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Gods and Monsters Rocks France and Corsica/Gary Lucas and The Golem Tears it up in Tel Aviv

Gary has just returned from a whirlwind two weeks touring, first with his avant-power trio Gods and Monsters in Lille, Strasbourg, Paris, Tours and Ajaccio and then solo with the 1920 German expressionist masterpiece The Golem in Tel Aviv. His French dates were absolutely a smash with overflow crowds ecstatically boogie-ing to new Gods and Monsters originals like "Dream of the Wild Horses" and "Coming Clean" (featuring the Jonathan Kane/Ernie Brooks rhythm section).

His Paris show coincided with a rave writeup in prestigious national paper Le Monde which picked the show as one of its top 5 gigs of the week, as well as a rave in Les Inrockuptibles magazine. The Paris gig was a sellout at ultrahip Montreuil club Les Instants Chavire and featured a reunion with Gary's pal French underground guitar legend Jean-Francois Pauvros as well as a superb duet with French pop icon Elli Medeiros. Then it was on to sunny tropical paradise Corsica where Gods and Monsters basked in the warmth of a sold-out show in Ajacccio, where the kids literally pounded the floor and chanted for a record 3 song encore from the hard working boys—plans are now afoot for a reunion gig there later this summer, stay tuned for more details.

All in all the French literally took Gary and the lads to their collective bosom—comments from the fans ranged from "you changed our lives with your music" to "the greatest concert we've ever seen here"—this despite an absence of any official Gary Lucas French release! A return tour is on the cards for autumn—special thanks to Brigitte Blanquer and Music Promotions Mgmt. for their fine organization.

Then it was on to swinging sultry Tel Aviv for Gary solo where he spent 4 lovely days ensconced at the Next Festival where he made his Israeli performing debut with The Golem, a project that was an absolute dream come true for Gary, bringing it all back home to his roots—special thanks to landsman Orna Yahan and Festival organizers Danny Recht and Niva Brigel for their enthusiastic support. Gary's show was on a bill with old friend John Cale, and Gary also had a reunion with pal Daevid Allen as well as bonding with new friend Richard Dorfmeister of Kruder and Dorfmeister renown. He also met many sympathetic new fans, journalists and fellow Israeli artists and musicians.

Festival director Danny Recht gave Gary's show top thumbs up as his personal favorite for the entire festival, and now Gary can't wait to get on back to the land of milk and honey. In an ecstatic trance Gary returned to homebase NYC for a week's r&r before starting his upcoming Knitting Factory JAM Tour of Germany and Holland May 14th in Duisberg Germany.