BLACKRAIN (Live)

Live at L'Ilyade, Seyssinet, Grenoble. France. September 27, 2024.

Blackrain live at l'Ilyade, Seyssinet, Grenoble, France. September 27, 2024
photo: Séverine Peraldino

Founded almost twenty years ago, Blackrain is the spearhead of Glam Metal in France. It had also been quite a long time since their last show in Grenoble. So to celebrate a new milestone in their career and a lineup change, they teamed up with Metallian Production for a dishevelled evening with local bands Electric Shock and Whisky Of Blood.

Electric Shock

After some time without seeing them on stage, Electric Shock took the opportunity of this evening to show their audience they were ready to go back with full force. The band plays a classic Hard Rock that pays tribute to the great bands of the genre. They played a mix of old and new songs such as “Lost Railroad” from Blow It Off (2023).

Whisky Of Blood

Whisky of Blood has adopted “Sex, drugs, and Rock N’ Roll” as their true credo for the past years. Joining the party, it was the occasion for them to release their third album Diablesse of Revolution, and to take things up a notch. Having a dancer on stage pouring whisky to the first rows certainly helps… The band still also had some serious rocking tunes like “Minister Of God” from the new album and their now classic “Humanity Must Be Destroyed By Rock N’ Roll”.

Blackrain

Recruiting Franky Costanza is probably one of the best ideas Blackrain ever had, his presence on stage is the guarantee for a kick-ass show. After years spent with Dagoba, he brings out the heaviest side of Blackrain. “Untamed” worked very well as an opening song and the band went through a series of their most celebrated hits like “Wild Wild Wild” before taking some time to preach to the audience.

Swan, charismatic as ever in the role of the ride-or-die frontman, tried to convince them to give up on their way of sins, but if it meant giving up on Rock N’ Roll, that’s something the good people of Grenoble are not quite ready to do. All the same “Summer Jesus” appeared on stage to distribute not communion wafers but guitar picks. This version of Jesus was already familiar to a part of the audience. Indeed, this evening was the farewell show of lead guitarist Max 2 who will be replaced by Jeremie G who soon left his religious garb for a more appropriate guitar hero attire. The new recruit stayed for most of the set, already proving he was a good choice.

Math behind the bass took the spotlight for the cover of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It”. As the saying applies, the best lovey-dovey ballads are from Hard Rock bands and “Nobody But You” is no exception. But the band went back to kick-ass songs for the end of the show. “Raise Your Glass”, “Death Drive” and “Neon Drift”(maybe not the most obvious choice) concluded a pretty great show. With Swan in good vocal shape and a clever setlist, the evening was a successful lesson in Rock N’ Roll and proved that Blackrain is not past its prime.

Author

  • Séverine Peraldino

    Reviewer, interviewer and apprentice photographer for Metal Express Radio, Séverine comes from a small place in the Southern French Alps, near Grenoble. Her taste for classic Heavy Metal is a family heritage and after growing up listening to Iron Maiden, Dio, Metallica and Angra she expanded her horizons with almost every subgenre of Metal, from Power, to Prog, a little bit of Death and Black Metal. She mostly enjoys albums telling stories with originality. When she is not travelling around for concerts and festivals, you can find her reading a good book, or playing board games with friends.

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