After a day of visiting 9 passages, in extremely bad weather, the thought of going to a concert, standing for three hours on already tired and sore feet, did not seem that appealing.
Combined with the sense that I would probably be the oldest person there alone made me apprehensive.
However, I was looking forward to listening to my new found singer, Ben l’Oncle Soul
Worrying about how I would find the venue after emerging from the Metro was not a problem, follow the crowds, 6000 of them.
Le Zenith is an amazing venue, although it is huge, it has soul, fabulous acoustics and great seating, no matter where you sit, you get a great view.
Parisiens rock, they know how to get into a concert and they clearly love Ben l’Oncle Soul. The very responsive crowd went off. It was simply amazing. Rather than the bland, concrete jungles that are venues in Australia, the stadiums are timber, you can feel the music through your body and when the crowd wants an encore, or likes a song and starts stamping, the atmosphere is electric!
Better still the venue is easy to find about a 300 metre walk from Porte de Pantin metro stop in the vast Parc de Villette, the massive open park is a cultural hub.
You have to love the french, everything is done practically and with style.
I envisaged lining up for an hour, instead I walked straight through a series of entry gates, my fear of being the oldest, very quickly disappeared the age range was from about 7 years of age through to 65.
The packed auditorium consisted of seating and a standing area. The attendants wore black suits and red ties, trolleys were wheeled out before the show and during intervals, where you could buy, baguettes, beer, soft drink. I am not quite sure if I have watched 6000 people munching away before a concert, that’s a lot of baguettes! The moment the music started, the trolleys quickly and discretely disappeared.
And the crowd went wild.
All in all, Ben l’Oncle Soul was even more than I hoped for with a fantastic, energetic performance the whole experience of concert going with Parisiens was equally enjoyable.
Wow! What a night to remember and a concert experience I won’t forget.
