Matt Gossett's Stories: Musical Dilemma: Big Talent In Rural France

When my host teacher, Stéphane, asked if I’d like to attend a jazz concert on Monday eveing, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical. I have come to learn that Stéphane loves all sorts of music but that perhaps our tastes don’t match up to the tee. This would be my fourth concert I’ve attended with him since arriving in France. The first was a relatively impressive 4-piece orchestral band at the local theater in Thouars on my first night here, which was well worth seeing, not to mention it was free. The second was actually less of a concert than a brass band festival, which endured an entire Sunday afternoon, featuring about 10 different bands who performed upon the courtyard of a beautiful Loire Valley chateau. I can’t say I regretted going, but of the five hours we were there and the 15 performances that we saw, the first 30 minutes were by far the most entertaining, and standing up for such a long period of time took its toll on my energy level. The third concert was expected to be more traditional, a jazz ensemble featuring one of Stéphane’s close friends. Sure, why not? Well, it turned out to be the local elementary school students performing their annual fall nursery rhymes while some country folk gave their best effort at playing along with out of tune music and poorly choreographed dance. The fruit juice and sliced bread was not enough to make up for the debutant performances.

Frankly, I was beginning to doubt I would ever experience a truly satisfying concert in rural France, not to mention this concert was to take place in Montreuil Bellay, a town even smaller than Thouars with about 4,000 people. Regardless, I agreed to attend, with nothing better to do and the lowest expectations in mind. Upon arrival, it was nice to know that between the 6 euro tickets and the 1 euro beer, it was well within a teacher’s salary, however elementary the performance may be.

Then, Nadéah took the stage. A tall, blond, Australian who speaks fluent French, and carries herself with the attitude of Beyonce, the humor of Ellen DeGeneres and the charisma of Lady Gaga…. Not to sound overly exuberant, but she was simply an incredible performer, and it was one of, if not the most impressive rock concert I have ever witnessed. I’ll try to post a few videos so that you can hear for yourself in however poor audio quality that I captured on my iphone.

When the concert ended and I saw that she was selling merchandise by the entrance, I knew that it was time to introduce myself. I went to order a large poster but was so nervous that my French sounded terrible, and she immediately picked me out of the crowd: “Where are you from?” she asked. “Atlanta, United States” I replied. “And, you live here?” “Yes”. Those were the only remarks we exchanged, before she took my poster to sign and wrote “For Matt, What the hell are you doing here”. I was amused, to say the least.

As I left, I grabbed a pamphlet to see what other concerts she would be performing in the area. And low and behold: Paris, Rome, Geneva, Berlin. Nadéah was in the midst of an epic European tour and had been so kind as to stop by our small commune to shed her talent. It was a big city performance in a small town, and I’m glad I was lucky enough to see it. Thanks to Stéphane, however odd your musical tastes may be, Nadéah’s performance was well worth my while.