rock and roll on the seine
went and saw a gig last night on a pirate-ship converted into a bar and permanently moored alongside the french national library on the sein. friends of the previously mentioned annabelle (jr, who i met the day i went out to annabelle's university, and his girlfriend marie) were nice enough to drag me along and practice their english on me. after wandering up and down the quay after hot-footing it from katie's boyfriends place i finally rendezvous'd (?) with my french connection and we searched out the mysterious location of the bar (which happened to be back where i was wandering earlier in the evening). the pirate ship wasn't a bad little venue for a gig and one doesn't have to spend too much on alcohol because the sway of the boat on the water is enough to make you feel drunk before you buy a drink. at once stage the rock and rolling of the venue seemed almost in-time with the band but i think that could have been my imagination.
in terms of the music it was a pretty cool night, and the tendency for french bands to sing in english was both bizarre and easy on the ears. the wooden interior was packed with fashionable young parisian things and the crowd was quite vocal (but not exactly energetic) in appreciation of the two local bands that played. the first was like a french re-incarnation of the strokes with some more melancholy elements ala the smiths (vocally); generally very powerpop-y and boppy which was quite fun but i couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that i was on the set of a trendoid mtv filmclip. second band fit into the "seasoned pub band" category but were shit-hot-tight and were like the beatles meets the cure meets air: they're french what else can i say... i am a big electro fan and they skillfully used their synths alongside their standard rock set-up with almost a zero level of cheese.
visiting some friends of birds tonight and then getting up at sparrows fart tomorrow to meet our nice friend, charlotte, whom we hung out with in certaldo and then rome and do some serious sightseeing. she's got a one-day special ticket from her english-teaching posting in lyon and is up for a maxed out day of heavy tourism. i guess i should be up for that too because there's lots more to see - i think the louvre calls but we may opt for the flea markets again. as a rule bargain basement presents for family members (and maybe friends if you're lucky) should not be passed up.
ps. it's my birthday next monday and i look forward to opening all of those presents that my fans have thoughtfully sent ahead to liams place for me (address Appt 224 Rue des Grandes Ecoles Poitiers 86000 France incase you were wondering)
in terms of the music it was a pretty cool night, and the tendency for french bands to sing in english was both bizarre and easy on the ears. the wooden interior was packed with fashionable young parisian things and the crowd was quite vocal (but not exactly energetic) in appreciation of the two local bands that played. the first was like a french re-incarnation of the strokes with some more melancholy elements ala the smiths (vocally); generally very powerpop-y and boppy which was quite fun but i couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that i was on the set of a trendoid mtv filmclip. second band fit into the "seasoned pub band" category but were shit-hot-tight and were like the beatles meets the cure meets air: they're french what else can i say... i am a big electro fan and they skillfully used their synths alongside their standard rock set-up with almost a zero level of cheese.
visiting some friends of birds tonight and then getting up at sparrows fart tomorrow to meet our nice friend, charlotte, whom we hung out with in certaldo and then rome and do some serious sightseeing. she's got a one-day special ticket from her english-teaching posting in lyon and is up for a maxed out day of heavy tourism. i guess i should be up for that too because there's lots more to see - i think the louvre calls but we may opt for the flea markets again. as a rule bargain basement presents for family members (and maybe friends if you're lucky) should not be passed up.
ps. it's my birthday next monday and i look forward to opening all of those presents that my fans have thoughtfully sent ahead to liams place for me (address Appt 224 Rue des Grandes Ecoles Poitiers 86000 France incase you were wondering)
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