St-Jean-Baptiste (2006-06-25)

I'm all bruised up from last friday's Breastfeeders show in parc Molson (Mtl), as we celebrated Québec's fête nationale, that of ALL Quebecers. Thousands cheered les Dales Hawerchuk and Syncop, among others. We ended the evening at Alex's place-in-front-of-the-park, playing acoustic guitars and singing..rock'n'roll ! What'd you think ?

A french April (2006-04-20)

soon !

Studio time ! (2006-02-14)

Me and LES BREASTFEEDERS are beginning the recording of the sequel to our album DÉJEUNER SUR L'HERBE on February 23th !

lesbreastfeeders.ca

Ouch ! my head (2006-01-19)

Last night's show was transfered from the Petit to the Big Café Campus, since the crowd was to be too large for the smaller hall. Many, many people came for Les Dales Hawerchuk, Comme un Homme Libre and yours truly. And a grand party, we had, as Yoda would say, in his infinite and boring wisdom. So this Sunny Duval and his Crevettes opened up. I broke a string, of course, my guitars were out of tune, of course, Gourmet's cable decided not to participate at some point, etc, but we managed to make it 'til the end of the half-hour we were allowed ! I had to cut a few songs, so I asked the public to choose between "Tabarouette" and "Boa Constructor" (an old/readapted number), and you chose the 1st one ! You have chosen wiiiiisely. But if you wanna hear "Boa", you'll have to come to the next show on the 25th ! We're playing the Divan Orange.

After the excellent performances put on by Les D.H. and C.U.H.L., we continued the damage at the Korova. You should've been there !

Joliette@L'Azile (2005-12-05)

First Sunny Duval Orchestra visit in Joliette, playing L'Azile (Azilum or mental institute), who greets us with local ale and smoked viande sandwiches ! No barmaid tonight, though. Damn !
Our friend Jimmy Hunt (aka Jim-La-Honte -Jimmy Shame) is the opening act, and works up the crowd with his one-freak-band show, much appreciated by the audience.

Then come we, featuring live for the 2nd time Gourmet Délice on bass, impeccable. People scream with delight DURING an amazing duet consisting of Sunny and Lydia, pounding her drums like hell. Cocktail is there too, the spice of the night, spicing 5-6 songs.

Joliette, we'll be back soon !

Karaoke in Strasbourg, retour (2005-11-27)

Oww ! We didn't kill time, we found a small bar next to the museum, to spend our last moments all together, since some members of the crew are here for a few days more ( including Rosario, the sound engineer ! ) . I'm playing babyfoot ( or table soccer ? what's it called in english ? ) with Dive and Pumas and who else ? Can't remember. I also dance with Marianne-Hic. I play darts with Kargl, the friendly lumberjack, but we give up cause we can't figure out the rules. ( By the way, I think Kargl broke one of my ribs on one of our frequent truckstop-stops along the road. He lift me upside down high in the air -he's like twice my size. He then asked : "How old are you ?" "I'm 32." He screamed : "I just lifted a weight of 32 years ! " I almost manneken-pissed my pants. ) I sing Europe's "The final countdown" with Dom at the karaoke. Even Julbe the monitor-guy sang ! No recollection of the song he sang, but it was a great moment. Téti, the colossal lighting man, lets his thundering tympan-shattering laugh ring through the whole place. Luckily, we are the only people here.

Light-headed, we walk back to the bus, a bit sad 'cause the end of the party is near.

Herv makes sure we get on the plane alright, luggage and all. First plane from Strasbourg to Paris ( 1 hour ), 2nd plane from Paris to my bed. I'm sitting with Dom and Marque D, the band's archivist / webmaster / oldtime friend and funniest man on the tour in my opinion. We sleep through the whole ride, except for that moment when I opened an eye to take a look at the movie playing, "The Fantastic Four". It looked fantasticly boring, with the fat one looking like he was made of shit. I go back to sleep.

7-8 hours later, I'm home. As I said, I have to hurry, I have a bus to catch. I'm playing with my own band Les Breastfeeders in a few hours ! Can't wait to play our songs again. My bed will to wait.

France 10 (2005-11-16)

The tour is almost over ! It's not that I don't wanna go on, but my home is calling.

Lyon, November 16th 2005. Le Transbordeur, filled with 1 100 fans, is cheering for the band ! We put on a good show I think. The stage itself called for a good show. Lots of space, enough to run around the drum riser. While I was doing so, going backwards, I hit my monitor and fell on my ass. Ouch ! And my back hit the footswitch on the floor. The bruises left by the little knobs are still imprinted. In blue.

November 18th. Last night of the tour. Boo-hoo ! It seems like months, but we've been here only 18 days. I'm in Strasbourg with 14 of my friends, having loads of fun. This afternoon I took a little stroll across town. Magnificent.

Tonight after the concert, champagne ! Old friends of mine from Grenoble came to Lyon yesterday, and gave me a bottle, that we'll open tonight as a reward, in the dressing room, soaking wet after 2 hours spent jumping around onstage, singing.

Afterwards, we have some time-killing to do, as our plane to Paris is only at 4am. I guess we'll be hanging outside, the weather's warm.

And when I get back in Montréal, I'm not done. I'm playing Québec city, on the night of my arrival ! My bed, where's my bed !!

France 9 (2005-11-14)

We do have to worry about getting some sleep on the bus, though. It's not always easy to sleep well in here, what with all the noise and snoring. Luckily, before JF left he gave a pair of earplugs. Man, that works ! He had many pairs in his traveling kit, which included some pills and naturals tranquilizers. True, in order to survive on the tourbus, you need to have a good balance, a sailor's balance. Especially when you're going upstairs with a cup of wine in each hand !

Today is a day off, and we are in a suburb of Toulouse called Ramonville. Have you heard about the riots going on in France ? So far, we haven't seen anything, except for a burnt car in Tourcoing, and I'm not sure that it had something to do with the riots. We got scared by what we saw on the news though.

I slept most of today. Played sudoku a bit. Suppertime, I meet the rest of the gang in the hotel restaurant, and we have cassoulet ! Meats and beans, basically. The white beans representing the vegetable faction of the food chain, definitely a minority in my bowl. What can I say ! You don't make friends with salad.

Tonight we have passes to a metal concert. Awful ! We leave after 3 songs. I'm gonna watch tv instead.

Well rested, I have breakfast at 9am for once, and head for the concert hall, after a long walk along the streets of this lovely town, with the houses' roofs covered with slate tiles.

Pastis with the boys and the girl, we have magret de canard for supper, and 800 people gather in the hall, waiting for us to play, going nuts in the mean time. We really give all we have tonight ( maybe too much ) , and so does the crowd. Halfway through the show, there's vapor everywhere. With the stifling heat, some of us almost faint. We are completely soaked after the show, one of the wettest of my life.

Marianne-Hic was incredible, she gave such a performance. I always stand beside her when she does a violin or accordion solo, and screams and jumps. She's great. Everyone's great. Géronimo plays great bass, Dom has total mastery of his drum kit, Kargl howls like no one.

What a night. Shirtless is the word in the dressing room.

France 8 (2005-11-13)

So Rennes it is. And just like every night, little soundcheck, big meal, big wine, big cheeses, little nap, big crowd, big fun.

With all this food and beer, I didn't even gain a pound. First, I don't eat that much prior to a show, and the shows are so energetic.

And no, I didn't beat my string-breaking record tonight. Only 2. I pushed Dom into the crowd at the end, so he would body-surf a little. We laughed as I waved him goodbye. I always give things to people before we leave the stage : wet towels, bottles, set lists, the drummers' sticks, the drummer, etc. After the concert, we sign pictures, t-shirts, flags. ( I don't know what to think about the band's political views and allegiances, but we do agree on environmental protection. I'm very worried about that. )

But on the TourBar, the only worry is of liquid nature. And tonight, there's nothing to worry about. As long as we have gas. Hum.

France 7 (2005-11-12)

Rennes, Bretagne. WoooooooooooW !
Yet again another fantastic town. Ooold town, with 400 year-old houses, or older, I'm not sure. Incredible. We arrive around noon, after an ok night of sleep on the bus, for once. I wake up not really aware of the 10 hours spent in the vehicle, not just because I was sleeping, also because we watched a movie. Yes, leisure equipment is also available on the bus.

Shave, shit, shower ( 3 of the many possible morning "sh's" ) , and then hitting the paved streets of Rennes and its magical scenery. A day off is great, it allows you to visit, meet. On a normal concert day, you don't have time to do that. All the regions of France we've been to were special, but this one here is exceptionnal, unique. Close to the sea, rude, yet very friendly, open.

Of course, we have crêpes bretonnes for supper, a local specialty, mine topped with ham, asparagus, spinach, emmental cheese,...glglglglgl. Marque D and Géronimo wouldn't stop ordering small jugs of cider, to wash the crêpes down. Dessert ? More crêpes ! Mine : chocolate and chantilly cream. (more drooling) We sing "Happy anniversary " 2 or 3 times to Hervé, our tour manager whose birthday was a few days ago. He's the greatest. Karl-the-Gaulois-supreme ate 3 humongous crêpes, and was considering having a 4th one, but stopped. He's an oger !

At night, a tour of local bars with Dom and Pumas. We meet Bruno, owner of le Sablier, a nice little place, local beer, shows. We walk back to the hotel, where the smell of fresh-baked croissants dominates. We get the night-watchman to give us a few, plus a few beers that we drink on Pumas' balcony.

Rennes, you rule. Sunday, at the venue, we'll see what you got. Will I break my own record of broken strings during the same concert ( 3 ) ? I have no pity for acoustic rental guitars. So tomorrow, beware.

Brussels (2005-11-11)

November 11th, the 11th of the 11th, my lucky day ! And today, I got a chance to visit Brussels !! A very nice place. I visit with Dom, my daily and nightly visiting partner, and also Pumas, also in Europe with us ( he is the Cowboys Fringants' opener ). We get to see le Mannekenpis, you know, the famous little statue of a boy taking a piss ? We managed to find it. Golden, naked, in an alcove on the corner of a small pedestrian street, taking a piss for eternity. ( Well, I guess he represents Belgium, the land of beer ! ) It seems that on the day of Elvis' death, they dress him up like the King ! And on other special occasions, he pees beer ! And they give cups to people ! Cool. ( My friend la Petite Bête thinks a Mannekenfart would be as successful )

Then, we visit a Bettina Rheims photo exposition at the Botanique ( the venue where we'll be performing tonight ) . Pictures of nude women, some famous. It's a beauuuuuutiful exposition. Afterwards, sound check. And supper, consisting of steak and fries, of course.

Showtime ! Screams, crowd chanting along, etc. The usual ! I'm kidding, it's just so impressing each time. Many Quebecers are here too ! Some have flags. After the show, when we meet the fans, they give us Belgian bottles of beer, and some from Québec ! " They gave you lame beer, so... now you'll have good beer to enjoy on the bus tonight ! " Indeed.

France 6 (2005-11-10)

Today, Lilles. Yet again, great hospitality, big meal, smiles, wine and tiramisu for dessert ! Oh yeah, and the show...I'll be completing the tour on guitar. This morning, JF decided to leave, just like that. But we knew it was likely to happen. His giant homesickness and anxiety won. By chance, I was given the band's 4 albums a month before leaving so that I could learn the songs, in case. I have sheets of paper with the chords to a few songs next to my monitor on the floor, as a reminder. But with these guys, there is absolutely no pressure. Only fun. Playing live with them is like having a beer among friends, really. We just can't stop laughing. My fingertips are starting to wear out, cause I'm not used to play fast acoustic guitar. With Les Breastfeeders, we play fast, but it's not the same kind of fast. Anyway. After the show, we chat with the barmaid, as usual, and have the last beer in a park nearby. 2 Irishmen walk by, and chat with us too. They're in town for Memorial Day tomorrow ( November 11th ). Goddamn war ! I hate it. But I do sympathize, listening to them talking about their grief.

So good night. We're walking back to the hotel. For once, we're not sleeping on the tour bus.

France 5 (2005-11-09)

Today and tomorrow, unlimited mileage !

So, after playing the Grand Rex in Paris, night road 'til Nantes, Bretagne ( at least 6 hours ). After the Nantes gig, heading back to Paris for a live radio performance (only one song ! ) in the morning, 8am. Then, at noon, we have to hit the road again and go to Lilles, northern France, for a night off !!

Nantes : amazing reception, once again. I just can't believe how much of the lyrics the crowd knows by heart ! And so many fans here.

JF, the guitar player, seems ok for now. Ivan is starting to go nuts a bit, the bunks are pretty small for a large, 6'4 lumberjack, and the headroom in the bus is about 5'5, I guess. I'm alright, I'm like, 5'6 ? I don't even know. But it is hard to get some sleep in here, the tour bus is constantly shaking, rolling, temperature's always changing. And on top of that, when you think about 3 000 different things at the same time, as I do when I lay in bed, sleeping is not an easy task. Onless you're very tired...and waisted. When we get to the venue, we find sleep anywhere we can : in the dressing room, on couches, standing...

The Radio show : so after a night of partially sleeping, I have to replace JF on guitar so he can get his zzz's to be in shape for the remainder of the tour. It seems that about 1 million people are listening to this show on RF1 ! We hop on the bus as soon as we're done, cause our driver is threatening to leave only in 9 hours, because of the french driving rules, he has to take a break. Since Lilles is "only" a 3-hour drive, Hervé the tour manager manages to convince him to start the driving now. We're saved.

Lille, November 10th, the night before the concert : another superb town, great scenery, like everywhere else we've been to, so far. Fabulous meal at our hotel, after a long stroll across the paved city. And a few Belgian beers along the way ! Yes, Belgium, the land of beer, our next destination tomorrow, is very near Lilles.

Since this night's off, why not go out on the town, with Dom and Étienne ? We find a cool street to hang out on, after an hour spent looking for bars, walking the nightly November chill. We are rewarded when we get to (place name here cause I don't remember) street, and enter (name of bar ). Wait, student fundraising party ! Mostly studentEs. Alright then. We get in because some organizer recognizes Dom !! What the...?! Étienne, aka Disco, steps onto the dance floor. Roadies tend to be shy, but not Disco ! Other guys recognize Dom when we're about to leave, and start singing a traditionnal french song in his honor. And it's 5 minutes long ! Since we missed the last metro a long time ago, we decided to stay until the reopening at 5:30am. Our new friend Clothilde tries to guide us to the metro station = we get lost a few times on the way. Croissants kept us company during our search.

France 4 (2005-11-08)

Paris again, at le Grand Rex ! Mythical movie theater, and legendary venue, too. Tonight I only played guitar on 2 songs, since JF the guitar player / songwriter arrived in France. But for how long ? Don't know if I'll have to replace him again. Will depend on his state (he sometimes suffer from heavy homesickness).

The show was fantastic ! The pit was filled with screaming fans, as were the 2 big balconies, French mostly but also many, many Quebecers. Scary. By chance the balconies didn't collapse.

We then jumped onto our rolling dormitory, after having a chestnut crêpe on the sidewalk !

The night before, we were in some english pub of Pigalle having a few drinks when Dom the Gaulish, his french friend Oli and I decided to go to the Goth bar next to our hotel, just to see what was happening. Since we don't look very goth, some stupid goth-like guy started coming down on us. So to berifend him we bought shots of absinth labeled "François Guy" (which was funny cause a guy named François Guy used to sing with Les Sinners - look it up, a Québec '60s rock'n'roll garage outfit, and nowadays he ain't r'n'r nor garage at all). In the end, his bully crust was gone, and when the bar closed at 3am, he somehow managed to find a few cans of Bavaria on the street. then we went to another bar, still opened. I left, and looked for the hotel. But I walked by a little bar, with girls inside, so I tought, "Why not one last drink ? " So I got in. One of the girls inside, a sexy 25er I guess, takes me to the back, behind a silky red curtain. Then she starts cuddling me, and telling me about prices associated with actions that she's planning on taking on me. Hot damn ! A prostitute ! I may be cooked, but I know for sure that 150 euros is way too expensive for anything. So being the gentleman that I am (hum) and having only around 70 euros on me, I offer to buy us some beverages. We walk to the bar and have a seat. the barmaid says : "So you're buying my friend a beverage, aren't you ? " Yep, I guess". "That'll be 20 euros ( 30 bucks)". Oops ! So we get to talking, also with some guy (pimp, client ?). After some time, the girl says she's still thirsty. Here comes another 30 buck drink. And then I eventually left. A brothel ! I guess you could say I got screwed in Pigalles.

France 3 (2005-11-06)

Sunday, 5th day on French soil, apparently. I mean, my personal clock is all mixed up, for sure. Yesterday, somebody informed me about what day it was ! We stay up all night on the tour bus, talking, laughing, beering, with no clock around, not knowing where we are cause it's pitch dark outside. Noon, we arrive at the venue, have breakfast, shower, and then we find out what time it is.

It is somewhat strange to be a gang of 13 stuck in a rolling living room. A rolling party of 13. The urinals remind us of their existence with a tenacious smell every time we let the door unclosed.

We manage to distract ourselves, quite easily, for sure. Our french tour manager, Hervé, is also a magician ! We applaude loudly. He's amazing. Surprises us every time. I have to say, we are drunk when he does his tricks, but still, he is very good.

Sometimes we play guitar and sing upstairs, not quite remembering the lyrics to Beatles and Bashung songs.

I watched our driver filling up the gas tank at a truck stop, man ! 395 litres of fuel !! Total cost : 450 euros !!! That's about 700 bucks. And the second time we stopped for gas and I saw the cost, it was 519 euros !! To top it off, the driver has to stop every 2 hours or so, for 20 minutes, and in that time, cannot stop the engine because the battery needs to be on or plugged into exterior supply. What a f-ing waste, I'm going nuts ! And that sweet diesel smell, haaa !

Last night, we were playing Caen, Lower Normandie. The crowd was singing along, wow ! We had a great time, and put on a good show, I think. We let this little 10 year-old girl onstage, at some point. Her legs couldn't move, so I tought she was very nervous, but no, she was half-paralyzed from the waiste down. I went and put my electric guitar around her neck, thinking, she'll remember this night for the rest of her life ! So I held the chords while she hit the strings with her right hand, and Dom pounding a heavy metal beat on his kit !

Yep, I think little Noémie will have some good memories to cherish ! Sleep tight.

France 2 (2005-11-04)

Wooo ! Paris, I'll be back in a few days, I promise. Today we're having breakfast in Clermont-Ferrand, after our first night "spent on the clothesline ", in our super tourbus, driven by Steve, a 60 year old punk from Glasgow, Scotland ! We left Paris around 10pm, with a full tank of gas, a few bottles of red, a few cases of hops, and some laughing devices. And a bubbly to celebrate Geronimo's birthday ! He's the bass player. The tourbus : first floor includes 12 seats, a table to play dice or whatever, a mini-kitchen, a mini-bathroom (oops !), and storage in the back. Second floor, another small table, confortable seating, and the superposed bunks to sleep in ! Small enough to welcome claustrophobia. Yes, we'll be sleeping here for most of these 18 days spent touring France. If I manage not to strangle my drunken snoring neighbors, I'll be alright. The bus has a trailer for our gear, with a skull painted on the side ! Eeeevil ! I feel like home.

Today's the first concert of the tour, and I'm replacing the guitar player, who didn't come (he's got homesickness). Last night on the bus, we rehearsed the songs on acoustic guitar (yes, I can play acoustic guitar, in case you wondered).

Got to go, shower time.

France 1 (2005-11-02)

I'm in France ! Damn it, is this computer keyboard upside down, what is this ? The A is supposed to be next to the double S's, shouldn't it ? (hum)

Aaah...it is good to be here, last time was 15 years ago. It has changed, and so have I. We're even.

The airplane ride is still scary, though. To spend 6 or 7 hours flying over the ice-cold Atlantic still doesn't appeal to me very much.

Tonight I'm off to see a concert with my friend Isabelle from french band Prototypes (check out their new album !), should have a blast ! I'll be riding the subway, hope I'll get lost a little.

No boredom yet. Yeah, I love Paris too.

L'Esco drift (2005-10-23)

Damn it, my teeeeeth ! I must have got hit at least 2 or 3 times by my own mike, playing the Escogriffe last saturday night, the crowd was jam-packed and this guy kept falling on us, 'til he was evicted by doorman Hugo Mudie from the Ste-Catherines, I guess, cause I didn"t see him again. Some hippie kept coming back onstage, even though I kept pushing him away -I'll push anyone who comes near. Many heard me screaming (translate) "Go fuck away, hippie", but I'd like to say that I have nothing against hippies, as long as they don't smell of patchouli or don't come onstage. I just screamed the first word to come to mind to describe him. Thanks the 100 + who came and danced, you were great. Les Crevettes, who sang with us, loved you too ! Oh, they'll be back.

jjjjjj (2005-10-20)

Damn ! The album just came out, and already new songs are apprearing at he tips of my fingerz ! So soon ? Apparently. I'll have to play them live then.

Hurricane (2005-10-01)

No hurricane today. Yeah !