After a scorching day in Lons-le Saunier, it rained all night and all the next day throughout France. We had caught the tail end of an Atlantic depression that had drenched England the day before and was now doing its best to flood France. After a twelve-hour train journey (involving seven changes) I arrived in Prades for the next gig by Les Voix de Magma at 18h00. Unfortunately all the hotels were booked, so after meeting Olivier and his wife we found the concert venue at around 19h30 where they were still erecting the lighting equipment.
The concert was going to be in a petanque bowling ground and, as I had dreaded all the way to Prades, yes it was in the open air. The weather was still pretty foul but had at last stopped raining when Stella Vander arrived with Francis and Marcus, I directed them to the venue and went off again in search of a dry spot for the night. When I came back forty-five minutes later I met Nolan (another English fan) who had just arrived from Spain. Then somewhat puzzled by Nolan's conversation, I met Francis Linon who said that the concert was cancelled because the stage and everything was just too wet to erect the equipment. I discovered later that the band had argued with the promoter and tried everything they could to stage the event, but the festival was too far behind schedule to go ahead that night and Les Voix de Magma had to return to Paris the next morning. Nolan talked to some of the band (including Stündëhr) and was told that unfortunately there would be no more gigs until October, because the various members had other jobs in various combos until then, or were on holiday. Feeling rather sad, Nolan and I rushed to the station just in time to get the last train to Perpignan. On the way Nolan showed me his rare cassette copy of 'Üdü Wüdü' with the original black cover design and Vandertop logo, surrounded by a beige border with the song titles. In the morning I went back to Paris, in a reflective mood. Lons-le-Saunier had been good enough to make the whole trip worthwhile. O.K. as I said before, it could have been even better. Obviously, in the middle of July the southernmost tip of France is too hot for an indoor concert and therefore one always runs a slight risk with outdoor gigs that the weather might turn evil. I know that Magma had a lot of problems in the Seventies with cancelled concerts, but this one was certainly not their fault and totally beyond their control. C'est la Vie.