April in Paris, la troisième (et dernière) partie!

From the moment we stepped into the Montreux Jazz Café at the Gare de Lyon, nothing was like I had ever experienced a gig before. The seating area outside the front of the Café alone is larger than the space in Harrods, and the interior is bigger still, with beautiful elevated ceilings, chic diner decor, and most importantly, a stylish and perfectly sized stage with the Montreux logo emblazoned across the back. We were immediately greeted on our arrival….and I mean REALLY greeted….by everyone there! The sound and lighting engineers, the food and beverages manager, the floor manager and the front of house team all came over to shake our hands, introduce themselves, and offer their service for the evening. They hadn’t just been expecting us, they had clearly been looking forward to our arrival for quite sometime. They couldn’t do enough for us, and this made us feel very special indeed, something that can go a very long way when it comes to putting on a good show. Within a few minutes we had refreshments, an area to display our promo, somewhere to store our belongings, front row reserved seating for friends and family, and an extremely thorough and detailed soundcheck was underway. Even a trip to the toilets was out of the ordinary! The attendant was precious about my feet being on the (perfectly clean) floor while I changed my shoes, and a little girl washing her hands fixated on me putting the finishing touches to my make up, while I made out the words ‘tres Jolie’ spoken by her mother. Clearly, something special was expected from all these people, and I just hoped and prayed that we wouldn’t disappoint them.

After the sound check we were in for a lovely surprise. First, both Mike’s Mother and Sister appeared having spent a few days already holidaying in the city, followed by Sophie who arrived with some very special family members of her own. It was uncertain for a while whether she would be able to make it due to family commitments, but I’m so pleased she did. She was responsible for us being there and has been such an important part of our journey recently, it just wouldn’t have been the same without her! Another really special surprise for me was having an old school friend turn up during the set; it was the first time we had met in over twenty years….and she really hadn’t changed a bit.

It was time to begin, and the surprises weren’t over yet. As I positioned myself behind my microphone, I noticed that the many TV screens around the room (AND outside) had gone blank. Thinking they had just paused the current programming out of courtesy, I got one hell of a shock when I then noticed ourselves on all of them!! There would be people throughout the venue who would be able to see me, yet I wouldn’t be able to see them! It was a very scary thought, but I realised quickly that too long spent contemplating that would start to knock back all the confidence I had built up since arriving.

Now this may seem a little strange, but what happened over the next hour is actually a bit of a blur! The brain goes into overdrive during a gig…it’s a multi-tasking, multi-thinking, multi-thrilling experience…only this time with added multi-lingual too! Speaking in French is good, not speaking in French is bad, speaking in bad French is very bad. With this in mind, I kept it basic and let Ben translate for me…although I did manage a few whole sentences towards the end! The lay out of the Café means that not all the diners have a direct view of the stage which is why they have the TV screens, however, to my amazement it didn’t stop people from standing up and moving towards the stage to get a better view, many of whom were taking pictures and videos too. It was both thrilling and humbling, and just as I had debated in part 1, the audience were as I had hoped, extremely open to, and appreciative of our new music.

The hour soon came around, and we were delighted to be asked to play a couple of encores. It was a real watershed moment for us. You are often told in life to believe in what you do, and not everyone will appreciate what you do, but you don’t change it if it feels right, you just make it better. You have to keep searching for your audience, and when you do find it, it feels just like coming home. I felt VERY at home on that stage in Paris….so maybe THAT was my homecoming gig after all!

The gig finished with a shower of praise and wonderful compliments, and we sold some CD’s too which was lovely. The wonderful hospitality continued, and we were treated to a complimentary meal and drink which we shared while getting to know our new friends, and catching up with the old. While the Café closed up for the night, we definitely weren’t ready to, so, accompanied by my school friend we headed back to Gare du Nord in search of suitable bar to finish winding down in for the evening and take it all in! It was a huge relief to be sitting at a table in Paris, wine in hand, amongst good company, and feeling very proud to have done what we did. It was very poignant too to be sat reminiscing, not specially about the old old days, but about what we have learnt and acquired since. I have always been envious of studious and academic business types with a comfortable and regular income, but I am reminded every now and again, that just as many of them will envy what I do even more. Few well paid jobs are really that stable anymore and life can change in a heartbeat, so it’s reassuring to feel that my future is in my hands and no-one else’s, and that’s just the way I like it. Throw in a lot of faith and a little bit of luck, and I may just be heading home a little more often…..metaphorically speaking of course!

It was then time to head for a different sort of home. After just a few hours sleep we scurried for the train across the road, grabbed a couple of pastries and coffee and made ourselves comfortable on the Eurostar. I thought sleep would have overcome me, but my mind was alight with excitement and anticipation about the future of Chasing Storms. I had a very inspiring conversation with Ben about it, although we did have to amuse ourselves for a while too completing the Euro Star customer satisfaction survey.
Question: Was the reason for your journey business or pleasure?
Answer: Definately both!

I’m going to leave you with the song we closed our set with. Many thanks to Sophie and her family for all the lovely photos and video. À Bientôt!

April in Paris, la deuxième partie!

The second instalment begins somewhere on a platform in what is well known to be the busiest train station in Europe. Paris Gare du Nord is bold, bustling and hot, yet quenched easily by the effortless Parisienne cool. Now there are many words I could use to describe myself on a day to day basis, and cool is not one of them, however, I had decided that due to the current task in hand, I was in fact (for that day at least) pretty cool. Two minutes at the Gare du Nord, and my ‘pretty cool’ status was hastily upgraded to ‘über cool’ after spotting ledge front-man of Sonic Youth indie cult band fame, Thurston Moore.* I mused for a while optimistically whether he would have felt equally cool spotting Chasing Storms jostling through crowd. Probably, not.

We fell out of the station and into our hotel adjacent, and the full magnificence of the imposing Gare du Nord neoclassical architecture became apparent. It’s no match for St Pancras but it certainly beats the unimaginative functionality of Ebbsfleet. Completed 150 years ago, the facade is adorned with more than twenty statues of female figures, each representing a destination served by the terminal. Their presence dominates the otherwise uncertain atmosphere, so I drew from the abundance of statuesque confidence, and stored it in readiness for the evening. We checked in, and I checked out my pathetic French on the unsuspecting portier, who was (sympathetically) impressed.

We had allowed a bit of time in our schedule for some sightseeing, just to remind ourselves that we were about to play in one of the most iconic capitals in the world, and hoped that some of the atmosphere would rub off on us for the gig. Fortunately we were positioned within walking distance of one of my favourite parts of the City, The Sacré Cœur and Montmartre. Being the weekend, being warm and sunny, and being the first day of the French holidays, the crowds were prodigious yet calm and laid back, and entwined themselves perfectly with the gently simmering artisan vibe and culture. Ben, already very familiar with the capital (having previously resided there) remained at the hotel, so it was myself and Mike who eventually indulged in a traditional savoury crêpe whilst perched on a street corner amongst all the artists, buskers, diners, lovers, entertainers, drinkers, dreamers, chancers, 2cv convoys, lamp posts, cherry blossom, and cheeky opportunistic sparrows.

When it was time, we pulled away with ease from the Big-Top congregation; we were here to live a dream, not dream a dream. We hurried back down through the hilly streets and back to the hotel, giving ourselves an hour to get ready for the night. For Mike, this was likely a 50min snooze and a 10min shower/change. For me it was a 60 min of shower, change, decide on clothes, moisturise, log in to wifi, make-up, decide on hair, manicure, change mind on clothes, pack shoes, jewellry, update Facebook, change mind on hair, run out of time for nails (again), negotiate an extra ten minutes for more make-up, and finally, re-arrange bag to accommodate shoes with the CD’s and flyers. It’s ritualistic chaos, but adrenalin fuelled excitement too. I arrived in the lobby sporting an updo, evening gown and baseball boots. This was Paris, no-one either noticed nor even cared.

It was rush hour, though quite impossible to ‘rush’ anywhere. I had to keep my claustrophobia firmly in check as we negotiated our way decisively through the tunnels and crowded trains across the pulsating city clutching guitars, music, stands and equipment. We made it safely to the Gare de Lyon, another historical railway station of vast proportions. It’s bewildering airport-like interior and throngs of commuters had us stalled for a while but we made it nevertheless into the stunning old part of the station, and finally laid eyes on the welcoming sight of The Montreux Jazz Café, and a life-size poster of ‘Chasing Storms’. ….to be continued!

*A more detailed and accurate account of events would reveal that it wasn’t actually me, but in fact Ben who first spotted Mr Moore and his female, guitar bearing companion. Despite his lofty frame and brooding yet unassuming rock-idol appearance , his presence would have passed me by completely had it not been for the blatant show and tell. But it’s my story, my cool story, and I can tell it how I like 😉