Monday, June 10, 2002

Mercy boocoo
When I worked at the Mirror, my meagre salary was offset by all the free concerts and movies I got to see. That was good. One thing I've noticed about artists who perform in Montreal, however, is that they all feel obligated to say, "Merci beaucoup"after every song. God, that annoys me to no end.
Honest, do all singers have this weird misconception that folks in Montreal don't understand English? Umm, well we listen to, and understand their music. Maybe they think that mispronouncing two words in French will endear them even more to us.
At the concert on Saturday, which, by the way, was amazing (honestly, how often will you find a singer known for electronica up on stage with a violinist, a cellist, and a stand-up bass), Beth Orton kept saying the same two words over and over again, until finally someone in the crowd yelled out that it was okay to speak English, which elicited a cheer.
Years ago, when I suffered through that marketing event Lilith Fair (brought to you by Bioré Nasal Blackhead Strips), I got to the point where I wanted to stick a darning needle in my ears every time some chick singer belted out a raucous tune, only to demurely utter "merci beaucoup, that's all the French I know" afterward. The only singer I've ever met who never fell to this level was Dan Bern--oh, and Ani D--who really didn't seem to give a crap.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home