As soon as the doors opened, I took up my position, and it turned out to be
an ideal one! I was in the front row (leaning against the barrier!), and
right in front of the guitarist for these two months: Dawayne Bailey
(ex-Chicago).
The show was due to start at 20h30, by which time there were about 4000 of
us waiting for the curtain to be lifted. In fact, the music didn't begin
until 20h49 (I had a watch on it!) and 30 seconds later, the curtain was
released to fall to the ground - and there was Véro - centre stage with her
guitar, rocking to "On m'attend là bas". The place was hysterical, as
expected! This also gave Dawayne an immediate chance to introduce his
amazing banana fingers which fly all over the fretboard!
The stage setting was very effective, without it being an overkill. We saw
four towering while pilars, with a huge globe floating high above centre
stage. There wasn't too much colour in the lighting, and this fitted in
perfectly with the 'planetary' set! Talking of technicalities, the sound
was perfectly focussed, equalized, mixed, balanced, call it what you want -
Véro's voice sounded so strong, clear, and pitch perfect!
The tempo was quite rocky for the first part of the concert. It was really
great to hear again Paranoia, Le Maudit, and from her new album, Un amour
qui m'irait bien. Bahia sounded great with less synths than in the 93/4
tours, and a great audience participation song. Participation continued
with Mon Voisin. Now a favourite part of Véro's shows, the first half
closed off with the essential Sera tu là - sung so full of emotion and
beautiful. It was 21h40 and time for the band to take a 30-minute break.

Back they came for the second half to a Besoin de Personne which was the
best rendition I've ever heard. The three backing singers Véro brought
into her band helped to make the sound hallucinating! (namely Aaron Heff,
Martine Bernard, and Rachel Jeanty). Talking of members of the band, gone
were the English guitarist and drummer who were replaced by Philippe Osman
and Curt Bisquera. Familiar faces were found in the brass section: Lon
Price, Lee Thornburg, and Nick Lane. Hervé Le Duc and Lee Sklar, also well
known to Véro fans completed the line up on keyboards and bass, along with
the pre-mentioned (and incredibly good) Dawayne Bailey on lead guitar. All
the band members received personal intro's and thanks from Véro during the
second half of the show.

The nice surprise in the song list has to be "Dieu", aka Allah. This is
the first time I've heard this song live, and it's the sort of song that's
just got to be included. I don't know if it was force of habit or
intentional, but midway through the song, "Dieu" was reverted back to
"Allah" as per the original! Indestructible was a moment of sheer magic -
reminds me of Queen's 80s song "Flash"... because of the Aaaahhhhh! bit at
the end - which slides in even better live! Hotel Biron followed on - with
less guitar, and more brass than the album version. Other oldies which
resurfaced in Véro's live show and were a real pleasure to hear again
included: C'est long c'est court and Féminin.

The show ended with a few slower numbers with just Véro and her piano
including Amoureuse, and Ma Reverence. At 23h30 it was time for the final
goodbye, and the famous wave from behind signalled the end of a truly
memorable evening, and one I will cherish for a long time to come...
Indestructible - Aaaahhh!!!