I have just taken a walk round the lake in Gerardmer. A solitary stroll with my tunes spinning on random on a sunny day has done wonders for my soul.
http://www.marylenecoutret.com/
Truth be told that was kinda what I needed following my nightmare journey to the venue. I played a private concert in London during the daytime of the 9th July when I was scheduled to board the boat in the evening. Sadly due to the tube strike the London roads were chaos and a 2 hour journey took 6 to get to the port. The concert it’s self was a pleasure as I ran only the new material. But the drive was exhausting. Once I made it to France I rested for the night but found myself at a standstill with traffic as I was passing through Luxembourg. I did make soundcheck but time was tight and 2 x 6 hour drives in 2 days was not ideal.
I played my debut show of the 3 month Euro tour in Gerardmer @ Le Grattoir. As always the venue staff were wonderfully welcoming and some familiar faces returned to show their support.
Recoil Recoil (Unreleased)
Redux (Unreleased)
Here is Where it Is (Unreleased)
RE: (Unreleased)
Decide (Unreleased)
I threw myself in the deep end opening the show with 2 new songs fresh in the setlist for this tour. Also I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Tenor Saxophonist Alain Barbiéro. He came and introduced himself upon arrival and brought fantastic musicianship and improvisation to my songs.
The following day I ventured East towards the German border where I played the sleepy town of Sarreguemines. After a couple of year away it was a pleasure to see not too much had changed. The people were still warm as friendly as was the weather at about 35 degrees.
The set list was pretty different from the previous days as I switched more new songs into the set. Playing the new songs still baffles and scares me at times. But the more they get spun the easier it becomes (hey that rhymes).
From there I had a couple of days downtime before the return to Gerardmer brought about a surprise 2nd gig. It was July 14th and a day of national holiday in France. Fireworks were scaring animals far and wide for hours and the Tuesday outpouring of people pushed me to ask Le Grattoir manager Pascal if he would mind me playing an acoustic set. That eventually turned into 3:
Set 1: We’re on Fire (Crashland Cover), When you Go Home, That Cough You Gave Me, Note That Says, Modern Life, Breathing Without Living (My Pet Junkie Cover)
Set 2: Compromise, You Know The Score, Distance From Ear To Ear, Initiate
Set 3: Map of Shibuya, Sleep Tight, Along The Way (Unreleased) / Suburban Sway
So 4 shows into the tour and happily moving forward as best I know how.
Next sees me play 3 shows in 3 countries in 3 days as I jaunt around the Swiss, German, Franch Border.
Update blog soon 🙂
Stuart O'Connor 
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