I Can Live With That

July has carried on from where June left off...

Lots of travelling over to Europe on scheduled planes ( & Alan's 6 seater), a good run of successful gigs and the usual 'ups and downs' with the weather we've grown used to.

On a personal note, I found the environment in Leksand, Sweden very healthy and inspirational (John is obviously enjoying it too). Our hotel was in a beautiful location and the air was exceptionally clean. It was lovely just sitting outside looking out over a lake and breathing everything in.

Last weekend we arrived at Hanover airport in Germany. Our hotel was literally right by the airport. The gig was an hour drive to the old East German border, a town called Hötensleben. At least it should have been an hour. Unfortunately our driver got a bit lost and the trip ended up taking over 2 hours !

It was all a bit of a rush to get ready to go onstage, not helped by a torrential downpour of rain. However, over 4000 people enjoyed the show. Pretty good for a band that has been going 35 years now. The boys were delighted with the response we received.

On Sunday we were back on Alan's plane heading towards Lille, France. From there we were driven straight over the Belgian border to a town called Peruwelz. It would have been nice to spend a bit of time at the hotel first, but I enjoyed the day. Lovely sunshine and a warm welcome from the local people.

It's difficult to describe how it feels to be applauded wherever you go. Alan, John & Mick must be used to it by now. For me it's a relatively new experience. A very nice experience though.

By the time I got home on Monday I felt a bit jet-lagged and went straight to bed. I guess that's really the only downside to all this. Every now and again you find yourself waking up at 9 o'clock... in the evening.

I can live with that.

Stay tuned,

Mark

Easily done...

Well...that was an eventful weekend.
Bien… ce fût un week-end plein d’événements.

I was just about to 'hit the sack' on Thursday evening when the Michael Jackson story broke. Instead of getting off to bed, ready for an early start for France in the morning, I was glued to the Internet like everyone else, devouring all the updates and rumours as they flooded in.
J’étais sur le point de me ”mettre au lit” jeudi soir quand la vie de Michael Jackson s’est brisée. Plutôt que d’aller au lit, et être prêt pour un départ matinal pour la France, je suis resté collé à Internet comme n’importe qui d’autre dévorant toutes les nouvelles et rumeurs alors qu’elles affluaient.

Eventually the story was confirmed and Michael Jackson joined the list of superstars who shone like comets... only to crash and burn out far too soon.
Finalement la nouvelle fût confirmée et Michael Jackson a rejoint la liste des Vedettes qui ont brillé comme des comètes… qui sont tombées et se sont éteintes beaucoup trop tôt.

It took me back to 1990. I'd been with the Kinks for about a year and was reaching the end of a US tour.
Cela m’a ramené en 1990. J’étais avec les Kinks depuis environ un an et j’arrivai à la fin de la tournée américaine.

My Dad had warned me before joining the band that there were going to be "a lot of temptations laid before me now" and I had to be strong enough to resist them.
Mon père m’avait mis en garde avant de me joindre au groupe ; qu’il y allait avoir « beaucoup de tentations s’exposant à moi » et que je devais être suffisamment fort pour y résister.

Of course I ignored him and quickly embraced the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. My 'achilles heel' turned out to be alcohol. Understandable really. There was a bar awaiting us in the dressing room every night... and nobody asking us to pay. At least I avoided getting involved with drugs.
Bien sûr je n’en tins pas compte et j’embrassai rapidement le style de vie d’une rockstar. Mon « talon d’Achille » se révéla être l’alcool. Compréhensible en fait. Il y avait le bar qui nous attendait tous les soirs dans les loges… et personne ne nous demandait de payer. Au moins j’évitais de m’impliquer dans la drogue.

Well, sort of...
En fait, en quelque sorte…

I hit on the idea that if I took some aspirin at the end of each drinking session I wouldn't have a hangover in the morning. I was right.
J’eu l’idée que si je prenais de l’aspirine à la fin de mes nuits d’ivresse je n’aurais pas la « gueule de bois » le matin. J’avais raison.

Great ! For the next 6 weeks I happily carried on drinking like a fish, popping headache pills not realising I was slowly burning a hole in the lining of my stomach.
Super ! Pendant les 6 semaines suivantes je continuai de boire joyeusement comme un trou prenant des pilules contre les maux de tête sans réaliser que je brûlais lentement la paroi de mon estomac.

I guess I was lucky I made it back to England when I did because I'm not convinced my medical insurance would have covered 'being an idiot'.
Je suppose que j’eu la chance de rentrer en Angleterre lorsque je le fis parce que je ne suis pas convaincu que mon assurance médicale aurait couvert le fait « d’être un idiot ».


By the time I made it through Heathrow airport security I was in a wheel chair. Dad (remember him ?) hauled me back home and into hospital where my life was saved with a blood transfusion.
Au moment où je passai la sécurité à l’aéroport d’Heathrow j’étais dans un fauteuil roulant. Papa (vous vous souvenez ?) me transporta à l’hôpital où ma vie fut sauvée grâce à une transfusion sanguine.

6 bags worth !
La valeur de 6 poches de sang !

That sobered me up real quick and I've taken it very steady ever since. If you learn nothing else from me, don't mix alcohol with painkillers.
Cela m’a rendu sobre très vite et j’y vais calmement depuis. Si vous apprenez jamais quelque chose de ma part, ne mélangez pas l’alcool avec des anti-douleurs.

Which brings me back to Michael Jackson. All kinds of allegations are flying around at the moment. At some point in the future we'll know precisely what happened but he may have taken on too much with the 50 date run of gigs in London.
Ce qui me ramène à Michael Jackson. Toutes sortes d’allégations vont et viennent en ce moment. Plus tard à un certain moment nous saurons précisément ce qui s’est passé mais il a pris trop de dates avec les 50 concerts à Londres.

Several shows were already postponed and the info we had (from a very good source) was that Michael was going to sing 4 songs in a 12 song set. The other 8 were going to be lip synched while star guests filled out the show.
Plusieurs concerts étaient déjà reportés et l’information que nous avons (d’une source très fiable) était que Michael allait chanter 4 chansons d’un tour de chant en comprenant 12. Les 8 autres allaient être en play-back tandis que des vedettes invitées feraient le spectacle.

None of that seems very important now. Chances are he finally pushed himself just that little bit too far.
Rien de tout cela semble très important aujourd’hui. Les occasions l’ont finalement poussées un petit peu trop loin.

It's easily done...
Il est facile de le faire.

Meanwhile, I managed to haul myself out of bed Friday morning and made it over to France, with the boys, in the 'bette-mobile', via Eurostar, through torrential rain.
Entre-temps, je me suis débrouillé pour me tirer du lit vendredi matin pour aller en France avec les garçons dans la “bette-mobile”, via Eurostar, à travers une pluie torrentielle.

The sky cleared, the gig went great and, once again, we all made it home safe and sound.
Le ciel s’est éclairci, le concert s’est bien passé et, une fois encore, nous sommes tous rentrés à la maison sains et saufs.

Hallelujah !
Hallelujah !

Coming up this weekend is a gig over in Great Yarmouth on the east coast of England. The next day we have an early start for Sweden. I haven't been there in a while, but it looks like Europe is in for a bit of a heatwave so, I expect it to be very enjoyable.
Ce qui arrive ce week-end c’est un concert de plus à Great Yarmouth sur la côte-est de l’Angleterre. Le jour suivant nous avons un départ matinal pour la Suède. Je ne suis pas allée là-bas depuis un moment, mais il semble qu’il y ait la canicule en Europe aussi, je m’attends à ce que ce soit très agréable.

Stay tuned,
Restez branché(e)s,

Mark