Welcome back to Frog Blog. We awoke this morning to our first snow of the season! Although it was still falling steadily as we got up, within an hour or so it was all gone and we had a sunny but crisp day. The first half of November was well above average temperatures, but we’re making up for it now it seems with some single digit highs due. A 20 degree swing in 2 weeks is a bit of a nasty jolt…
The big news to report this week is the Soirée Britannique, which I shall come to shortly. First, though, a quick recap of the days leading up to it. Actually no, first off, a quick recount of the story of our gas reservoir. If you remember, back in spring we had electric rads fitted in our rooms and got rid of our old boiler. This meant we no longer needed our gas tank so called Totalgaz to cancel our contract. As with everything in France, this required a written letter, sent by registered post. A few weeks after, we had a letter back confirming our account was cancelled and the tank would be collected in due course.
It was well over half full and, even allowing for their arcane refund formula, we were sure we’d be due some money back. There was also a 350€ security deposit, made by the house’s previous owner, that was due to come back to us. Seeing as there wasn’t much in it for them, we expected the company to drag its heels a bit, but by October we realised they clearly weren’t going to lift a finger unprovoked, so I rang them. I was told I needed to ring their official transport company directly to book an appointment – something it would have been nice of them to tell us in their letter. Anyway, two weeks later the tank was collected (not an easy job given the narrow roads here) and about 2 weeks after that, 900€ materialised in our bank account. A nice Christmas gift from Totalgaz!
Ok, back to the week. It was a quiet one so I shall jump to Wednesday when Mathias came for his third english lesson. We were gratified to realise he is definitely making progress and is retaining lots of words. I’m not sure if that’s a testament to our teaching skills or more just proof that he’s a very bright young boy, but either way it’s pleasing.
Thursday was a stormy day with strong winds that went on overnight. We awoke the next day to find that our Wisteria vine had been half-ripped from its moorings and the dangling end was being buffeted about. Luckily the winds soon died down so we took our usual course of action and called Lucien. One hour later, it was reattached and will not be coming loose again any time soon. While he was over, he gave his apologies and said they wouldn’t be able to make our gig on Saturday as Mauricette wasn’t up to it. In fact, nor were the neighbours opposite them. What with the sudden cold snap too, we were beginning to worry what kind of numbers we’d get for the event.
Matt spent that day preparing his food contribution for the Soirée – fish cakes. As well as those, we ordered a load of samosas and bhajis from our Indian Cuisine service which, as luck would have it was delivering to Milhac that day. In the evening, we had our curries and then hit St Pardoux for our final pre-gig rehearsal. Worryingly, we actually have another gig in 2 just weeks so much of the evening was spent preparing for that before we moved on to our set. By then it was already 11.30 so we decided to plough through the set in order without stopping. To everyone’s surprise this actually didn’t go too badly, although it was still decidedly rough around the edges. We finally left around 1am, getting to bed at around 2.
The following day was totally taken up with preparations. First thing in the morning, we went over to St Pardoux to help pack up the equipment, then to Milhac to get it all set up. This took a couple hours and we then came home for lunch and to light the fire. After lunch we returned and the other groups had their sound checks while we got tables and chairs set up. We then did our sound check and came back home to shower and change.
We got back down there just in time for Matt’s choir’s rehearsal and soon after, guests began to arrive. And they just kept coming! We’d put out seating for 80 or so and quickly realised it wasn’t going to be enough so we sacrificed some dance space and put out extra tables. In the end, I think there were around 110 people, which is even more than we got last year so we’re really pleased about that. Even the biting cold didn’t keep them away. Neither Nat and Jill or Lee and Richard were free but our new friends Emmanuel and Oliver gamely drove 40 mins to come hear us. We also managed to get Manu & Mathilde to come, which given their loathing of local events in Milhac, is no mean feat.
Once we’d gotten people settled and dished out the complimentary aperos, the choir did their set. This was the first time I’d ever heard them and I was very impressed. They had a few moments of not being quite in time, but overall sounded very professional. Next up was the 2 man group of Gilles and Harry. I think we’ve mentioned before that Gilles has been a nightmare during the run-up to the gig. No-one wanted to play with him because he doesn’t seem to get that when you play in a band, you have to actually play along with the other people in it and not just disappear off up your own arse.
Despite this, Harry (our drummer from Musique en Herbe) agreed to do three songs with him, and all told they sounded OK although I suspect he won’t say yes a second time. At the very last moment, Gilles changed the running order meaning Harry was caught unprepared. And, as expected, Gilles kept playing away on his keyboard after their set was over. We indulged him for a bit and then cleared him off stage. Next up was Barry and the Carols who sang along to 5 classic and well received English songs and one French one, accompanied by pre-recorded backing tracks. They went down very well.
It was around 10pm by this point and dessert was coming out so we decided to give it a few minutes and then get on and play. We’d done our best to not drink before playing but had both had a couple wines and a cider by the time we were on stage. Despite this though we didn’t make any big mistakes. There was one French song where the singer got lost towards the end, and on ‘Purple Rain’ our drummer got lost just before my guitar solo, meaning I too got lost. Our keyboard guy, Alain also wasn’t on top form at times and wrangled the riff to ‘Hot Stuff’. These slips aside though, we were actually fairly tight.
We did our full set of 18 songs, and even though the oldies had all left by the end, there was enough of a crowd cheering us on (ok, yes they were all our mates) to warrant an encore. We had 2 tracks up our sleeves that weren’t really gig ready and a third that was even less prepared, but we belted them all out anyway, culminating in a passable version of Money for Nothing. I’m prepared to admit it may be because I was wearing a Bowie t-shirt and that my guitar has a bowie sticker on it, but by the end of the evening those remaining were chanting “Bowie, Bowie!” so I’m definitely insisting he features in our future set lists.
It was probably around 12:30 when we got off stage. We got caught up with friends/on the drinks for a bit and then helped put the room back in order. And that is the story of the gig! Some of our loyal “groupies” took some photos and I believe a few video clips too, so there’ll be some form of evidence to show you soon. In the meantime we’ve got to get motivated for the next gig on the 6th. It’s Thanksgiving this weekend and without thinking, we invited some friends over on the Friday to celebrate it. As it means missing our regular Friday rehearsal, Alain didn’t take this news very well at all, so we may push it back by a day, even though it means poor Philippe will miss it as he’s not free on the Saturday. OK, that’s all from me. For prosterity, here’s our full set list:
Lets Twist Again (Chubby Checker)
Rock Around the Clock (Bill Haley)
Help (Beatles)
Il Suffira d’un Signe (Jean-Jacques Goldman)
Moonlight Shadow (Mike Oldfield)
I’m so Excited (Pointer Sisters)
Hot Stuff (Donna Summer)
Proud Mary (Tina Turner)
Lady Lay (Pierre Groscolas)
Paradise (Noa Moon)
Hound Dog (Elvis)
J’Irai ou tu Iras (Celine Dion)
Wonderful Tonight (Clapton)
Purple Rain (Prince)
Un Jour au Mauvais Endroit (Calogero)
L’Aziza (Daniel Balavoine)
Un Autre Monde (Téléphone)
Rivers of Babylon (Boney M)
Twist & Shout (Beatles)
Good Lovin’ (Young Rascals)
Money for Nothing