May 31, 2010

I'm a little bit rock n' roll

Last night, Miss LVMH and I decided to go a little rock n' roll Scotland style and check out Snow Patrol at L'Olympia (a concert venue that Res Ipsa's Paris would be proud to recommend).  (Is it just me, or is my life just too cool right now?  Someone pinch me please.)

Snow Patrol, a surprisingly underrated band (you'd be surprised how many people asked me who they were when I was offering tickets), holds a very special place in my heart.

Those of you who have been reading this blog from the start may recall that I travelled to Venezuela three years ago.  What you may not know is that this trip was not all fun and games.

Imagine a young girl (not yet thirty - those were the days) arriving alone at the airport in Caracas.  She spots a sign with the name of her hiking tour on it.  Gathered around it are not the strapping young men and women she was expecting, but a motley crue of people born before they'd invented the telephone.  And I'm only slightly exaggerating.

For two weeks, the young girl hiked across the country and shared a tent with a recently divorced 55-year old who regaled her with tales of her failed marriage and snored loudly.  She cowered behind tropical trees as the group washed in cold streams - an activity that 73-year old men apparently prefer to perform stark naked.  (I cannot tell you how much I wish I had never seen that). And she smiled bravely as she was transformed into everyone's daughter.

Finally, on the last four days, the camel found that straw that gave him a herniated disk.  It came in the shape of a hammock.  Our young heroine cannot sleep in a hammock.  Even less so when it is encased in mosquito netting (if humans were meant to sleep in coccoons, we'd look more like butterflies).  And especially when lost in the middle of the jungle and strung side by side with her travelling companions like cow meat on butchers' hooks.

So instead of sleeping, she exhausted her ipod's batteries to play Snow Patrol over and over, all night, every night.  The music kept her more or less sane.  It kept her from attacking the rest of the group with a machete.  It got her home in one piece.

Thank you boys, I am forever in your debt.  As are those old folks, even if they're not aware of it.

And last night's show was amazing.

1 comment:

Karin B (Looking for Ballast) said...

I wish I would have known that Snow Patrol was playing. I've been following them since their first album several years ago and their music has been really important to me as part of the soundtrack of my life, too. I'm so glad to know that they gave a good concert, and maybe the next time they are in town I'll catch them. They are wonderful. I could very much relate to your story of Snow Patrol pulling you through. While my challenges were not in Venezuela, their powerful music helped give me a lifeline, too (thinking of their song "Lifeboats" now :) ).