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thebibliomancer · 3 years

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Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #9: HOT PURSUIT

June, 1986

I feeeel like villain portrayed giant looms over heroes is a common type of comic book cover but I don’t believe I’ve seen it in Avengers in a hot minute.

Anyway.

Last time on West Coast Avengers: some dick called Master Pandemonium attacked a woman called Firebird, who crashed down near West Coast Avengers Compound. Then he attacked the Thing while the Thing was hanging out with Wonder Man, which made it a West Coast Avengers problem.

Also, Tigra has been struggling with the disunity between her human and cat souls so went to cat world to talk to the cat king who agreed to help her if she’d do a murder on Master Pandemonium. So its doubly a West Coast Avengers problem but Tigra hasn’t told the others because of that ‘heroes don’t kill’ thing.

But last last time on West Coast Avengers, Firebird got tired of waiting around for her invitation to the West Coast Avengers and inspired by god, decided to reunite her old team, the Rangers.

Except they were all possessed by a demon who was pretending to be Shooting Star. Or rather, the demon claimed that she was always Shooting Star and Shooting Star has never not been a demon. The demon also had a lead on Master Pandemonium and Master P is on the cover so I’d bet the Avengers (West Coast) have convinced Shooting Star the demon to share the deets.

Or maybe Shooting Star completely escaped between issues.

Sure! A lot can happen in a month.

Shooting Star, running away from the West Coast Avengers and doing such a good job that they don’t actually show up to chase her, meets up with Master Pandemonium.

He scolds her for making him wait and then ushers her inside a building.

Once inside, Master Pandemonium immediately starts yelling at her about how much he hates demons.

As ya do.

He also pops off his arms to guard the door slash explain his powers to Shooting Star.

Then demands to know how she got caught by the West Coast Avengers.

Shooting Star begins to tell her tale in her accent while secretly activating a radio beacon on her belt.

Which signals her location to the West Coast Avengers who are flying above the city waiting for said signal.

Ah ha, I see. The demon turned mole.

No, no. That would be too easy. Let’s get wilder with it.

As the West Coast Avengers and guests Firebird and the Thing fly to Shooting Star’s signal, Hawkeye flashbacks to after the previous issue.

After demon Shooting Star was captured, Tigra proclaimed this the break they were waiting for.

Hawkeye agreed, so told the Rangers the West Coast Avengers had dibs and could they kindly just not get involved.

Hawkeye: “Listen, Rangers -- I’m not big on armies, so how about lettin’ the West Coast Avengers have first shot at the guy?”

This is the kind of request that can prick egos and cause dick waving, just from wounded vanity at being asked not to get involved.

But it turns out that the Rangers just really hate being the Rangers.

They do not want to be a team at all.

Red Wolf offers at most a pity team-up. That he doesn’t want to be part of a team but if its for the sake of friends, he guesses he can suck it up.

Firebird: “Still, I was hoping for more than a sense of duty when I called you, Red Wolf! If you really don’t want to form the team I dreamed of, I would rather seek this villain with the team I know!”

You know that thing where trying to make someone jealous backfires and you have to furiously backpedal?

That seems to be what’s going on right now.

I CANNOT believe god gave Firebird bad advice.

Mockingbird cheers Firebird coming back to team Avengers, even if not on team Avengers. And Mockingbird also has a plan.

Since she’s a former SHIELD agent with all kinds of espionage skills out the wazoo, and also since she’s blonde and all women look the same in comics, she proposes she go undercover disguised as Shooting Star and lure out Master Pandemonium.

Hawkeye objects since Mockingbird hasn’t worked alone since she joined the Avengers (and probably since she and Clint got married) but she just replies “So there’s another reason to do it!”

Oof.

At least Hawkeye can take solace in his second great love.

Badgering the Thing into joining the team.

When Hawkeye invites Ben on the mission, Ben doesn’t throw in a comment about how he’s not joining the team not no way not no how.

This is progress!

Also, poor Shooting Star the demon. Worked hard on that humansona and they’re just taking it to use as a disguise. And Bobbi is going to steal the accent too. My god.

The explanation that “Shooting Star” in this issue was Bobbi does add a thing to the story. But it makes some of the narrative captions, which explicitly identified “Shooting Star” as a demon, into lies.

And you can lie to a guy whose limbs are demons but lying to the audience is just low, comic.

Anyway.

Master Pandemonium’s right hand demon sees the (West Coast) Avengers coming and warns Master P.

Master Pandemonium: “Curse them with a thousand names! Why must they intrude upon me a second time?”

He reabsorbs his arm demons, decides Shooting Star is coming with him too, and teleports away just as Wonder Man wonder mans through the door.

Once the West Coast Avengers arrive, they discover that wherever Mockingstar and Master Pandemonium vanished to, the tracking beacon Bobbi was carrying was left behind.

Firebird mentions that the sense of evil is dissipating so Hawkeye asks if she can track where it went.

No. Doesn’t work that way.

But she does explain that the beacon was left behind because mechanical objects aren’t affected by the teleport spell.

... Are not guns mechanical? And shouldn’t there be a pile of mechanical junk? I assume Mockingbird carries a lot of gadgets around with her.

But anyway.

Iron Man (yes, he’s here) mentions that he envies the Defenders having Dr. Strange on call but Tigra decides to show Iron Man and Wonder Man what they missed by not participating last issue.

And casts a spell of Summon Boyfriend

Spell of Booty Call.

Yeah, she memorized the spell that lets her summon that hunky cat guy she met and had chemistry with.

Anyone gonna make something of it?

And yes, she does summon her cat hunk and immediately put him to work.

Delightful.

I hope that this remains an arrow in Tigra’s quiver.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Master Pandemonium and “Shooting Star” arrive at some dungeon looking place.

Mockingbird asks if this is Master P’s secret lair and he retorts that demons aren’t allowed in his secret lair. This dungeon looking place is just a place he enjoys. Apparently.

He also starts raving about how pissed he is that the (West Coast) Avengers are trying to beat him up for some reason. He really hoped they got the hint in their last fight that he doesn’t want to waste time on them.

Buddy, you just do not know superheroes, do you?

Master Pandemonium: “Well, if I must defeat them once and for all, I will! I hate what fate makes me do -- but I will not be stopped! I am Pandemonium, Star -- it means ‘the abode of all the demons’! Legions swarm at my command -- and the single obstacle to my will was long since delivered into my hands! ... Or what I use for hands -- !”

That correction that his hands aren’t his hands is funny.

It’s like he had to do a mental backspace and go ‘oh shit that’s right, my hands is demons’

Mockingbird!Shooting Star asks if the thing is has is “one o’ them omelets” and I don’t know if she really doesn’t know or whether she’s playing dumb to annoy him into expositing.

If she is, IT WORKS!

He chair slumps into his stylish demon throne and sighs about the quality of help these days.

AND THEN EXPLAINS HIS ENTIRE BACKSTORY!

People in comics just know. Ya gotta narrate your entire backstory. It’s a convention for a reason.

Master Pandemonium backstorifies that once, he was the king of Hollywood. A darling of the silver screen for twenty-seven years. And he loved being a famous actor almost as much as he loved drunk driving.

Anyway.

Yeah, he crashed through the guardrail on a canyon road and flipped his car.

His life was saved by his seatbelt because even this dink knows to wear one but his arm got torn off at some point during the crash.

And who should arrive right when King of Hollywood was screaming his head off at the pain and at the realization that he’d borked his leading man career but Marvel’s most popular substitute-Satan, Mephisto!

This... is the funniest backstory.

So Mr. Martin Preston offers his soul or anything else to Mephisto if this clear devil-analogue will fix his arm.

Mephisto isn’t really impressed.

I mean, a measly soul? He’s got so many of those already...

But Preston begs so Mephisto relents. But decides to get creative with it.

Which he does by summoning a demon, ripping off its arm, and jamming it into Preston’s stump.

Which, by the way, hurt more than losing the dang thing in the first place.

And then Mephisto decides “Why stop with one...?” and by implication replaces Martin’s perfectly undamaged other limbs too!

I feel like there’s a lesson that can be gleaned from this. Don’t drink and drive is one. Uh, nail down the details of the deal before you deal with the devil?

Yeah, probably.

I sincerely love this backstory for how batshit ludicrous it is. Stupendous. Outstanding!

Back in the present, Master Pandemonium takes solace in what he has.

Master Pandemonium: “Well, as bad as things have become, I still retain a part of my humanity -- unlike you, demon!”

That’s the spirit?

Anyway, Mockingbird in disguise as Shooting Star feels a little bad for him after that absolutely ridiculous backstory. But to keep him talking, she says she knows why he hates demons now but asks why he brought her with him when he teleported away from the (West Coast) Avengers.

Master Pandemonium: “You were telling me of your time with Firebird! I had found traces of demonitry around her -- I thought she might be one of the Five -- but what if it were you?”

Mockingbird!Shooting Star: ‘oh poop’

It’s a train of thought that makes her very antsy and she hopes the Avengers arrive soon.

Neither she nor Master P notice the Balkatar lurking about, having tracked them down for Tigra.

Balkatar teleports back to the West Coast Avengers and tells them he found Mockingbird and Master Pandemonium! They’re in a building labeled three on Lamonica Boulevard and West Palmetto Avenue.

Which Tigra recognizes as an abandoned Anvil Pictures studio.

Huh. I guess that dungeon Master P enjoys hanging out is a movie studio. Makes sense with his backstory as a drunk driving actor!

Iron Man: “It’s a good thing some of us have spent time in L.A.! After all my years on Long Island, I still have trouble finding my way around out here!”

The Thing: “Ahh, don’t be one o’ them New York snobs, Shellhead! Take it from a guy who grew up on Yancy Street -- L.A.’s got L.I. beat hands down!”

Funny considering Ben is inevitably moving back to New York. As seen in seriously pick up a random FF comic from the past couple decades.

Anyway, Ben standing up for L.A. excites Hawkeye and he decides he’s going to try to badger him into joining the West Coast Avengers as soon as this mission wraps up.

While the West Coast Avengers and Firebird and the Thing scramble to head out, Balkatar holds Tigra back so he can tell her how proud he is of the way she’s seized the initiative in this killing Master Pandemonium thing.

The Balkatar: “The human side of you hasn’t dulled your killer instinct!”

Tigra: “I don’t have him in my clutches, yet!”

Secretly, she’s annoyed because she was hoping Balkatar would just kill Master Pandemonium himself and get her off the hook!

Which....... is not the letter or the spirit of the “Avengers don’t kill” thing, Tigra.

Arriving at the abandoned studio only takes a minute and a half and soon the West Coast Avengers and guests are storming studio building three.

But no sooner than Wonder Man points out that the equipment in the building looks new considering the studio has been abandoned for ten years, that the WCA (and guests) fall into a trap.

Trap doors opens beneath them and a giant fan swings into place and blows them down before they can try to fly back up.

The trap gets even more trap as the trap doors empty out into two separate chambers, splitting the Avengers and guests up.

Tigra, Firebird, and Hawkeye in one. Wonder Man, the Thing, and Iron Man in the other.

And both groups individually find that these chambers are well suited to hold superheroes.

Acid doesn’t mar the walls, Tigra’s claws can’t scratch them, Ben and Wonder Man’s muscles don’t dent them, Iron Man’s repulsors just push him back, and Firebird’s fire can’t melt them.

On both chambers, Master Pandemonium appears on a video screen to basically yell at the assembled and divided heroes.

Master Pandemonium: “If you truly thought me easy prey, you add insult to injury, Avengers! Cross me once and I might let you live, but cross me twice and you must die!”

Hawkeye: “Aw, don’t be cross, little boy!”

Ha.

Of course, Hawkeye is mostly just relieved that Mockingbird is alright, as he can see her as “Shooting Star” standing behind Master P.

And while Master Pandemonium is distracted expositing that he’s riddled this studio lot with deathtraps over the years, Mockingbird grabs the Amulet of Azmodeus from where he left it on his throne, whirls it around like nunchuks, and smacks him in the face with it.

Somewhat satisfying.

Master Pandemonium stumbles into the camera and the video feed cuts out.

Despite not having any reason to know that it would work, both groups decide that if Master Pandemonium is distracted, maybe the rooms aren’t escape proof anymore?

Wonder Man even bases it on ego. He’s so strong that the only thing that could stymie him is magic. SO he’s gotta be able to muscle out now!

And, yeah, Iron Man and Wonder Man can just peel the walls open now to let the Thing strut out.

In the other chamber, Firebird’s flames are suddenly able to melt the walls and she tells Tigra to jump through the molten hole.

To Tigra’s incredible incredulity.

Some tips for the future, Master P.

Don’t have your inescapable hero prison rely on a concentration spell. Set up some nice runes or just use one of those trendy super metals.

As soon as the heroes tear out of the room, they are beset by a small army of demons.

Many of whom can’t even pick their noses. So sad.

Anyway, the heroes immediately start kicking demon butt.

The Thing comments that Wonder Man has a fresh new can-do attitude and Wonder Man acknowledges that he’s finally letting himself grow into his powers.

Iron Man: “You sound like me when I was just starting out, Wondy! You never did when you really were starting out! Welcome to the Avengers, buddy!”

Iron Man: ‘Good on you for finally trying, bud!’

Anyway, these three powerhouses make easy work of the army of demons. To the Thing’s enthusiasm.

The Thing: Iron Man, Wonder Man, an’ me! This is great stuff!”

Wonder Man: “Does it mean we’re welcoming you to the ranks as well, big guy?”

The Thing: “I ain’t talkin’ -- at least, till we get done with clobberin’ time!”

Meanwhile, the other group of heroes.

Firebird, Tigra, and Hawkeye. Are not doing as well against the demons as the three big guns.

Doesn’t help that they decide to have a philosophical debate while fighting the demons.

Firebird: “One thing about my power -- it grows stronger the more evil I face!”

Tigra: “Can’t you talk about anything besides evil? What does morality matter when you’re fighting for your life?”

Hawkeye: “That’s a funny thing for an Avenger to say, Tigra!”

Firebird: “When one gives herself over to god, one does his work at all times, Tigra! Morality is life!”

Tigra: “Give me a break! I happen to believe in god myself, but life is for living, not for serving! Why don’t you just let your instincts take over sometime?”

Firebird: “Because man was given the ability to reason -- unlike cats!”

Hawkeye: “Uh, say, ladies, couldn’t we switch to politics or ethnic jokes? We may have Firebird and Mockingbird around here, but this isn’t the college of cardinals!”

Please don’t make any ethnic jokes, Hawkeye.

Although, I get the joke he’s making, desperately asking them to please switch to any other topic.

Because the conversation just barrels over him, he doesn’t even get a chance to follow up on Tigra saying morality doesn’t matter.

Anyway. Since the three of them can’t easily stomp an entire army of demons, Hawkeye uses some heavy explosive arrows to collapse a wall on the demons so the three heroes can get on their way.

But while they’re on their way down a dark passage, Tigra hears a psspsspss. WHICH A CAT CANNOT IGNORE!

Its her boyfriend/hunk-on-demand/servant? the Balkatar!

He found a shortcut to Master Pandemonium which he tells to Tigra and only to Tigra so she can do Master P a murder before the other heroes arrive.

Meanwhile, Mockingbird is still slapping Master Pandemonium with his amulet.

And it seems to be working because as she points out, he doesn’t seem to be able to pop off his demon limbs at her after she smacks him with it.

Master Pandemonium: “I don’t need demons to conquer a lone woman spy!”

Mockingbird: “You say ‘spy’ like its a dirty word -- but I’m proud to be a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent!”

Then she grabs Master Pandemonium mid-lunge and flips him to the ground.

Like despite what his guy apparently thinks about women, Mockingbird easily controls the fight.

Although, she does suffer a setback because she didn’t know about the star-shaped hole in his tumtum and kicks through it, giving him the opportunity to tackle her to the ground.

She still kicks his ass butt good because she has all the martial arts training and he was an actor man turned demonologist. While he was lounging broodily, she studied the kick.

Unfortunately, right when Mockingbird has Master Pandemonium pinned to the ground is when Tigra does a dynamic entry.

PLOW!

Cats really DO always land on their feet!

Anyway, Tigra missed the significance of the amulet. There’s even a bit where she asks what Mockingbird hit him with back when the heroes were stuck in those everything-proof hero-contaiment rooms.

So she ignores the amulet falling to the floor.

Instead she starts ranting about how she’s totally going to do him a murder.

Master Pandemonium: “You want to kill me, Avenger?”

Tigra: “No, I don’t want to -- but I have to if I want my soul back all to itself! And now that I’ve made that rational decision, I can let my instincts take over -- the instincts of a cat with a mouse!”

Master Pandemonium: “You talk in riddles, cat-woman!”

Careful. You’re going to get Marvel in trouble.

Master P asks if she’s talking about lost souls but Tigra says its about having too many souls. But her extra soul isn’t Master P’s and that’s the only one he cares about. So he darts away from her, grabs the amulet, and escapes through a portal.

Tigra: “No! You can’t do that! I’m ready to kill you! This isn’t fair!”

Good Job, Tigra!

You dropped the ball!

Mockingbird regains consciousness and assumes that one of Master Pandemonium’s demons sucker punched her. Tigra goes ahead and lets Mockingbird assume that.

Then the rest of the West Coast Avengers plus guests show up.

Firebird asks the real question of how Tigra got here ahead of them but Hawkeye tells her not to start fights because he’s just glad he’s reunited with Mockingbird.

But maybe he’s even happier about what happens next.

The Thing announces that he’s finally made up his mind and dangit, he IS going to join the West Coast Avengers!

Iron Man: “Congratulations, big guy! You’re finally going to amount to something!”

WOW TONY

Have you secretly hated the Fantastic Four this whole time?

The arm punch means its likely just friendly ribbing. But its a funny thing to say to one of the first published Marvel superheroes.

Everyone is happy for Ben except Firebird who is hanging off to the side of the panel being melancholic.

Her fall back team that she put together to make the Avengers jealous got possessed by demons and also never wanted to be a team. And right when she dumps them to hang out with the Avengers again, the tantalizing forever open spot on the roster gets filled.

Alas alas.

Still. I’m in favor of using characters outside their Iconic Context. Put Cyclops on the Avengers is the banner I wave. After xty decades, you have to mix things up, try new combinations. And the Thing on the West Coast Avengers because he’s mad at two out of Fantastic Three? That’s a concept that has me sitting up and taking notice.

I'm sure he’ll have a long and thrilling career as an Avenger.

Follow @essential-avengers if you too want new, interesting things. Like and reblog to let me know to keep doing posts.

#essential avengers #Avengers #West Coast Avengers #essential marvel liveblogging #Master Pandemonium #Tigra #Hawkeye #Mockingbird #Wonder Man #Iron Man #the Thing #Firebird #a new Avenger #but not a New Avenger #the most hilarious backstory of all time #someone does a bad job at superhero

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angelpancakes · 5 years

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Hi can you do a Raphael x reader where the s/o is taking a nap (or sleeping) and had a bad dream where Raphael cheating on the s/o. Then she wakes up from the bad dream in Raphael bed when Raphael walk in his bedroom (from working out, taking a shower, eating lunch whatever you want) and the s/o start interrogating him but he told her that he would never cheat on her and it end with a happy ending🥰😍🤩🤗😊💖💜❤️

OhMy, actually, other people requested a similar thing, and When I was re-reading part II of ‘Fuck you’ I was like;

Maybe I was too rude, I know it sucks but I think I crossed the line¿

I don’t know lol. Thanks for the request!💛

•

Waking up she looked around, praying for all to be just a nightmare, but when she saw she was alone in her bed, she realized it wasn’t.

“Fuck you, Raphael, fuck you, fuck this, fuck our relationship.” Her own words traveled across her hear over and over.

“I still can’t believe he cheated on me.” Y/N whispered.

The sun rays crossed her face giving her a golden glow, emphasizing her beautiful and soft features and her sad eyes. Walking towards the crib beside her bed, she picked up her Baby with a smile.

“Good Morning, sleeping Beauty.” Y/N kissed the little Baby’s cheek.

In the kitchen, while baby Rosalie was on her baby seat, Y/N was making breakfast. A strange feeling crossed her mind almost like a... Dèjá Vu? Looking at the window and the crowded streets of New York, she started feeding her daughter, feeling her heart crushed inside her chest.

“I can’t believe your father... Raphael cheated on me.” Rubbing her eyes she sighed. She didn’t remember anything, that hurt feeling was still inside her, maybe she was doomed to be in love with him even though she didn’t seem enough for him.

When the door opened and a tall silhouette crossed the room, Y/N stood up.

“Mornin’ Babe.” His Brooklyn accent! What he was doing there! “See yar awake.” Y/N stood in the kitchen shocked. “And Sleepin’ beauty it’s awake too.” Smiling he kissed Rosalie’s cheek and the infant laughed.

“What are you doing here?” Was he serious? He cheats on her and then appears like nothing’s going on?

“What do ya mean?” Raphael gave her a strange look. “I live here, with ya.”

“Really funny you idiot!” Her eyes watered and well he was confused. “You think you can cheat on me, break my heart, and then appear like nothing’s going on!?”

“Y/N, What are ya talking about?” Raphael walked closet to her.

“Stay away from me!” Y/N cried and Rosalie cried too. “I will never forgive how you cheated on me!”

“Goddamnit.” Raphael tried to contain himself but a small chuckle left his lips.

“What’s so funny you idiot!” Y/N threw him the can of baby pap which he dodged easily.

“Ya had a nightmare, Babe.” Raphael gently picked up Rosalie in his big arms and rocking the baby side to side. “Don’t cry Princess, Mommy it’s okey, she just had a bad dream.” Nuzzling her, she slowly calmed down, and back on her tall seat. “There ya go.”

“What the fuck?” Y/N was hella confused and this time Raphael burst out laughing.

“Language Hun.” He walked closer and hugged her, Y/N was feeling so out of context to even give resistance. “Ya just had a bad dream.”

“So, you didn’t cheated on me?” Her glowing eyes searched for his eyes. “It was all a nightmare..”

“I’ll never do that Babe.” Kissing her forehead, Raphael smiled. “Yar the love of my life, and plus, ya gave me one of the most precious gifts; Our daughter.” Together they looked at the Baby in the seat, smiling and giggling. “She’s so beautiful, just like ya Y/N.” Reaching down he kissed her, a slow, lovely kiss. “I love ya.”

“I love you too Raphael.” Y/N smiled, a huge relief feeling invade her body, it was all a bad dream.

Through the day, just like dreams do, everything was reduced to shatters, slowly leaving her head and gaining her peace again. All was just a bad dream.

Picking up Rosalie, Y/N smiled, and Raphael hugged her from behind, Rosalie looked at them, her innocent amber eyes glowed with enthusiasm, her chubby little hands clapped in a happy sight, yeah she was beautiful, the small bloom of their true love, nothing was perfect, they had their problems but she loved him no matter what and he did the same.

“We love you.” Together they said to the small baby.

Well, this moment was indeed perfect.

The end❤️

•

AAAA– I feeeel the sugar dripping down my soul.

I also dedicate this post to @originalwriter03 💛

I really enjoyed this and finally I’m proud of one of my works kqnsnqnsnqkksq, and I’m sorry if it is really short.

Thanks a lot for reading 💛

#tmnt #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #tmnt fanfiction #tmnt imagines #request #tmnt raph x reader #raphael x reader

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wewillpunkyou · 7 years

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Concert : As It Is + WSTR + Courage My Love + Grayscale au Backstage By The Mill (Paris - 05 mars 2018)

Déjà de retour ! Après avoir ouvert les concerts sur la tournée européenne de Neck Deep à Paris et Toulouse en fin d’année dernière, ceux de State Champs plus tôt en 2017, et après un passage fructueux au Longlive Rockfest à Lyon, As It Is nous ont fait le plaisir de revenir sur la scène parisienne en 2018 et ont choisi le Backstage pour présenter le set du Okay era tour. Les anglais ne nous ont jamais déçues et cette fois ci n’était pas une exception. Accompagnés de WSTR et de Courage My Love, ils ont également offert à Grayscale l’opportunité de se produire en Europe pour la première fois.

C’est environ vers 19h que le concert commence. Tout droit venus de Philadelphie, les américains de Grayscale nous ont laissé une forte impression pour leur première fois à Paris. Nous les attendions avec impatience de notre côté de l’Atlantique (wink à leur chanson Atlantic) et ils nous ont confiés être agréablement surpris par la réponse des fans ici. Ayant déjà tourné en Amérique avec As It Is auparavant, il paraît normal qu’ils aient déjà récupéré certains de leurs fans. Avec quatre groupes à l’affiche, il était compliqué d’accorder plus de 25 minutes au premier groupe sur scène. C’est donc un set de six petites chansons qu’ils nous ont présenté, dont cinq d’entre elles sont extraites de leur premier album Adornment, dont nous vous parlons plus en détails ici. Dès leur arrivée sur scène, les quelques fans arrivés à l’heure pour ne pas les rater se mettent à chanter les premières lignes de Mum: “I saw you in my sleep last night, chasing after me, riding my first bike!” et l’ambiance s’échauffe rapidement. Le groupe enchaîne avec le premier single d’Adornment, Atlantic, que plus de monde semble connaître; et sur cette piste, le rythme de la batterie qui nous donnait déjà envie d’air drum sur la version studio est encore plus satisfaisant à écouter en live. Collin Walsh, le chanteur, s’empare d’un drapeau français offert par une fan et le pose sur son pieds de micro avant d'entamer Beautiful Things, l’une des plus chansons les émouvantes d’un point de vue aussi bien matériel qu’artistique. Et ce, notamment à la fin où quelques personnes reprennent doucement en choeur les dernières lignes de la chanson; “If only I could change the world you view, and all along, the devil’s dealt cards to you, cast you out into ocean blue”. On espérait un peu voir Grayscale interpréter Come Undone, deuxième piste d’Adornment dans laquelle Patty Walters, frontman d’As It Is fait son apparition. Ce ne sera malheureusement pas le cas, probablement à cause du gros rhume de Patty, puisqu’ils l’ont chantée sur la majorité des autres dates de la tournée.. C’est sur Fever Dream que le groupe termine son set, et le sourire aux lèvres, ils quittent la scène en nous donnant envie de les revoir très vite.

[Setlist complète: Mum, Atlantic, Let It Rain, Beautiful Things, Palette, Fever Dream.]

Courage My Love sont les prochains sur scène. CML, c’est deux jumelles: une femme à la batterie, une femme à la guitare et un bassiste complètement barré. Ouvrant leur set sur Animal Heart, les canadiens nous ont fait danser et sauter sans pause pendant les trente minutes qui leur étaient consacrées. Même sans connaître, c’est entraînant et persuasif. Les voix séductrices des deux chanteuses, Mercedes et Phoenix, nous poussent à répéter en rythme les quelques paroles que nous arrivons à reprendre; “Can you feeeel my aaaaanimal heart!”. Dans les aigus, le son de la salle sature un peu par moment mais ce n’est rien qui nous empêche de continuer à profiter. Ils enchainent avec Love Hurts, qui donne particulièrement envie de se défouler aussi. Nous reconnaissons quelques autres titres, Need Someone, et puis Stereo pour la fin; ce qui nous donne envie de nous pencher un peu plus sur le groupe à l’avenir.

[Setlist incomplète: Animal Heart, Love Hurts, Need Someone, Stereo.]

Grosse tournée donc, pour le Okay tour d’As Is It, puisqu’avant leur passage, un troisième groupe se presse sur scène. Ce sont cette fois-ci les anglais de WSTR (à prononcer Waster) qui prennent possession de l’espace. Plus rythmé, plus agressif, le set des anglais nous plonge dès l’ouverture dans une ambiance pop-punk, qui, bien que très générique, suffit à faire hocher les têtes dans le public. Rapidement, l’ambiance se transforme un peu et les premiers circle pits de la soirée apparaissent. Trois ou quatre chansons plus tard, c’est même un wall of death qui s'érige au centre du backstage malgré quelques premiers rangs de fans bien accrochés à la scène. Il faut admettre que nous avons été surpris par la tournure du set. Les ayant vu quelques mois plus tôt ouvrir les festivités pour le concert de Trash Boat à la Mécanique Ondulatoire, nous en avions gardé une impression très bof, voire plutôt mauvaise. Ce coup ci, c’était plutôt agréable et nous en sommes sorties moins hostiles à l’idée d’aller redécouvrir leur musique en studio. Comme quoi, une salle, une ambiance, un état d’esprit… il en faut peu pour permettre la réconciliation.

[Setlist complète: Featherweight, Footprints, Fair Weather, Gobshite, Nail The Casket, South Drive, Graveyard Shift, Eastbound & Down, Lonely Smiles.]

As It Is arrivent enfin sur scène aux alentours de 21h15, sous les hurlements habituels de fans qui leur sont réservés. Dans le public, beaucoup de visages familiers que nous avions déjà croisés lors de leurs précédentes venues, preuve que les anglais ont une fanbase bien ancrée. D’ailleurs, ça se ressent bien dès le début et ce, jusqu’à la dernière chanson interprétée. Le groupe commence avec Hey Rachel, puis enchaîne avec deux autres chansons de leur album okay.: Patchwork Love et Pretty Little Distance.

“We’re gonna sing two old songs if it’s okay with you” s’exclame Patty avec son habituelle voix théâtrale et son accent anglais prononcé. Avec l’approbation vive du public, c’est donc l’agréable mélodie de Concrete puis de Cheap Shots & Setbacks qui nous glisse dans les oreilles avant qu’As It Is se lancent dans leur duo terrible. Nous vous en parlions déjà lors de leur dernier passage en France avec Neck Deep, le duo terrible, c’est l'enchaînement déchirant No Way Out / Soap. Plus d’un an après la sortie de l’album, ce sont toujours nos deux préférées à la fois en live et en studio. Un circle pit se forme pour No Way Out et tiendra près de toute la chanson sans faiblir; puis Ben et Patty se donnent la réplique sur Soap avec la même intensité qu’à l’habitude. Le frontman s’écroule au sol à la fin de son couplet “You're a craving that I can't forget, some days I'd rather die than let this end“, et cela fait toujours son petit effet: la foule hurle dramatiquement.

Patty nous annonce très vite au début du set qu’il est tombé malade, et cela s’entend assez dans sa voix car chanter avec le nez bouché, ce n’est pas si simple. Pour cette raison, le set sera bien écourté. Ce sont donc seize chansons qui seront interprétées ce soir là au lieu des dix-neuf prévues initialement dans le set européen. Bitter Broken Me, Often et Still Remembering ont ainsi été écartées. C’est pour autant sans grande importance puisque la bonne humeur reste présente tout le long du set, entre les anciennes chansons et celles du deuxième album. Les voir en tête d’affiche permet d’assister à un set plus long et donc d’apprécier sur scène des chansons moins populaires, abandonnées depuis longtemps ou mises de côté au profit des singles lors des premières parties ou festivals. On compte par exemple, Winter’s Weather, Speak Soft, Curtains Close ou encore Austen, très jolie chanson écrite par Ben au sujet de son grand-père.

As It Is ont la particularité de rendre l’espace sûr et rassurant pour les personnes qui le partagent avec eux. En leur présence, on se sent en sécurité, comme si une épaisse couche de protection venait nous recouvrir la peau. Juste avant la performance d’Until I Return, les instruments se calment et Patty prend la parole pour tenir un discours émouvant. Après sa classique blague “Oh c’est rigolo! On joue à Paris et on est pas sur un bateau pour une fois!” (Cf. les concerts au Petit Bain, au Batofar, etc.), le chanteur retrouve un ton plus sérieux pour parler d’okay. et de la nouvelle ère à venir. Le groupe a hâte de nous présenter leur troisième opus mais ils savent aussi à quel point leur deuxième album est important pour les fans et à quel point ça fait du bien de parler de santé mentale avec eux dans ce si bel esprit de communauté. Nous en avions parlé avec Ben et Patty, dans une interview au Longlive Rockfest que vous pouvez retrouver ici. Pour l’heure, les copains d’As It Is sont reconnaissants et remplis de gratitude envers leurs fans pour la réponse incroyable qu’ils ont reçu avec okay.. C’est donc avec beaucoup de sincérité qu’ils interprètent la chanson et l’émotion se ressent bien lorsque tout le monde chante en coeur le joli refrain plein d’espoir “You can't keep me sane when I'm out of sight, I still lose my way from time to time. You can't keep me sane when I'm out of sight,I promise I'll fight but I can't promise that I'll be fine”.

“This will be our last song”, nous prévient Patty au moment où les premières notes de Can’t Save Myself résonnent. Mais c’est sans compter sur le rappel, qui arrive seulement quelques minutes plus tard. As It Is terminent avec Okay (chanson au même titre que l’album) qu’ils avaient pour habitude de chanter en ouverture des concerts. Puis c’est finalement avec la célèbre Dial Tones qu’ils clôturent la soirée. Comme souvent dans nos petites salles parisiennes, la foule s’emballe et commence à grimper sur la scène, envahissant l'espace des musiciens pour terminer la chanson avec eux et finir sur une bonne note. C’est toujours un plaisir de voir les anglais dans la capitale et nous avons vraiment hâte de voir ce qu’ils nous réservent avec leur troisième album !

[Setlist complète: Hey Rachel, Patchwork Love, Pretty Little Distance, Concrete, Cheap Shots & Setbacks, No Way Out, Soap, Speak Soft, Sorry, Winter's Weather, Curtains Close, Until I Return, Austen, Can't Save Myself. Encore: Okay, Dial Tones.]

#texte: auxane beau #photos: laetitia francisco #alternative live #as it is #grayscale #wstr #backstage #courage my love #aii #uk

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