An ecstatic electric guitar, a twirling piano, a super dynamic bass, accompanied by crackling drums! In the concert show Little Rock Storyfour musicians – in red and black shirts and ties – unfold the history of rock.
Rock that takes root in the blues… “I remembered that it started in a cotton field with slavery”confides a young spectator. “For me rock began in the Wild West with cowboys, and more in a saloon, with a fight, but not in a field!”
As guitarist and singer Claude Whipple explains, “there's a bit of rock in all the music we listen to today. It's a mixture of lots of music, that's what we try to show and develop in the show. And that that comes from the blues, it’s essential.”
It is at the Bondy conservatory in Seine-Saint-Denis, where the drummer and singer, Romain Piot and Claude Whipple teach, that Little Rock Story was designed. With their group, they talk about the impact of technological developments on music and rock, with the arrival of electricity, they talk about the way of life that accompanies each style of music, with a virtual character who disguises himself to represent these different currents.
“It was really great, I loved the idea of mixing theater and a music concert. The lights were very good, every time they changed the style of music, they changed the light. In red, you felt that it was more tonic, when it was in blue it was softer”assures another young spectator.
And the hits keep coming… The 50s with Elvis… The 60s with the Beatles. And it also goes through folk and punk influences, with the legendary Should I stay or should I go, signed The Clash. We dive into the 80s, with the purple accords of Purple Rain by Prince. The musicians then light their lighters, as in the last century.
“My dad often made me listen to Lenny Kravitz and Jimmy Hendriks. In rock, I like the bass, there are a lot of sounds, rhythms, a lot of very loud music, I loved it and really liked the atmosphere that they put, it rocks!”assures a 10-year-old fan.
The opportunity for transmission and communion around the energy of live. “The important thing is that the children leave with the desire to really listen to artists on stage,” conclude the musicians of the group.
Little Rock Story is played every Sunday at the Théâtre Libre in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, until January 5, 2025.
