Rage was finally back in Paris. As I missed their last show here in 2006 and I haven't been to the festivals they've recently played, this was my first Rage show since 2004.

Mike Terrana isn't part of the band anymore, so this was also the first time I saw Rage with a different Line Up.

There were maybe some 600 people attending the show. Although the show wasn’t sold out, the Nouveau Casino looked almost full.

The sound was loud but clean. They started with two songs from their excellent new album "Carved In Stone": "Carved in Stone" and "Drop Dead". They sounded very good on stage.

Then came the first surprise of the evening, the opener from the "End Of All Days" album "Under Control". This is one my all-time favourites Rage songs and it was the first time I heard it live. They didn’t play that one on the long Christmas show in Bochum in 2002 nor at the 20 Years Tour in 2004.

Then we had the already classics “Souundchaser” and “Days Of December”, followed by one of my favourite tunes: “Refuge”.

It was time for another new song…and another surprise. The singer Jen Majura, who works with Rage at the Unity Music School, went on stage to sing “Lord Of The Flies”. She also sings on the album and you can see her on the Video Clip of that song.

The light for this song was very dark, but right after the lights changed they played “Dies Irae”. It was an amazing version of that tune, also sung by Jen.

After a few virtuoso moments with amazing guitar solos came another classic, “Down”, one of Rage’s live favourites, followed by “Set This World on Fire”. The band was at the top, they sounded amazing. For the last song they started to play “Long Hard Road”, but they inserted two of the songs that the audience loves to sing: “Higher Than The Sky” and “Don’t Fear the Winter”. Of course the response of the audience was great, singing very loud the refrains.

Rage has so many good albums and songs that even an hour and 45 minutes seems short. They came out for the encores and played “Open My Grave” and “Straight To Hell”. Two more great songs, even if I think that “Straight To Hell” isn’t the best song to end a set.

Anyway, this was another great Rage show. The new drummer, André Hilgers is absolutely great, but I have to tell you that I missed Mike Terrana, I love his attitude and of course, his playing.

Jen Majura was at the merchandising stand. There you could find the usual stuff: T-shirts, Long sleeve shirts, the new CD+DVD, André Hilgers' signature sticks, Victor Smolski pics …and a banana with the Rage logo signed by the band! The price was 25 000, but didn’t mentioned the currency! Hey, it was almost April fool’s day! Jen kindly gave it to me for a couple of pictures, and told me I could keep it. Well, it’s a collector item, for sure, but I finally ate it. After Metalium Energy Drinks and JBO beer, we have Rage Bananas!

Two hours of Rage, another great show from the band.

 

Rage Set list: Paris, Nouveau Casino, April 2 2008.

1. Carved in Stone
2. Drop Dead !
3. Under Control
4. Soundchaser
5. Days Of December
6. Refuge
7. Lord Of the Flies (With Jen Majura)
8. Dies Irae (With Jen Majura)
9. Beauty
10. One More Time
11. Lost in The Void
12. No regrets
13. Guitar Solo
14. Unity
15. Down
16. Set This World On Fire
17. Medley :
1. Long Hard Road
2. Higher Than The Sky
3. Don’t Fear The Winter
18. Open My Grave
19. Straight To Hell