Noise

... is the main characteristic of this photo. On Saturday night we were yet again at the Centre Culturel, this time for Remus, which is described as a festival of musiques actuelles, i.e. contemporary music. It was a little different from the usual events here. First difference: bouncers on the door. Bouncers?? Where are we, downtown Nottingham? One of the bouncers asked to inspect my bag. I didn't quite believe him, but he repeated the request, so in the pitch darkness I unzipped it, he peered into the pitch-dark interior and waved me through. What was the point of that?

Inside, metal barriers had been put up all over the foyer for controlling the as yet non-existent crowds of drunken louts spoiling for a fight. At the bar we were told we had to buy tokens in order to then buy drinks with the tokens. "So we don't have to handle money," explained the barman, taking S's money and handing him a mugful of beer bottle tops. I eventually worked out that they just saved the bother of giving change.

The first band was not the advertised Loa Frida, but a rather lame duo of double bass, guitar, and vocals who must have stepped in at the last minute. Luckily they didn't stay long and were followed by les Vieilles Pies, who were excellent. (Someone had to explain to us that the name (Old Magpies) was a pun on VIPs). They are described as a mixture of Klezmer, jazz, and chanson française, and there's some rap and reggae in there too.

Once I heard singer Gabriel Saglio play the clarinet, I wished he'd done more of that than singing because he was brilliant. They got called back for encore after encore, and for the last one they unexpectedly gave us an Irish jig, which was better than anything I've ever heard from any of the so-called "Celtic" French bands I've heard.

The headline act was Brazilian Flavia Coelho. She was good, but we were tired by then, so we only stayed for half of her set. There was still no sign of any riots or stabbings -- the bouncers were having an easy night.

In other news, I sneezed all day again. Mysterious. I'm OK again this morning.

Edit: added to DDW's February challenge: A is for accordion.