You Can't Break Me
Les Dahlias Noires
Based on: Bubble by BAND-MAID
"Welcome back, and congratulations...but now, the game has changed."
Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? After a period of time out of any relative global spotlight, of course the black dahlias want to appear back in the place that made them famous in the first place, but this time, without the nerves of having to show the world what they can already do. However, a lot's changed since their famous win back in Talvezout, 24 contests ago. It's not as easy a playing field, and with the last entry from Nekoni picking up the actual trophy itself, the desire to perform again comes with some added nerves of expectation. Surely, it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that Nekoni could do it twice in a row...right?
The build up to the contest was a fun one, with the girls spending time equally between the contest city of Marina Point and their home in the capital of Varea. The smoky rock pub where they had their first gig. The other smoky rock pub where they got noticed by NTR staff, starting their real journey to stardom. The very seats they bought at Mercati Arena to watch WorldVision 64 live: wonderfully, the four seats that make up the bottommost bit of the 'V' in the club name 'Varea' that spells out along the stadium's West stand. To the NEXPRO Stadium in Varea to watch Cidade de Deus's sister box the lights out of a poor sap from Proluvia to the sound of the WV92 winning song. To drinks with Miro and Lana after, whose tips for the girls were 'You already know how to do it, why the hell you asking me!?' before they all knocked back a couple of Eisborgs over the inevitable documentary closing credits.
It was weird having a feeling like this in Nekoni: an artist has never represented the country twice before. But, can Les Dahlias Noires catch lightning in a bottle, just like they did before? Since their win, times have changed, both within the WorldVision scene and the musical output of the band themselves. With a new, heavier sound, time will tell if the foursome can still give as well as they did back in '70.
Les Dahlias Noires are (from left):
Ginny Balthaire - Rhythm Guitar
Elizabeth "Ellie" Malmédy - Lead Singer, Lead Guitar
Alice de Fleurs - Drums
Mylène Delacroix - Bass
The band starts off arranged in a diamond, with drums at the raised back stage. Rhythm and bass guitars flank the left and right side of the main stage respectively, and the front central spot is reserved for Ellie, naturally. All of them haven't really changed their style since last time: stonewashed band tees, jeans or leather pants, Mylène wearing an black unzipped bomber jacket with yellow go-faster stripes down the right side, and Alice, yet again, using snowboard goggles as a makeshift hairband. It's going to be a tricky song to play live, so not having hair in your eyes is a good idea.
As the song begins, Ellie appears, playing lead guitar on her way down the steps leading off from the right, dressed in a Cidade de Deus band shirt (a nice nod to our WVSC92 winners), black baggy jeans and a myriad of belts hanging off her waist. With her thick cut boots, eyes out to the audience, and a guitar obscuring her lower vision, she's tempting fate a lot, but somehow manages to make her way down the stairs without falling on her face. Ellie makes it over to the mic stand at the front of the stage just before the verse starts. She slings her guitar down to her side, and cups the mic stand with both hands.
The lights and backing screens alternate between black and deep red, with expanding concentric circles along the main screen.
Move along, heard this one before
Don't know why you try to play me like a fool
Ellie slings her guitar back in hand to play the clean lead guitar over the bridge. As we look at the floor they're on, we see that they all appear to be standing on casino-motif images projected on the ground: the guitarists on casino chips, the drummer on a spread out deck of cards, and Ellie standing on a large spinning roulette wheel, bedecked in red and black, with gold numbers and trim. The '0' has been replaced with a skull and crossbones.
Oh my God
Did you think your words would work on me?
You think you're smart
Don't you know I've played this game before?
You roll the dice
And you think you're holding all the cards
It's so easy
To read your poker face right now, boy
Cut camera to Alice going a BIT mad during the drum fill. She's using two bass pedals for this one, we see. Good for her.
Call this game over, I win
Ace in the hole
Ellie jumps, landing forcefully on the ground right at the moment the chorus hits, whilst the roulette wheel graphic she's standing on is highlighting the skull and crossbones. The roulette wheel 'cracks' and splinters, and from it, moving outwards, the arena is consumed with a red and orange fire motif, as white spotlights dart around the arena, as the camera excitedly cuts between all four performing.
You can't hurt me any more
You can't break me now
Woah, woah
Keep tryin' to beat me if you can
I'm impervious
Woah, woah
During the instrumental section, we see at the front of Alice's drum kit is a table with what appears to be a martini on, olive and all. Ellie takes the cocktail, and necks the thing in one like a damn queen. She picks the olive out, and, in a wonderful bit of skill that was totally not practised to death at all (honest), she tosses it behind her back to the side, right into Mylène's open mouth. She's probably the only person in Nekoni who likes olives.
Ellie then grabs the mic stand, and leans all the way forward with it, right into the camera facing forward.
This ain't love
It's just moves without feeling
I don't want this
If it's without meaning
Ellie steps back, as she pulls the mic stand back to normal with one hand, and re-arming her guitar with the other to play the verse guitar line as the background changes to appear like they are performing on a road in front of a city at night, with dark purple and blue tones in the sky to boot. Perhaps this was just to be on-brand with the contest theme.
Oh, big man
You think with your hands before thinking
Understand
That you can't just blame it on the drink, and
You crashed out
There is no last chance, keep on walking
Don't look, now
'cause this woman now is unforgiving
We zoom in nice and close to see Ellie really enjoy putting some bite on the next lines as Alice in the background goes all drumming mad again.
I don't need to use my hands
To hurt you, darling
We return to the flame red and orange light show, as the stage is once again bathed with colour. We see interspersed with the band's performances some of the audience in the front few rows clearly enjoying the show...including Miro from Cidade de Deus. How did you end up there!?
You can't hurt me any more
You can't break me now
Woah, woah
Keep tryin' to beat me if you can
I'm impervious
Woah, woah
Ellie drops to her knees as the chorus drops tempo, with some white flashes of lightning to accentuate the snare drum hits. Additionally, we see other band members joining in with the 'woahs'. During those, Ellie's clearly deep into the vibe of the song, as she's rocking backward and forward as she shreds on guitar, almost headbanging.
I won't let you say sorry
It's too late for that, now
Woah, woah
Because you're only an angry boy
When I need a man
Woah, woah
As the solo hits, (in a change of pace, played by the usual rhythm guitarist, Ginny), she walks down into the front off-stage area where the front row of the crowd are, walking down from the side to the front, the audience mere inches away, reaching out with their phones to snap photos, the flashes of the cameras being barely noticed alongside the flashing white and pyro shots along the stage floor. When she reaches the center, she faces away from the audience, and, when Ellie sings her bit, she leans backwards, right into the audience as she hits a high note to sustain. Ellie's at the center of the stage, almost down on one knee to hit her high note.
You can't break me any more
The lights immediately go out. As the tempo changes, the floor displays a camera shot of Ellie's face speaking the lyrics of the middle eight part, in black and white, and with the tattered, fractured appearance of an old photograph. The words she speaks appear on the side of her face as she says them, in her own handwriting, as red ink blots appear on her face. As the drums kick in, the camera focuses on Alice hitting them, and then a lovely blast of pyro to bring the whole band in.
Hey, listen
You hurt me
You left scars on my body
But don't forget
These scars will soon heal
Don't you dare forget
That I can scar you too
And the scars on your heart
Will be there forever
The stage effectively sets on fire, with pyro jets firing up around around the triangular front sides, smoke begins to fill the stage, and the background shows a picture of Ellie, as was in the last section, but the picture is slowly smouldering in the flame.
All night long, I can still hear you long for me
I don't give a damn
I can turn off my phone, then knock back another drink, and you're gone
I never needed you
All night long, another thirty missed calls from you
I don't give a damn
I will delete, I will defeat
The memory of your voice
In the last chorus, Ellie's at the front, all lights on her, with one foot right at the edge of the stage, leaning forward. She sings, then points the mic at the audience to sing the 'woah' parts. As she's on home soil, it's the only time she can get away with it, and, thankfully, the crowd does it with gusto, and she shouts a quick '1, 2, 3, 4!' on the cymbal crashes, retreating at the right time to not enjoy a faceful of pyro.
You can't hurt me any more
You can't break me now
Woah, woah
Keep tryin' to beat me if you can
I'm impervious
Woah, woah
The stage goes into strobing for the final vocal section, as 'ash' from the burnt photographs (really just a slightly grey tinged and finer version of the compound they use for fake snow), falls from the sky. Fortunately, it's coarse enough to just fall to the ground and not get stuck on the band or on their instruments. Whatever the cleaning staff are paid, it's clearly not enough, to be honest. The camera finishes off close up on Ellie's face to deliver the final line, who signs off it with a cheeky wink and a sticking out of her tongue.
I don't wanna know about how much you want me back
You can't break me down, break me down
I don't give a flying fuck about your 'redemption story'
You can't break me down
Break me down no more
We finish off with the red and black circle animations, with the band having a final runthrough of the main motif, before the song ends, all four lit in their own spotlights. As the crowd go naturally mad for their homegrown talent on their own soil, the comeback is done. The four of them, just like they did back in WV70, all come together for a group hug in the center of the stage as we fade to the next postcard. They'd done the nation proud, whatever happens, but, with Nekoni finishing 6th and 2nd respectively in their last two home contests, the pressure was really on to make it third time lucky. Had they done it? All they could do was retire to the green room, crack open an Eisborg, and wait with baited breath to find out.