Hypnotic evening with Animals As Leaders and Night Verses at the Casino de Paris
- Anaïs Schacher
- Mar 15
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 31
On Tuesday February 25, 2025, Animals As Leaders were at the Casino de Paris for an evening billed as a demonstration of pure technicality. A packed house, a meticulous light show, and an audience ready to be swept away.
Night Verses kicks off the evening around 8pm. The trio is no longer a secret to fans of high-flying instrumental performances. Seen alongside Tool, they've established their signature: compositions as soaring as they are relentless, with Aric Improta literally in a trance behind his drums. He doesn't just hold the rhythm, he sculpts it, hammers it, transcends it. The crowd is taken in by the performance, divided between contemplation and total immersion. A set perfectly calibrated to put the audience in the best possible mood.
Then, without a word, around 9pm, Animals As Leaders take their place. Dark outfits, backlighting, suspended atmosphere. A few seconds of waiting, then the first notes fly. Tosin Abasi's distinctive taping shokes everyone in place, and the pit comes alive with the first chords. The audience, telephones focused on the stage, absorbs every nuance, every variation, every rhythmic break.
The tracks follow one another with frightening precision. There are no grand speeches or unnecessary pauses here. The music speaks for itself. The lights come on intermittently, projecting moving silhouettes onto the stage and revealing an audience sometimes in trance, sometimes seething. Some close their eyes, absorbed by the sound textures, others form a mosh pit and celebrate every second.
After a few songs, Abasi finally takes the floor to talk about the 10th anniversary of The Joy of Motion, asking who was there back then. A wave of hands goes up, reminding us just how much of a legend the band is in the industry.
Tonight, The Joy of Motion is played in its entirety, with a journey through its nuances and distinctive architecture. The audience rediscovers each track in its live version, including two that have never before been played in Europe.
The band don't stop there, however, with an encore featuring four tracks from their latest album, Parrhesia, released in 2022.
When the last note sounds, all that remains is silence after the intensity. The musicians take a brief bow, then disappear into the shadows, leaving the room frozen for a moment before conversation resumes and faces exchange stunned glances. Some just stand there, as if they need a few more seconds to come down. The end was a reflection of the concert: sober, direct, unforgettable.
Many thanks to VeryShow for allowing us to experience this evening.
Comments