#78 Scout Niblett

A neverending climbing, Scout singing Wolfie while climbing up the stairs, stomping, sometimes following the rhythm, sometimes not, and the repetitive singsong tunes. Scout is elsewhere when she sings, her features harden and when her voice rises, when she insists, it hurts, it flows right through you and forms knots, you hold your breath, close your eyes and your stomach get tense, and you want it to never end because it hurts, but the kind of pain you need to feel alive. Wherever we’d end up, we’d drink tea, this is Gaspar, a friend of Vincent Moon’s, who offers some after she opened the door of his bric-à-brac flat, a magical, intimate scene, and the girlish smile which illuminates her face, right after she finished the song.

We had a break for a few minutes, but not long because Scout had to leave soon to prepare herself to go on stage. We could not leave without shooting a song here in this place where instruments, books, films, posters, tea cups and covered sketchbooks stack up. Moon asked Gaspar if he would play the cello while Scout would be singing Baby Emma. Her hair hid her face, Scout almost spat her song, her face once again completely changed, the notes coming from the cello made us shiver, moanings coming from nowhere, rattles, and still this pain we almost forgot about woke up as it went along. At the end of this improvised duet, Scout, roguish, gave thumbs up and started laughing, real happy for what just happened and we were completely amazed, speechless, elsewhere.

Rue Saint Maur, while going back to the Nouveau Casino, Scout gritted her teeth while playing Nevada, and her guitar sounded out of tunes. Scout yelled in the streets, and looked at the camera with sadness and anger. You cannot help but think about Janis. At the end, she told us that she loved the yelling part, and thinks it’s much better than the show she was going to give.

When she moved in the queue with people who came to see her on stage on that very evening, Scout told us that she felt like those guys playing music in metro, hoping they’ll be given some money. This scene where she sings Dinosaur Egg, the first single from her latest album, was a bit strange: we were wondering whether people around recognized her, or her voice, her songs, because some of them seemed so indifferent and chatted as if nothing. Scout was supporting herself before the doors of the Nouveau Casino opened and people started to use their phones and cameras to immortalize the moment.