Balcony, Room Depressing, Hotel Dismal, With A View Of St. Laurent, Corsica.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and a view of the Gulf over the sewage works is almost quite delightful.
Sitting on the balcony is the best possible use of this room. The Happy Gigster's Guide might say of the room, and the hotel, it's a great place to have an enema. The sound of shouting from Gallic holidaymakers having forms of pleasure blows up from below, closer & more present even than the sewage works. But the sewage works have a useful social function.
The staff at the hotel I find very strange. Noise is a necessary part of their environment & they seem apathetic.
Last night's performance in Patrimonio - a wonderful gig on the hillside of this village, in a grass amphitheatre built around its war memorial. The war memorial is a feature of every English town & village, testifying to the irreplaceable loss of young men to their communities in both world wars. The Great War was an appalling shock. After 1945, there was a precedent.
In Patrimonio, I was told, the village held a heated debate as to the propriety of holding a guitar festival at the memorial to its young men. Apparently, the clinching argument came from an elderly gentleman who got up and declared: I fought with these young men; they were my friends; they loved music.
And so, From The Guitarist's Stool --
Stage Left --
The sound, for this first rock night in the Nights Of Guitar series, was unforgiving; although wonderful for Soundscapes. Steve & Billy both joined me. Steve had problems with his triple neck, but his performance won over the audience, estimated variously between 3,000 & 5,000. Joe's set was well played & well-received; the jam lotsa fun. A very well-hearted event.
Back to hotel for a little late supper c. 02.30 - 03.00 with Steve & Joe & Mick, Jeff, Matt, ZZ & Rubina. Steve's band left at 05.00 for Bastia > Paris > Singapore > Perth. Yow! We'll next meet in Mexico City at the end of November. Into bed for me at 03.30.
Breakfast this morning: I was the first, arriving to quiet on the terrace, just before the Feeding Frenzy at Buffet Modest. The coffee might once have been hot but the milk had probably always been warm. Then - terror! The quiet was dispelled by ignition of the Noise Pollution System set to radio! Random, accidental music of the inappropriate kind with volume turned to upsetting. I reduced it to irritating and, in several moves, to inaudible shortly before Mick Manager & Jerry, stage left technician, joined me.
Now, catching up with stuff & packing.
19.50 Nice Airport, France.
The Happy Gigster's Guide has this advice: never fly regional airlines. The warning comes not far behind never ever, for any reason whatsoever, fly Air Iberia.
My flight, on the Corsican carrier operating under the Air France umbrella, was delayed. It would have missed the BA connector to London. The local ground staff were very helpful, re-booked me on a later BMI plane, and I'll arrive around 22.00. Then to Bredonborough & the Little Luvvie - yippee!
As I was at the Bastian gate, not knowing whether my flight was a goer or not, I watched my Band Buddies & crew boarding their plane for Paris. Au revoir as en parle ici.
So, in brief recapitulation, what of this G3 tour for me?
The Best Of G3 Europe 2004:
Getting paid to take guitar lessons - every night.
Working with superb players, at the top of their field.
Working with warm, supportive & encouraging people who are lotsa fun.
The opportunity to play music is always a privilege.
The Royal Albert Hall is an exceptional venue, even if the sound sucks.
Some of the Soundscapes had an element of otherness.
Listening to the Soundscapes informs me of my personal concerns.
The Worst Of G3 Europe 2004:
Smoke. Appalling, choking, all-pervasive smoke. Everywhere.
Overnight drives: the effect of this was to disrupt the rhythm of my personal practice.
The hustle & pestering for tickets surrounding the RAH show.
Offstage photography. I can kinda get a sense of why people might want to take photos of the performance, unaware that they are changing it as a result. But taking photos of this performer offstage, where it was quite clearly unwelcome, I found deeply offensive. And to apologise immediately afterwards, with no evident sense of regret, was insulting.
The reaction of antipathetic audiences. This had the effect of shortening the available performance time & limiting what would otherwise have been available.
"We can't go far on enthusiasm, but we don't go far without it."
