Zongadude's diary

2011-04-02T20:02:00.002+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 53

Not recording and filming:

'Urprising'
'Different for girls'
'Just'
'Aeroplane'
'Grace Kelly'
'Don't stop me now'

France 3 basement - 21:00 - 23:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This was a special rehearsal in which we only played instrumental versions of the songs, in order to be ready for the recording of our first "Demo tape"scheduled for March 18th.
We also took the decision to play "Don't stop me now" on guitar rather than on piano. It's more punk that way :)

MONDAY 28th FEBRUARY 2011

2011-02-28T17:14:00.013+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 53

Not recording and filming: 
'Uprising'
                           'Different for girls'
                           'Just'
                           'Aeroplane'
                           'Grace Kelly'
                           'Don't stop me now'

France 3 basement - 21:00 - 23:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This was a special rehearsal in which we only played instrumental versions of the songs, in order to be ready for the recording of our first "Demo tape"scheduled for March 18th.
We also took the decision to play "Don't stop me now" on guitar rather than on piano. It's more punk that way :)

MONDAY 24th JANUARY 2011

2011-01-24T20:04:00.024+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 50
Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Different for girls'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Look sharp !'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'On your radio'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Shiver (extract)'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Don't stop me now'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

At last, a better rehearsal. I sang better, although I don't think I've reach the best I can do yet (especially in Don't stop me now which is still hard to sing with the weight of my guitar relying on my shoulder - I should practice more !-).
Anyway it was a good rehearsal, and this is the first time we ever recorded "Shiver", although we've been trying it for two rehearsals now.

Oh and by the way, I had a full new set of strings on my guitar, that night ! :)

MONDAY 17th JANUARY 2011

2011-01-17T20:30:00.002+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 49
Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Don't stop me now'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

A rehearsal that is slightly better, but still not satisfying. We spent a lot of time on "Shiver", though (not recorded)

SUNDAY 16th JANUARY

2011-01-16T00:20:00.001+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Waterhouse - all morning - P: Dude. Present: Val, Doreen, Julian.

I can't believe I finally finished this cover: the greatest and more difficult cover I've ever done, and also the one that took me the most of time. I think I started it in 2005 !
Anyway on that day I did the remaining guitars (the two clean intertwined ones at the very end before the last power chord, and some 6-voice harmony guitars just before the vocal reenters in part two of the song.

I then mixed it, and it was finally accomplished :) Hurray !

SATURDAY 8th JANUARY 2011

2011-01-08T12:38:00.002+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Waterhouse - afternoon - P: Dude. Present: Val.

Finally finishing the last voices (the backing vocals for the end part) for this incredible song !

WEDNESDAY 5th JANUARY 2011

2011-01-05T06:43:00.001+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 48
Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Don't stop me now'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'It's different for girls'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This was not, by any means, the best rehearsal we did. First of all my voice was pretty tired and I lost it quite early in the rehearsal. You can hear it on the recording. But we did a lot of work anyway: we played "Shiver" for the first time. It was too early to be recorded, yet.
Another premiere, and a very cool one, is that I managed to use my laptop computer as a guitar effect processor ! And that was very very cool, because for the first time my guitar was sent thru the PA system, and it forced me to play better because it was so loud.

THURSDAY 30th DECEMBER 2010

2010-12-30T12:39:00.000+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Waterhouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Doing some more guitar solos, the one in the last section of the song.

WEDNESDAY 22nd DECEMBER 2010

2010-12-22T13:27:00.002+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Waterhouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Doing the Christmas-like choir in the middle section of this song.

SATURDAY 4th DECEMBER 2010

2010-12-04T19:53:00.007+01:00

Recording: 'Tenement funster (SI on take1)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

On this day I did the guitar solo for this song.

FRIDAY 3rd DECEMBER 2010

2010-12-03T19:45:00.006+01:00

Recording: 'Tenement funster (take1)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

More Queen music, with this great Roger Taylor song :)
That afternoon I did the main guitar, and ALL the vocals.

MONDAY 29th NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-29T19:07:00.007+01:00

Recording: 'The fairy feller's master-stroke' (SI on take 2)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

I finished the 15% remaining vocals for "The fairy feller's".
It's very funny to notice that 20 years ago I recorded the exact same two songs, on mono cassette recorders in home-overdubing. I guess I improved from thoses times.... ...but not that much !

SUNDAY 28th NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-28T19:04:00.003+01:00

Recording: 'My fairy king (take2)'
Recording:
Recording: 'The fairy feller's master-stroke (take 2)'
Recording:
The WaterHouse's upper room - afternoon - P: Dude.

On Ysn it was the time of a massive Queen buzz, because of a "décompte" going on. I wanted to do a mini-audio-saga that would go along the décompte, with one cover per album from the begining to the end :)

It was sunday so all the family was here but they were watching a movie which I was not interested in seeing, so I took the computer and the mike upstairs, and I recorded all of "My fairy king", and also 85% of "The faity feller's". All in three hours. It was a great feeling.

WEDNESDAY 24th NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-24T07:20:00.008+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 47
Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Wild west'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'One more time'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Don't stop me now'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Fit'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'I'm the man'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Little bit stupid'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Exit music ending (twice)'
Recording and filming:

France 3 basement - 21:30 - 23:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

The second rehearsal, in which we played all the remaining songs from our wonderful yet amazing repertoire. More amazing was this very first take of "Don't stop me now", which we played despite the fact that I hadn't rehearsed it and that the bassplayer didn't know the song. Considering theses facts, I think we made a pretty good job. It should have been a lot worse.

FRIDAY 12th NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-12T18:40:00.008+01:00

Recording: 'Piano thing from Zengland'
Recording:
The WaterHouse - 18:00 - 18:15 - P: Dude. Present: Julian.

After a great afternoon listening to "Band on the run 2010", I went to the piano to quickly record this melodic idea so that I won't forget it. I'll use it later probably in a composition or a song. It's very Lennonesque I think.

MONDAY 8th NOVEMBER 2010

2010-11-08T19:04:00.007+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 46
Recording and filming: 'Look sharp ! (dist sound)'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Look sharp ! (clean sound)'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'It's different for girls'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'On your radio'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: ''Sunday papers'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hump de bump'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:

France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

At last, for the first time since the concert, the Instant Crash trio rejoined and rehearsed ! The first part of the rehearsal was quite hard (as you can hear from the files above), but once we kicked into "Uprising" everything started to flow. Great !
There is one very special thing to notice starting with this rehersal: the use of a piano, in addition to the guitar. It proved to be very effective in the middle section of "Look sharp !". :)

SATURDAY 9th OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-09T06:56:00.001+02:00

5th Live performance at the Beatles Day in Mons (Belgium)
Recording and filming: 'I've got a feeling'
Recording and filming: 'Don't let me down'
Recording and filming: 'One after 909'
Recording and filming: 'Let it down'
Recording and filming: 'Isolation'
Recording and filming: 'Kreen-akrore'
Recording and filming: 'Dig a pony (with my friends !)'

Waux Hall, Mons, Belgium - afternoon - P: Dominique Grandfils+Phil Collinge. - Present: Dude, Calico, Jean, Coco, Dominique Grandfils, Didier, Caroline, Manon, Madeline, Esmeralda, Flo B., Flo M, Pierrick, Olivier, François Glitch, and a whole lot of people....

Well the live versions WERE definitely better ! :) (see previous post).

Thanks to for the photographs.

FRIDAY 1st OCTOBER 2010

2010-10-01T00:02:00.009+02:00

Recording: 'Isolation'
Recording:
Recording: 'Let it down'
Recording:
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Doing two of the songs I will play at the Beatles Day in Mons, just to listen an memorize the lyrics during the week. I wasn't looking for any quality in my playing and singing here, and in fact I made a lot of mistakes. But that's it. Hopefully the real live versions will be better :)

WEDNESDAY 29th SEPTEMBER 2010

2010-09-29T16:52:00.004+02:00

Recording: 'Old Siam, Sir' (SI on take 1)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - 15:15 - 15: 35 - P: Dude.

Another Patrick L. instrumental cover which needed some vocal ornament. This song is incredibly hard to sing !

TUESDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2010

2010-09-28T22:10:00.004+02:00

WebCover #05: A hard rain's a gonna fall
Recording: 'A hard rain's a-gonna fall'
The WaterHouse - 14:15 - 14:30 - P: Dude.

Okay. On that very day, in the morning I read Mike Keneally's message that he sent me (about the forthcoming JS show), and I had a tremendous chat about Dylan on the Ysn forum, which led me to do a quick-and-unplanned Dylan cover. Life is like that. Pretty unpredictable and mostly pleasant.

THURSDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER 2010

2010-09-23T22:46:00.029+02:00

Recording: 'Strange life (but living)' (SI on take 1)
Recording:
Recording: 'Rock show" (SI on take 1)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Finally, after three months of bed restriction because of the surgery I underwent at the end of June, I finally managed to finish the solos parts for Elouan's song "Strange life (but living)". I also did my first try at the vocals for "Rockshow" for Patrick L. But I really have to warm my voice up for that one. I'll make another try. I think I'll abandon the drums for this song. Too many synchronisation problems.

SUNDAY 5th SEPTEMBER

2010-09-05T23:06:00.005+02:00

Live performance at a private party in Bayon (France)
Not recording and filming: 'Hallelujah'
Recording and filming: 'Here comes the sun'
Not recording and filming: 'All you need is love'
Church of Bayon - afternoon - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Doreen, Julian, Val, and a great bunch of Irish and French folks.

It was a very special thing: not only it was the first time I was asked to sing at an official ceremony (it was a baptism), but it was also the first live performances of rock music with my kids. Julian played the flute, Doreen played the glockenspiel, and they were absolutely brilliant. Too bad only the (solo) middle song was filmed.
More music happened in the afternoon at the house of the attendees, but none of it has been recorded or filmed.

MONDAY 30th August 2010

2010-08-30T17:10:00.006+02:00

WebCover #04: Apocalypse please
Recording and filming: 'Apocalypse please'
The Waterhouse's piano room - morning - P: Dude.

This was planned as the first musical activity that marked the end of my recovery period since the surgical intervention I went into at the end of June. I was still in pain so I tried to do it as quickly as possible (this is only the second take). That explains the mistakes I'm making at the piano :)

MONDAY 21st JUNE 2010

2010-06-21T22:54:00.036+02:00

Live performance at Music Day 2010 in Nancy (France)
Not Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Not Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Not Recording and filming: 'Creep '
Not Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Not Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'

Not Recording and filming: 'One more time'
Not Recording and filming: 'Just'
Not Recording and filming: 'Fit'
Not Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Not Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Not Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Not Recording and filming: 'Hysteria '

Rue Gourmande, Nancy, France - 20h30 - 01h00 P: Luck and savoir-faire. - Present: Dude, Titi, Nono, Sarah & Fred, Cyril, Christiane, Marie-Hélène, Alice, Pauline, Matteo, and a whole lot of nice and brave people for the first set, and some wonderful crazy people for the mad second set :)

Description coming soon, but ... it was great.

SUNDAY JUNE 20th 2010

2010-06-20T09:25:00.010+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 45
Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Creep'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Look sharp !'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Wild west'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'I'm the man'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'One more time'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Fit'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Digging in the dirt'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: ''Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hump de bump'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'It's different for girls'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Little bit stupid'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - afternoon - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This was the last rehearsal before the show, when we played ALL the planned songs, in order. I remember it was a very long and very tiresome rehearsal. And we played almost everything too fast. Not our best rehearsal, to say the least, but everything was filmed.

MONDAY 14th JUNE 2010

2010-06-14T09:51:00.007+02:00

Recording: 'Strange life (but living)" (SI on take 1)
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Doing the solo for this song, but I'll only keep the first part of today's take for the final take. That and the octave melody that continues during the chorus.

THURSDAY 10th JUNE 2010

2010-06-10T10:15:00.004+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 44
Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Different for girls'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Wild west'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'I'm the man'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - evening - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Thi

MONDAY 24th MAY 2010

2010-05-24T19:30:00.004+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 43
Recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

A good rehearsal, with the best version of "Uprising" yet :)
I put it on youtube right after that. Hey, this is the first time we rehearsed under our new name of "Instant Crash" :)

SUNDAY 16th MAY 2010

2010-05-16T10:09:00.000+02:00

Recording: 'Strange life (but living)" (SI on take 1)
The WaterHouse - evening - P: Dude.

More work on this great song of Elouan.

THURSDAY 13th MAY 2010

2010-05-13T17:36:00.002+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 42
Not recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Not recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Not recording and filming: 'Just'
Not recording and filming: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Not recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Not recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Not recording and filming: 'Uprising'
Not recording and filming: 'My friends'
Not recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Not recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Not recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Not recording and filming: 'Humb de bump'
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

It was also a suprisingly a very good rehearsal, considering I haven't prepared for it, and I arrived very late. I had to finish putting the "demo cd" in shape, in order for us to play at the "Reservoir" in June 21st.
It's probably the concrete forthcoming concert date that gave us the energy and motivation to play well :)

WEDNESDAY 12th MAY 2010

2010-05-12T17:51:00.006+02:00

Recording: 'Strange life (but living)" (SI on take 1)
The WaterHouse - evening - P: Dude.

Elouan from Ysn wanted us all to participate in the recording of his own songs, in order to make an album collectively shared. I recorded my guitars for "Strange life" that evening. I did the hard rythm one that support the second verse, and the last arpeggio.
Take 1 is actually the drums and bass, recorded by Blue Meanie and Granulet.

MONDAY 3rd MAY 2010

2010-05-03T07:45:00.011+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 41
Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Humb de bump'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
Recording and filming:
Not recording and filming: 'Just'
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

It was suprisingly a very good rehearsal, considering we haven't played for a full month !
We did a fantastic version of 'Just' at the very end, but it wasn't filmed or recorded.

TUESDAY 30th MARCH 2010

2010-03-30T07:41:00.006+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 40
Recording and filming: 'Wild west'
Recording and filming: 'Look sharp'
Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Recording and filming: 'On your radio'
Recording and filming: 'Fit'
Recording and filming: 'I'm the man'
Recording and filming: 'Karma police'
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

The very first time we played 'Karma police' :)
(The whole session is saved on DVD65 - Brunette power).

MONDAY 22nd MARCH 2010

2010-03-22T07:36:00.023+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 39
Recording and filming: 'Just' (2 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Creep'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria' (3 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Uprising' (2 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Digging in the dirt'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Eteins la lumière'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

A lot of Muse songs, and perhaps the last time we played "Digging in the dirt" and "Eteins la lumière".

THURSDAY 18th MARCH 2010

2010-03-18T07:05:00.009+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 38
Recording and filming: 'One more time' (2 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Different for girls' (2 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Uprising' (2 takes)
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.
Recording: 'Rockshow'

France 3 basement - 00:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude.

Some Muse. Not as cool as the previous one.

THURSDAY 11th MARCH 2010

2010-03-11T07:02:00.012+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 37
Recording and filming: 'Hump de bump'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Creep'
Recording and filming:
France 3 basement - 21:30 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Excellent rehearsal ! One of the best.

THURSDAY 4th MARCH 2010

2010-03-04T23:23:00.004+01:00

Recording: 'Money don't matter tonight' (SI on take 1)
Recording:
The WaterHouse - 14:00 - 14:30 - P: Dude.

Finally finishing the backing vocals for this Prince song. I'll try to mix it tomorrow and send it to Ysn right after that.

MONDAY 1st MARCH 2010

2010-03-01T23:20:00.000+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 36
Not recording: 'Dani California'
Not recording: 'Suck my kiss'
Not recording: 'Aeroplane'
Not recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not recording: 'My friends'
Not recording: 'Hump de bump'
Not recording: 'Just'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Very cool, considering only one week has passed since the last session. Shit, I forgot to bring my camera !

MONDAY 22nd FEBRUARY 2010

2010-02-22T12:28:00.001+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 35
Recording and filming: 'Suck my kiss'
Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Recording and filming: 'Aeroplane'
Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Recording and filming: 'Hump de bump'
Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Recording and filming: 'Grace Kelly'
Recording and filming: 'Just'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Another cool Red Hot rehearsal. Everything was filmed. The film for "Dani California" is blurred and I guess unusable.

MONDAY 25th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-25T23:28:00.020+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 34
Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Just'
Recording and filming:
Not Recording: 'Suck my kiss'
'France 3 basement - 22:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Recording and filming: 'Bohemian rhapsody' (take 2)
Recording: 'A day in the life (take 2)'
'France 3 basement - 00:00 - 01:30 - P: Dude.

Once again we had to start very late because I've broken a string. This was the first time I used my wonderful TZ7 camera, and so I managed to film and record a bit of the rehearsal. I will probably do that every time, from now on. It was just a attempt, because I didn't frame the picture very well (we can't see our heads), and I couldn't sing proparly anyway (I had a flu). So we now have three videos as souvenirs, but they're not satisfying at all. But since the sound quality of the recording is excellent (no saturation at all !), it will be a great tool.
After the three Muse numbers, we then we worked a bit on "Suck my kiss", but there was no need to film that one yet.

Right after the trio rehearsal, I started this crazy project of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" video and cover. I wanted this time to really take care of the picture and filming quality, to do a much better work than what I did with the "Paperback writer" video. Hopefully I had the TZ7 ;)
Another great premiere: I recorded with a real drum mike setting ! I mean, the drumkit had microphones on each element, just like in a real studio !

I did all the drums for that number. In HD. Yeeeeaaaahhhh..... !
And then I did some drums for a version of "A day in the life" in common with some bunch of guys from Lucy.

THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-14T10:30:00.000+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Watehouse - 13:30-13:35 - P: Dude.

Doing the the toy kotos for the intro of the song.

TUESDAY 12th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-12T07:25:00.000+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Watehouse - 13:30-13:45 - P: Dude.

Doing the acoustic guitar for the intro of the song.

MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-11T07:27:00.001+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 33
Not Recording: 'Creep'
Not Recording: 'Just'
Not Recording: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Not Recording: 'Eteins la lumière'
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'Video killed the radio star'
France 3 basement - 22:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Strange rehearsal.
We started very late, because I (once again) broke a fucking string, and this before even starting to play the first song !
Strange also because I decided to bring in my laptop in order to try to use some live plug-ins. It worked well for 'Creep', but is a bit superfluous for the rest.

SUNDAY 10th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-10T16:57:00.000+01:00

Recording: 'The prophet's song' (SI on take 1)
The Watehouse - evening - P: Dude. Present: Val, Julian, Doreen.

Hey ! Finally I'm working again on this thing :)
I did all the non-rythm guitars for the first rock part, along with a lot of the guitar stuff that happens in the third part of the song. The only remaining guitars are the solo one, along with the crazy 12 guitars extravaganza near the end (with 6 guitars on the left, and 6 guitars on the right).

MONDAY 4th JANUARY 2010

2010-01-04T22:12:00.001+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 32
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'Different for girls'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'Suck my kiss'
Not Recording: 'Aeroplane'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'Hump de bump'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Hysteria'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

The first rehearsal of 2010 :)
We hadn't set up any agenda for that rehearsal so we played whatever song we wanted to play. I had manufactured a kind of a board on a sheet of paper with all the songs we did (and the one we talked about doing), and Arnaud picked up the songs and we played them.
Although I had absolutelty no time to warm my voice up for this session, I believe I sang very well, and my voice was in great shape.
In fact it was a very cool rehearsal.

MONDAY 21st DECEMBER 2009

2009-12-21T22:23:00.000+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 31
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'On your radio'
Not Recording: 'Little bit stupid'
Not Recording: 'It's different for girls'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'I'm the man'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This time we focused on Joe Jackson's numbers.
But we also did a bit of 'Just', at the end. We still remembered it.

MONDAY 14th DECEMBER 2009

2009-12-14T22:20:00.002+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 30
Not Recording: 'Suck my kiss'
Not Recording: 'Aeroplane'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'Hump de bump'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Another Red Hot rehearsal. Way cool.

MONDAY 7th DECEMBER 2009

2009-12-07T08:44:00.000+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 29
Not Recording: 'Suck my kiss'
Not Recording: 'Aeroplane'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'Hump de bump'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

A rehearsal full of Red Hot numbers. It was really enjoyable. We managed to do "Suck my kiss" from start to finish, and although it still needs some improvement, it's strating to grow. That's cool. The best tracks that came out that night were "Under the bridge" and "Dani California", albeit the one we played the most. That's promising.

MONDAY 30th NOVEMBER

2009-11-30T22:44:00.003+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 28
Not Recording: 'Creep'
Not Recording: 'Just'
Not Recording: 'Exit music (for a film)'
Not Recording: 'Solsbury hill'
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'Alright (jam)'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:30 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

It was then time to focus on some Radiohead material. We did "Creep" first because it's a kind of easy-warm-up thing, and then we hit "Just", which we never played before, and it was really fantastic ! Kuddos to Nono for learning this song in the first place. We also tried "Exit music" and it seems it's gonna be smoking too.... After a cool version of "Grace Kelly" we then tried "Solsbury hill", because Nono kind of suggested it at the last reahearsal, and we be burst into a loose rendition of Jamiroquai's "Alright", wich transformed into a jam because I couldn't sing it properly.
We finished the rehearsal by playing "Time is running out" with Titi drumming on another kit (Mathieu's).

MONDAY 23rd NOVEMBER

2009-11-27T22:51:00.000+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 27
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Hysteria'
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'Video killed the radio star'
Not Recording: 'Digging in the dirt'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Another thematic rehearsal: this time we did Muse + all the isolated songs.

MONDAY 16th NOVEMBER 2009

2009-11-16T22:34:00.000+01:00

WebcamCover #03: '39
Recording and filming: ''39'
The Waterhouse's upper room - 14h00 - P: Dude.

Hey ! Today is my birthday. I'm turning 39. So what better cover could I chose for the third installement of this series than Queen's song of the same name ?

MONDAY 09th NOVEMBER 2009

2009-11-09T08:29:00.001+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 26
Not Recording: 'Aeroplane'
Not Recording: 'Hump de bump'
Not Recording: 'Suck my kiss'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'My friends''
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:15 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

Part 2 of our special thematic rehearsals: this time the Red Hot Chili Peppers !
We started with "Aeroplane" which we never played before (or even planned to play), but it came out quite good. The hardest song of the lot is "Suck my kiss", but we spent a focused time trying to nail out the first two sections. Everything went very well, despite my broken voice (because of the Beatles Week-end in Ouistreham the day before !). The rehearsal was really enjoyable and we could hear ouselves without playing too loud. The changes in the PA system done by Nono is really a major improvement. I can't wait for my voice to get back ! :)

SATURDAY 7th NOVEMBER 2009

2009-11-07T22:27:00.001+01:00

Live performance at the first Beatles Weekend in Ouistreham; Normandie (France)
Recording and filming: 'Pigs on the wing - part 1 (soundcheck)'
Recording and filming: 'Don't bother me'
Recording and filming: 'You've got to hide your love away'
Recording and filming: 'How?'
Recording and filming: 'Things we said today'
Recording and filming: 'Piggies'
Recording and filming: 'Rising sun'
Recording and filming: 'She said she said'
Recording and filming: 'I'll get you'
Recording and filming: 'Soggy noodle/Bungalow Bill/Think for yourself'
Recording and filming:
Recording and filming: 'Venus and Mars'
Recording and filming: 'I want to tell you'
Recording and filming: 'I'm a loser'
Recording and filming: 'I need you'
Recording and filming: 'Love you to'
Recording and filming: 'I want to hold your hand'
Recording and filming: 'Every little thing'
Recording and filming: 'Baby, you're a rich man'
Recording and filming: 'I'm only sleeping'
Recording and filming: 'I'm so tired'
Recording and filming: 'Well well well / long haired lady'
Ouistreham, Normandie - 14:30-15:10 + 17:30-18:25 - P: Dominique Grandfils and Fifi.

Two acoustic sets at Ouistreham.

MONDAY 26th OCTOBER 2009

2009-10-26T07:40:00.005+01:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 25
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'On your radio'
Not Recording: 'Little bit stupid'
Not Recording: 'It's different for girls'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'I'm the man'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This rehearsal was special because it was the first time we did a thematic rehearsal. So we concentrated only on Joe Jackson tunes. Another premiere for that day was the new and improved PA system that Arnaud set up for us. Really really great !

SUNDAY 25th OCTOBER 2009

2009-10-25T22:22:00.003+01:00

WebcamCover #02: Fantastic voyage
Recording and filming: 'Fantastic voyage'
The Waterhouse's upper room - 16h00 - P: Dude.

I was right in the middle of a very intense rehearsal for the Ouistreham Beatles Week-end, when I did this little thing. Number two in this engoing series of webcam covers with bad sound and picture quality is this brilliant David Bowie song, from his "Lodger" album. Enjoy.

MONDAY 12th OCTOBER 2009

2009-10-12T22:59:00.003+02:00

WebcamCover #01: Baby, you're a rich man
Recording and filming: 'Baby, you're a rich man'
The Waterhouse- afternoon - P: Dude.

I had this terrific idea of recording and filming several cover versions of songs I like with nothing but my laptop webcam. The picture and sound quality would be as it is, and absolutely no editing would occure. I have to play good, or else... :)
On this day I did my first one in the series: Baby, you're a rich man. I immediatly published it on Facebook via Youtube, and it got nice comments.

SATURDAY 3rd OCTOBER 2009

2009-10-03T07:55:00.006+02:00

4th Live performance at the Beatles Day in Mons (Belgium)
Recording and filming: 'I'd have you anytime'
Recording and filming: '#9 dream'
Recording and filming: 'Only love remains'

Waux Hall, Mons, Belgium - afternoon - P: Dominique Grandfils. - Present: Dude, Calico, Jean, Coco, Dominique Grandfils, Didier, Lucie Marchal, Madeline, Esmeralda, the Choking Smokers !, Olivier, Phil co-web, and a whole lot of people....

This year was the year of the release of the Beatles' Remasters. So everyone, everywhere, was talking Beatles. I wanted to do something different, and so I chose to do only solo stuff. I did one song by George, one by John and one by Paul. I wanted to do a fourth song ("Dance till we're high' by The Fireman), but I wasn't confident enough about my voice. I had trouble driving at the venue and so I arrived very late. And I sang early in the afternoon, just a few minutes after arriving so I could'nt warm up properly.
Dominique Grandfils kindly filmed all three songs :)

Thanks to Lucie Marchal, Jacky Comet, and Marcel Vandenbemden for the photographs.

MONDAY 28th SEPTEMBER 2009

2009-09-28T06:52:00.001+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 24
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Creep'
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'Eteins la lumière'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Hysteria''
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 03:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

We worked hard on those songs. It was a better rehearsal than the previous one, but it still wasn't satisfying. On that day though, I used the Peavey amp for the first time with this band. My Blue Devil amp seems to be quiet tired. Everyone immediatly noted this was a vast improvement in terms of guitar sounds !

MONDAY 21st SEPTEMBER 2009

2009-09-21T16:40:00.002+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 23
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'Creep'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Eteins la lumière'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

For the first we played not to many songs, but we spent a lot of time on them. This was due to the fact that we had a lot of technical problems with my Blue Devil amp.
So we worked hard on "Grace Kelly" and "Creep" and we played 'Time is running out', 'Eteint la lumière' and I guess that was it.

MONDAY 14th SEPTEMBER

2009-09-14T15:36:00.000+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 22
Not Recording: 'Creep'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
Not Recording: 'Eteins la lumière'
Not Recording: 'Grace Kelly'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Hysteria'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'Video killed the radio star'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'Digging in the dirt'
France 3 basement - 21:00 - 00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud, Kamel.

Hey, the great return after two mounts of vacation. It was a hard rehearsal: hard to perform, hard to hear ourselves.... But we managed to sneak in some new songs into the boiling pot: 'Creep', which was cool as expected, 'Grace Kelly', which the boys accepted much to my surprise, 'Eteins la lumière' which was smoking, and we also tried again 'Digging in the dirt'.
At the moment we were playing 'My friends', Kamel came in and he sat down with us for six songs. Apparently he enjoyed it.

THURSDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER 2009

2009-09-03T18:07:00.005+02:00

Recording: 'Karma police (take 1)'
Recording: 'Karma police (take 2)'
The WaterHouse - afternoon - P: Dude.

Take 1 is a live take recorded with only one microphone, and take 2 is the combination of a live acoustic take and a live voice track done in overdub. I published the final mix on Facebook the same day.
Click here to listen.

TUEDSDAY 11th AUGUST 2009

2009-08-11T19:23:00.005+02:00

Recording: 'Space oddity' (SI on take 1)
The Waterhouse - 18:30-19:15 - P: Dude. Present: Val (very high, upstairs :) ).

This is the very first recording I ever made in my, I think, definitive home-studio location, The Waterhouse. Nice view here.
Take 1 of this cover has been done by Patrick Lepleux from Ysn, which kindly asked me to do the vocals for it.
I much obliged.

SUNDAY JUNE 21st 2009

2009-06-21T23:09:00.001+02:00

Live performance at Music Day 2009 in Nancy (France)
Not Recording and filming: 'Pigs on the wing (part 1)'
Not Recording and filming: 'Mother'
Not Recording and filming: 'Wild west'
Not Recording and filming: 'Look sharp !'
Not Recording and filming: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording and filming: 'On your radio'
Not Recording and filming: 'It's different for girls'
Not Recording and filming: 'Dani California'
Not Recording and filming: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording and filming: 'Hysteria'
Not Recording and filming: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording and filming: 'Video killed the radio star'
Not Recording and filming: 'My friends'
Not Recording and filming: 'Little bit stupid'
Not Recording and filming: 'Fit'
Not Recording and filming: 'One more time'
Not Recording and filming: 'I'm the man'
Not Recording and filming: 'Dani California (reprise)'
Not Recording and filming: 'Time is running out (reprise)'

Rue St Michel, Nancy, France - 22h30 - 00h00 P: Luck. - Present: Dude, Titi, Nono, Sarah & Sarah, Cyril, Patrick, Marie-hélène, Alice, Pauline, Matteo, and a whole lot of nice and brave people....

Description coming soon, but in three words ... it was great.

SATURDAY 20th JUNE 2009

2009-06-20T23:19:00.003+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 21
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'On your radio'
Not Recording: 'It's different for girls'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'Hysteria'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'Video killed the radio star'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Little bit stupid'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'I'm the man'
France 3 basement - afternoon - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

The very last rehearsal before the 21st show. We changed all our settings because we wanted to rehearse in the exact same conditions, with the exact same equipement we would use the day after. So the conditions were totally great. I could hear me singing. Really.
If only every rehearsal in the future could be with this equipement....

MONDAY 8th JUNE 2009

2009-06-08T23:22:00.002+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 20
Recording: 'Wild west'
Recording: 'Look sharp'
Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Recording: 'On your radio'
Recording: 'It's different for girls'
Recording: 'Dani California'
Recording: 'Time is running out'
Recording: 'Hysteria'
Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Recording: 'Video killed the radio star'
Recording: 'My friends'
Recording: 'Little bit stupid'
Recording: 'Fit'
Recording: 'One more time'
Recording: 'I'm the man'
France 3 basement - 21:00-00:30 - P: Arnaud. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

We did all the numbers, in the correct order, for the 21st show. The whole thing was recorded in mono on my laptop computer.

MONDAY 25th MAY 2009

2009-05-25T18:37:00.000+02:00

Rehearsal with the New Trio 19
Not Recording: 'Wild west'
Not Recording: 'Look sharp'
Not Recording: 'Sunday papers'
Not Recording: 'On your radio'
Not Recording: 'Fit'
Not Recording: 'Dani California'
Not Recording: 'Time is running out'
Not Recording: 'My friends'
Not Recording: 'Under the bridge'
Not Recording: 'It's different for girls'
Not Recording: 'Little bit stupid'
Not Recording: 'One more time'
Not Recording: 'I'm the man'
France 3 basement - 21:00-00:00 - P: Dude. Present: Dude, Thierry, Arnaud.

This is hands-up the very best rehearsal we ever did. Because I took some time with Mariette Hélou in the afternoon and she coached me into vocal training lessons, which I think helped a lot: I managed to fully sing all those intense songs for 3 hours in a row, without any throat suffering and without any voice loss ! The only thing I have to do is practice a lot, because I'm not comfortable with my new way of singing and sometimes my voice fucks up.
We did all the planned songs for the concert except "Hysteria" and "Exit music (for a film)". It was good.

SATURDAY 16th MAY 2009

2009-05-16T18:43:00.008+02:00

Live performance at Beatles'titude in Laon (France)
Recording and filming: 'Things we said today'
Recording and filming: 'I want to hold your hand'
Recording and filming: 'Mean Mr Mustard'
Recording and filming: 'Polythene Pam'
Recording and filming: 'She came in through the
Recording and filming: bathroom window'
Recording and filming: 'I'll be back'
Recording and filming: 'Free as a bird'

Maison des Arts et Loisirs, Laon, France - afternoon - P: Dominique Grandfils. - Present: Dude, Coco, Jean, Phil, Mathias Bouyez, Filou, Mathilde, Rocking Cloud, Jean-Louis, Eric, JC OK, Laurent G. and a whole lot of people....

Jean-Louis Polard kindky asked me to participate in his Beatle Day in the wondeful and beautiful town of Laon. He asked for a majority of Beatles tunes, so I obliged. It all went very well, but I believe I sometimes sang out of key, because I could'nt hear my guitar loud enough in the PA system. I had bought my amplifier but I didn't use it. Never again !
My best memory of this day is the time I spent with my friends Calico and Coco. I never had such time in Mons so I tried to enjoy every second of it. We had a blast playing some lose stuff around a table. We did a lot of George's, and Calico played "Just like starting over", some Bee Gees, "Mrs Robinson"... it was great.

Thanks to Dominique Grandfils for the video, and to Rocking Cloud, Dr Robert, and Laurent G. for the photographs.