Peter Milton Walsh (The Apartments) – Photographed by Bleddyn Butcher

The Apartments – Petit Bain, Paris – 31/03/26 – Live Review
by Killian Laher

A rare opportunity to catch The Apartments in concert presented itself in Paris.  Barely known in most of Europe, Peter Milton Walsh and co have amassed a considerable following in France.  As a result, the venue was packed to the rafters even for the support, French artist Stranded Horse with Boubacar Cissokho.  Their set consisted of lengthy, intricate, flamenco-tinged ballads, rendered with a widescreen, lush sound.

A hush descended on the audience as the headliners took to the stage.  Opening with Please Don’t Say Remember, Walsh was joined by Tim Kevin, who alternated between guitar and keyboard, along with Natasha Penot on backing vocals, with Jeff Crawley providing subtle trumpet lines.  The Walsh-Penot duet Black Ribbons impressed early in the set, as did A Handful of Tomorrow, the frail yet charming frontman guiding the ensemble on guitar with thrilling stops and starts.

While much of the set focused on Peter Milton Walsh’s slow, immersive songs, there were a few moments where the tempo quickened a little.  The gentle strut of End of Some Fear provided some variety, as did a seemingly unrehearsed Goodbye Train, Walsh and Penot joined on the latter by Antoine Chaperon.  That’s What The Music Is For had the audience melting as the singer threw out lines like “bring back the world, bring back the days that had you in them”.  Walsh played a solo rendition of Write Your Way Out of Town on keyboard, wringing pathos out of every line: “hold on, that’s all I’m asking you to do…. I know I’m asking for such a lot”.

Walsh and Penot’s voices combined to great effect on the duet Afternoons with a lovely, unobtrusive trumpet accompaniment from Crawley.  Things You’ll Keep had the crowd swaying along before the band finished with a lump-in-throat inducing You Know We’re Not Supposed To Feel This Way, moistening any remaining dry eyes.  All the emotionally drained audience could do was snap up all remaining records, CDs and t-shirts from the merch stand before disappearing into the night.  A very special night, to listen to one of the most underappreciated songwriters and his band playing such devastatingly gorgeous songs.