At the Halle aux grains in Toulouse, Stephan Eicher on the heights of beauty
1,200 Toulouse residents fell under the spell of the Swiss singer and his group at the Halle aux grains on Monday January 16, during a concert organized outside the walls by Odyssud.
It is in a very original device that Stephan Eicher presented himself to the Toulouse public on Monday evening, accompanied by three musicians gathered around a solid wooden table decorated with candles. Mountain refuge atmosphere – Swiss, of course – conducive to the intimate exchange of the greatest beauty. Because it is this word that most often comes to mind throughout the concert: beauty of the melodies (by Stephan Eicher) and the texts (by Philippe Djian); beauty of the acoustic arrangements and the playing of the musicians. Switching from guitar to bass and – occasionally – drums, Simon Gerber from the Jura is teased by his Swiss neighbor (who knows how to be extremely funny between songs). He exudes immediate sympathy. On piano, keyboards and programming, Reyn (accomplice of the singer on his latest album, “Ode”) weaves a suite of devilishly delightful sounds. Noemie Von Felten brings something unique to the atmosphere with her magic harp.
This original set turns the emblem upside down with “Sans contact”, the first title of the concert and the last disc. Album that Stephan Eicher explores in all its splendor with other magnificent titles like “Around your neck”, “I would lie to you saying” or “Sweet back”. He does not forget the thirty-year-old classics, always cheerful, which are: “Pas d’ami (like you)”, “Ups, downs”, “Lunch in peace” or, in piano-voice version, the sublime “You owe me nothing”.
To Eicher, we owe him a lot: so many hours, dreamers, listening and so many beautiful evenings shared with him.