Putting the G A Y in GAY PAREE

Paris is awesome. And when I say awesome, I mean AWESOME. Even the bums have it pretty good in Paris. I mean, I actually saw a group of homeless people hanging out in tents, and they even had a couch set up in front! Ok, so maybe you can't really judge a city based on the quality of homeless life, but we had an awesome time in this city. I'm now typing from the promoter's office in Tourcoing (i have no idea how to say that), trying to remember how the evening ended up last night. I'm getting little flashes of memory, but since I let my proverbial hair down and partied it up last night the picture is fairly foggy.

When we actually arrived after the 5 + hour drive from Grenoble, we were greeted at La Maroquinerie by Clemence, our beautiful and extremely French promoter. The news was not good. Apparently a 16 year-old girl had been found drunk as a skunk in the venue one week prior, and the Parisian police had handed down a stiff sentence of a 1 week shutdown. Unfortunately, they let the promoters know this on the day of our arrival and subsequent performance. After a swift check of email and myspace and facebook (G A Y), we packed up and headed off for the new venue. This place, Le Pont Ephemere, was sweeeeet. It was right on the bank of La Seine, and looked to be a sort of half art-space half venue type of deal. The crew was super pro, and the spread was extensive in the backstage. We even had a bottle of jack daniel's this time, a fact which I will address a little later. The band that opened for us was a kickass band called "The Rodeo," who played a mixture of old school country/bluegrass stuff, and had a very pretty asian looking french girl as a singer. Unfortunately, she sang in silly English, and all I wanted was for her to shut up and sing in French. Regardless of this qualm, the band was really cool. They utilized a lap steel guitar player, violinist, and used a lot of really nice percussion stuff as well. They probably have a myspace page or something like that if you're interested.

Our sound check went swimmingly, as per usual, and was made extra super by the addition of a trombonist named Ben on our cover of Nina Simone's "feelin good" (i'm not sure if that's the actual title or not). Ben was awesome. His usual gig is playing in Sufjian Stevens' band, hence his connection to Shara, who is also a tenured SS veteran. Ben also knew and went to school with Marla Hansen, another MBD and SS and INLETS veteran. Actually, Marla will be playing a solo show on Wednesday at Union Hall in Park Slope. You should check her out because her music is awesome. Sebastian, of Inlets fame, and I played on her record which will be forthcoming, and are total Marla groupies.

Dinner was served upstairs and included a delicious cucumber salad, huge shank of lamb, and dessert which I couldn't bring myself to finish. I don't like eating too much before playing, unless it's candy. I love candy all the time. By the time "The Rodeo" finished their set, Le Pont Ephemere was absolutely packed. It's funny, but I think the combined Frenchness of the audience contributed to an odd cheese-like odor in the air. Of course, I may have been imagining that....but who knows? I think the total number of heads in the door was about 350, including two of my friends from the states, Sarah and Samantha. The performance itself was superlative. Everything was tight, everything was intense, and everything brought huge responses from the crowd. I think there was even a supermodel right in the front, totally distracting me from my bass-ing. Every time I looked over I did a little double take. Come to think of it, I think her boyfriend even knew most of the lyrics to the songs. We finished with the song Freak Out, and I took it upon myself to execute a backwards somersault at the very end. I think I bruised my knee, but it was worth it. As we took our bow and walked off, I had a moment of introspection. The Parisians genuinely appreciate, respect, and enjoy this music; and they wholeheartedly ADORE Shara. Seriously. They asked for 4 encores. 4!

After the show, we hung out in the backstage for a bit with Sarah and her friends, and Sam and her boyfriend Matt. Everyone enjoyed the show, and we drank and were merry until the crowd cleared and it came time to change gears. Riding the high from the show, Brian and I destroyed most of the bottle of jack D's provided by the venue. I believe Brian's words were, "duuuude I am L.I.T." (he spelled it out just in case I didn't get the message). Shara and James and Nuno went back to the hotel, but Brian and I took it upon ourselves to get embarrassing. And that we did. We made two more stops before heading back to the hotel, one at La Flesch D'Or, and another at a bar with all red lights inside and dancing and madness. Here we met up with Sarah again, who proved to be an outstanding host to us - even though it was a school night for her. We continued our consumption, and as we exited the bar a man passed us who I was absolutely SURE was my friend Rishi, but actually turned out to be Gerard Depardieu....... ok i totally made that one up. I loved him in "Green Card," though. Brian and I got in a cab and headed home, drunk on rock and booze and Paris. It felt good to really do it up last night, even though it proved to be somewhat detrimental the next day. Luckily, I have extremely brief hangovers. I cannot say the same for my rhythm section partner-in-crime. Brian woke up making out with the toilet bowl as I scrambled to make sure I had my wallet, phone, passport, and both shoes. During the drive to Tourcoing, he even executed an extremely impressive out-the-side-of-the-van-while-going 60-on-the-highway hurl about ten minutes outside of Lille. I was very impressed. It's now 7:26, and I'm late for dinner, but Brian is still hurting badly. I think he is suffering from what experts call an UBERhangover.

Tonight's venue is awesome, and we will rock in spite of the dark and ominous skies above. We begun our tour crescendo last night, and we will continue it tonight and finish at Bush Hall in London tomorrow night. I will be home soon.