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Nov 12.2009
Sorry to have disappeared for a while! We’ve had a really busy schedule and very poor web access, so I haven’t been able to write!
First let me tell you about the gig in Lyon, which went very well! We were opening (with an hour long set) with Patrick Watson, who it turns out is a really really cool guy. First of all, I’m sure he won’t mind me writing this because his gig was just awesome, but the guy really can drink! And drink he did before his show! He got very jolly indeed. We were all really charmed by his personality and quite impressed by his show.
Anyway, here’s a shot of us outside the venue:
For some reason, nearly every photograph I took of the band showed the person in a crazy light! We were laughing hysterically in the van the next day, especially at the following two shots:
It was quite a jolly atmosphere at the show. The crew were all really nice as well, and the dinner they served was yet another superb meal!
This venue is also kind of the perfect size. Not too big, not too small. Just right. Here’s a shot before the show:
And how did we perform? Well, considering this is the home town of Scalde, the show had some added significance so it was one of the more memorable ones for us. Here’s a shot of the smoke-filled theatre with the crowd mostly lost in the mist (but apparently happy!)
Le Fou du Roi / Mansfield Tya
Nov 04.2009
Yesterday morning we all woke up quite early (sadly all the guys from the UK had only had a few hours sleep this night and the night prior!) and went over to perform on a big radio show in France called Le Fou du Roi. When we arrived at the place, and as we were guided down the hall towards the space where we were to play I could hear tubas and trumpets rehearsing. I distinctly heard part of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which thrilled me. The studio itself was MASSIVE, with a good sized area for an audience as well! This was much more than we expected, so everyone was totally thrilled.
Rehearsal/sound check went well, and the performance even better. It was a lot of fun! The coolest part is that we did a cover and had piano accompaniment provided by Franck Gelibert. He was only supposed to play during the cover (we did Downtown of course!) but we asked him to play along with Robinson Crusoe as well and it really added a wonderful dimension and depth. Here’s a shot of Monsieur Gelibert:
Here’s a couple images of Sylvain waiting barefoot to enter for our second song:
Here’s an image of the space I took as I was leaving the stage:
We’ve twice played alongside the wonderful duo Mansfield Tya. They make very intense, spare, extremely beautiful music, and played a song on the show just before us. Here’s a shot of them backstage:
And their cool sound engineer… SonoS:
I’m writing in my hotel in Lyon… or actually, about 20 minutes outside of Lyon. Tonight we will play a gig with Patrick Watson. I hear he’s great!
What?? No Pictures???Nov 03.2009
Hello folks,
Yesterday was the official first day of the second leg of the tour and I have no images whatsoever to show for it! This was partly due to the fact that the first gig, a performance at a women’s prison in France, would not allow cameras. It was a really special show actually. The women were very honest and real and despite the fierce language barrier and guards all around us, I think we all really enjoyed ourselves.
At the end of the day I did a small gig in an Art Gallery called 12 Mail. It started out with 5 songs to cluster video accompaniment. Then I tried for the first time some solo live improvisation using 4 banks of live loops. I was very happy with how well that went. It was a bit difficult at first, but once I got into it the piece was really fun and wild. Then the guys joined me for a live performance of the Sad Song the way we plan to do it at the Prix Constantin, with video accompaniment. And then finally I just did a bunch of karaokes of my own tunes, and Cucurrucucu Paloma.
This morning we play on the radio, and then off to Lyon! Nice start so far!