At the office I’m always trying to explain memories from my experiences in Paris, my neighbourhood in the 19th district, my mates, our parties. So when I heard that the crew wanted to go to my city to soak up the culture I felt like I had a mission to accomplish. My aim was to make the crew discover “Paname” ~ Paris’ B-side, far far away from the Eiffel Tower and Moulin-Rouge. Co-incidence of the calendar, the chosen weekend also happened to feature “la fête de la musique“, Paris’ massive street event where people play, dance, listen and enjoy music in the whole city.

On our first night we hit 2 clubs, a new one called “1979″ and the unmistakable ”Social Club” ~ the basement hangout for young Parisian cool cats. To end the evening we enjoyed a suturing walk at sunrise through the city back home. Revitalised by some good bread and stinky French cheese we continued exploring and walked on the “Petite Ceinture” an abandoned train line that goes all around Paris. After going through a Chinese protest in Belleville we ended up at “Le Point Ephémère“, one of the rare legal squats in Paris.

For “la fête de la musique” we went to a block party organised by “Pain O Chokolat“. The main act was 113 and Dead Prez. We enjoyed our time dancing with a large eclectic crowd. To finish our evening we took the last metro deep into the suburbs and arrived at a friend’s house party that was off the hook.

I owe my friends on Twitter a big thank you as your tweets reminded me that I had two tickets to go see LCD Soundsystem. It was a brilliant show where they played their classics with a new rock twist that’s evident on their new album This is Happening. The new tracks got the crowd going and the classics nearly turned the famous Paradiso into a mountain of rubble. If this is their final tour then they went out with style.

I have to admit, I’d never experienced an adrenaline rush at the ballet before, that is until I went to see William Forsythe’s ‘In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated’ with electronic composition by Thom Willems.

The current programme at Het Nationale Ballet, Theme & Variations brings together four generations of choreographers in a tribute to George Balanchine, master of modern ballet.

The final piece and Forsythe’s virtuoso ode to abstract dance left me on the edge of my seat in pure captivation. The piece was originally choreographed for the Paris Opera (1987) and is a Dutch National Ballet premiere at Het Muziektheater Amsterdam until April 20.

Last night I packed up my camera and headed on over to the Paradiso to check out the talents of the young Patrick Wolf, and I’ll certainly say one thing for him, he has some serious stage presence!

As you might expect from a typical Wolf gig he managed to go to town on a wide variety of instruments including the ukulele, piano and viola making the evening a veritable smorgasbord of musical diversity. Interestingly enough whilst performing his final song he even managed to slip out for a full costume change before running back out on stage to the applause of his adoring fans.

For those of you who are new to Patrick, he’s well known for combining electronic sampling with classical instruments, Wolf’s styles range from Romantic folk to techno-pop.

Firstly, I have to admit Grace Jones was not my list of things to see and it was a toss up between seeing her and The Artic Monkeys who I have heard put on a pretty amazing live show. But as bad as this sounds I chose to Grace Jones purely because I had exhausted my veto rights and Olly (not Dolly, but Olly for Olga, the better half of Rogers) had a few left to spare. And as much as I don’t want to admit it, she was right. For me it was the performance of the festival and a reminder that nothing beats pure talent. Another example of talent shining through is Them Crooked Vultures. I know this is the second post in a row that includes them but they again proved that they are worth the hype. Another group that really impressed me was Fever Ray. Their show was like watching that scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind where the aliens landed, performed, then flew away.

Also, next time your at a festival in Holland please think of the zwervers and don’t crush your cups.