and Albert was laughing cuz he couldn't believe it. Yep, during Hard To Explain I was lacking of air, there were no enough room for everyone. A lot of people were being evacuated by the security, and some security guy lended me a hand to come and go out, but he just led me to the front row. I could then put my hand on the fence and have a support. If it wasn't for him, I could have touched Albert's pants !! I was so close from them !!! I didn't know I could have come so close before otherwise I would have taken a camera, but loads of girls lost theirs during the show. Well, Julian seemed to be fine, his wonderful jacket was all torn in the back. He thanked W4 and Stereo Total in french, without no particular accent ! He sang it all perfectly. I screamed the lyrics at the top of my lungs, and once yelled at Albert he was the best one (and I think I won a glance and a smile, but I'm not sure. though no one were closer than me ?!) When Julian announced Take it or leave it ("this is the last song"), everyone screamed "no ! this is not the last !!" but after the song they just waved and went out. I wish they would have performed "The Modern Age" for an encore but the guys of the security just said they weren't doing anymore songs. There were an after party on some boat later on but my friend and I not knowing the city we didn't know how to go there, and the people we had met at the show were just going back home. The set was a bit short for my liking, but they have not these many songs yet, so I wish for a new album and longer live shows in the future !

Here's the show in numbers :
* 25 persons evacuated by the security
* 2 people thrown out of the venue (they were almost having sex in the mosh pit)
* 2500 persons almost, 2499 of them being on the mosh pit and pressuring my back (thanks for my Eastpak for protecting it)
* around 2500, too, packs of Malboro
* 787 bottles of beer (some of them being The Strokes' ones, we counted 10 bottles on stage, never ever saw a drummer drinking as much as Fab)
* 7 creased tendons in my legs
* 12 bruises on my shoulders and back
* 12 new friends
* 1 lost sweater
* 1 found sweater
* 1 chocolate sandwich offered
* 5 Strokes = one pure night of happiness

then ...
I had never been so tired. The Strokes are way better than sex. It had been one of my most wonderful concerts (though I have a record of 150 concerts in my whole life, including some big shows as U2 or Muse). I officially fell in love with The Strokes yesterday. There were something in Julian's eyes when he was singing I absolutely needed to see. I noticed Albert had a lot of fun playing and that's so nice to see someone being pleased to offer you something. There were a real exchange between the band and the audience. This concert fit perfectly in the shedule when I needed to go out and have a break cuz I was on the verge of cracking up, and The Strokes, even if I can sound cliché and weird or even stupid, I don't care ; they gave me something I needed, some kind of accepting the world the way it is, a resolution, and seeing things under a different point of view. My only deception is in the fact I hadn't met them ; I only wanted to to thank them, to tell them how much I'm grateful for what they've done. Maybe if I had been to the concert two weeks sooner it wouldn't have been seen this way, but I wish they'd know how much music can mean for some people (like me, and loads of other ones). In the lyrics I found how to behave later not to be hurt too much, in the live music (cause yeah, it's all in the stage) I found how to be calmed down, how to have fun, how being comforted by some five buddies playing their instruments the best they can. At this very moment Albert has probably forgotten the girl that was right in front of him totally captivated by his playing, but I'd never forget his glance - man, I've never had such a reciprocity with someone. Julian has probably forgotten my hand, but I'll never forget his glance either : there's something in the moment, I don't know ; something that you don't even care of, something you do naturally, but you know it can mean someone in the person in front of you. That's what I love in live music : the exchange between the band and the audience. And this night, it was at its best. The Strokes know how to make us feel good and to make us have a good moment. And for that ...
THANK YOU, GUYS !!!

~Morgane