Nous Non Plus, Hey Willpower (Cafe Du Nord, 30 March 2006)

This day was the half-way point for Noise Pop. And thank goodness. I'm exhausted from seeing all these shows. That's not to say that I'm not having any fun ('cos I am!), but working 9 to 5 plus seeing these shows everyday is taking its toll. And I'm not old either, so let's can the age jokes, okay?

With all these rock shows going on, it's nice to hear some good 'ol indie pop/dance action shows. Hey Willpower is just the cure for that ailment. I've seen them many, many times (most recently on Valentine's Day) and I'm really familiar with their songs and their dance routines. I thought I was going to be bored at this show, but I was proven wrong yet again. Will and Tomo were accompanied by their fabulous back-up dancers and played in front of a sold out crowd. The crowd absolutely ate up the R&B type tracks like "Hundredaire," did the imaginary chop-chop knife arm action with "Double Fantasy," and danced like mad during "Magic Window." The crowd were so into it, that a couple of them decided to join Will and Co. on stage. However, they were promptly kicked out by security. They ended their set with "Uh-Uh-Uh," where Will encouraged the crowd to jump during the "jump the floor" part and do some leg kicks during "uh-uh-uh." And encouraged they were. I've never seen a Hey Willpower show like tonight's! The crowd was so mad for it (and drunk) that it was really enjoyable.

Nous Non Plus were next. They are better known as Les Sans Culottes, but they had to abandon that name because of some argument they had with an ex-member (who just so happens to be a lawyer). Although the crowd wasn't as large as Hey Willpower, they were still well received. They opened up with "Allo, Allo (Hello I Love You)", which is a Les Sans Culottes song. During that time, Celine Dijon was strutting her stuff while guitarist and singer Clermont Ferrand engaged in entertaining banter with the audience. For example, Clermont declared that the next song, "Lawnmower Boy" was about oral sex. Also, he said that the cover of their album was actually Celine Dijon in underwear (which some of the men in audience yelling "oooh-la la!") I honestly wasn't into the novelty until they started doing covers. I got into their set when they covered the Unicorn's "Tuff Ghost" in French and Nena's "99 Luftballoons" in German as encores.

Beer Rating: 1/2