Fête De La Musique, Paris

The Fête de la Musique is a festival taking place on June 21. It's also the summer solstice most of the time. It began in France and has since spread to over 130 countries and 400 cities all over the world. The international development of the Fête de la Musique is the result of the firm implication of French cultural networks outside of France and local operators.

The idea was conceived by French Music and Dance director Maurice Fleuret for Minister of Culture Jack Lang in 1981 and first took place in 1982.

It is the occasion of a mass celebration which has grown more and more successful over the last two decades.

Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:

• Amateur musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faites de la musique (make music), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal.

• Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public.

• This is one of the only nights in the year where, under French law, there is no sound restriction at nighttime. One can party on without being bothered by neighbors calling the police.

For me this was the perfect opportunity to visit my friends Caro and Loïc in Paris. Since my last visit they are now a happy family with a great little boy called Lucas.

For me this was the perfect opportunity to visit my friends Caro and Loïc in Paris. Since my last visit they are now a happy family with a great little boy called Lucas.

Caro and her cousin Andreas have accompanied me to the grand concert at the Hippodrome d' Auteuil with an audience over 100.000 people. Over 30 bands and singers have been on stage like: Yannick Noah, Shy'm, Vitaa, Kamini, Mika, Avril Lavigne, Calogero, Christophe Willem, la troupe le Roi Soleil, David Guetta, Laurent Voulzy, Bob Sinclar, Tokio Hotel Christophe Maé, Clara Morgane ...

It was amazing to see what's going on that day in Paris. Coming home was just a bit tricky - because of the masses going home we decided for a nice walk through the city. Almost an hour later we arrived exhausted but happy at home.

The rest of my stay was also great. Beside of the great time with my friends I have visited the musée du quai Branly. It's a brand new museum and has many expositions of the culture of the world. I was lucky to go there because outside it was raining all the time.
I have also visited a sports event in the parc de la Villette. It was the finals of the mountain bike big air contest from Nissan. International riders could prove in the contest their skills in jumping over big hills of dirt and performing tricks. It was exciting to watch the tricks and to see what's possible to do with a simple bike.

Overall it has been again fantastic to visit Paris and I look forward to come soon again - latest at the next fête de la musique.


Gallery:

Fête de la Musique, Paris

springseven festival - a short review

Here is a recent photo update for all who have missed the extraordinary springfestival this year. The festival was a big success and many locations had to be closed temporarily because the venues reached the maximum capacity of people. It was great fun to meet so many different people. It doesn’t matter if someone is a superstar or just a local DJ – The personality is important!

The festival was running very smoothly this year. No organizational problems and a pleased audience have let us reach again a new level at the 7^th year of the springfestival series. The challenge next year, beside of the line-up, will be to find new venues that are bigger and accepted from the audience.

Because the festival was for me a maximum fun and pleasure please check the following links for more detailed information about the festival. Check out also the audio and video streams from the festival.

Links:

Official Homepage: http://www.springfestival.at

Radio FM4 Blog: http://fm4.orf.at/springseven

Radio FM4 Video Blog: http://fm4.orf.at/connected/218293/main

R4NT Blog: http://r4nt.com/blog/category/music/springseven

Photo gallery:

springseven festival - may 16th to 19th

Exciting!! Just a few hours away and the annually springfestival is back again! This time I don’t have to travel - The world of music is coming to Graz!

springseven, the biggest festival for electronic art and music in Austria, is going into its 7th year in 2007, and will once again transform Graz from May 16th onwards into a throbbing metropolis of vivid pop-culture.

The springfestival is not only the only festival in Graz which takes place on a regular basis but it is also unique in Austria: * 5 Days * 4 Nights * 12 Locations * 250 DJs, Live-Acts and Visual-Artists * 18.000 Attendants make springseven one of the most important events for DJ- and club culture in Central Europe.

2007 will once again see a sensational and unequalled line-up, including the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Turntable Rocker, EZ Rollers, 4 Hero, Shantel, Plump DJs, Jazzanova, Carl Craig, John Acquaviva, Jazzanova, Rainer Trüby, Stacey Pullen, Etienne de Crecy, Alex Gopher and many more. Find more information about the festival and the line-up here: springfestival.at

During these days I’ll take care of the top acts and also ensure that the festival runs smoothly. As usual there will be almost no time to sleep because the venues close in the early morning and the first artists come/leave Graz. It’s great to meet all these open and friendly creative artists and I already look forward to spring 08.

Shuttle bus:

Morocco - Review and pictures

Finally I'm home again. It was not easy to get to the airport in Casablanca in time but with a bit flexibility everything is possible.
Morocco was a great experience: Friendly people, rural areas, strange offers… all packed in a week long road trip. Every day at least five people wanted to sell me hash - Top quality - (00) and they call it chocolate. I have also met a few people with international travel experience - Drug couriers with international clients.

Another daily experience was that some man wanted to be very "friendly" with me. I think they want to fuck everything blond with blue eyes - even it’s a sheep ;) As usual I haven't bought any presents or souvenirs. Without pressure I could sit down with the trickiest carpet sellers and have a cup of mint tea. Travelling Morocco is still very adventurous if you are on your own. Since I'm not fluent in French it was an extra challenge for me. The Moroccans speak many languages (Berber, Arabic, French..) but English comes on 4^th place if you are lucky.

The most importing thing is to know to whom you are speaking. There are many locals who just want to take advantage over travellers. There are also many fake guides who just want to offer you their service. The best thing to answer is always "emshallah". Then you always can rely on god's will if things happen or not.

I have set up a little photo gallery with the pictures of the trip so you can have a few impressions where I have been.

Photo gallery:

Morocco, May 2007

Essaouira

This is my final post from Morocco. I can type now quite well on the French-Arabic keyboard and its now also quite easy for me to get around. I have just been at the market and bought me some supply for the beach: Water, Oranges, Nuts and something to smoke. Essaouira is a very old town with a long history for trade. In former times with goods from the Sahara and now it became a really busy fishing port. There are very many tourists in town but its still low season - The high season is in summer when it gets really hot in Morocco. Then Marrocians from all over the country to this place because its so windy here. The wind blows constantly all the time and the Atlantic sea is also colder then any other place in Morocco.

Yesterday I had a very special dinner. I met a Marrocanian guy and invited him for dinner. We went together to the market and bought some fresh fish. The we also bought all the ingredients for salad and side dishes. After that we went to a special restaurant where you bring all the stuff that you want to have cooked and the cook makes a perfect and authentic meal out of that.

After the Internet cafe I will go to the windy beach and enjoy my last days in Morocco. On Friday I travel back to Casablanca (6-8h) and then directly to the airport. At the weekend I prepare the pictures for the photo gallery.

Marrakesh - Heart of Morocco

Yesterday evening I took the overnight bus from Fes to Marrakesh - It was scheduled for 20:00 and arrival 8.5 hours later. In Morocco you alwas have to add the word: en'shallah (as God will). The trip was in a modern bus but without heating - After all I have spent 10 hours in a moving freezer. Finally arrived the next challenge was waiting for me. I didn't have a hotel. But it was not a big problem. Because the sun was already out and the streets got busy I found very quick a nice Ibis hotel. The only problem was that Check-in was at 12:00. I decided to check out the city in the early morning - Also a big challenge for me! After walking around i had to rest 2 hours in different parks because I felt quite smashed after two nights with only little sleep.

After having a rest in the hotel I went back to the city - after a nice one hour power walk I've reached the Medina and "La Place" The big square in the old Medina - unique in Morocco. Between hundreds of tourists there have also been many locals to see artists performing (Drums, belly dancing, story telling, snake teasing and so on..). After watching the performances I had a very long walk through the souks (bazaar). I got a little bit lost but after two hours I was back on the square and ready to eat a nice bean soup. After the Internet cafe I will head home and have again a rest. Maybe on the way a mint tea or some coffee.

Tomorrow I plan to travel to Essaouira. This place is located at the Atlantic ocean and should be quite fine. Jimmy Hendrix and Oscar Wild have been there - also some scenes from the movie "Alexander" have been shot there. I'll probably stay there for two days if it's OK. I have to be back in Casablanca at Friday night to catch my plane - en'shallah

Fes

After having some interesting experiences in Casablanca I've decided to travel to Fes. This is one of the oldest cities in Morocco and located in the central northern part. Getting out of Casablanca was not so easy and I decided to take a train. Buying a ticket is easy to get proper information when the train is arriving is almost impossible. Its best just to go there and wait. Almost five hours in the train I arrived in Fes. My main idea was to find a hotel and then have a walk through the city. In the city I have met Omar - a crazy guy and member of a local gang. With him I had a crazy time in several old houses of old Medina. Its too much to explain in detail what happened but the day ended at 5 in the morning in a "disco". I've learned that a "piano bar" is like a western disco and a "disco" is a pricey area with traditional live music.

After arriving in Fes my camera displayed a message with "card error" all pictures are lost - but I have managed to get a new one. After Cyber Hatim the next challenge is to get to Marrakesh. It will be a pretty long travel and I will arrive late at night. So long for now and I try to slow down a little bit.