08h00 – Weather sunny and dry, some high cloud. 18°C at present, 15°C low overnight, 30°C daytime high yesterday.
Got home after midnight last night, some harvesting still going on, the wheat is still dry. We’d been to Saint Brisson in the neighbouring department The Loiret to a performance by Johnny Clegg – Le Zoulou Blanc – The White Zulu.
- Wiki quote – At the height of the band’s success in 1988, Michael Jackson had to cancel his show in Lyon, France, as he attracted a smaller audience than Johnny Clegg and Savuka. A newspaper headline in France read “white man singing black music, out sells black man singing white music”.
Last nights show was by all accounts a brilliant show, P said it was the best she’d been to for years, just standing close up to the music and being swayed by the tightly fitting crowd (ah-well!). For me it was quite different; I had been on my feet most of the day behind a grass cutter and my legs were tired, the event was open air (well under a huge canvas/plastic roof) and standing only. French shows NEVER start on time and this was no exception, my legs got really tired just waiting and my back was uncomfortable, I need to lean or sit (age?). When the show did start man was it loud, I do like loud music and P often tells me to turn the hi-fi down but this was different (age?), the sound mix had huge volume on the bass and drums especially, each snare drum (not the bass drum) beat seemed distorted it had very sharp attack then I realized it was not distorted but it was my left ear. I backed away from a fairly front position to the bar and it got no better. P found me later and I could not hear her properly I had a loooong echo. I decided to get further away and so heard the second part of the concert from the catering area on the far side of the moat. This was fine, the volume was still loud but it did not hurt, by this time I also had indigestion, French fizzy beer, so I went back to the car for some Rennies, they were not there. So back to the concert catering area where I sat and enjoyed what was left tired, aching legs and back plus indigestion. I bought a piece of flan from the food wagon, the same caterer who was at Bonny on Friday, really nice. I thought the egg/milk mixture might help. So for me it was NOT the best thing. I would not have bought the CD but I did for Les Doigts De L’Homme [The Fingers of Man](Links — Wiki — Amazon — YouTube).
Saint Brisson is a castle overlooking the Loire river, it has in its grounds a collection of medieval war-machines which are demonstrated regularly.
Jobs for today, water new trees and shrubs and prepare the workbench and drill for Christophe Deslignes‘s “14e Stage de Musiques et de Danses du Moyen-Age a Saint-Bris-le-Vineux (France, Yonne)”, Link. It is used as part of the course for making recorders (the wooden blowy things), run by Philippe Bolton.
16h00 – 30°C outside in the shade, time to come in. P just said she thinks she’ll buy every recording Johnny Clegg ever made, WOW.
