Something for the Weekend? (30th October/1st November)

One month comes to an end and another one begins as we slip ever closer to winter. Halloween falls on a Saturday and makes a comeback, but the average French person is still more concerned with the 1st of November - traditionally a day off work - falling on a Sunday!

Please add any events or activities you think should be promoted or which you would like to promote yourself in the comments, and let me know if you have any events in the coming weekends you would like to promote.

Halloween
Although the French have generally given up celebrating Halloween, the fact that it falls on a Saturday this year has been seen by most of the bars and clubs around Paris as an opportunity not to be missed. Is there anything particularly exciting being organised anywhere though? Well, in the afternoon you can get yourself made up as a zombie and join others for a walk around the city. In the evening, the Batofar is reopening after two weeks of renovations with a Halloween themed evening, including heavy metal concerts in the evening and DJs later on. This floating venue near the Bibliotheque Nationale will also feature a mini-museum of horrors and the screening of a selection of gory films for its Beat the Boat event.

Mixmove Sessions
Being a DJ or a musician in the electronic sphere is a serious business today, and this new date gives them the chance to meet, discuss, learn how to promote themselves and try out new equipment. For the casual visitor, it is an opportunity to get a closer look at this fascinating world, and also the recent and very interesting GFO Barbara building in Barbès. Live music events will take place in the evening.
http://www.mixmove-sessions.com/
30th and 31st October
Centre Fleury Goutte d’Or Barbara Paris
1 Rue Fleury, 75018

More Modern Art
After the FIAC circus last weekend, the ‘GMAC’ (Grand Marche d’Art Contemporain) offers a more leisurely outing. Of course this outdoor event alongside the basin and the Place de la Bastille is not at all on the same scale, and the creations are surely less interesting, but this time people might actually be buying art rather than watching other people buying it.
From 27th October to 1st November
Place de la Bastille

La Fête du Slip
Think you look good in a pair of y-fronts? If you’ve got the balls for it, this weekend at the Galeries Lafayette you can get yourself photographed wearing a pair of Calvin Kline boxers and enter an international competition. The winners will earn themselves a modeling contract and a holiday to South Africa.
http://www.9countries9men.com/
Friday 30th and Saturday 31st October
Galeries Lafayette

Shopping for Charity
If you want to go shopping this weekend and not feel guilty, the place to go is the Espace Showroom in the 8th arrondissement. Twice a year, an organisation called Arcat runs a charity sale of much-reduced designer clothes and accessories, which have been donated by the creators concerned. Entrance costs 2 Euros, and this plus the proceeds of all sales goes to charities working in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Expect to find gear from Antik Batik, Isabelle Marant, Princesse Tam-Tam and Lollipops amongst many others – if you get there early enough !

29th to 31st Oct 2009
L'Espace Showroom 30

30 Rue de Lisbonne 75008

Paris People - Jesse Vernon

What persuaded an established musician to give up home comforts and start anew in Paris? Jesse Vernon of Morningstar explains why he chose the city to pursue his career and how he is surviving in the digital age.

The digital revolution in the music industry has left many artists spinning, but for others it has opened new perspectives. Jesse Vernon though is from the old school, an artist who just loves being up on stage and sharing his music. Indeed, to get the full Morningstar experience, you really have to see Vernon and his musicians play live. The group is essentially his solo project, with a changing line up of hired musicians according to where he is playing, but it is his onstage persona and his posse of backing singers which creates the spectacle.

As Vernon bounds around the stage it is as if Buddy Holly had joined up as the seventh member of the Monty Python team. Seeing upwards of fifteen backing singers alongside him is equally as surreal, but the overall effect is warm and charming. Vernon is no newcomer to strangeness though as he was previously a member of the mildly successful Bristol band The Moonflowers who often took to the stage dressed as flowers.

He tells me that he came to Paris originally "for the adventure", but this is not the only reason. "Actually my record company (Microbe) is based in Paris” he explains. The choice of coming to Paris was not made by Jesse Vernon alone though. His girlfriend, Kate Stables, is also a musician, running a band called This is the Kit (who have also released an album via Microbe), and it was very much a joint decision. They have been living in the city for four years now, and combine playing music with bringing up their young daughter. The situation is even more complex as they often play in each other’s bands. Wouldn’t it make things easier if they just formed a group together I ask? “No, we support each other when we can but we also have our own different styles” explains Vernon, “and anyway, we would have so many more problems with babysitters and things”.

Vernon's style is certainly different, but how does he explain the large on-stage choir? In fact, its creation was more as answer to some of the practical issues of playing in Paris. “There are a lot of small venues here, places that will pay me 50-60 Euros per show, but I can’t afford to pay professional musicians with that. However, going up on stage with a choir enables me to offer something a bit more original than just a man and a guitar”.

His interest in choral harmonies dates back to his time in The Moonflowers, and he has been running various choirs for ten years. In Paris it was initially a way to earn some extra cash, but as his time has become more limited, he has now had to almost incorporate them as part of his group. He gives free lessons, but in exchange they will appear on stage with him at his concerts for no fee. Seeing the group live, it was clear that the singers were delighted to be there with him.

As Morningstar, Jesse Vernon has released three albums, and a fourth is finished but not yet officially available. It is a tricky subject for Vernon, and one that highlights some of the problems confronting musicians at the moment. “I can sell the CD at my shows” he tells me, “but there has been a problem and the distribution won’t be until January now”. Wouldn’t it be easier to bypass the record company altogether and use an online service like iTunes? Vernon hesitates - “Perhaps in the UK where I don’t have a distributor, but I don’t want to upset my record company here. It’s a partnership and they have helped me a lot in the past”.

A track from Vernon's latest album.

So is it easy to be a professional musician in Paris today? “Paris is anything but easy” Vernon tells me. “It can be so difficult to organise anything. In Bristol I would phone two or three places in the morning, see who had any slots available then organise a show for the same evening. Here everything takes so much longer”. Vernon has also seen a huge rise in the number of bands around on the circuit recently too making it more difficult to make his mark in the city, but he has always had favourable reviews, and the popular Télérama magazine recently highlighted him as the standout act in a festival organised in the city.

Between delays with albums and problems finding gigs that pay a decent rate, how does he manage to survive? Firstly by working hard, (as well as playing as Morningstar and in This is the Kit, he also plays in a French band called Hyperclean), and secondly through royalties. A few years ago his record company put forward one of his songs for an advert for female sanitary products, and it was used for three years in a row. "It wasn't enough to survive on, but it certainly helped" he tells me.

What will the future bring for Jesse Vernon and Morningstar? The day after meeting me he is already rushing off to Toulouse to play a concert in somebody's house, and in the weeks to come he will be off touring around the UK with Hyperclean. It's a hectic, unorthodox lifestyle, but Paris remains his rock - for the moment. "We won't stay here forever" he tells me. “We came to France for the adventure” he continues "and we love it here, but who knows what will happen in the future". We should make the most of such original artists whilst they are still here!

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/jessedvernon
http://www.morningstarsmallorchestra.org.uk/
http://www.thisisthekit.co.uk/

Rainy Days and Sundays

Paris is a Northern city that thinks it is in the South, a Latin soul stuck in the wrong climate. Magnificent when the sun is out, it is a little less appealing when the skies open. There is an art to adapting to rainy skies and cold snaps, and Paris has never had that knack. The city of fashion is just not interested in doing warm and comfortable sweaters and sensible footwear.

Why this should be when Paris has over three times as much rain as London is a mystery. The city is a show-off, always presenting her best side to passers by and keeping nothing aside for a rainy day.

It rained on Saturday. Inner-city blues.

Sunday. Never has a day been so aptly named. An extra hour in bed, and waking up to blue skies. Paris will be back to her best again, presenting her finest angles to the low lying sun.

Something for the Weekend (23rd/25th October)

The autumn half-term holidays begin in France, meaning another relatively quiet weekend in Paris. Nevertheless, here are a few suggestions to keep those staying in the city warm as temperatures begin to drop.

Please add any events or activities you think should be promoted or which you would like to promote yourself in the comments, and let me know if you have any events in the coming weekends you would like to promote.

FIAC
The star of the weekend with enormous events at the Grand Palais and the Louvre as well as a host of more minor spin-offs is undoubtedly the FIAC (Foire Internationale de l'Art Contemporain – contemporary art fair). However with an eye-watering and elitist 28 Euro entrance ticket, this seems to me more like the very worst kind of commodity fetishism. Perhaps more interesting therefore is the lower-priced and more accessible Slick event organised at the same time at the 104 Arts Centre.
From Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th October
http://www.fiac.com/?lg=en

The Paris Burlesque Festival
Paris has always been intrinsically linked to the burlesque, but it is only very recently that it has become fashionable again. The Bellevilloise has long been associated with this art form, offering both lessons and performances, so it is no surprise that the first edition of this festival should take place here. Over the four days of the festival you should expect the unexpected, ranging from photo exhibitions and films to updated versions of peep shows. A piano bar will create the necessary atmosphere for the shows, and DJs will ensure that the party continues long into the night. You can even sign up for striptease lessons yourself!
From Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th October
La Bellevilloise
19-21 Rue de Boyer, 75020
http://www.parisburlesquefestival.fr/

Mark Eitzel

Whenever my favourite artist comes to town it is always an important event for me, but this time it really will be different. For over 20 years he has been producing critically acclaimed by criminally overlooked albums both as a solo artist and with his band the American Music Club, but each time he has played in Paris, he has always brought his guitar along. This time he will be accompanied just by a piano, and will be playing in the intimate and cosy Sentier des Halles club. Eitzel always offers a humerous and self-deprecating stage presence which makes his dark songs and soulful vocals all the more surprising and effective.
Sunday 25th October, 7.30pm
Sentier des Halles
50 rue d'Aboukir ,75002
http://www.markeitzel.info/

Shopaholics
For those into shopping, two events this weekend. Firstly the re-opening of the self-proclaimed ‘largest computer equipment shop in the world’, Surcouf on the Avenue Daumesnil. Some kind of large ‘meteorite’ will fall outside the shop, and early visitors will be able to pick up the pieces and claim a number of gifts. Surcouf state that prices will be as low as on the internet, but will they be as low as the neighbouring Chinese traders?
Surcouf
139 avenue Daumesnil 75012

The second event is the start of a new monthly rendez-vous known as the Pop-Up Shop Oberkampf. This large space on the Rue St Maur will offer the products of little-known designers at competitive prices.
113 rue Saint-Maur 75011
Saturday 24th from 2pm to 8.30pm and Sunday 25th from 11am to 7pm

The Theatre de Belleville

The evolution of a city is a gently flowing stream, turning over old stones and rolling them down to new positions. As fashions change and tastes diversify, buildings are transformed or pulled down and newer models spring up in their place. The city always wants to display its most modern face, but often clues are left behind which betray the past. Such is the case with the Theatre de Belleville.

Little pictorial evidence exists of the original theatre built in 1826 on the Cour Lesage off the Rue de Belleville, but by all accounts it was a magnificent building both inside and out. This was a time when Belleville was one of the suburbs of Paris, a place of leisure where Parisians went to enjoy cheaper entertainment and more relaxed licensing laws, and the theatre became one of the most important in the region.

It was particularly popular amongst the working classes, and the theatre repertoire reflected their tastes. Vaudeville, historical plays and melodramas were the most successful, keeping audience numbers high for many years. So popular was the theatre in fact that when it was badly damaged by fire in 1867, the necessary money for repairs was very quickly found.

The theatre continued to thrive into the twentieth century until a new competitor came along that would prove more dangerous than fire - the cinema. The theatre stuggled to adapt and keep up with fashions, until in 1932, Paul Caillet, the owner at the time, decided to demolish the old theatre and put up a new building in its place. Using the most modern art-deco styles of contemporary architects, no longer could it be said that the Theatre de Belleville was behind the times.

The new building incorporated not only a theatre, but also apartments, a dance hall and a garage. However, the new venture wasn't the success that Caillet had hoped for. The theatre was certainly one of the most modern around, but it lacked the charm that its regulars had always appreciated. Soon it found itself sharing the auditorium with film screenings, and by the end of the 1940s, cinema pushed drama out of the building forever.

However, even as a cinema it was not a great success. There was too much competition in the neighbourhood (there were upwards of 30 cinemas in Belleville and Menilmontant in the 1950s), and the theatre de Belleville was too large. The end came in 1962 when it was sold off and transformed into a supermarket. It hadn't finsihed its evolution yet though, and today the supermarket itself has become a chinese restaurant.

So what is left today of the theatre? The attractive art-deco building still stands with its impressive central column. The two lowest levels still show the form of a cinema frontage, even if they have been decorated in a more chinese style today. What is left is one final clue. Although the theatre became a cinema, a supermarket and a restaurant, the pharmacie at the beginning of the street saw no reason to change. And that meant that there was no reason to change its name either.