Dateline early 2007, and the CLUAS gaffer is proposing to his Paris correspondent that his leisurely monthly column become a hi-octane, fact-acting blog:
CLUAS gaffer: Your column is becoming a blog. Start posting toot sweet or there'll be no more CLUAS Foreign Correspondent Expense Account. That is all.
French Letter: Yikes!
Luckily for us and our lavish expense account, loads of Irish acts visited Paris in 2007 just so we could write about them. Some, like Nina Hynes and The Immediate, came more than once. Others, like Duke Special, inspired us to write dizzying prose the likes of which hadn't been seen since the last pages of The Great Gatsby. We were nominated for awards and dreamy French actresses started returning our calls.
It couldn't last. Now that there's a recession in Eire and everyone's queuing hours for sold-out stale bread, Irish bands are giving up their Paris trips to concentrate on rocking the lucrative Donegal bingo-hall circuit. Bell X1 supported Nada Surf here last week... and that's all. The Frank And Walters cancelled three French dates scheduled for April. We were starting to panic, and dreamy French actresses don't find that attractive.
And then, flicking through pocket-sized Paris listings mag Lylo to look busy, we found Junah (right). Junah have been supporting Kill The Young on their recent French tour, and they have their own show at the Café Montmartre in Paris tonight. Junah. You know... Junah. The Irish band. Junah!
No, neither did we. Junah are a five-piece band made up of four Dubs (from Tallaght and Palmerstown, to be precise) and a French drummer. As they say on their MySpace page, their acoustic folk-rock "[combines] the melodious hum of Irish Folk music charged with an overwhelming and embodied enthusiasm for the progression of the Irish rock scene". Seeing the dreaded Eleanor McEvoy as one of their prominent MySpace friends (they're supporting her at Aras Chronain in Clondalkin on 16 May) tells you all you need to know about that particular genre.
Still, in the spirit of "g'wan Oirland!" and shake-a-shamrock and non-begrudgery, we'll give them a mention. After tonight's show in Paris they'll be in Arles on 30 April and Sanary-sur-Mer (no need for me to tell you where that is, of course) the following night. Then it's off to Switzerland before coming back to Ireland.
Junah were due to compete in Phantom's battle of the bands competition but withdrew due to 'sudden unforeseen complications with schedules'. Never fear - one look at their MySpace page and you'll be able to find out where you can see them (hint: Clondalkin).
From a recent appearance on Balcony TV, here's 40% of Junah performing 'Walk Me Into The Ground':