Butch's diary:
Sept. 4, 2001: Paris, France. A day off for me. Koool G and I decide to go for a picnic. We pack a sumptuous meal of carrot sticks and baguettes filled with our favorite foods: ham, cheese, eggs, and lots of mayonnaise. We set up our spread under the "Arc de Triomphe" and enjoy the madcap motorists as they go 'round and 'round all afternoon. Dizzying.
Sept. 5, 2001: Today we play the "Cafe De La Danse" in Paris. We have been warned that there is a strict volume policy so we go in with trepidation. We are eager to share the rock with our French allies.
In each town we hire a local mime to be the opening act. We have been excited for months at the idea of having a real life French mime at our Paris show. We are shocked to learn that the only city on the entire tour that the promoter cannot find a mime for is Paris. Didn't they invent mimes here? No opening act tonight. We are crushed. We gather our strength from an old Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis routine that E and I act out for the crew and band backstage. It seems to settle our nerves and puts everybody at ease before we go on.
On stage I go to that place where my body heats up and I feel as if I am back in my mother's womb. Tonight my mother is Mother Rock. The maternal mother protects and aids me as I bash and pound with no regard for my safety....then we are at the end of the show. I'm not sure but this must be what it feels like to be born. The crowd is chanting and won't let us go. We love France. There is an after show party where we get to meet some fans who won a contest and their prize was to meet us (this is "winning?" I wonder what the losers had to do...). The fans ask us to sign copies of our new CD. This is of course the first time we've seen the finished product and begin to notice that the French version of the album CD was printed in the wrong color. No one ever sends us copies of our CD's, so every year this is how it happens. Often we have to buy copies just to see if they came out right. The night ends in frustration.
[diary originally published on Eelstheband.com - copyright © 2001. Used here uncut and as originally published by BUTCH]