Woke
this morning in a good mood, feeling pleased with last night's gig.
When
I arrived at the marina at Kernevel it was a lovely warm evening with
just a slight breeze. I loaded all my equipment (keyboard, amp,
speakers, etc.) onto a trolley and had to edge my way down a steep
ramp to the pontoon. A man was watching from the deck of his boat and
seemed to find the whole process amusing. When I reached the bottom
he commented "Tres
dificle, non?" (It
would have been nice if he'd offered to help).
The
Flying Pheonix was easy to find; flood-lit with streamers and banners
festooned along the rails and a couple of waitress's weaving through
the guests with trays of drinks and canapés. As soon as I set up,
the host, Judith, came over and asked if I'd like a glass of
champagne to get me started. She explained that it was her husband's
60th birthday, telling me they lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and
normally moored in Marbella but occasionally sailed up to Brittany as
they both loved the area, having several good friends here.
Once
I settled in with my usual routine I tried WhenI Was Your Man
by Bruno Mars, a new piece I've been working on which seemed to go
down well. Larry (Judith's husband) asked if I could play something
by Gershwin, and luckily I had the music for Summertime which he seemed happy with.
During
my first break the host's son, Brian, and his partner, Jason, came
over to say how much they enjoyed the music (particularly SorrySeems to Be the Hardest Word by Elton John: their most favourite
song in the world!). Neither of them had been to France before; Brian
admitting he wasn't into sailing like his parents. He introduced me
to his sister Melissa, who was chatting to me when a smartly dressed
man approached us. He told us he was from Nice and owned a yacht
which he kept at Cannes. When I mentioned I was from the U.K he said
he'd recently spent a weekend with Prince Harry and his wife. He went
into great detail about the hampers of food from Harrods which the
Royal couple had delivered to their country estate in
Gloucestershire. Melissa seemed puzzled at this but listened politely
as he boasted how the Royals were planning a visit to his home in
Nice, a luxurious villa with tennis courts, two swimming pools, a gym
and extensive grounds. It was as he launched into a description of
his indoor cinema when Melissa interrupted, asking the name of Prince
Harry's wife.
He
paused and looked at her.
"It's
just that I didn't think he was married," she added.
At
this the man shrugged and wandered off. I asked Melissa how her
parents knew him, she said she wasn't sure, and we both agreed he was
behaving oddly.
It
was during my second break, as I was chatting to Judith and Melissa
about Phoenix when we noticed Larry talking to the smartly dressed
man. We could hear him questioning him about who he was and where he
came from. Judith looked worried, saying she'd never seen him before.
Most of the guests were also listening when Larry ordered him to go.
We all watched the man stroll along the marina, seemingly
unconcerned.
The
evening had started off warm but, once the sun went down, it started
to get really cold. I was positioned in the worst place with the cold
breeze blowing up from the open water behind me. By the time I got to
the end of my final set, my fingers were freezing. It was a relief to
finish.
Coco
was waiting for me at the door when I got home - she probably gets
less attention since Pepin arrived.
I'm
still not sure whether to get on with my historical novel (which only
has a few chapters to complete), or get back to the psychological
thriller (only about 50K words down). I need to get on with something
creative, away from all the marketing.
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