We left Cannes who was covered in a very uniform grayish dress, white and very light yellow buildings offering very little contrast through the van windows blurred by raindrops. We were sad to leave this place, as it already holds so many meaningful memories for us, making the weather a perfect representation of our feelings. But at the same time, we were at peace, knowing that those memories were not located in Cannes, but that we were bringing them with us on the road, now a part of who we are. 

We stopped at the FNAC, French music stores chain, and bought some music DVDs, figuring out that we’d endure the screen as it was…!

So far, having slept only a very few hours a night, making our nights closer to naps than actual “nights”, we all enjoyed the ride and the few additional hours of sleep we were graced with! No snoring turbines, but I can tell you that most of us woke up their mouths pretty dry!

At around 8pm, all awake, we decided to watch a DVD, Ramones’ RAW documentary, filmed by Marky Ramone, showing the band on tour and backstage… A truly impressive documentary, which title totally fit the contents. If you’re a fan of the Ramones, or a fan of music in general, and that you haven’t watched this yet, I strongly suggest it for your next movie night! 

We arrived in Barcelona at around 10pm and started unloading the gear and bring it into the apartment. The good news is our apartment is very large, the bad one is the elevator is broken! Hopefully, it’s on the first floor, so it helps (a little)! Jeff received a call from the producer of the video, who wanted to meet us right away! Super excited about the video (and happy not to have to unload), we went to meet him… It was great walking those same streets we walked so often when we came last year in October, as it brought back so many memories… Even in February, the city is alive and filled with people… Yes, we are in love with that city! As Alex said, this city is our home away from home! The time we had with the producer was incredible! He is just as excited as we are about the filming of this video clip, the different scenes, the script, the locations! His enthusiasm made us even more enthusiastic! 

We came back to our apartment and told everything to the other band members, while telling them about the scenario, which had until then been kept secret! This scenario is one that Alex developed, based on one of the multiple layers of understanding that there can be to the song. We shared a meal and decided to go to bed early… Well, that is until we started talking about us, us as a family, including all of you, about the funny stories we’ve heard, about what we have been through, about who we have become, about the blessings we have received and are still learning to count… Then we skyped the family at the HQ and then we went to bed early… Or 2 am! Not exactly the definition of early, but it’s surely not that late in the YFE universe. Some of us pushed it, and went to bed past 4… 😉

6:30am, alarm clock! One of the worst feelings ever! But hey, the excitement didn’t have time to fade in those 2 hours of sleep, so waking up, at least for me, hasn’t been that hard. Quick detour at the Starbucks, and we were on our way to the filming location! 

Old wooden door, brick walls, interior court of what used to be an ancient castle… This is where we are going to film today! We haven’t set foot in the place that we are already in love with it! The door opens, it’s dark, it’s cold, it’s humid… Wow! We meet the producer we will be working with today, as well as the whole crew and actors! It’s early in the morning, everybody went to bed way too late, but we are all very excited about being here! 

Passion was at the rendez-vous from the very first moment we started filming! Lots of contrast between light and dark, not only with the lights but also in the play between the different characters and during the band’s live performance (and what a performance!), as well as in the camera play with the different shots, large or close. 10 hours of filming! And at the end of the day, completely exhausted, shivering and without any sensation in our feet anymore, even more excited than we were at the beginning! 

Another short night and we were on our way to the first of 2 filming  locations for today! A small place, but with a truly wonderful vibe. Clear, well lit, mostly white, and very warm, it seemed to be the complete opposite of where we were yesterday! We spent only a few hours over there, but those 2 hours were soulful and heartfelt! 

And we were on the way to the next filming location! We couldn’t believe how fast time went by! After getting a little lost on the way there, trying to turn back with the huge English touring van in the narrow Spanish streets, we made our way to the top of a mountain, in a place called The Bunker, that was used when the civil war was raging in Spain. 3:30pm, the  sun is shining… In what has been one of the most beautiful day in Spain, as in the distance we could see an island, Mallorca, something that had not happened in 15 years. Usually, even on good days, the island is invisible to everyone… A little wink reminding us that this video clip is blessed beyond measure! This mountain was very close to the one we’ve climbed last time we were in Barcelona, we could see it from our viewpoint… And it was a great testimony of yet another meaningful moment that we have allowed to change our lives. We stayed there until sunset, until the lights of Barcelona would start shining from down below instead of up high above us. 

Being too many people, we went back home in 2 groups. Miss Isabel and I with most of the crew, and the rest of the band with a few other crew members. And on both sides, we’ve had incredible discussions, meaningful moments, talking about us, about life in general, about the Catalan culture, about traveling & discovering who we are through it. Being stuck in traffic has never been that nice! 

Arrived in downtown Barcelona, we said goodbye to one another, promising we would meet again very soon. Then Miss Isabel and I ran to The Cat Factory, a bakery owned by very good friends of ours and that we discovered last time we were in Barcelona. They had prepared a special birthday cake for Jeff, in secret. So we ran through the small backstreets, trying to read the map as well as possible, finding ourselves in dead ends quite a few times…! We managed to make it in time to pick up the cake! On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at a public place that was having a multimedia presentation, outside, on the walls of a church. It’s February, people are gathered outside, taking pictures and filming, having a good time, and taking the opportunity to meet some new people at the same time… Yes, welcome to Barcelona!

We hopefully arrived before Jeff and thus succeeded in making this a complete surprise to him. We also went to buy one of his favorite food – burgers – as well as wine to make it a perfect evening for him. I mean, what more could you ask for? Burger, red wine, and cake… Perfect match, no? 😉 

And as I am finishing those lines, we are about to leave for a traditional Catalan restaurant, to celebrate the filming of the video clip for Where Did We Lose Each Other… But especially to celebrate the new friendships that were built during this filming! 🙂 

– Stephanie 

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We’ve spent our last full day in Cannes… Under a gray sky, one like we’ve seen every day since we’ve arrived, but for a few hours of sun on one day. Under such a cloudy sky, with such cold weather and such a high level of humidity, it is hard to think of the French Riviera as a glamorous prized destination. Yet, this place has known glorious days…

Alex being a fan of literature, we decided that on our last day, we would go to Juan-les-Pins, a half-hour drive away from Cannes, where many American writers used to spend their summer during the Roaring Twenties… We wanted to see that place where the Fitzgeralds spent their time with the likes of Hemingway, that town in which “Tender Is The Night” took place, where so many other artists, musicians, painters & poets found inspiration…

Having a lot to do during daytime, we left our apartment at 8:00pm, and headed to the city. One place in particular we wanted to see was Hotel Belles Rives, former Villa St-Louis, summer house of so many of them… We got there, drove past it, found a parking spot, and it’s all excited that we arrived face to face with a hotel that was closed. Closed! We didn’t even know a hotel could close… But we guessed that it would only open again in March or so, when the French Riviera came back to life. Juan-les-Pins, in January, is a dead city… You see no one walking in the splendor of her streets, and hotels, restaurants and bars alike are definitely closed, waiting for sunny days to come back before they open their doors again. So we walked past the hotel, thinking that we might as well walk the streets, who knows what we could find… That is until we realized that the gate leading to the garden terrace was not locked. Careful not to be seen by anyone, we made our way in, and came face to face with a breathtaking sight. It was night time and we couldn’t see much, it was cold and humid, but for an instant, it was a usual summer day on the French Riviera during the Roaring Twenties all over again… We had a peek through the huge glass doors of the hotel, letting us see the remains of a period frozen in time, long gone but not forgotten… We then walked a little more in town, where the bars, clubs and restaurants usually burst with life… Reminding the Cuban architecture, the presence of Hemingway, who spent a lot of time in Cuba, in that city, was easily noticeable!

It may not be the Roaring Twenties anymore, but its spirit is still very alive… Looking at the city and thinking of that period I so love, I couldn’t help but think of Your Favorite Enemies… After all, everything we are, this way-over-the-top, unreal and circus-like vibe that surrounds us is not much different from what I imagine those years were like. I mean… who can say they have a family that spreads all over the world the way we have? Our family may make no sense, but it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever been given to see… 🙂

Back in Cannes, Jeff showed us around his favorite place, Le Suquet, what they call the “Old Cannes”. Narrow backstreets made of stone, where no cars are allowed, with ancient architecture… We came back to our apartment after a little while, where we shared a moment of communion, like we do every time we leave a place… Bordeaux wine, bread and cheese… To this freedom we have of simply “being”, as we are, with no constraint, and to the happiness it brings. And yes, we had to drink our wine in regular glasses… No wine glasses where we are staying! Not so typically French, but hey, the wine was good… and glasses aren’t enough to alter a moment such as this one!

It is right now 4 am as I am writing this… I am surrounded by one of the most famous snoring turbines, someone who talks while sleeping, and someone who listens to the Montreal Canadiens hockey game just a little bit too loud…

We are soon leaving for Barcelona, where we will be filming the band’s next official video clip!
More details will come very soon! 🙂

– Stephanie

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Sunday morning in Cannes, a very difficult morning! Hopefully, we had something to look forward to, as we were going to meet some of our friends for a coffee! As none of us really knew Cannes, we decided to go to a place called Barista, just beside the Morrison’s pub. So we contact everyone, and leave our apartment. Getting there, what do we realize? It’s Sunday in France, and everything is closed. This is a concept we don’t know anymore in Canada, and that we forget every time we are back in Europe! We hopefully managed to find a nearby bakery. To the guys happiness! I mean, what better food is there in France than bakery food? And we were not disappointed! But that food was only a pretext to the incredible time we have spent with those very good friends of ours! We talked about the concert, of course, but also about music in general about ourselves… It really was old friends coming together after a long time. And the tiredness we knew completely faded away. It didn’t matter anymore at all, as those discussions we’ve had  were more than uplifting!

And then, we were invited to the circus. A real circus! With animals and people doing acrobatics, young and old, a true traveling family, the traditional way. So we headed to Antibes where we entered the magical and unreal universe of the Cirque de Venise. Tigers, horses, camels, zebras, snakes and ostriches gave place to trapeze artists, contortionists and dancers.

We headed back home, shared a snack, and then it was time for something Jeff had especially been looking forward to: Super Bowl! It was broadcasted live, so we all gathered in our apartment and watched the game. A very, very disappointing game, that we didn’t even watch until the end, as we knew that there was no possible turnover in what was going on. Broncos would lose. When we went to bed, we only hoped it would be not too much of a disaster for them!

I think the first thing we did when we woke up was to go and check what the score was. Not that we expected the game to have completely turned over, but hey, we hoped that the Broncos would have gone up the hill if at lest a little! But that didn’t happen, as the game ended 43-8… Poor Jeff, it’s 2 years in a row that the team he cheers for loses…

And then, as Alex said in his “Monday Socks” post on his FB page (a tradition he started a few weeks ago and that you can read here!), today was a little peaceful time in the craziness of what the YFE madness is all about! All of us were quiet, thinking about the last days we’ve lived, the moments we shared, how inspired we’ve been by the people we’ve met, and thinking about the different moments that are ahead of us. Not that we have any ambitions for these moments, nor any expectations either… But as those moments are fuelled by the times we are sharing with you, we can’t do otherwise than be excited at the only idea of meeting some of you again, and others for the first time!

It’s right now 2:45am. Jeff has just come back from his meetings, the guys are sharing a late snack (instant noodles that they didn’t expect to be so spicy and kept choking on) before going to bed, and we enjoy that simple time, just being together, as family, gathered in a place that’s way too small for all of us together… But hey, that’s just how we like it 🙂

– Stephanie

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It was a very early morning for all of us… And it’s especially early when you consider that some of us went to bed way past 5 in the morning. Second night on tour, and we can already say goodbye to those long, comfortable nights of profound sleep! Wait… Have we ever had them before? 😉 I guess that’s life on the road, but especially life with YFE in general!

Jeff left for meetings, Miss Isabel & Moose went grocery shopping, Sef & Ben made sure the guitars and all the other equipment were ready for tonight’s show, while Alex did some vocal exercises and kept in touch with you all! So many of you have written to him concerning the recent blog he posted (in which he posted never before released lyrics of a song that was never heard before! And they are just sublime – both the song and the lyrics! If you haven’t read them yet, the blog is right here!

The morning disappeared before we truly knew it was here! Already, it was time to load the van, and we were heading to the Morrison’s Irish Pub, where we played tonight! We were scheduled to do the soundchecks at 1pm, but it was delayed a little… We decided to go for a coffee! After an unsuccessful attempt at finding a coffee shop that would welcome 9 of us for only a coffee at lunch time, we decided we would go back to the Morrison’s, this time at the lounge section. We sat down in one very cool section of the place, and discussed different stories… Jeff’s snoring (and some of the others, too, but Jeff is still unbeatable in his category),
Moose’s shampoo (he has displayed them in his room! Just how crazy is that!), and Sef who is just being Sef. A tour without him would definitely not be the same… In a way, we are glad he didn’t send a sixth guitar on tour instead of coming with us… A guitar causes less trouble, sure, but it never is as funny as Sef!

And finally came time for the soundchecks! We brought all the equipment inside – easy! No amps to bring this time! But then we had to fit everything of stage… Not so easy! The stage is already very small when it is empty… So imagine it with a drum, amps, footboards (Sef’s spaceship in itself occupies half the width of the stage!), a keyboard, and 6 people… Look at the space they have left at their feet! But hey, we managed to fit everything in… And I can tell you that this concert is going to be a very punk rock one! It might be a small place, but walls will fall tonight, this makes no doubt!

We then talked with the owner, an Irishman who surprisingly speaks a perfect French! As tonight’s set is scheduled to be only 30 minutes, we even went as far as asking if we could play longer, to which he agreed “only if you are good, otherwise, I turn down the sound!”.

We then went back home, around 4:30pm, where we shared a light snack and read the different blogs that had been released! Yes, it looks like a new tradition has been born for us on the road! It gives birth to very special moments, and allows us to share on a different level… Not that we don’t usually do it, but let’s say it’s a good spark to new conversations 🙂 We all went for a quick nap, blame it on the very late nights and early mornings and all the traveling in the past few days!

Nap over, we gathered in the living room/bedroom/dining room where we discussed the set list for the show we were giving at The Morrison’s that night! We finally settled for the following songs:
– Lantern Lights
– Where Did We Lose Each Other
– Would You Believe
– Open Your Eyes
– 1-2-3 (One Step Away)

Followed a quick rehearsal only with an acoustic guitar, a way to put us in the mood of the show before we even left our little apartment!

We then all got in the van and drove 15 minutes to the venue, in the heart of Cannes. We drove in front of the venue, to see people packed not only inside, but outside as well. It made the stress level of some people rise up, while on my side, it just made me even more excited… After all, way before being a photographer for YFE, I’m a fan 🙂

We stopped the van not too far away from the venue, and then it was time to get ready. Because the place where we were playing tonight was a pub, there was no such thing as a backstage, no matter how small it could have been. So it’s seated in the van that Alex listened to the songs and sang over them, that Miss Isabel did her vocal exercices and that Moose clapped his hands in a very special way (to be honest, it’s a very funny exercice to see, but it apparently makes a whole lot of a difference… but only he can tell!)

Then it was time for the show! The turnover (that period of time in between 2 bands to get the stage ready for the following one) wasn’t an easy task! Even though all our equipment was just beside the stage, there were so many people that it was hard to just walk from one point to another… Now imagine with Sef’s giant spaceship-like footboard… 😉 And once everything was ready for us on stage… SHOWTIME!

And what a show it’s been! The opening song of the show, Lantern Lights, simply started the whole thing with a bang. And I mean a MAJOR BANG! It’s hard to really explain what this song makes you go through… Starting with spoken words and screams, it suddenly shifts to a melody that captivates your soul, before changing to an epic cadence with a feeling of emergency like you’ve never known it before… And the rest of the show? Well, let’s just say that Alex was on somebody’s shoulders in the first song, that he walked around the whole room twice, that he jumped from the bar into the crowd (not from the second floor balcony this time, though it would have been possible!), and that the drum ended up on the bar, with Moose playing and Alex singing on the bass drum, and the whole band in the crowd. I think nobody really expected such a thing to happen tonight, but everybody took part in it, embracing the moment, and making it even more grandiose. People we’ve known for a long time and who drove several hours to come and see us, people we had been talking to for a long time but whom we were meeting for the first time, people who discovered the band that night… We knew the show would be pretty punk rock. We knew we would remember it. We knew the walls would fall down while we’d be playing in that venue… We just had no idea what these walls would be until tonight. And now that they’re down, everything can be rebuilt with a brand new perspective. And this is the most exciting part. Because it means there are no limits no more. Because it means that everything is possible, as long as we believe so!

We were supposed to be allowed to play for 30 minutes. We played 70. I guess that means we weren’t that bad… 😉 And the owner, at the end, told us that we could have played 5 more, and he would have been happy about it. In 13 years of business, with shows EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, he has never seen anything quite like this before… And in the end, we were kicked out of the pub at around 2:30, half an hour after its closing time.

It’s right now 6:00am. I guess it’s time to say good night…

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