Can: Triumphzug durch Frankreich

Can: Triumphal procession through France

The Cologne avant-garde rock formation Can remains fully in action even after the departure of singer Damo Suzuki. A tour of France at the end of last year became a triumphant success for Irmin Schmidt (keyboard), Michael Karoli (guitar), Holger Czukay (bass) and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). Can's performance on 25.11. at the Olympia in Paris was a promising start: Without the slightest poster advertising, the concert was very well attended. Totally overwhelmed by the stunning rhythm, Michael Karoli's long guitar improvisations and Irmin Schmidt's hand edge acrobatics on the keyboards of organ and electronic devices, the audience demanded encore after encore. After over an hour of extra time Can left a stomping and clapping audience behind. That was how it was in Paris, and that is how it would continue increasingly on the following stops on the tour: A roaring audience in Nantes, Brest, Reimes and Bordeaux, where there is even a club named after Can. After a small low in Marseille and another concert in Montpellier, the absolute highlight of the tour came in Grenoble. The "Amphi Louis Raymond" hall at the university had twice as many people in the concert hall as were allowed. Already in the first part of the concert, the crowd climbed onto their seats, raised their arms and writhed like a bunch of worms.  Can transformed the hall into a sizzling cauldron. Irmin: "I have never experienced anything like that in my whole life. You have to imagine it: There you stand on stage, facing hundreds of people who completely lose their minds. The French have gone completely crazy - we almost got the fear. Towards the end of the concert, they gave out long, pointed screams - screamed like monkeys." After a performance in Annecy, Troyes followed. Again, total enthusiasm. The audience came on stage and stomped like mad. Considering the construction of the stage, it had to be stopped after the fourth encore...concert will be stopped after the fourth encore... At the "Nanterre Faculté" on December 10th the second concert of Can in Paris took place. Irmin, Michael, and Jaki convinced the audience, which is known to be particularly critical here: five highly cheered encores. With another concert in Lille, Can ended their triumphant tour on December 11th, they were "like God in France".