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On the road between Pays Basque and Ariège, approaching the Pyrénées. Suddenly a strange structure appears by the side of the road, a path climbing up a steep hill, dotted with chapels: it’s a Sacro Monte, depicting the stations of the cross, leading to a cemetary. We stop by and ascend all the way, maybe it’s a sign for our « Epitaph » tour…

Close to the spanish border, l’Ariège. A brownstone castle sitting on top of a rock, overlooking a quiet remote town, at the foot of the Pyrénées mountains. Warm december southern sunlight. Marketplace. Stuck between the prison and the cemetary, a gigantic theater looking like a concrete electrical power station: La Scène Nationale. Inside, it’s a beautiful, high, deep auditorium...

The long road along the Pyrénées, mesmerized by the snowy mountains. Back to Euskal Herria, it’s been a few years since Biarritz & La Gare du Midi. The venue is old and cold, it’s freezing on stage. But we gather downstairs in the dressing rooms and meet old friends, talking about underwater wine fermentation and gigantic caves at the spanish border, where witches made sabbaths...

Northern suburbs of Toulouse, new housing blocks, deserted streets. It feels a bit like the periphery of a spanish city. The Metronum is a brand new massive, exposed concrete building, only one-year old. It is finely designed, and although it still is a bit cold, it looks like it’s starting to come alive. We feast on southern cheese and wines. No time to get into town though… we still...

Crossing the Landes and the pine tree forests to go down south from Cognac. Six years after, we’re back in Agen & its southern feel, back to the Florida in the old dressing rooms covered with rock’n’roll stickers. Outside it’s pouring rain… so we stay on stage and work on the new songs all afternoon. Our roommates Narrow Terence are in town, playing music in the...

On the road to Cognac. Sunlight again, reflected on the mirror surface of the Charente river. White stone town. The ex-slaughterhouse we’re playing in has been completely refurbished since the last time we came, it now feels like a homely, cosy, welcoming place, sheltered by a thick wooden roof. This is the hometown of our first singer Charlene, she is there to welcome us and we remember...

Moriarty on tour: acoustic concert, Conservatoire F. Mitterrand, Quatre-Bornes, Mauritius, 04.03.2013. Landing in Mauritius after one week on the nearby Reunion Island: Sugarcane fields, dragon-tooth moutains, lagoons and sprawling indian-like suburbs. At the airport a bus awaits, and while it drives across the unknown new territory, a man named Rama welcomes us with a zillion stories about the...

Arrival in Auxerre, for our first time in this city; Le long de l’Yonne, the great riverfront, brown and grey buildings dominated by grand cathedrals and churches. Tonight we play a sold-out show in a new venue called the « Silex » (french for « flintstone »): a weird concrete block covered in triangular « mineral » patterns, triangular windows, triangular door handles… it feels like...

Dark grey skies as we cross the Vosges mountains, towards the small town of Epinal. La Souris Verte is a brand new venue, made of concrete and wood and corrugated plexiglas. The building stands where an old cinema was. It is like a labyrinth of corridors and neons and wooden slats. The acoustics on stage are surprisingly good, we can hear each other without any echo or reverberation from the...

The Epitaph Tour: third day. A short drive from Lorraine to Alsace. De retour à la Laiterie, Strasbourg; we play in the small club in front of 200 people. A very close relationship to the audience, a way for us to focus on the new songs, without getting lost in the sound and scale of larger venues.
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Second concert of the Epitaph Tour, in the same chapel we played in 2008. Metz, yellow stone everywhere, art nouveau buildings, christmas markets, dragons. ———————– Buffalo Skinners When I Ride History Of Violence Diamonds Never Die Private Lily Ginger Joe Milena Moonshiner Ramblin’Man G.I.Jesus Little Sadie Dying Crapshooter Blues Long Live...

Back on the road with the new songs from the upcoming album « Epitaph »: First gig in La Poudrière, Belfort in Eastern France. A low-slung, heavy building, formerly a gunpowder storage facility. Long deep room, 4-meter thick walls, the sound is boomy and concentrated by the barrel-vault ceiling. Above us looms the ominous fortress, sitting on its titanic rock cliff, the giant lion statue roaring...

Moriarty on tour: « Griboïedov’s Burning Blues », Festival d’Avignon 13/14.07.2014. At last, the southern sun. Avignon looks bright, agitated and idle at the same time. Stony city of Popes. The crisis of the intermittents runs throughout the whole thing like a needle. The shows are almost canceled in protest, then maintained at the last minute through hand votes. It’s a feeling...