Credit: my cameraphone

Up at 3 in the morning and cutting through London’s night like a big red stealth machine. From Muswell Hill to Waterloo in 45 minutes. 9 o-clock comes along with Paris. Arriving in Gare du Nord I am swooped up by a black eyed Parisian girl, I am starting to feel like I am being people-trafficked. I am now bunched in with a few hundred competition winners. 4 from each country in the EU. That Danish guy looks like Sharon Stone and preens his hair like he is in Miami Vice; I catch him checking out his own teeth in a shop mirror.

The day takes on a different pace and suddenly a long train rides go by and it is 5pm. Dumped on the side of the road somewhere in the town Clermont Ferrand for being on the wrong coach. A local promoter called Ludo comes to my rescue, he tells me about The Elderberries a new band he is working with and the bubbling french scene before promptly delivering me to possibly the ugliest hotel outside of Chechnya.

The building site that surrounds three of its sides is snugly kept in place by a motorway junction and ring road, the scenic view on the other side is a rather miserable looking cemetery that has barely any vegetation and is probably full of the factory workers from the giant Michelin factory that fills the walk between here and the Polydome. The lift also smells of pee. Rundown hotels never hurt Tom Waits, it is all about the music right!

Ok so tonight gets going with some Mash up DJ’s outside, we have at least erm, a hundred people here drinking Kronenberg or orange juice.

The Sunday Drivers: Not to be mixed up with Miami post rockers Sunday Drivers. This is the Spanish band The Sunday Driver with the ten members of the Orchestre d’Auvergne providing a fae beardy set, that at times almost feels like flaming lips but it is all leaving the house a bit dry, sat down watching this band is bringing on Mr Sandman.

Venus are fronted by a very serious man in a skirt, this band has the Orchestre d’Auvergne with them bringing it to 15 people on stage at this performance. The backing tracks are wonderfully layered and the double bass booms through the the big band. Sometimes quite sublime and has inflections of Calexico or Waits. Although it all never seems to go far enough, whenever the music seems to really tip the edge Gothic wonder it all a bit awry. Suddenly the set is brought back with a dancy drumbeat and feels like a Drum & Bass David Bowie track.