You know what, for once, i’ll not talk about music. Or at least it’ll not be the major theme let’s say ahah. For once, i’m in Brussels. I mean, the whole week end will be in the city i’m supposed to live. Supposed to live, because Dopplr informed me that on the last 6 months, I was not at my place for 63 days (yes, it’s more than 2 months ahah)… But well, when i’m around, I still love being here. So here we were going for a lovely under a great weather (for most of the time at least). « Alors Bruxelles je te la donne » chante Bénabar…

Friday evening, was supposed to go to Viller’s Abbey 40 minutes outside of Brussels. Will not make it for several reasons, a shame, considering that a theater piece by Moliere was created there just for the summer. Rumor has it it was lovely. I’m sure it was. So was heading to the other event of the nite, the birthday of one of the graphist, collegue and friend i’m working with at the studio. She’s turning 25, and we’re heading to their place to put everything upside down.

Oddly enough, I feel good, surrounded by those people who once again broke the idea of me being a producer and learn to know me as « who I am ». As a producer, i’m supposed to be the devil for them, the superior force that will strike on them when they are late, or when we’ll need a black sheep, it will just hit randomly. Not my way to see my job, explaining why I asked to be with them at the same place and being with them, helping them instead of beating them (if i can talk metaphorically obviously). So here we are, 18 months after I started, some are friends, some are just sayin’ hello, some left during production, but in the end… A good thing is coming out of it. Once outside of the studio, there’s no boss or what. What’s happening during businness hours is nothing personnal, just work. And we all forget that, get a drink and have a nice party.

Maty is a talented photographer who’s doing some compositing at the studio. And he had the great idea to create a « one night only take your own portrait » studio at their place, my tripod, his D90, flash with « home made diffuseur », a remote, 2€ glasses and hats and we were all set. And that was epic ahah. Some should be considered as top secret and seen only when the first one of the whole gang will get married, there’s really some collector clichés ahah, but well, you know, everyone happy and loving the idea, there will be some nice moments in there.

ahah, the result will just be brilliant, you can see the whole Album on Maty’s Stream, and that’s definitely worth a look Time to head home and starting to prepare a very nice saturday that is going to take place.

And we’re going to be Tourists, visiting downtown Old Brussels, his Grand Place, the chocolate fountain, some Belgian old tradition I’ve never heard about (Meyerboom), the Manneken Pis, the whole stuff, but well, weather is lovely, and i’m pretty happy to get those people to come and visit my town, hoping they’ll like it as much as I do. Discovering some nice places, surrounded by nice people. You know, the kind of city your not afraid to live in (how’s that I’m talking about Paris? ahaha :p ).

We’re now heading to « bruxelles-les-bains », a summer event that is taking place near the canal of Tour & Taxis. T&T being the place where I first became a Jedi, as long as where couleur café or the cosplay during the BIFFF was held. Feet in the sand, a mojito, some sun.. honestly what more can we ask for?

Heading to the FM Brussel Bus, the friend from Laid-back are going to air a show live from here, always with their fine tunes and good spirit, always cool to have them around, always there to help the nice project they are building, pieces after pieces… Moment where 2 part of my world are joining, the Brussels side and the « from years ago » one. But it turned out very well actually, happy once again to share those sunny and nice moments with all those people

Took some snaps of course, and even if live they sealed the deal without any major issue. Remembers me when I went to shot them in the Studio for their weekly show. Very cool memory. Happy to see people are remembering me as well, who knew ahah

They it was decided it was time to go taste « les sushis de Cyril ». Back in my bday, the « sushishop » near my place add special receipe made by Cyril Lignac (the French Jamie Oliver). New season, those aren’t there anymore, but definitely worth a try, nice dinner, address duty noted. I’ll get back someday.

Time to go to the Fun Fair near the International Train station, randomly bumping into the friends that were with us at Bruxelles les bains, and decided to take a ride… Didn’t seemed much high from the ground.. actually it was… and turning not quickly, but small sensations none the less ahah

Time to head home and rest around a nice red wine glass, time to chill, and just enjoy the company.

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In My hears : Eagle Eye Cherry -Save Tonite- ♫  » Go on and close the curtains/ cause all we need is candle light/ You and me and a bottle of wine/ going to hold you tonight/ Well we know I’m going away  and how I wish, I wish it weren’t so/ So take this wine and drink with me/ let’s delay our misery/ Save tonight/ and fight the break of dawn/ Come tomorrow/ tomorrow I’ll be gone » ♫

I remember… I remember I had a left knee, I remember I didn’t had cramps in the right legs all nite long, I remember I didn’t get tossed away in a 2k crowd, I remember I wasn’t missing 2 pieces of my camera, I remember I used to not remember what was like to be jumping with a full crowd on a track, I remember I wasn’t a big fan of taking concert pictures, I remember I wanted to be Irish and not Scottish. I remember there was a time I didn’t spend 75 minutes with Franz Ferdinand @AB in Brussels. I now know that it was a rollercoaster right into my face, and I didn’t saw it coming (at least not that much). Now I just want a 2nd round of it.. pleaasse, let me do one more round!

Of course Franz Ferdinand was Sold Out at the AB in a glincah after the opening of the tickets sales. Of course I couldn’t have one (like 20mn and they were all gone), of course, I was lucky enough to see an ad on the page of this concert saying « i sell a ticket », oh oh oh.. it was just for me, so thanks to François, I had the golden ticket to see the scotts on stage. Support act was called Kissogram (germans it seems). Weird but interesting electro-rock. But well, not enough moving shoulders even a little bit, hard beats, nice, but well… It will be nothing compared to what’s coming next.

 Indeed, the 4 scotts arrived on stage, luckily enough i’m really close to the stage (and no security fence at all.. wow). They start by « Come on Home », his guitar gimmick, is bass clearly present, the pit ignites almost instantly, and for once, I was kind enough to leave my jack at the cloackroom (which at the AB by the way is just something like heaven, I swear, and I’ve done loads of gig places!). Sound like, it’s actually not bad, sound engineer should be good, even if the voice of the lead singer (alex for us, fans) is maybe a little bit overwhelmed in the slap of energy that is coming into our  head on a bi-second basis.
♫ « Moonlight falls upon your perfect skin/ Falls, and you draw back again/ Falls, and this is how I felt/ And I can not forget / And I can not forget /Come on home/So come on home/ But don’t forget to leave « ♫ -Come on Home-

 Almost without the slightest silence in between, « Do you want to », one of the main hit of the 2nd album, keeps everyone jumping. You know, this kind of crowd where you don’t have any room left that whatever happens, you just don’t have the space to fall, it’s purely mathematic, nothing will happen if you follow how the crowd is moving. When the chorus comes « to do do do do do », now it’s jumping time, same stuff, you pretty much have to jump if you don’t wanna die under broken ribs made by knees, elbows in the eye etc etc… Yes, it’s pretty tough :p
♫ « Oh well I woke up tonight and said I /I’m gonna make somebody love me /I’m gonna make somebody love me /And now I know, now I know, now I know /I know that it’s you /You’re lucky, lucky /You’re so lucky! « ♫ -Do You Want To-

« No you girls » from the new album sets up the tone that will go through the whole set on stage, pretty much no interruption between songs, just turning people wild, coming closer to the audience, smiling, being astonished as most of the artists who are coming to Belgium how much Belgium crowd is just soooo amazingly wonderful. « The dark of the matinee » and « twilight omens » will follow, crowd singing, good times, sweating, looking if I didn’t lost anything because it’s moving so much.. Right stage.. no.. left stage.. no.. in front.. in back.. jump.. left… jump.. right… wowww… guys… let us breaaaatthhhhh

♫ « Do you never wonder? /No, no no no / You girls never know /Oh no, you girls’ll never know /No you girls never know /How you make a boy feel  » ♫ -No You Girls-

  »Walk away » and « The fallen » are really the ideal intro to the tubesque « Take me out », I tried to shoot a video, but it just wasn’t possible, people shouting, dancing, arms in the air, sweating like they just run a marathon, this is definitely almost the  symbol of a whole generation that discovered new british talents at that time (that was like 5 years ago, seems way further than that). And this guitar, like a sting, giving the whole rythm, simple, clear, efficient. Love this track, can barely focus on the voice because the whole crowd is actually in communion with the pit and with the band. This is just a strange feeling, and it’s not the first « moving concert » I saw.
♫ « So if you’re lonely,/ You know i’m here waiting for you,/I’m just a crosshair,/I’m just a shot away from you/And if you leave here/You leave me broken shattered alive/I’m just a crosshair/ I’m just a shot..then we can die/Ooohahhhhh/I know I wont be leaving here with you«  ♫

Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

  »Turn It on » is quieting a little bit the audience, time to breathe, to realize that well, we’re all already pretty heavily tired, but we’re ready to go to do another round anytime, you know, this time where you just don’t give a f*** about what’s your job, age, weight, social situation or whatever, you’re just someone else on a crowd that is having the blast of the month, enjoying. I know it’s the same for me, at this exact moment, I just don’t care I will be barely able to walk when I’ll get out of here, i’ll sleep just a couple of hours, mostly in pain, before going to work, here, Nothing matters. The pain’s gone. And THAT is a great feeling, that is why I still have my wristbands on the left wrist, the ones from the Ardentes as well as the one from the Eastpak Tour in Antwerp ( »built to last » is written on it). Never foget. A small reminder of how sometimes life can be, simple but sufficient per itself. Right now, I’m just a guy painless in a crowd, and I’m happy with it.
♫ « It ain’t easy being this kind of lover why don’t you ever call me / But I’m dedicated, yes I’m a forgiver /Yeah, I’m dedicated, yes I’m a forgiver / Oh, I’m dedicated, yes I’m a forgiver /I’ll forgive you always / I know you’ll turn it on yeah (turn it on)  » ♫ -Turn it On-

« 40 ft », the guitar sound is just enough to start to make everyone move, « Bite hard » as the same effect, and the awesome « Ulysses » arrives. This beat, like a nitelife moment (the music video is great about that, just like stuff happening on the pavement at nite, we’ve all experienced it), all the temptations you can have and you wish you had taken. Those kinda nite you remember for a long time because either vodka red bull made you cross the line and give it a shot where you actually didn’t wanted to at the first place (how’s that it’s something i’ve experienced? wanna see me do something stupid, gimme vodka red bull. « you wanna do something stupid? » « do me. I’m stupid ».). Dunno why, this is exactly what it reminds me, this gimmick coming back like the « don’t you roll your eyes at me like that ».. mouah ah ah.. was so cute.. we were so young ^^ *shrug*

♫ « Well, I found a new way/I found a new way/ C’mon doll and use me/ I don’t need your sympathy/Ulysses/I’ll find a new way/I’ll find a new way, baby/My Ulysses, my Ulysses/ No, bet you are now, boy/So sinister, so sinister/ Last night was wild » ♫ -Ulysses-

« Lucid Dreams » is next, and is way different that what we were used to. It finishes in a real electro style, all the guys actually creating the main beat on the drums, each one on one of the drums. Didn’t expected it, but it turned out very very very well indeed, but once again, they are here, smiling and smashing on this drum. Really really impressed gotta confess. And a moment where Alex is « offering » the guitar to the crowd, everyone wanting to touch it, nice memory, communion with the audience of artists who are happy to deliver a consistent and well built set.

Cliquer ici pour voir la vidéo.

 The encore will be « what she came for », and it just seems anecdotic in regards of what is coming next, « outsiders », but the last and final track will be « this fire », and for sure, this sets up the audience on fire. I swear, It just absolutely incredible. Once again, the crowd, the whole pit as much as I could see it, moving, singing, jumping, taking the last gasp of this powerful gig, exhausted, but damn happy. Wow, this gives me almost goose bumps just thinking about it. That was a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild nite!
♫ « This fire is out of control/ I’m going to burn this city/ Burn this city/If this fire is out of control/ Then i/ I’m out of control/ And i burn » ♫ -This Fire-

 Right now, Alex is crowd surfing, owww, he didn’t went very far, but well, you didn’t see that often, and it’s always a good sign about the spirit of the guy and how he is not having any issues with people singing the same lyrics as him. Right now, time to go back to car, I’m really going at the speed of a turtle.. damn it’s gettin’ difficult, kinda dizzy by everything that is running through my thoughts right now… you know, that kind of state where you are on the pavement, even without any alcohol in your body, and you wish you could still shout, scream, dance, jump, and doesn’t care at all… This temp euphory that makes you wanna give your smile to the whole world.

 Right now, I wanna make love all nite long… Right now I want some people to realise how much I love them, Right now I wanna be scottish, Right now, I remember why I’m 27, happy, not perfect for sure, but passionnate about everything I do. Because I dig it, because i’m proud of making pictures that people might like eventhough they’re aren’t that awesome. Because I’m the way I am, a stranger in a foreign land, who just loves to have so many things going on in his life, even if, at the end, we never know what tomorrow will be made of. But don’t worry, life is easy, life’s great, life is having up & downs sometimes, but in the end, just remember how many good moments you had, it’s the only one who are lasting anyway, bad moments are difficult, usually heart breaking and pain creator, but they go away. Le temps détruit tout. I’m ok with that, but just the bad stuff, moments that are a melt of magic, surprise, astonishment, smiles, love, feelings, are made to never be forgotten.

I remember.

And as usual, all the 90 pictures can be seen on Flickr.

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In my ears : Jason Mraz -I’m Yours- ♫ « But I won’t hesitate no more, no more/It cannot wait, I’m yours/Well open up your mind and see like me/ Open up your plans and damn you’re free/ Look into your heart and you’ll find love love love love/ Listen to the music of the moment people dance and sing / we’re just one big family/ It’s your God-forsaken right to be loved love loved love love » ♫

Fin du concert, les amis, que je devaient retrouver sont enfin arrivés… avec quoi… 2 bonnes heures de retard? (au bas mot). Ne cherchez pas, au moment où j’écris, je suis aigri… Bref, le planning, bien que concocté par mes soins, a totalement explosé en vol… Moi qui peut difficilement marcher, ben je dois me taper des kilomètres parce que d’autres sont pas organisés… de l’intérêt d’être un bisounours par moment… Toujours est il que fin du concert des Hollywood Porn Stars, et hop, direction l’arrière de la place, pour retrouver tout le monde…

Donc on retrouve une partie des collègues avec qui j’étais au Luxembourg, présent aussi lors de la dernière fête de la Musique… Le temps que l’amie Belge me raconte ce qu’est un « mazout », une spécialité locale… comprendre une bière avec du coca…. après le coca vin Luxembourgeois, on découvre de tout…

Le temps de voir que tout le monde a ramené son appareil… et des objectifs… là.. On a un D40 avec un 50mm f1.4, un D80 avec qqe chose comme un 50-200mm f2.8, D200 50-200mm 3.5/5.6.. je prête mon 50, je récupère le 200mm f3.5 VR (soit stabilisé) c’est juste du bonheur.. Sur scène, Zita Swoon, qui ne m’intéresse pas plus que cela… direction donc Place Stephanie pour aller boire un verre…

Et 2 des groupes qui devaient être là ce soir auront annulés… BB Brunes et AaRon.. Dommage.. devait être pas mal quand même… en attendant,  y’a Girls In Hawaii qui prendra la scène.. j’avoue que je suis un peu frustré de tous partir avec eux, super loin, dans un bar pas sympa, en passant à coté d’un concert sympa.. Mon côté Bisounours que voulez vous..

Petit résumé d’un week end Bruxellois… J’ose effectivement bien montrer que je suis là (pr le samedi et le dimanche du moins) sur Bruxelles… Parce que ces dernières semaines, ce n’est pas monnaie courante… Prise de conscience relative à certains évenements, samedi renouveau… samedi course… « healthy course », samedi « ca ressemble à quoi un légume déjà? », samedi « hhhaaannn.. un gateau noix de pécan, celui là même qui m’a donné gout à la culture anglo-saxonne.. je craque… juste pour retomber un peu dans ma prime jeunesse…. » C’était que le début d’un week end bien différent des autres…
Little sum up of a Week end in Brussels… yeah… seems weird because it’s actually the city I’m livin in.. I know.. but I was here the whole weekend (well.. at least for Saturday & Sunday, does Friday nite counts as « the Weekend »?). Realising some stuffs, saturday reborn, saturday groceries, saturday « healthy dishes », saturday « R u really sure that’s what a veggie look like? », and a nice pecan pie, the one that, in my pre-teen years, made me discover and luv the english speaking culture…. And that was just the beginning of a different couple of days…

En effet, concert vendredi soir (oui, eeeennncore…je sais… donc cela amène encore des photos floues et sans sens fort pour qui n’y étais pas…. on va dire que c’est de l’Art hein…) pas sur Bruxelles (mais bientot le compte rendu… don’t worry…). Toujours est il que du coup, je me retrouvais le samedi et le Dimanche sur Bruxelles, ma ville depuis maintenant (Vince se mets à compter sur ses doigts…. 6 mois… et ouais… presque jour pour jour… 1. Que ca passe vite. 2. Wow encore un semestre en plus en tant qu’expat, je vais perdre l’habitude d’être Français à force…. :p).. Samedi rangement de l’appart, inventaire de certaines affaires, classement de papiers (oui, ce n’est pas un rêve, c’est vraiment ce que j’ai fait… mauvaises langues!), et un coup de fil de Macadam disant « tiens dis voir Vince, pour une fois que tu es là, je me disais, je te mettrais bien ta râclée à Mario Kart Wii ce soir…  » moi « euhhh bien sûr… » Aussitôt raccroché, la course à rendre le salon présentable (bien qu’au fond, ce sont des Hommes, de facto insensible à ce genre de détails.. tant que y’a a boire et un truc à faire/Regarder). Donc nous voilà devant Mario Kart Wii, jeu dont la sortie était le jour précedent, incluant le petit volant qui nous parait au départ inutile, et puis bien fun qd même.. avouons le….
Indeed, live concert on friday nite (will post ’bout that soon…) not in Brussels tough… But all of a sudden, I was in here on a saturday and a sunday, in what is my town for 6 months now… OMG days are flying.. and it means it’s another semester abroad… I might soon loose the habit to say and act like a French han han han (French laugh). Then a friend called, and said that he wanted to try Mario Kart Wii, Game that came out the previous day….

Mario Kart Wii, c’est une nouvelle mouture donc, amenant une pointe d’excitation à la pensée de pouvoir jouer à Mario Kart, et après quelques courses, c’est pareil, mais différent.. D’une part, des motos sont accessibles… ce qui apporte un angle différent aux courses (oui, passer la ligne premier en faisant un wheeling sur la roue arrière est une classe digne d’un Snake Plissken ou d’un George Clooney dans Urgences…). A tester sur le long terme cela dit… Ce qui manque aussi, c’est la possibilité de faire sauter le kart, pour préparer un dérapage dans un virage ou essayer de semer une carapace rouge… on s’y fera, mais c’est fort dommage…
So Mario Kart Wii is the new version of the famous racing game, meaning loads of excitement just by thiking about the fact that we could have hours of fun… But everything is quiet the same, with some changes, the first one is the fact that now there are bikes!!! how cool is that to be able to finish the race with a wheeling??? but on the other hand, we can’t jump on our own anymore, can’t prepare a turn by jumping, the same to avoid the red turtles shells…. it’s a shame…

Enfin, une magnifique fin de journée, le début d’un nouveau cycle au bout d’un semestre ici… Petite refonte personnelle plein de sens, qui amènera probablement de bonnes choses à terme, des envies qui revienne, une volonté forte et omniprésente, oui, on se motive seul dans son coin et on espere refaire le monde, son monde…
In the end, a wonderful day, sunny, shiny, good mood, the start of a new cycle after just a semester in here… Little personnal changes, full of meaning, that might bring nice things at long term, envies are coming back, a strong will is here, so yes, being motivated just by myself, hoping to change the world, my world…

C’est avant tout un besoin, une necessité, poser de nouvelles bases, saines, pour continuer à grandir, apprendre, évoluer, changer… Pour une fois cette fin de post est juste un peu sérieuse.. bizarrement je me rappelle les quelques posts ou je parlais sérieusement, probablement plus qu’à moi qu’autre chose en l’écrivant (l’intérêt de ne pas développer minutieusement sur la chose, c’est que tout le monde y comprends ce qu’il veut, soit quasi rien en fait), et là dernière fois, c’était vraiment pas la joie… Ici ca va, juste encore une fois la possibilité m’ait offerte de changer, d’essayer de changer, alors pourquoi pas tenter après tout… On a qu’une vie, prenons soin d’elle, car la vie mérite d’être vécue, même si elle inclut des moments (très) difficile, au fond, l’on sublimera toujours cela pour ne se remémorer que les bons souvenirs…
It’s a need, more than that something I deeply want that, having healthy basis, keep growing, moving, learning, evolving, changing… For once it’s a serious post.. I can without any problem say when was the last time I had such questions (even if, without all the details, no one can really understand, but it’s probably better that way….)

On verra très rapidement le résultat de toute façon, donc même si c’est difficilement perceptible, il sera là, et petit à petit, sera de plus en plus flagrant, jusqu’a devenir « la norme », et une bonne norme accesoirement… Keep smiling, whatever it takes.
We’ll see all those changes really quickly happend, even if not necessarily big, still there… in order to become « usual » at some point… and a good uusal thing…. Keep smiling, whatever it takes….