Vanessa Paradis - Au Zenith (2001)

For those who thought the star of the lithe and nubile French chanteuse Vanessa Paradis had waned when she turned 20, think again. At the age of 29 she appeared at the Zenith in Paris with a crack band that included the Attractions' Steve Nieve on keyboards. And as this set will attest, she tore the joint to shreds. Sure, the hits are here so that lowers the ante, but given how easy it would be to run through the classics for a live record, this is remarkable. From the gorgeously staged duet intro with Nieve to the crunching guitars that usher in "L'Eau et le Vin," with its funky horn breaks and roots rock guitar riffs, Paradis knows how to stage a show in front of the hometown crowd. Nieve is especially valuable here because of his many sounds on the keyboard and his effectiveness as a musical director. On the jazzed-up version of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," Nieve keeps the band in the pocket until he needs them to cut loose to prop up a subtly delivered vocal. When they do kick it, they put the track in overdrive. The version of "Joe le Taxi" is more than passable after all these years, and dueling guitars and horns kick up the delivery a notch or two. But the finest moments here are the stirring, funky version of Serge Gainsbourg's "Requiem Pour un Con" and the rollicking "Commando." To be sure, one would never think she could rock this hard. In all, this is a fine set from someone listeners don't hear enough of on this side of the Atlantic.