or: When Did Seating Become So Important?

One of the 974 things I like about being in another country is the opportunity to see live music that I may not otherwise see.

Last night I went to a bar and listened to Alain Ramanisum. He’s a Mauritian sega musician and I’ve been listening to some of his songs while driving without knowing it. I’m still not sure who else I’ve been listening to.

He sings in Mauritian Creole and to me, the same as most sega music, they all sound like happy songs. I’ve checked now to see if this is the case. Apparently not. Sometimes ignorance is best.

Surpringly I recognized three of his songs from the tunes in the car though I’ve now been told I should have recognized four. I guess one of them doesn’t play as frequently as I hear the others.

We arrived at the bar at about 8pm. It was a swanky hotel bar and the prices of food and beverages reflected it. We were some of the first people to arrive so had our choice of seating as long as it was a bar stool. They were three or four stools to a high table, scattered around the square bar area. Behind this seating were restaurant tables and chairs. There was a cordoned off VIP area to our left which faced the stage. The remainder of the area was open space.

We chose the bar stools with back that were nearest a heater (it was an open bar). I had asked the bar staff to swap the stools without the backs which were originally at this particular table for the ones that were. As I sat I wondered “have I always been this sensible or is this a sign I’m aging?”

In any case, turns out that it was seating well chosen.

We expected the band to start at 8.30pm.

This didn’t happen.

At 9pm we asked the bar staff when the band was due to begin. They said 9.30pm.

This didn’t happen.

At around 10pm, one of the people I was there with went to the bathroom and bumped into one of the musicians who was a school friend of his and asked when the band was due to start. “Not too much longer,” he was advised.

This didn’t happen.

Taking Mauritian time to a whole new level for me, they came on at 10.50pm.

A few songs in and we were on our feet near the front of the stage. Again there were people of all ages dancing and confirming my belief that Mauritian people must learn this at a young age as they all seem to be amazing at it.

A great time was had by all though we left at 12.30am since we all had other commitments today.

Maybe it is because I’m getting older….

Maybe I’ve always been sensible….

Maybe they are not mutually exclusive options.

* Thanks to The Blue Nile for the title to this post.