Event:	Textures: France/Spain Tour
Written by:	Darkside Momo
Published:	08.05.2012
Galleries:	Textures In Toulouse, 01/04/12 by Darkside Momo (10)

First of April? Is that some kind of a joke? Well it ain't. While all of MS had a delightful April's fools time, I was moving home, so I was late and tired when I finally arrived at the Connexion Café, a venue in Toulouse's town center.

Less than 200 people (I guess) showed up on this sunday evening, but the mood was good and the audience quite reactive - for Textures at last, as you'll see. The sound was correct but not awesome (unsurprisingly, it didn't really do justice to Uneven Structure's more ambiant parts), thankfully is was no muddy shit either.


Outcast

I missed most of their set eating a kekab outside (I couldn't get in with it, you know), so I'm sorry, you won't have any photos. I was told they used to play some death metal, but live their music sounded more in groove thrash vein. The few parts I've heard weren't bad, I must say!


Uneven Structure

MSA nominees for their first album Februus released last year, Uneven Structure were quite impressive. The band was only a four-piece in this live setting, with a singer, two guitars, and drums. No bass, no, but I can assure you the sound was heavy enough. There was great musicianship all around, to be sure, but the most stunning of them four has to be Matthieu, the vocalist. He's really versatile, switching from his soft clean vocals or harsher ones with ease, and his voice is clean and powerful. Quite a beast!

Most of the audience didn't knew them, it seems, as everyone was pretty static, even if the performance was greeting with cheers. Uneven Structure already aren't bad as a live band, but they still come across as quite 'green'. The stark contrast between their lack of experience in the live setting and the complexity and achievement of their music was a bit funny, I must say.

Anyway, they confirmed this evening that they were a really promising band... Check them out if you haven't already!



Textures

For all I know, it was their first time ever in Toulouse. Heck, when Daniel asked if anyone had already seen them live, there were, what, three or four arms in the air? So yeah, that wasn't a show to be missed; Textures are quite rare live, which is definitely a shame seeing how excellent they are on stage.

Yep, they're fantastic. OK, I know I'm a fan, but the band did play with a lot of energy and passion, which got pretty quickly answered by the audience. The fans here moshed, headbanged, even sung a lot (you'll have to admit that's quite a daunting task), particularly on the stellar "Awake". I can't say how Erik Kalsbeek was, but Daniel de Jongh is for sure a great frontman, quite charismatic and even putting Uneven Structure's Matthieu to shame with his ease at changing styles.

The setlist was close to perfection. Starting with "Surreal State Of Enlightenment", the band treated us to a real best-of, with Drawing Circles ("Regenesis", "Millstone"...), Silhouettes ("Storm Warning", "Old Days Born Anew"...) and Dualism ("Sanguine Draws the Oath"...) almost equally represented. And then, the encore finished all those who were still standing, with a killer trio: "Reaching Home", "Singularity", and "Lament Of An Icarus".

Yes, it can be surprising that such a technical and somewhat not-listener friendly music received such a warm welcome... And warm is an understatement; 'boiling hot' is closer to the truth. But the fact is that Textures's music, served by a passionate band, goes along very well in the live setting. So, do yourself a favor, go check them out next time they play near you! (For Frenchies, this'll be at the Motocultor fest)



Many thanks to Marge and Les Souffleurs de Têtes for the press pass and for inviting Textures in Toulouse!