Music
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Music Lover
As a loud and proud Austinite, it's hard for me to admit that I've never really gotten into the live music scene. Besides a few shows to support friends' bands and some free gigs on campus, I've never really gone out of my way to buy tickets for a concert. I can probably count how many concerts I've gone to on one hand - most of them being big music events that I went to for free or that coincided with a road trip. I guess I never really saw the point in forking over 50 bucks to hear someone perform for an hour when I could listen to their music quite happily in my car or at home for as long as I liked. Which is why it's strange that recently, I've been getting the urge to see and hear live music. I guess lately I've been feeling like something is missing from my routine, and I think it has to do with the way I move around town. I'd always been exposed to music on a daily basis - singing in my car during my commute, streaming music at work, being spoiled with an unfathomable variety of daily live music - but, not having a car, an office job, or a city full of free live music venues has really limited my exposure. I'm learning how to change it up a bit, though - how to adapt to my current environment and find ways to integrate what's available to make me feel more musically alive.
Don't get me wrong, Paris is a magnificent place to hear music - it attracts so many musicians and artists to its historical venues year-round. It's just a different scene than I'm used to, and a bit more costly, too, which means I have to plan ahead and choose carefully the shows I see. I know that there's a really great jazz scene in Paris, but I haven't made much effort to discover it (mostly because Gui doesn't like jazz music). I recently saw that one of my favorite musicians is coming to town and snagged a seat to see her next week. I missed her when she came through Austin a couple of years back, so I'm glad I'll get to catch her while she tours through Europe.
For Valentine's Day, Gui bought us tickets to see John Legend perform in Paris on March 7th. This will likely be a much less intimate show than Rachael Yamagata's, but the place that he's playing is supposed to be really spectacular. I'm stoked! I was really surprised that he was able to get us tickets so close to the date, but then I discovered that not many people here know who John Legend is (well none of Gui's cousins or friends our age), which kind of hits home to my point about music being a bit of a different scene here than I'm used to. I'm sure there are loads of bands and artists that I just haven't heard of because they haven't gotten around to these parts yet.
So, I've been trying to find out what people have been listening to back home so I can keep up with what I might be missing out on being away from the Live Music Capital of the World. I'm still hoping that the summer will bring more opportunities to discover live music in Paris. When the weather's warmer and people are more cheery, I could see the City of Lights turning into a veritable music capital of its own. In the meantime, let me know what you've got in rotation in your car right now so I can catch up on the latest tunes while riding the metro.
Don't get me wrong, Paris is a magnificent place to hear music - it attracts so many musicians and artists to its historical venues year-round. It's just a different scene than I'm used to, and a bit more costly, too, which means I have to plan ahead and choose carefully the shows I see. I know that there's a really great jazz scene in Paris, but I haven't made much effort to discover it (mostly because Gui doesn't like jazz music). I recently saw that one of my favorite musicians is coming to town and snagged a seat to see her next week. I missed her when she came through Austin a couple of years back, so I'm glad I'll get to catch her while she tours through Europe.
For Valentine's Day, Gui bought us tickets to see John Legend perform in Paris on March 7th. This will likely be a much less intimate show than Rachael Yamagata's, but the place that he's playing is supposed to be really spectacular. I'm stoked! I was really surprised that he was able to get us tickets so close to the date, but then I discovered that not many people here know who John Legend is (well none of Gui's cousins or friends our age), which kind of hits home to my point about music being a bit of a different scene here than I'm used to. I'm sure there are loads of bands and artists that I just haven't heard of because they haven't gotten around to these parts yet.
So, I've been trying to find out what people have been listening to back home so I can keep up with what I might be missing out on being away from the Live Music Capital of the World. I'm still hoping that the summer will bring more opportunities to discover live music in Paris. When the weather's warmer and people are more cheery, I could see the City of Lights turning into a veritable music capital of its own. In the meantime, let me know what you've got in rotation in your car right now so I can catch up on the latest tunes while riding the metro.
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Last Thursday was a real treat. We met up with some friends of ours who we met back in Austin where they were living for a year until this summer. Just last month, they came back to France and we've been waiting for a chance to catch up with them. Luckily, their favorite band was making a stop in Paris, so they took a train from their neck of the woods and we had the pleasure of spending an evening catching up with old friends and listening to really great music.
I was surprised at how good the band actually was. We'd listened to bits and pieces of their music from YouTube clips and such, but hearing them live was totally different. Besides the giant, man-like biatch that elbowed her way in front of me and Pascal, the concert was blast! Afterwards, we ate like Americans at Indiana Cafe, praised the show, and reminisced about our time together in Texas. We're hoping to make a trip to visit our friends for Bastille Day - a day I'm looking forward to celebrating here.
I was surprised at how good the band actually was. We'd listened to bits and pieces of their music from YouTube clips and such, but hearing them live was totally different. Besides the giant, man-like biatch that elbowed her way in front of me and Pascal, the concert was blast! Afterwards, we ate like Americans at Indiana Cafe, praised the show, and reminisced about our time together in Texas. We're hoping to make a trip to visit our friends for Bastille Day - a day I'm looking forward to celebrating here.
Fête de la musique
(FYI: The videos below are not the best quality and the sound can be a bit loud.)
Every year France opens its streets to musicians of all sorts for one full Saturday. Streets get jam-packed full of pedestrians, and at every corner a new genre of music envelops the block. After being comatose for a few hours in the early afternoon, we met up with some friends and headed out to the heart of Paris where we planned to catch some Rugby then follow the crowds towards the sounds of drums, amped-up guitars and synthesizers.
The first show we happened upon was drawing all kinds of foot traffic. It was some sort of orchestra-ish act, complete with trumpets, tubas, and other various instruments that had the street up in a roar. (I somehow only snapped video of the beginning/tamest part of the show.)
Moving along, we found ourselves in between two shows - one heavy metal act that was far too loud and totally unappealing to me and a strange, funky, not-sure-what-kind-of-music duo who had a more "mature" crowd engaged. Too bad the music from the "thrashers" across the street was trickling into the other band's show.
On our way to see a friend's band perform, we stopped to listen to a bit of jazz. It was meh.
The highlight of the fête was the last show we caught with an amazing singer (who we found out later is SIX months pregnant...and barely even showing!) and a band that included a very cool violinist, too (sorry, the clip sucks).
It was such a cool experience, and the fact that all of France opens its doors to showcase its talent is the most amazing thing. Sure, there are negative consequences to having so many people take over the streets of a major city...
... (and by the end of the night, it was at least three times as bad - hey, at least people were trying) but, it promotes the artistic abilities of every citizen, and it's what makes Paris such a cosmopolitan city. Here are a few more snippets from our day in the heart of Paris.
We stopped for dinner and I had a steak with green butter...delish!
Lovely summer light on the first day of summer.
The singer (Margot) and the bassist/violinist. He was very good!
Our friends, Adrien and Aurelie
I tried to get a good shot of all the people in the streets as we were leaving, but it came out blurry. The streets were packed!
Every year France opens its streets to musicians of all sorts for one full Saturday. Streets get jam-packed full of pedestrians, and at every corner a new genre of music envelops the block. After being comatose for a few hours in the early afternoon, we met up with some friends and headed out to the heart of Paris where we planned to catch some Rugby then follow the crowds towards the sounds of drums, amped-up guitars and synthesizers.
The first show we happened upon was drawing all kinds of foot traffic. It was some sort of orchestra-ish act, complete with trumpets, tubas, and other various instruments that had the street up in a roar. (I somehow only snapped video of the beginning/tamest part of the show.)
Moving along, we found ourselves in between two shows - one heavy metal act that was far too loud and totally unappealing to me and a strange, funky, not-sure-what-kind-of-music duo who had a more "mature" crowd engaged. Too bad the music from the "thrashers" across the street was trickling into the other band's show.
On our way to see a friend's band perform, we stopped to listen to a bit of jazz. It was meh.
The highlight of the fête was the last show we caught with an amazing singer (who we found out later is SIX months pregnant...and barely even showing!) and a band that included a very cool violinist, too (sorry, the clip sucks).
It was such a cool experience, and the fact that all of France opens its doors to showcase its talent is the most amazing thing. Sure, there are negative consequences to having so many people take over the streets of a major city...
... (and by the end of the night, it was at least three times as bad - hey, at least people were trying) but, it promotes the artistic abilities of every citizen, and it's what makes Paris such a cosmopolitan city. Here are a few more snippets from our day in the heart of Paris.
We stopped for dinner and I had a steak with green butter...delish!
Lovely summer light on the first day of summer.
The singer (Margot) and the bassist/violinist. He was very good!
Our friends, Adrien and Aurelie
I tried to get a good shot of all the people in the streets as we were leaving, but it came out blurry. The streets were packed!Bits and bobs
I've been catching up on a very missed American TV show today, which I think has contributed to a reduction in my daily brain functionality. My mind doesn't have anything remotely clever to type, but I feel obliged to blog about a few things.
Nothing too extravagant happened today. I sat in front of Gui's computer watching show after show, pausing intermittently for food, bathroom and email breaks. My grand plans to go to the bank, run an errand to Fnac, go see Sex in the City, and iron were all shot to shiz after I discovered my shows were ready for viewing...SEVEN episodes!! Three of them are two-hour specials, and I somehow made it through almost all three. I finally had to peel myself away from the computer chair to meet Gui at his dad's place for birthday champagne with his sister.
We did have a visitor this evening, though. An old friend (also one of my witnesses at the wedding) who just came back to Paris from a six-month internship in Mexico City joined us for tacos tonight. Yeah, that was totally a coincidence - the taco meat had been thawing in the fridge since yesterday. I used one of the packs of taco seasonings I got back in Texas, which made all the difference. While slicing avocado, I somehow managed to slice a bit of my thumb, which resulted in quick first aid administered by my fast-acting husband (also thanks to my strategically-placed first aid kit in the kitchen). We enjoyed a nice meal with good company, celebrated with some leftover birthday champagne and endured over two hours of Croatia v. Turkey soccer before Turkey finally took the win in overtime kicks...err, something.
Now, I'm ready to hit the hay. We're planning to hit the streets of Paris tomorrow afternoon for some crazy street music festival (called fête de la musique) after sleeping in a bit. Hopefully, it'll turn out to be a nice, sunny day. It'll be great to finally enjoy a weekend that doesn't require a trip to Ikea or some other furniture store.
Below, a few pics from Gui's birthday.
Nothing too extravagant happened today. I sat in front of Gui's computer watching show after show, pausing intermittently for food, bathroom and email breaks. My grand plans to go to the bank, run an errand to Fnac, go see Sex in the City, and iron were all shot to shiz after I discovered my shows were ready for viewing...SEVEN episodes!! Three of them are two-hour specials, and I somehow made it through almost all three. I finally had to peel myself away from the computer chair to meet Gui at his dad's place for birthday champagne with his sister.
We did have a visitor this evening, though. An old friend (also one of my witnesses at the wedding) who just came back to Paris from a six-month internship in Mexico City joined us for tacos tonight. Yeah, that was totally a coincidence - the taco meat had been thawing in the fridge since yesterday. I used one of the packs of taco seasonings I got back in Texas, which made all the difference. While slicing avocado, I somehow managed to slice a bit of my thumb, which resulted in quick first aid administered by my fast-acting husband (also thanks to my strategically-placed first aid kit in the kitchen). We enjoyed a nice meal with good company, celebrated with some leftover birthday champagne and endured over two hours of Croatia v. Turkey soccer before Turkey finally took the win in overtime kicks...err, something.
Now, I'm ready to hit the hay. We're planning to hit the streets of Paris tomorrow afternoon for some crazy street music festival (called fête de la musique) after sleeping in a bit. Hopefully, it'll turn out to be a nice, sunny day. It'll be great to finally enjoy a weekend that doesn't require a trip to Ikea or some other furniture store.
Below, a few pics from Gui's birthday.
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