That's right! Or at least, a rooftop; the rooftop terrace of "Communion": a hip left bank club on Quai d'Austerlitz! You think "club" you think "night", right? Or maybe you think "night" and then "club". Or maybe you just cut to the chase and think "nightclub". Anyway, whatever you were thinking, you'd be wrong! At least on this occasion anyway... Although 6am might usually be more a 'closing time' than an 'opening time' for this sort of establishment, this morning, Communion hosted "daybreaker"- a worldwide moment of earlybirds, who catch an early morning yoga session and meditation, followed by a couple of hours of all out endorphin releasing dance! At the end of all of this, they sit down and enjoy a quiet moment together, listening to a performance by local musicians...cue Gerard and Leo McFadden (although there were a few more "music miles" involved in listening to us: something along the lines of "Packed in France from local and imported ingredients")! We were delighted to play for such a genuinely appreciative audience and although we had to rally ourselves a bit to wake up on time, whatever we lost in sleep, we gained in positive energy- something #dybrkrparis has in abundance!
It's been a busy day for Gerard as he had to race off at the conclusion of our performance to an audition for the Baroque Bass program at one of the conservatories here. He was practising right up to before we had to go on at daybreaker! I love the juxtaposition shown in the video below: While the music blares and people on the terrace dance in the day, Gerard is busy backstage putting the finishing touches on the 3rd Ricercar of Domenico Gabrielli- a guy who would have danced his last dance around 1690!
At the conclusion of our performance, Gerard ran (literally!) to the metro (our final notes still fresh in the air!). He made it to his audition with no time to warm-up (and no, running there doesn't count!), and before he knew it, he was on! Shortly afterwards, Gerard received the great news that he'd been accepted into the course! Gerard's busy day didn't end there though- as I write, he's currently off playing at a private function- Life is nothing if not interesting!