That anniversary sounds a bit depressing as my blog is partly destroyed by my web host Free : they disactivated my anti-spams then they deleted my comments data base due to too much spams…cool ? eh…
Anyway I still hope to find a solution to be able to publish again some stuff around music soon, in the waiting you always can write to me on my facebook page : Happy Birthday Meltingpod !!!
Young artists from the 3 harbour cities Shanghaï, Hamburg and Marseille met first time in Marseille in April 2011 in the context of the Helix project (financed by the French-German Office for the Youth, DRGSCS PACA and Marseille townhall) to build a show together crossing their cultural background around the Street Theater.
Big Bang Dockers Premiere in the Street Arts City April 9th 2011
The project called Big Bang Dockers started in Marseille in April and was artistically managed for the first part by Marseille street theater company Generik Vapeur. It was performed by the young artists first time in front of the audience in the Street Arts City April 9th 2011 after a week working together.
I filmed (below) a few moments of the show to give you an idea of their fantastic energy, creativity and good spirits !
After the show a big party and BBQ was organized by Eurocircle who technically initiated and managed the whole project and hosted by Generik Vapeur in their new place in the Street Arts City : another great moment to exchange around the food and the music !
Both last pics : a part of the Chinese group; 3 of the young artists from the 3 countries : China, France, Germany !!
Big Bang Dockers will be improved and developed in a second part in Shanghaï and then in a third part in Hamburg. We hope the final project will be performed in 2013 for Marseille European Capital for Culture.
For more info : A blog is opened to tell the story step after step at http://helixtheater.blog.com/
Yes !! Each time I’m the first surprised : one year more and still alive despite the difficulties of the life and some periodic moments of doubts. I have to admit there is a long time I didn’t post anything here but a big part of my blogging acitivity happened on my facebook page these last times : by the way you can join me here at http://www.facebook.com/meltingpod if you want. On another hand I lost a big part of the pleasure I had to run my other blog on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/meltingpod since their commercial team decided to make more money with the advertizing and updated so badly their datas and design that they completly killed their tool which was at the beginning a fantastic idea to promote the music. Though I try to resist there hoping they will realize one day their mistake…
In fact to be honest my favorite place is here, I feel home, I hope you too my faithful friends…so Happy 6th Birthday to Meltingpod, wishing to share with you still more exciting news in the next future !!!
PS : My podcast Meltingpod will be 6 years old March 8th so stay connected, you could have a nice surprise very soon..:)
Happy New Year 2011 to everybody with always more live music, energy and happiness in your life !
Speaking about live music a lot of tours and new albums are announced by bands or musicians who are among the favorites on Meltingpod :
– in January Chris Bailey from The Saints will share the bill in Australia with the American folk singer Judy Collins from 12th to 25th (Sydney, Port Macquarie, Brisbane, Caloundra, Warragui, Richmond, Hobart, Invernay, Castelmaine) as well as Nick Cave with his band Grinderman from January 17th to February 6th in Australia and New Zealand, mostly for the Big Day Out !
– in March from 18th to 26th Ed Kuepper will tour Melbourne 18/19th, Adelaïde 20th, Newcastle 24th, Sydney 25th and Kincumber 26th in duo with Mark Dawson his old mate and drummer in The Aints and they will re-visit Ed’s both albums Electrical Storm (1985) and Today Wonder (1990) in their entirety; btw : Ed released a lot of new bootlegs under his own label Prince Melon Records, most of them already are sold out but among the new ones you can still order the volumes N°14 and 15 from his website (cover painting Judi Dransfield Kuepper).
– the first half of this year Mick Harvey will tour the world with PJ Harvey to promote her new album he co-produced : « Let England Shake » released February 14th !! Already 12 shows are scheduled in Europe from February 18th to 28th in Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Londres, May 25/26th in Lisbon, 30/31th in Amsterdam !! During the same period Chris Bailey should tour with Peter Wilkinson (The Saints) and the French musicians Renaud Brustlein and Antoine Pinet from H-Burns to promote the album they recorded together last year under the General Dog’s name !
– closer, in Marseille Conger! Conger! will perform at Le Local January 22th and release their new album at the end of this month or at the beginning of February,
– to end that first list BugGIRL with Amber and Clinno will maybe close their incredibly long world tour with performing again in the USA from January to February !!
PS : The New Christs who are on the photo above could come back again to Europe this year as Rob hoped it…:)
Anyway if you like it, stay connected for the next updates and podcasts !
And as you are nice a second wishes card with the French band LO : ambience in the Meltingpod style !!
Meltingpod Connections : Update Last Minute January 6th !
Ed Kuepper will open the show for Grinderman in Brisbane at Tivoli January 24th and in Sydney at Enmore Theater January 28th : a solo performance !! hurry up my Australian friends !!
Generik Vapeur the famous French street theater company from Marseille left the ex-Abatttoirs based in the old industrial area St Louis the 10/10/10 a symbolic date for a symbolic move with all the family, friends and fans who accompagned them to their new place : The Street Arts City erected in another old industrial area in Marseille, Les Aygualades.
It was hard to leave the old Abattoirs which was the theater’s stage of such fabulous events and stories, artistic or humans, full of poetry and passion during 20 years !!
Karine De Barbarin on the left picture, Bruno Montlahuc on the right picture : two Generiks who were there in 89 when the company started the adventure in the Abattoirs…between smiles and strong emotion just before the departure…
Everybody took a bag or an object and moved out towards the new place, under the rain…abandoning a few colorful feathers on the road…
The spontaneous theater show with the friends happy to become a street actor for a few minutes, one hour, during the time of the move.
Arrival in front of the new black metal building specially made for them and adapted to their professional needs. The old bar from the Abattoirs took a place in their new spacious hall.
Caty Avram and Pierre Berthelot, both founder members of the company opened a giant Champagne bottle for the guests-workers !! On the right a last thought to the old Generik’s head quarters in the ex Abattoirs before taking my car again back home…all these memories which still float around…you could find some of them saved by Sara Vidal (aka Andree Vidal : Generik Vapeur president) in her book : « the ex Abattoirs, an original story » (Publishing Cris Ecrits).
Meltingpod Connections :
A thought to Pierrot Bidon who founded the circus Bidon and then Archaos in the same spirit than Generik and who passed away last March…his shows were pure rock and roll !! Watch it !!
I never could imagine March 1st 2005 with launching this blog for publishing my podcasts I will keep it alive during 5 years long…so many moments of true happiness meeting more and more interesting and passionating musicians but so many moments of despair and frustration working hard for free and doing a lot of sacrifices in my private life…many times I thought it will be my last interview or I will find a way to record and edit it faster but until now I never couldn’t change anything to my way of work…so what to say except Happy Birthday to Meltingpod !!! like if it would refer to another entity independant from me but stuck to me…:)
done from the background of a 30 years old poster announcing a show with Laughing Clowns, Birthday Party and Go-Beetweens (thanks to Laughing Clowns site).
By the way a new Live album from Laughing Clowns recorded at The Basement in Sydney last year is available on the PRINCE MELON RECORDS NEW WEBSITE !!! (launched like me March 1st !! Congratulations !!) : you can order it with closed eyes, it’s simply wonderful and the quality is perfect…believe me !! The N°4, 5, and 6 should be released this month…stay connected !
Mick was very sick for months and the death brought him away, yesterday December 22th…hard hard news for his family, friends and fans and me !
Our first meeting in Lyon France for an interview during The Tatts’ European tour in April 2007 will stay one of my best memories : From the first second, everything was so easy, spontaneous, funny like between very long time friends…a strange and rare feeling I will never forget…
Here some nice pics from Mick playing with Doomfoxx in 2006 in Germany; I took so many pics from Mick with Rose Tattoo myself, I couldn’t choose among them today…I’m too sad…A little later, I will try to build something special for him, Mick : one of my favorite Aussie rockers and I don’t have a lot of favorites…but believe it or not I know he is still around, closer than we can imagine, free, laughing and joking, asking us to keep the nose high…:) and to say MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL !!
Mick Cocks signing autographs before the show with Rose Tattoo in Hamburg Germany 2007 (pic : thank to Eli_Ann)
Each November 9th since 1989 I remember the fall of the Berlin wall because this town is a kind of second hometown for me and I watch  at the TV with some tears in the eyes the old movies which show all these people and families who at last reunited each other.
The poster of a painting from the Wall hung on my wall for years…
This year a lot of politicians from Europe celebrated the 20th anniversary with a huge party in front of the Brandeburger Tor. I was not very convinced with their performance thinking to the financial crisis, to all other walls which still exist around the world and to all the people who still live oppressed by dictators in the complete indifference.
Meeting with an angel in Berlin…
my friends from East Berlin who found their ex-national flag thrown in the rubbish after the fall of the wall…
So I chose through that podcast to do a kind of punk personal celebration in two parts : first with mixing some old live ambience recordings I did in « my » Berlin these last years (during the Walpurgis Night in Friedrichshain streets with the band ACK, with Markus in his car, at Wild at Heart a punk club in Kreuzberg) , a few German songs I love (from the band Noah : « Help your police, Hit yourself » and from John F. un die Gropiuslerchen : « Berlin Berlin ») and a recent interview I recorded with Ralf who shares with us his night in Berlin November 9 th when he heard the Wall was opened !!
The Wall’s opening from East Berlin side : still some hesitations…
In a second part I propose to leave Berlin for a country which is waking up from a very hard nightmare too : Cambodia where the dictactors Kmher Rouge completly destroyed the culture and erected a kind of mental wall which isolated the people until they lost the memory of their own names.
I recorded a few days ago an interview with a long time friend of mine Bob Passion who lives and works there now with streets kids in the context of a project called Bhor Cambodia.
The kids who learn and do art performances with Bob in Cambodia
Bob brought me the last album « Peur de Rien » (Fear of Nothing) he recorded there with his new local band « Kanlat Rik Rié » : I played excerpts from « Chez Mike, Maconiero, Pas Là , Là « . Punk is not dead in Cambodia with Bob !!
Bob’s band Kanlat Rik Rié Live on stage
You can DOWNLOAD HIS WHOLE ALBUM FOR FREE here :
WWW.BOBPASSION.NET
and all your welcomed donations will go to his project for kids « Bhor Cambodia ».
Four years ago I published my first podcast on Meltingpod !! A incredible adventure which started in 2004 from the USA with Adam Curry (the podfather) and Dave Winner and for me with my friend Michael Butler from San Francisco who hosts the Rock and Roll Geek Show…So I chose to play a lot of songs from American bands for that fourth anniversary !
Frank Meyer (the Street Walkin’s Cheetahs – L.A.)
I started with a song called « Annie » by Copperpot (New Jersey) Michael found and dedicated me on his own show, then :
The Hangmen (L.A.) : Here she comes
Kick Kick (Kansas) : Heart over the bar
Frank Meyer and Thor (L.A.) : Standing On The Edge Of Hell
Small Doses (Washington DC) : B-Train
Michael Butler & American Heartbreak (S. Francisco) : Things are looking up
Texas Terri Bomb (L.A.) : Dream Wrecker
I hope you will enjoy that rock and roll from Obama’s country !!…
and a kind of my first birthday’s song coming from Australia…:)
A little memory from March 8th 2005 !!
The Angels from Australia created a new website when Doc Neeson joined the band again at the vocals and I’m happy to see they gave me a nice place in their news page remembering to their fans all the infos I published on Meltingpod about the band between 2005 and 2008 : 13 podcasts-phone interviews with Buzz Bidstrup, John and Rick Brewster, Doc Neeson and around 30 reviews about some of their special events and shows.
It’s time now to the Angels to come and sing their famous song « Marseille » (written in 78) IN Marseille !! Hoping some help from the sky will accompagn our efforts to meet each other in person soon !!
A little video I filmed during a funny party in Marseille and I chose to publish today to wish my blog Meltingpod a nice 4th anniversary : All their secret rituals will be revealed to you by the Irishmen themselves…at least !!
There even is a special mention to Chris Bailey from the Saints (the first Irishman I met in my life !!), if you’re attentive…:)
This « intercultural » party closed in fact an European one week long exchange between young people coming from Ireland, Spain, Italy and France organized by Eurocircle Marseille in September 2008.
For this International Women’s Day, « The First French Woman in Podcasting » was very down underground these last days and I couldn’t imagine if physically or mentally I will be able to write one word today for Meltingpod’s third Anniversary ! So no sound no picture this time I’m still too weak, sorry ! I’m just using a short break in the storm to explain my silence this last month…a weird experience…
Continuer la lecture de 8/03/08 This International Women's Day is Meltingpod 3rd Anniversary : ride on the storm !