JACQUES DUTRONC EN CONCERT!
F R I D A Y, 1 1 A U G U S T
After lunch we all went for a walk along the coast – oh the smell of the pines. It brings back Sils Maria so beautifully. We lay on the rocks, vast expanses of it. Mummy didn’t want to leave; I’ve never met such a sun worshipper!
Felt very worried about tonight, I don’t know why, but at least I was able to eat. Wore pink towelling beach skirt and new top but my bra straps kept showing - such a nuisance.
At 8.30 we left for the Théâtre de Verdure, Chump and me clutching each other in the back of the car. We were late but we got there, finally - charged up to the barrier, and found our seats: Row C. We needn’t have rushed: we had to wait an hour!!! Finally, spot lights flashed off and on, and this fat man with glasses ran onto the stage and made jokes about De Gaulle. I understood most of it. Then a crummy girl came on and sang some deadbeat songs, then a Canadian couple did some corny cowboy tricks, then Suzanne Gabriello got us singing along to “les jolies colonies de la France, merci Maman, merci Papa…” (it was fab). Then… the interval. We bought ices, and more people came and sat on the empty seats near the front. Then... everyone started to slow clap and shout “Dutronc! Dutronc!” Then, finally, about 11pm, the lights began to flash, Glassy Spook came on again, everyone got very loud and the band started playing ‘Hey Joe’. But instead of singing ‘Hey Joe’ they sang ‘Hey Jacques’!!!
“They got us to shout louder and louder until I realised I was shaking from excitement; my legs and my jaws were quivering and my mouth was dry... ”
Chump was exactly the same.
Then everybody started shouting and there he was, on the right, charging onto the stage!!! He had a grey suit on with a very short jacket, and a guitar round his neck. (He soon took off the jacket to show a pale blue shirt and a white tie.) But the odd thing was, I couldn’t believe it was him. He seemed so different from what I’d imagined. His face and hair were the same, and his eyes were so blue you could see them. But I always got the impression he was shy. I couldn’t have been more wrong! He was fantastically self-confident and completely sure, and I'm not sure he’s a very nice person. He must have been whacked but he didn’t show it. He got everyone joining in and clapping, it was absolutely marvellous.
Between songs the band would play a droney sort of tune and he would pace up and down and sort of chat to the audience and after every other word he’d give a dirty little laugh - or say "quel talent, hé hé!" Sometimes he would growl and make other extraordinary noises. It was fascinating!
“It was mass hysteria, which I’ve never been part of before!!!”
The noise was overpowering, Chump had to block her ears, she simply couldn’t bear it. When Dutronc sang ‘Mini Mini Mini’ and came to the “moi je prefer les maxis” line, he whispered, “non, ce n’est pas vrai!” When he did ‘Les Playboys’ he got all the girls to go “wah” and the boys to whistle – it was TERRIFIC! With ‘On Nous Cache Tout’ he rolled his ‘r’s on the “rien” and on ‘Les Cactus’ we all joined in on the “oy-ee-oy, oo oy”. Then, just as we were all expecting him to go into ‘J’aime les Filles’ he went behind the scenes and we thought for a moment it was the end. But he came on again, and introduced the band - one by one!
The last song was ‘L’Idol’, and everyone stood up, and some ran down the gangway. Then he ran off, the lights all came on again, and suddenly we realised it was the end. The police, who’d been enjoying themselves the whole way through, jumped down to prevent people from getting onto the stage. Outside it was packed, but we met up with the parents easily. Ma said you hear the whole concert from out there! It took AGES getting the car out because the whole street was so packed.
Ma and Pa think pop concerts are marvellous, you can all shout your heads off and go completely wild. When they were young there was nothing, absolutely nothing. Now is a marvellous time to be young.
Chump and Ingrid
