TEN YEARS AFTER
La Locomotive - Paris, France
December 7, 2008

	Ten Years After was the last of the concerts I attended in 2008. On the same night there were In Extremo and The Apokalyptischen Reiter playing in Vauréal, a few miles away from Paris. I like all those three bands but I had never seen the legendary Ten years After before, so I thought this was my chance. Hey! This band played Woodstock! They’re a living legend, and I certainly didn’t want to miss them! Jesus Volt was the opening act. To my surprise, the Locomotive was almost full on that night. Not sold out, but there were a lot of people.
	The median age had to be something around 30: there were a lot of people over 40 and 50, but some of them with their 10 year old children. What a great family night out, don’t you think? When seeing all those young kids headbanging while Ten Years After played songs composed more than 25 years before they were born, the first thing that came to my mind was “Rock n’Roll is certainly not dead!”.
	The band had a great and clear sound. Even some subtle keyboard melodies could be heard clearly. About the lights, they were very good too, changing colours on each song. As you know, Alvin Lee is not part of the band anymore, but Joe Goodch does his job the best he can. He sings well and he’s an amazing guitar player. His solos and the sound he gets out of his Stratocaster are amazing. He’s a great musician but he’s not a great frontman. He lacks a bit of charisma.
	Leo Lyons is an amazing bass player on stage. Even if you don’t know the band, when you see his face you already know that he plays bass! It’s like Roger Glover from Deep Purple or Geezer Butler from Back Sabbath: I don’t know why but when you see them you know they’re the bassists. He leads the songs through his rhythm, giving them strength and swing.
	Chick Churchill’s keyboard player replies to Joe Goodch’s guitar for the melodies. His sound was very clear and the keyboard solos were great too. I think sometimes he’s like to play guitar: When a song has not a keyboard part he plays Air Guitar, sometimes even in the middle of the stage.
	Rick Lee is absolutely amazing. He drumming is fast, precise and sometimes it’s almost metal. The song The Hobbit is mainly a drum solo and he captivated the audience with it. Sometimes drum solos are boring. Not with Ten Years After.
	Besides their own songs, they didn’t hesitate to insert in the solos a few well-known excerpts of Rock N’Roll highlights, mostly from Elvis and Chuck Berry. After they finished the last song, I’ve never heard the audience at La Locomotive yelling so loud for an encore. Everyone wanted another one, and of course they came back for more: a long 3 song encore.
	At the end of the show all band members went to the merchandising stall for a signing session. This was an unexpected move from such a legendary band, and I course I didn’t miss my chance to get my albums signed. I also spoke for a few minutes with Leo Lyons and exchanged a few words with the other band members. An unforgettable evening with almost two hours of great Rock. The last concert of the year couldn’t have been better.
	Setlist Ten Years After – La Locomotive - Paris, France – December 7, 2008 01. Working On The Road 02. King Of The Blues 03. Hear Me Calling 04. Angry Words 05. Big Black 45 06. 50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain 07. The Hobbit 08. Love Like A Man 09. Slip Slid Away 10. I'd love to change the world ——————————————————— 11. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl 12. I can't keep from Crying sometimes 13. I'm Going Home Ten Years After Line-up Joe Goodch – Lead Vocals, Guitar Leo Lyons – Bass Chick Curchill - Keyboards Ric Lee – Drums Share on Facebook Bookmark Google
	Links: Ten Years After Website Ten Years After My Space Ten Years After on Metal Traveller's Flickr