Emilie Simone is perhaps most famous for being the descendant of famous French philosopher Saint Simon. No, that’s a lie. Emilie Simone is most famous for the beautiful soundtrack to “The March of the Penguins.” But I’d like to think there is a chance that Emilie and Saint Simon are somehow connected. Saint Simon, one of Europe’s greatest thinkers, proposed a utopian meritocracy where all men would be judged by their merit and not their family history or wealth. On this night meritocracy came to mind for I was wondering if Emilie was here on account of her musical talents or simply her sexy French look.
The concert started and everybody gazed at a blue screen (not the kind that makes dogs fly in bad American movies) which created a very French atmosphere. A strange techno guy with a hat appeared on stage followed by a percussionist. This was Emilie’s band. The percussionist had wild moves, like Justin Timberlake on PCP. This was an artistic event ‘cause the techno guy had a hollow square he played and a lot of futuristic gadgets seldom seen in music. They even dragged Kira Kira on stage, who had a bucket of sea shells she played with all night. The final member was a cello player who played solos. Then Simon appeared and said “Gott kvöld” with a sexy French accent. Her music can be compared to the music of great bands such as “Nouvelle Vague” and “Portishead”.
There was nothing I didn’t like about Simon, her melodies were catchy and different from each other. Her lyrics (the ones I understood) were cute and honest like “Roses Never Fall in Love” and “I Want be Your Dog.” At that point, I realised how much I needed a dog. The band was also great and the percussionist was into it like a diabetic at a marshmallow convention. When he used water and a concert piano to form beats I realised he was not somebody’s weirdo brother but a great musician. He was so cool beating everything on stage for rhythm. This was becoming what a concert should be: “an experience”. Some people thought it was pretentious. Well, too bad for them.
The highpoint of the night was Simone’s cover version of Nirvana’s “Come as You Are.” At that moment life felt perfect and time stood still. I think I even saw Saint Simon bobbing his head to the merit of Emilie Simone’s music. If Iceland were a meritocracy, Emilie Simone would have played for five thousand people in Laugardalshöllin and Incubus would have played in the gutter and then be assassinated while singing “Whatever Tomorrow Brings, I’ll be There, With Open Arms and Open Eyes, Yeah.”
www.emiliesimon.artistes.universalmusic.fr
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