Moscou

TRAVEL TO MOSCOU
6/07/2007 18h
Arriving at Moscou airport, we are confronted by an imposing queue; I forgotthat Russia is a very patient country, sometimes quite desorganised and thatone of their national sports is "waiting" ...
20h
Vladimir, our driver, is handsome : he has a face as in the Russian movies,a desarming smile, very blue eyes that take you in in one look, and he's thesize of a giant. He drives quickly through the large avenues of Moscou; the4 lanes on each side of the boulevard allow each one to express himself; thecity looks more and more western : neon publicity, various Mac Donald's andluxurious cars.
24h
We go for a walk on the magnificent Red Square, one of the bandmembers, whomI shall not mention, is wobbling whilst holding on the shoulders of aRussian lady, vodka is a quick and efficient poison. What happens ? Is hegoing to fall ? Create a diplomatic incident ? Everything is ok, he onlykisses her. That being said, he is certainly not the first nor the last to search forhis balance in the streets of Moscou. The Basilic with a thousand colours is splendid, she has been ordered byIvan the Terrible in the 6th century who, after having noticed the splendorof this building and the success of the architect, decided to have his eyesplucked out - this describes quite well the atmosphere and politics duringthat period. The problem is that 1400 years later, Staline installed a repression withoutlimit, if not the horrors deployed by Hitler and some other evil genius. Isuggest to everyone to read the book of Eugenia Guinsbourg, "Le vertige", amost shocking autobiographic story, relating what she lived through in thegoulag of Kolyma in Siberia. For a vague intellectual motif, this universityprofessor was separated from her family and her children, and put intoprison, in inhuman conditions for 3 years long. She has then been deportedto the goulag for 10 years. During all this time she remembered poems andbooks that she memorised, she did not stop loving the people around her andbelieving in life ...And now, what can one image after communism ? 70000 multimillionaires, a middle class that does not succeed at beingprosperous and a very poor lower class manifesting for the return ofcommunism as their living conditions are harder then before. I feel that there must somehow exist a balance between stupid communism anda maffia style of capitalism.

7/07/2007
At the same moment where half of the planet is getting married because ofthat astonishing date, we play in a somptueus venue. We are again confrontedwith the stupidity of the Russian administration and the direction of thevenue who refuses to cut the airconditioning : it's cold and the noise ofthe ventilation covers the sound of the piano. Despite all this, we gain the adhesion of the public, title after title andwe all finish in the same atmosphere ...After the concert we sign very nice copies of our last album, made withcare, a real piece of art.

8/07/2007
We leave the hotel at 6h in the morning.Once arrived at the airport, we are again confronted to unbelievable queues,and despite all this, the plane leaves on schedule and lands in time. This is sometimes the mystery of countries that seem apparentlydisorganised.