Last January, Mara and I went to see Foo Fighters at Le Zenith in Paris. We loved it. Below left you can see a scan of my new favorite t-shirt, which I bought at the show. I totally feel like a bad-ass when I wear it (it also carries some goth-looking swords down the sleeves, to complete the effect).
But the real story involves important revelations about concerts in France, or at least in Paris. We had previously learned, at a show for The Kills, that concerts start exactly on time. We arrived at 7:30 for a 7:00 show, thinking we would be quite early. In fact, they were already 3 songs into the show. C'est bizarre, n'est-ce pas?
Anyway, the Foo Fighters show was scheduled to begin at 7 or something like that. But dinner in France pretty much starts at 8 and ends at 11. (Ou, pour preciser, on peut diner de vingt heures a vingt-trois heures.) After searching high and low for a solution, we found only one choice -- l'Hippo ( "leap-oh").
Hippopatamus showcases typically French food in an atypically French setting. Think of the ambiance and service of Denny's or Olive Garden, but with the food quality of your favorite premium steakhouse. And open until 4 am on the weekends. It is as if the owners decided to copy American family dining, but just couldn't stand the idea of putting out truly inedible food, so they just made the service and decor bad.
As it turned out, we needn't have bothered with such clever planning. At le Zenith, someone had already, quite logically, noted that shows were falling during the correct time for dinner, and arranged for a sandwich vendor to sell baguettes with brie and salad, or ham and cheese, to the hungry rockers.
We noted with pleasure the loyalty of the French fans, who chanted in unison: "Foo-Fye-Taire, Foo-Fye-Taire..." as we waited for the band.
Later at the Hippo, I thought for a moment I had accidentally ordered "all you can eat" beef carpaccio, but later I realized they judged one plate to be too small for the money and two plates to be too much to let sit at room temperature while you eat. So, it was logical to serve the meal in two plates, so that each would be presented at the precisely correct temperature to reflect well on their high-quality beef. I really do love France.
The Foo Fighters 6th album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, will be released in North America on September 25, 2007.
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