A forest, a fortress made of stone at the foot of the Vosges Mountains in eastern France, close to the german border (our drivers remind us that their parents went to german school when they were little, and that the place is riddled with artificial lakes – meant to be a liquid Ligne Maginot that would flood the area in the event of an invasion). The jazz festival takes place on the small...
The morning after the show: Bagpipes from all over the celtic world. Scotland, Eire, Isle of Man, Breizh, Asturias, Galicia, Acadie etc. Some orchestras are military, others host iroquois-crested punk drummers.
Moriarty on tour: Festival Interceltique de Lorient, 08.2012.
Moriarty on tour: Festival Interceltique de Lorient (F), August 4th 2012. A concert in the cradle of celtic music, with guests Mama Rosin from Switzerland and Christine Salem from the Reunion Island… looking for the missing link between Acadian, Cajun, Blues, Folk and Maloya music. Quick rehearsal in the afternoon with the Mama Rosins and a few songs fall into place. The gig takes place...
Moriarty recording a few songs with Christine Salem and her percussionists Vincent Philéas, David Abrousse, Harry Perigone. Special guest: Portia. Paris, July 2012.
Cévennes. Intense heat, rugged stones and dried out river. Reminiscence of italian paesini. Kids leaping into the green water. The show is sold out, 2000 people or more on the village square, hot and noisy. The festival is one with spirit, run by volunteers. We start the show at 10:45 pm and watch all the faces, they came from the nearby valleys, or cities further away, Montpellier, Nîmes...
Rehearsing with les réunionnais, Christine Salem, Harry & David. Les Lilas, 18.07.12.
Early morning after a sleepless night in La Rochelle. Long train journey through Paris-Lyon-Aix-Les-Bains. Tucked between magnificent mountains and the depths of Lac du Bourget, the biggest festival stage we’ve ever seen, looking like the carcass of an oil refinery in Romania. Two bands can play there, side by side, they look like tiny insects dwarfed by the towering structure. People start...
Huge parking lot turned into a concert arena for eight thousand people, overlooked by medieval walls and a lighthouse shaped like a gothic spire. Wind blows hard, cloud shadows sweep the ground fast-forward like Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. The air is loaded with Atlantic moisture and the huge structure above our heads shudders and squeaks under the gusts like the masts and sails of an...
Playing this morning among the animals.
Concert-déambulation acoustique, Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de la Rochelle (F). Francofolies, Friday, july 13th 2012.
After a long trip from Quebec, landed in the rain and the mud, surrounded by courageous, dedicated and somewhat hysterical concert-goers.
Moriarty on tour: Festival Foin de la Rue, St-Denis de Gastines (F), July 7th 2012.