Here is the late Daniel Balavoine, captured live at the Palais Des Sports, Paris (26-29 September 1984). His then-recent 1983 album ‘Loin des yeux de l’occident’ (Away from the eyes of the west) is promoted, with 5 of the tracks performed; those fresh-sounding songs, along with the 1984 non-LP title ‘Dieu que c’est beau’ provide some of the highlights on this CD.Whereas some songs benefit from the live setting, some unfortunately do not. Two 1978 tracks ‘Lucie’ and ‘Le Chanteur’ (The Singer) have had an eighties stage makeover and are unable to match the original studio versions. The rocker recorded by Johnny Hallyday ‘I am not a hero’ (7:53) is a bit ‘over-the-top’, and lengthy, with a long ending. ‘Mon fils ma bataille’ (1980) or ‘My son my battle’, brilliant in studio form, loses something in this live context with its ‘audience participation’.There ARE stand-out performances to be found, such as the 1983 songs ‘Les petits Lolos’ or The Lolo kids’ (this live version has raised my awareness of the song) and the ballad ‘Partir avant les miens’ (Leave before us). The outstanding 1980 song ‘La vie ne m’apprend rien’ (Life teaches me nothing) still retains its quality as a live take.The African-flavoured 1983 tune ‘Pour la femme veuve qui s’evielle’ features heavy drums; Bala’s studio recording contained some dodgy high notes (to my ears at least) but those shaky vocal sounds are replicated here in concert, and could have been intentional. The 1982 album title-track ‘Vendeurs de larmes’ (Sellers of tears) is decent enough, despite the mildly annoying repetition of “oh oh oh oh”.It was interesting to hear this 66 minute 'AAD' live CD, but ultimately it is not quite as satisfying as Balavoine’s studio work, and likely to be played less often.