On Wednesday night I caught Cody ChesnuTT at
La Cigale. The guy put on a brilliant show. He really understands the power of contrast: between fast and slow, silence and wild jamming, loose timing and split-second precision, calmness and explosive gestures on stage. Even the visual contrast between his thin body and
his military helmet is striking.
I love Cody ChesnuTT’s sound, so I enjoyed the music too, though the sound setup was slightly too loud and something was off with the balance between the instruments (I’m not a musician so I can’t really explain what was wrong). But mostly I enjoyed the show.
Amazing audience connection, too. He got right into the crowd at one point, until the alarmed sound guy fished him out by his microphone cable.
Once, for a slow song, he asked people to move their coats so he could position a chair
right at the edge of the stage. Another time he had us all
whispering, “
Where is all the money going? Where do all the money come from?” (just before blowing the place up, naturally). Getting a cynical Parisian crowd to participate in this kind of thing is a risk, but he pulled it off.
If Cody ChesnuTT evers puts on a show in your part of the world, and you’re at all susceptible to soul, make a point of getting tickets. He practically defines stage presence.