The strength of the Cornell Alumni circuit never ceases to amaze me. My good friend and freshman year roomate, Rachel, put me in touch with a good friend of hers who is living in Paris. And this friend told me about an event that was taking place last night at a Parisian club called La Flèche D'Or (rough translation: the golden arrow, alt: the golden point?). It was organized by the Cornell Club of Paris, which I hadn't realized existed. The friend of a friend wasn't going to be able to make it, but I thought that I would pull out the "Big Red" spirit and give it a shot.

I guess I wasn't in a very sociable mood when I got there, as I spoke to no one aside from the bouncer upon entering and the bartender upon ordering a beer. That was ok though- I am getting used to going places with the primary intent of soaking it all in. Though I had, uncharacteristically, remembered to bring some business cards just in case.

The place was cool- intimate, dark and the warm-up band was good. Then The Crooners came on stage and there was immediate recognition on my part. I hadn't realized that the band members were actually going to be from Cornell, but I should have figured that out since it seems as if every music group coming out of Cornell is called "The somethingorother" (e.g. The Hangovers, The Breakers). And in looking back at The Crooners' site, even their font looks like it is straight out of a playbill from a Cornell acapella performance at Sibley Hall. http://thecrooners.com/

The band was composed of three guys- two of whom were distinctive-looking enough for me to recognize them from my Cornell days. The first guy was a well-kept metrosexual with artfully-composed dreadlocks. The second guy fit into the genre of "I've toured across Europe and have seen a thing or two and therefore my hair is messy and I wear cigarette pants, stripes and skinny ties". The third guy I didn't remember but he also looked familiar in that he looked like your average financial analyst. But that might have been partially because of the way that he was dressed- in pleated slacks and an oxford and a tie.

I can't figure out if the band had written & composed any of their own music, or if they were just putting their own spin on blues/jazz classics from the 20's and 30s, but either way- it was great. Their music made you want to link arms and dance around, Little House on the Prairie-style. One of the guys- the dreadlocked metrosexual- even had this string bucket instrument...a "string bass" i hear?....anyway, it was very home-spun Americana and pretty cool.

Anyway- so The Crooners were really good. Real showman. The only thing is that the entire time, the same question kept running through my head...."weren't you guys in a frat?"

Ignorance really is bliss.