day 14 - (Part 2) the finale at Les Toques

we headed for the gig in Pergeux
in Eric’s big white van
around 3:45
it was an hour and a half drive to get there
I wish I had a transcript or recording of the conversation
it was great
we hit on a bunch of Stiff’s from Jake Riviera to Nick Lowe
Les Toques is another cool bar
they had my poster prominently featured
along with a poster for Amy and Eric
the people who worked there were all really friendly
especially Tobi
the owner
Eric and I took our time setting up
then we decided to practice and add a few numbers to our expanding repertoire
he played bass on “Pictures Collected”
then I played bass on his classic “School”
Amy arrived with Emmanual around 7
with practiced some more then sat down in the courtyard outside
for some dinner
we had a large table with lots of their friends joining us
I had the Reggae Reggae
a fish sandwich that didn’t quite live up to its name
the French fries were outta this world though
at 10 I started my set
I felt good but the talking was quite loud
I was ok with it but I could tell Emmanual Eric and Amy
were not happy with the rudeness of it
I started “Model Brothers” but just couldn’t get past the first 2 lines
because they were drowning me out
by the time I got to “Be Here Now” though
the entire bar was dead silent and it was a powerful moment
I think it’s the best I’ve ever played that song
and I even had 2 people afterwards ask about that one in particular
Eric joined me on “Pictures” then it was off to the races
“She’d Walk a Mile” with more Balalaika flying over the shoulders
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=81427794175&ref=mf
a one/two “Public Skool” “School” medley
then a rousing “Girl with the Wandering Eye”
and the highlight (for me at least)
“Whole Wide World”
I could’ve ended on that and felt fully satisfied but there was still much more to come
“1978” then our two standards “Bus Stop” and “Misery”
I wish it could’ve just gone on and on and on
it was the perfect tour finale
we were done about midnight
milled around talking
one girl who had been dancing all night like she was
in a French musical (which i'd loved concentrating on instead of the talkers)
said "there is a universe in your music..."
i met another kid who said he had all of the Centromatic Old 97
records and was an avid follower of this kind of Texas music
that was pretty cool to hear this far away in the South of France
around 1am Eric and I took the van back home through the dark
and winding streets
we had more great conversation
and then bonus conversation until 3:30 once we got home

i'll try and post some video footage now