Valken and Horse at Quai des Brumes August 2nd

I came in, quai des brumes, another night of late night drinks and loud music while waiting for a note or riff that'll shake me to the core. On August 2nd, the bands onstage were Valken and Horse. 

It was Sunday, I was tired, burned out, aching for sips of beer that could wage away my worries. A friend lifted me to the show. Upon arrival, I met other friends we talked, we laughed and by the time we were inside, I managed to get what I came for, a drink, two, maybe more. Suddenly, a loud thundering riffs breaks through. My eyes runs around looking for the source, and there it is, on stage, four guys, looking like a cross over from Gun's N' Roses and Led Zeppelin. The singer has short hair with a bandana, the lead guitarist pises woth his magnificient Alice In Chains like long dark hair. The drummer has a Dazed andConfused hippie hard looking style. The name of the band is Valken. The meaning behind the name is falcons in dutch. Their set would prove me one thing, they surely sore high and mighty as such falcons, at least those I've seen in America. Their first song oozed with a Led Zeppelinesque aura, strong thundering drums, a hard paced riff played slightly freely a la Jimmy Page onstage with veins filled to the brim with Bourbon or whatever the fuck he drank. Valken's debut of set was fierce, yet one thing lacked, a voice to support such string play and skin pummeling. The singer , guitarist and bassist exchange singing duty but none had quite the needed touch. Not to say it was bad, it was great, but it could be better and more poignant. The basslines were groovy, the songs lyrics were quite rocky and left me with an impression that somehow rock wasn't dead. Thats until they played a cover of Karkwa. Of course they did it for fun, they do different cover according to the bassist, but according to me, I couldn't understand the interest. Louis-Jean Cormier is no rocker, maybe the young band just wants to play music and don't care about their image, but personally I'd stick with rock n roll covers. Tears for fears back then had to fight hard to become praised rockers, and I believe that Valken should do the same, ditching the heroin part of the story of course. But their looks and playing ushered the rebirth of ferocious untamed rock, but then again that's my projection of it all. To be truthful, their set was cool, it started in a high note, it ended a bit dreadfully, I felt it could have bumped harder, but overall they are a truly promising band!

Next up came Horse. A band I've known for a while. A band whose been searching for its place onstage. On August 2nd, they found their sound and image or atleast consolidated it. The singer wore glasses on stage, looking like Lou Reed. They went song to song, discharging their lyrics on us with no care. They came to set a score, to prove that they belonged onstage. It'd been a while they hadn't been onstage so tonight was the night to ring back the bell and claim their place. The singers raw voice chained to his loud shoegazy spacy chords supported by bass and drums was a charm. Some songs reminded me of Lou Reed a bit, stories of love and grace. Some more rock, some more indie like with soft rounded chords and grooves. Yet not too poetic, avoiding the Leonard Cohen style. The band onstage are young and hungry, their music lacks a bit of angst but soon it'll be clear and hard. I believe by the time they relase new material, this horse will be riding fast down the track. So keep your eyes open, place your bets on Horse, for sooner or later, I believe they'll get everyone's jaw to drop. To get an idea, go stream their single Burn The Bridges

Thanks for reading and none of the bands have yet announced another date . Goodnight. 🌞✌️