Well here we are: gig week! I’m surprised I’m not in a greater state of anxiety, but then again we’ve been fairly distracted lately, so perhaps it has yet to hit me. We’ll see how I’m doing by the end of the week.
After my folks left us, the main occupation here has been band practise, and they are helping. All the songs we’ve done before are sounding passable, so it’s just the new ones we need to concentrate on between now and Saturday. I don’t quite know why or how we’ve done this to ourselves, but not only do we barely have any time to prepare, we’ve also chosen the most challenging setlist we’ve ever tried. We shall be playing:
Gig 1 – Acoustic
1. Norwegian Wood – Beatles
2. Karma Police – Radiohead
3. House of the Rising Sun – The Animals
4. Here Comes the Sun – Beatles
5. A Little Help from my Friends – Beatles
6. Tears in Heaven – Eric Clapton
7. Wish you were Here – Pink Floyd
8. Yesterday – Beatles
9. Dream a little Dream of Me – Mamas & Papas
Gig 2 – Electric
1. Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure
2. Le Vent Nous Portera – Noir Désir
3. Rebel Rebel – Bowie
4. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
5. Creep – Radiohead
6. Just Like Heaven
7. Bombe Humaine – Téléphone
8. Another Brick in the Wall – Pink Floyd
9. London Calling – The Clash
10. J’T’Emmene au Vent – Louise Attaque
Some of these are very hard to play; others are very hard to sing. It feels a bit like we’re our own worst enemies! Those of you familiar with any of these songs might also notice that they’re not the most uplifting tunes either. This wasn’t intentional: we just seem to have a rather morose répertoire to choose from.
The final bit of news to impart regarding the concert is that we met with Jenny last week to discuss how the day will go and she dropped yet another bombshell on us: not only are we the only act, we have also got to set up all the sound equipment and lighting – something neither of us has done before. The potential for disaster this Saturday abounds…
Ok, on to less terrifying things. We’re freshly back from an enjoyable but very alcohol-fuelled weekend in Bordeaux. We left Mazeroux on Friday afternoon having crammed in a bit of work, some band practises and a haircut apiece and made our way to Villebois. The boys had come up with a very sensible plan for that evening: they’d invited their retired friends Trish and Dave over to join us for dinner. T&D like a drink too, but they never stay late, so the plan was we’d all it the hay once they left as we had an early start the next day. Their friend Glenda, whom we’ve met several times before, was getting into Bergerac airport at around 9am so we needed to leave Villebois by 7.30 to ensure we got there on time. This did not pan out well.
T&D did leave on the early side, but the phrase “one more for the road” kept coming out and all of a sudden, it was 3am and we were all the worse for drink. We passed out around then, only to be woken by Matt who – irony of ironies – woke up first. This was somewhere around 8.30, so our morning was a very rushed affair. We were on the road in record time, but despite our best efforts, we were a good 2 hours late picking Glenda up. The poor thing was literally the only person left at the airport, which is tiny and had no more flights due that day. She graciously accepted our apologies – and to be honest, I doubt she expected anything less from us in any case.
We had lunch in Bergerac, which I remember very little of from my youth unfortunately. It’s a lovely town though, so we must go back again one day. We also had a rendez-vous with a couple who live south of Bergerac who’d ordered 70€ worth of DVDs from us. We dropped them off and then continued on our way to the big city, which we hit around 2.30pm.
We stayed at an Ibis hotel near the train station, a new experience for Matt and me but not for the boys. The rooms were OK but not great – but then for 35€ who’s complaining! We had a quick drink near the hotel, then went back for a much needed shower and, in some cases, a power nap. We reconvened around 5 and made our way to the boys’ favourite spot: le Bar à Vin, where you can sample some superb wines by the glass in a swanky setting. For dinner that evening, we made it to the Chinese place that Matt and I discovered on our last trip there, and everyone enjoyed the meal. Next we went on a bar crawl of all our usual establishments, then back to the hotel (via a kebab shop), making it to bed around 2am.
We were all conscious (if in various states of health) by 10:30 the next morning. We checked out, dumped bags in the car and then tracked down a breakfast place. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day, so we had a stroll around town taking in some of the flea markets, then stopped at a tapas bar for lunch. We left Bordeaux soon after and stayed at the boys’ long enough for a cuppa. As we opened their front door, a strange smell greeted us and we discovered that a) the gas had been left on and b) the fridge door was open. All evidence of our rushed, chaotic departure…
Matt and I then completed our journey back to the Dordogne with poor dented Lola. Amazingly given the state we were in, we squeezed in a full practise when we got home, and even more amazingly, it wasn’t a total disaster. We’re now busy catching up on work, emails and laundry in readiness for Jan’s visit. She gets in to Angouleme on Wednesday and we’ve already got a number of events lined up for her trip in addition to the gig on Saturday. We have invited Glenda and the boys over to join us for dinner on Thursday evening, then Friday is curry night. Manu & Mathilde have offered to host this time, so that will be a good opportunity for French speaking.
Right, I think that’s all I have to say for now. Join us next week for the inevitable post-gig analysis entry – and please, wish us bonne chance: we need it.