Last Train in concert at the 2025 Les Eurockéennes Festival, Belfort, France – recorded July 5, 2025 and broadcast over RFI-International.
Maybe not the most relaxing item on the Lunch menu today. Last Train is, in a word; intense. This band from Alsace, France have managed to smash though language barriers and establish themselves as One-Of-The-Bands-To-See-Before-You-Die.
They got started in 2007 and by 2014 were already well on to establishing themselves as a band to be on the lookout for. Their live gigs are somewhat legendary. They pull no punches and the raw emotion they generate is sincere and riveting – and well over-the-top.
Not a band for all tastes – especially if you’re looking for something easy on the ears and distracting from the news of the day. That’s not what they’re about, and in a historic way, not what Rock is about anyway.
I keep harping on this, but it’s true – we’ve come a long way from the era when Rock was considered an “English-Only” game. First by imports and now by streaming and the ‘in-your-face” nature of the Internet and the relative ease bands from all over the world have access in the same way, under the same circumstances as the English speaking contingent. It’s freed things up – given us the opportunity to see what is happening via other cultures – put everyone on a level playing field in the exchange of ideas and techniques. Given a larger view of Music in general – see what’s possible – see what’s inspiring others.
It’s a healthy thing – and even though you may not agree with it, it’s there and it’s available and it’s at your fingertips. If you’re a musician, you know the prerequisite is to have an open mind. For all the people who complain that music has stagnated, they are looking at it from a very narrow perspective. Mainstream Contemporary Music has been stagnant for years – but it’s been that way ever since the Corporatization of Popular Music killed off chance taking. You can’t take chances when you’re terrified your investment may lose money and it’s safer to stay with the “tried and true” in any genre.
Art don’t work that way – never has.
All this by way of saying that Last Train is a band that wears its heart on its sleeve and it’s practically your duty to give it a chance.
So. All this by way of asking you, or reminding you, that life is about making discoveries and Music is on the last and the least you can do it give it one minute.
I promise, tomorrow we’ll bask in mellow. But for today . . .
