Concert and Theatre

On Tuesday night I went to a pop Rock concert in Chambery le Haut. Chambery is divided into a few regions that extend beyond the regions of the city itself. Each region is like its own city and has its own Mayor. Speaking of mayors last week new mayors were elected all across France. There has been a lot of political talk going on in the news and on the radio. I guess we will see how these newly elected majors turn out.

Anyway as I was saying I went to a concert. My Russian team leader had passes so we were able to roll in for free. When we arrived there it was a bit strange because there were a lot less people than I was expecting. As a matter of fact for the longest time I was the oldest person there. The majority of the crowd seemed to be around 15, 16, 17 and 18. It made me feel a bit old. It is strange look hang old with a bunch of high school age kids. I guess that's the way it goes.

The concert was divided into 3 groups. The first group by far was my favorite, the others were alright but the first group was awesome. I credit there awesomeness in the way they presented themselves. They rolled in like rockstars, preformed liked rockstars and seemed to have a good sense of performance. The violinist of the group was cool brought to a new level. He just new how to rock out on a violin like nothing I could imagine. By the end of the show his bow was a bit shredded but I guess that can only be expected when you rock out on a violin. By the time the night was done I was ready to fall fast asleep - That's what happen when I returned home.

...

Last night ma petite amie and I went to a theatre-dinner that was being held in town. They had there own stage constructed and it was kind of like eating in a barn that was upgraded to become a restaurant. The entire place was build up with wooden planks and there was various bags and baskets hanging from the ceiling. We arrived pretty late so when we got there there was no place to sit. We wound up siting on a raised area of the floor with some other folks. The good part is that it gave us front row seats. We had no table so I tried to take a crate that was in the center of the "barn" I was stopped by the the accordionist and he offered me his accordion instead. I politely refused and figured that we could manage without a table. Just afterwards an actor found a big pot which hea turned upside down and voila, we had a table.

The performance itself was pretty weird. Through out the show the band played in a kind of east-european style. The was a stand-up bas, and accordion, a xylophone-like instrument and I can't remember what the other guy was playing. Overall it was good music. The best way to describe show itself was a mix of random chaos. There were random acts of comedy mixed in with random acts of spectacle. Perhaps the most memorable moment was when a giant ibis flew in from back stage. It did some poses with a main actress and even stood up on her shoulders. It was spectacular to see but I was was thinking in the back of my mind that I hope that it doesn't go berserk all of a sudden and start attacking people. It seemed to have a slight temperament and the accordionist implored that the audience remain absolutely silent. We sat in awkward silence to see what happened next. Eventually the ibis hobbled off stage and fake chickens started tapping against the barn windows. Afterwards all was calm again... when not really calm but more random events ensued to further build on the oddity of the night.

There was even a rendition of "Barbie Girl" that turned a bit R rated in lines. I was a bit shocked because of the level of vulgarity considering the kids around but then again, it was all in English, and it is France after all. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but the French culture is pretty vulgar. I think it is because they can curse and swear all they want and it still as a pretty sound too it. As a result the French language can really match the level that English can reach, the sounds are just not harsh enough.

Eventually dinner arrived. They prepared a big pot. And by big pot I mean to say HUGE pot of soup. After an explanation in Czech and French of the eating procedure we were able to eat. The soup was really tasty and there was homemade bread and homemade cheese to accompany it.

The night continued with more chaos and eventually we just got too tired after over 3 hours of randomness. We called it a night along with some other people and made it back home. In summary it was a random night well spent. It was nice to experience some French-style random humor.