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| Beziers and Bordeaux: Marianne's Faithfull audiences |
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| Wednesday, 05 December 2007 | |
Sixties pop star Marianne Faithfull wooed a near-capacity crowd of 2,000 when she appeared in Beziers new Zinga Zanga venue at the start of her short tour in France. She went on to wow Bordeaux on December 4 where more of the faithful turned out to see her on stage at the Théâtre Fémina. “I can’t do long tours anymore – not like the men of my generation – but I love the short ones,” she says. Actually when she first came off the stage after a punishing one and a half hours on stage her actual words were “F**king nightmare” but we didn’t think we should quote her – ooopps! Regaining her cool she told French News: “I just love these short tours – just singing what I want and not plugging a record. It is a strange selection she admits, finishing with her famous 60s hit 'I sit and watch the world go by' but the rest of the show was a range of rock and soul and satire. One from her little known 60s show 'An evening with the Weimar Republic and Marianne Faithfull'!. Anti-war and sarcasm – it had many jumping to their feet – young and old and a not noticeably Brit audience. “I spotted some really old women and was really happy to see so many younger people too,” she said. "I think the French like me just that bit more than most other Europeans on account of the Marquis de Sade – a distant relative of mine.” The convent-educated 60-year-old whose first hit came when she was 17 agrees with this reporter – it is a bit insulting when they ask for your rail card and they don’t even check your age! “I must look after my voice (husky and smoky),” she fusses as she lights another cigarette –“I am off to New York after the tour to record an album which will be released late in 2008.” How come she was pretty well the only female star of her generation still performing? “Funny that," she says, “I suppose most made their pile or married rich men – didn’t work for me – I just keep on going. I think I have another 10 years in me,” she told me. From the power of her performance and the rapture of the reception one suspects it will be rather longer than that. by Robin Hicks in Béziers |
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