Because of some deadlines now very belated but with the same enthusiasm as if it was yesterday. LIZZO! 

After checking the times wrong and standing in front of  the doors an hour early, we at least had one of the best spots right in front of the stage. Lizzo was a „huis-uitje“ with my flatmates here in the Netherlands. A little treat in those cold grey days.

Quiet on time, Sophia Eris, Lizzo’s DJ, came on stage. After warming up the crowd for a bit she played „We got the boom“ followed by „F*ck Donald Trump“ and the crowd joined in. There was no room for misogyny, racism or any other form of hate at this concert. After a break and some work on the stage, the main act began.

The stage looked like the insides of a church. But instead of crosses, everything was filled with hearts. And Lizzo, the preacher of self-love, made her big entrance with „Heaven help me“. She was accompanied throughout the concert by a group of female dancers, which she called her „big girls“ in a very loving way. She made the whole crowd shout „we love you big girls“ and „bye bitch“. Afterwards she demanded some love for Sophia in the background by telling her that she is amazing and that we love her. This all was the opening to the song „Cuz I love you“.

The next lesson we got was about f*ck boys. She asked, how many of us were there out of self-care and the crowd went wild. She just commented that very dry with „me too, bitch“. Of course the song that followed was „Jerome“.

Afterwards, she kneeled down at the front of the stage and sang „It’s my party“[and I cry if I want to] and went over to her own „Crybaby“. After the song, the crowd went wild and just kept shouting „Lizzo Lizzo Lizzo“ which made her laugh. To include everyone who was there that night, Lizzo changed the ending of „Like a girl“ to:

If you feel like a boy, be real like a boy. If you feel like neither, bitch do you!

And of course, Lizzo played the flute in „Truth Hurts“. But not only that, she also played a whole intro to „Juice“. She gave some insight on the background of „Soulmate“ and added a whole talk about self-love before „Good as Hell“. We really felt like we were in the church of self-love. She made us talk to ourselves and tell us that we love ourselves. After that concert I felt so pumped I thought I could achieve anything I set my mind to.

It was just amazing. This was not only a concert, it was a whole experience. And also was not only an event of an evening. We still talk about the things Lizzo taught us that night. And the word „bitch“ is now included in our house in the most of loving ways. So yes, if you can, go to the church of self-love! I can recommend it with all my heart. If that is not possible, just listen to Lizzo, practice self love, be kind, and most of all, be true to yourself, bitch!

She walked on stage with her electronic violin in hand and just began. It started with some plucks of the strings, clapping on the violin body, rustling, everything adding up to one big loop. Finally she began playing and singing, all adding up to a big crescendo. It was mesmerising.

Sudan Archives stood there in a short black leather jumpsuit, with winged sleeves and one half looking like a blazer. Her hair was in long corn rows, her feet in black plateau boots. Like that, her skin just glowed in the dimmed orange light in the otherwise dark concert hall of BIRD.

From there on she just went through her repertoire of songs, playing them as she felt them in that moment. It seemed at one point like she had some trouble with her looper but she just played through it. It all had some dreamlike, spherical vibe to it. I loved that not many people talked during the concert. They were all captivated by the performance.

Unfortunately I got to say that I was a bit disappointed by the music/voice volume ratio. The softer parts of her lyrics got a bit buried by the loop sounds around it. But recently I was told that that is a problem that occurs more often at BIRD. I guess I will see next time I go there. Apart from that I actually really loved the location.

I personally was a bit surprised by her whole performance. She seemed very distant there on her stage. There was no actual interaction with the crowd. At one point she left the stage and came back after a few minutes. And before „Come Meh Way“ she just said „just one more song“ and afterwards she walked off. To me it seemed like she was in her little music bubble and didn’t really seem to recognise the world around her. Or maybe she was also a bit nervous, who knows.

After the concert I started talking to two ladies at the coat check. One of them agreed with me, but the other made a comment I wanted to share with you. She said that she was so impressed by Sudan Archives in that awesome cat-woman outfit with her incredible long hair, that she absolutely did not see it bothersome that she just parted without a word.

There you can see that impressions are such an subjective thing. You just got to let them all sink in without prejudice. I kind of expected her with her afro and in earth coloured clothes, sending out natural vibes, and that is what clouded my experience of her performance. So from now I am going to try to not put expectations on future performances and just enjoy their way of bringing their music to us.

When I bought the tickets, the show was actually called „Gallowstreet presents HONK“ which was very confusing and gave me the impression that Meute would „only“ be the support act. Nevertheless my loyal concert buddy and me took a train to Amsterdam, again had a lovely dinner at Saravana Bhavan and then walked to Paradiso. It was our first time in that lovely venue that used to be a church.

When we got there it turned out that HONK is actually a small festival for brass bands and was presented for the second time by the Amsterdam based band Gallowstreet. It all started on time with half an hour of the Pneumatisch Dance Trio , three men with wind instruments and drums, only intensified by tiny megaphones. They were standing in the middle of the crowd for their performance. It was a bit sad though, because the people surrounding them were too loud so it was hard to hear the full performance. Afterwards Meute was introduced as the first main act for one hour, to be followed by a half hour intermezzo in a different hall by NAFT, a band from Gent, and completed with another hour of the second main act Gallowstreet.

Until that evening I did not know that my concert buddy actually rarely listens to the music-samples I send him together with the invitation to join me to concerts. So he also did not know that we were going to see a band that carries their instruments on their bodies and he was quite stunned to see the equipment of the drummers of MEUTE that was already on the stage.

The band made quite an entrance. They introduced themselves with the song Gula (Deadmau5 Rework) starting out with three people on stage playing a prolonged intro and while layers were added to the song, the responsible musicians would enter. It was fabulous.

Afterwards it was just one single amazement. One song went over into the next, while giving every single musician their solo time to shine. The whole audience started dancing just because you could not help yourself to do otherwise. At one point MEUTE even managed to make the crowd sit down with them several times, without words, only by gestures; just to make them jump and dance harder to the next base drop. My favourite part was definitely Hey Hey (Dennis Ferrer Rework), with this guy in his „Gay’s okay“ cap and the awesome full characteristic voice.

In the beginning it was said that MEUTE was going to play until 9, so nobody was surprised that the guys left the stage 10 minutes past 9. But while the crowd started shouting for an encore, it turned out that the guys only left the stage to turn up in the crowd. They made themselves some space in the middle and started playing for another full 20 minutes. It all climaxed in a medley of a lot of different MEUTE songs where they again showed their full potential. Looking around I only saw happy faces of ecstatically dancing people. It left me quite speechless for some time.

After I found my speech again I talked to my buddy and voiced the concern that I might actually not feel like seeing the other acts because I felt like this was the highlight of the evening and it could only go down from here. To my surprise he felt the same and proposed to just leave it like this and go home with this awesome feeling that MEUTE left us with. So sorry NAFT and Gallowstreet for not staying but it just felt better this way.

And thank you, MEUTE, for giving me another one of those super high-like experiences I get from outstanding live musical performances.

My work at uni keeps me very busy which is why this post is very late and is going to be rather short.

First of all I have to say that Tank and the Bangas are quite an experience. I was super tired that day and close to cancelling but I am so happy that I did not.

They were supported by „Sweet Crude“, a jazzy band from New Orleans coming together with a violin and being lead by a male and a female voice. They were quite good, singing partly in French and the rest in English. My friend was not too convinced by their keyboard work but all in all they did a good job.

When Tank and the Bangas came on stage, I first thought Tank, the lead singer, was drunk. But that is apparently just how she moves on stage. Her backup singer was wearing the most incredible hoops and had a wonderful voice. Tank’s voice is hard to describe because I feel like she has different versions. In addition to her normal talking voice there’s the „I am telling you a story“-mode in which her voice is quite high, comparable to the voice of an 11 year old. Further there is her rap-voice, a bit harsh, a bit rougher, a bit deeper. And finally her singing, which just cannot to be explained but has to be experienced. It is pure beauty for the ears.

In the end, Tank and the Bangas formed a collaboration with Sweet Crude and together they performed a song about people just trying to do their best. In that combination you could really see the difference in stage experience between the two bands. While Tank was just freestyling, the female lead of Sweet Crude obviously had more difficulties with just joining the flow.

Tank’s dance moves, which I first interpreted as drunkenness, were finally transferred to the crowd, which was hilarious to be part of. The friend I went with took a picture, the rest I will leave to your imagination. Or you just gotta go and see them for yourself, which I can definitely recommend!

On the weekend after my first exams here in the Netherlands, I was more than a little bit hungover when I got on my way to Amsterdam. I blame my tired brain for the fact that I first took the train in the wrong direction. But luckily it seems that, wherever you are here with the Dutchies, you can always find another train going to the capital. So after my detour and an additional 2,40€ for taking the fast train from Rotterdam, I met my Swedish friend in the rainy, cold city. After a quick bite (cause of my lateness we unfortunately could not try out the vegan junk food place) we went to the AFAS LIVE Arena. Weird thing was, that the tickets said the concert is gonna start at 8PM, Facebook however had the beginning time at 7. The pre-pre-band actually started at 7 on the dot. But in my opinion you would not have missed anything if you ended up being there at 8.

The first band was called „Pears“ and their main agenda was to scream „heeeeey“ and have the audience answer the same. Other than that they were kind of behaving like little children in a ball bath. A ball bath with beer – according to the singer alcohol is the most important meal of the day! The following band was „Sleeping with Sirens“ and they had a huge girl fan club right behind us which was really entertaining. To be honest at first I thought their front singer was a woman. They were not too bad but just a bit too poppy and too much of show-offs for my current mood.

The complete opposite was Rise Against. You could feel that those guys have spent a lot of time on stages. Tim McIlrath is one of the most charismatic musicians I have ever seen. He could actually connect to the audience. He told stories the people actually wanted to hear, stories about the times they have played in Amsterdam in the past, times a huge part of the crowd was part of. The other members of the band were the perfect background. Each of them had their time to shine with a solo but apart from that they just focused on performing this awesome set for us.

Before the entering of the band and a bunch of times in between there were parts of a video shown on two huge screens. It was a movie of a city under attack. Only children survived and they tried to prepare for a takeover by tanks. To be honest I am not so sure anymore how it ended (something with a white flag) but it clearly showed the band’s usual statement against violence and war.

After one of those video sections only the front singer, Tim McIlrath, entered the stage with an acoustic guitar. Like this he performed Swing Life Away, People Live Here and was joined by his band again in Hero of War. The atmosphere was amazing, I got goosebumps over and over again. Overall they took us on a tour through time, from Survive to Wolves, Satellite to Audience of One all ending in the crescendo of my favourite: Savior. After the concert my friend asked me how I felt and I just could not stop smiling. Nothing was left of my hangover, or my tiredness, nothing to be found of the frustration about the exams and life in general. I was just perfectly satisfied.  This was a performance I will never forget. Thank you Rise Against for being such a moodlifter. I very much needed that. And if I ever have the opportunity to see those guys again, I will definitely go!

Letztes Wochenende war eindeutig  Konzert-Karma. So wurde der mittelmäßige Auftritt von Hans Zimmer am Freitag durch den von blink182 am Montag wieder ausgeglichen. Soundmäßig hat die Festhalle in Frankfurt leider auch gerade stimmlich nicht überzeugt (warum auch immer hat der Gesang gehallt), aber das haben die Jungs mit ihrer Stimmung wettgemacht.

Nachdem ich lange nach Begleitung zu dem Konzert gesucht habe, kam ich glücklicherweise darauf, meinen Cousin Michi zu fragen. So gesellte ich mich an diesem Abend zu ihm und seinen Kumpels Felix und Fred.  Aufgrund erhöhter Sicherheitsvorkehrungen durften auch an diesem Abend keine Taschen/Beutel mit in die Halle, die größer als DinA4 waren. Das war leider im Vorfeld überhaupt nicht kommuniziert worden und an dem Abend schlecht organisiert. Vor allem die Ausgabe der Taschen nach dem Konzert war ein Debakel. Trotzdem vielen Dank, liebe Sicherheitsleute, dass ihr der Meute nicht den Hals umgedreht sondern brav weiter Taschen zugeordnet habt. Ich  habe auf jeden Fall daraus gelernt, möglichst einfach nichts mehr mit auf Konzerte zu nehmen.

Vor blink kamen gleich zwei Vorbands: „Lower Than Atlantis“ aus England (nicht weiter erwähnenswert, waren okay.. aber besser ohne Gesang) und „A Day To Remember“ aus den USA. Fred hatte uns schon angekündigt, dass wir von ADTR auf jeden Fall überzeugt werden würden. Und dies war auch der Fall. Die fünf Jungs rissen die Menge ab dem ersten Moment mit. Ich hatte wirklich das Gefühl den Hauptact vor mir zu haben, ein großer Teil der Menge kannte sogar ihre Texte. Die Show eröffneten sie mit schwarz/weißen Luftschlangen und beendeten sie mit bunten. Zwischendurch flogen riesige Bälle durch die Luft. Außerdem wurden die Zuschauer zum „Crowdsurfing on Crowdsurfing“ aufgerufen. Dabei gibt es die typisch crowdsurfende Person auf welcher allerdings eine zusätzliche Person steht.. und surft. Zwei Kerle haben es auch wirklich hinbekommen sich langsam über die Menge schieben zu lassen.

Als nach großem Umbau blink182 auf die Bühne kam, flammte ein riesiges „FUCK“ hinter ihnen auf. Insgesamt kam die Pyrotechnik bei dem Auftritt auf keinen Fall zu kurz. Ich muss gestehen, dass ich sehr überrascht war, neben Mark Hoppus und Travis Barker einen hell gefärbten Blondschopf vor mir stehen zu haben, den ich nicht erkannte. Ich hatte nicht mitbekommen, dass Tom DeLonge 2015 von Matt Skiba ersetzt wurde. Als ich das neue Album hörte, dachte ich ehrlich gesagt, dass die Stimme sich durch die Jahre einfach verändert hätte.. Naja, so stand da eben Matt Skiba in schwarz weiß gestreiften Hosen auf der Bühne und warf fleißig Plektren in die Menge (so viele, dass immer wieder ein Typ auf die Bühne kam, um neue zu bringen).

Nach der großen  Ankündigung eines einmaligen Zaubertricks wurden alle aufgefordert ihre Feuerzeuge oder Handylichter anzumachen und so wurde „Brohemian Rhapsody“ ohne zusätzliche Lichtquelle performed. Das sah schon extrem gut aus.

Neben dem aktuellen Album wurden auch die alten Klassiker ausgepackt. So wurde zum Beispiel  „I Miss You“ wie immer den Frauen im Raum gewidmet. Nach einer knappen Stunde verließ die Band auf einmal kommentarlos die Bühne. Kurz darauf erleuchtete das Schlagzeug in purpurner Farbe. Diese wechselte ein paar Minuten zu Loungemusik und wurde abgelöst von der Rückkehr der Band, jetzt ausgestattet mit Quietschpinken Gitarren.  So spielten die Jungs noch gute 20 Minuten, die Stimmung war mehr als ausgelassen. Im vordersten Block war es voll, heiß, verschwitzt und unglaublich gut gelaunt. Zum Ende regnete es eine große Menge an rot/weißem Konfetti, welches auf der Haut der Tanzenden kleben blieb. Es war wunderbar.

Zum Abschluss setzte der Sohn von Travis Barker dem ganzen noch einen drauf und spielte eine Zugabe am Schlagzeug. Dabei kommen auf jeden Fall die Gene durch, der Kleine hat seine Sache gut gemacht. Anscheinend sind er und seine Schwester zur Zeit mit Travis auf Tour. Hut ab, das nenn ich mal ne Kindheit. Alles in Allem kann ich es auf jeden Fall sehr empfehlen, die Jungs live zu sehen, ich würde es wieder tun!

Vor über einem halben Jahr fragte mich eine Freundin ganz begeistert, ob ich nicht Lust hätte, mit zu einem Konzert von Hans Zimmer zu kommen. Als leidenschaftlicher Hörer seiner Filmmusik schloss ich mich der kleinen Gruppe liebend gern an. Letzten Freitag war es dann so weit, wir reihten uns in die langen Schlangen vor den Eingängen ein. Aufgrund von Taschendurchsuchungen brauchte die ganze Prozedur sehr lange und wir schafften es gerade so auf unsere Plätze, bevor Hans Zimmer um Punkt halb 8 das Konzert eröffnete. Viele der Besucher standen noch draußen oder wurden von den Platzanweisern auf ihre Plätze verwiesen. Dies brachte eine enorme Unruhe in das Stadion, bei welchem jeder Schritt und jedes Wort durch das natürliche Echo durch den Raum geworfen wurde. Diese Nebengeräusche zogen sich leider auch durch die komplette Vorstellung.

Zu Beginn waren vielleicht rund 20 Musiker auf der Bühne und ich hatte mich schon gefragt, ob das deren Ernst sei, da fiel ein Zwischenvorhang zu Boden und enthüllte den Rest der Band und einen Chor. Und eben so muss man es leider nennen, eine Band, bzw vielleicht ein kleines Orchester, doch es war nicht das, was wir erwartet hatten. Außerdem bestachen die Musiker (vor allem -innen) in den ersten beiden Reihen durch sehr hübsche, junge Gesichter, tolle Körper und extrem wenig schwarze Bekleidung. Ich fühlte mich wie auf einem amerikanischen Popkonzert. Hinzu kam, dass die Akutsik schlichtweg grausam war. Der Schall wurde, außer direkt auf der Bühne, durch nichts gedämmt und unsere Musikquelle war ein einzelner Lautsprecher vor unserem Rang. Der Regen, der sich zu der untergehenden Sonne auf das Stadiondach gestellte, war sehr romantisch aber verbesserte das Klangbild auch nicht gerade. Jetzt, in diesem Moment in dem ich schreibe, höre ich die selbe Musik in sehr viel besserer Tonqualität im Wohnzimmer meiner Schwester. 

Einen guten Vergleich hatte ich auch bei „Lion King“: erst vor ein paar Wochen habe ich den König der Löwen in Hamburg im Musical gesehen und dort hat mich die Anfangsszene musikalisch zehnmal mehr vom Hocker gerissen als in Frankfurt im Waldstadion. Ein Freund von mir sagte ganz richtig „man spürt die Musik nicht richtig“. Ganz süß dabei war aber, dass der Sänger des Liedes als weibliche Unterstützung seine Tochter an seiner Seite hatte. Diesen Fakt, sowie jeweils eine Geschichte zu nahezu jedem Lied, wollte Hans Zimmer uns natürlich nicht vorenthalten. Man musste aber Glück haben, wenn er dabei auch die Zuordung zu dem jeweiligen Film verriet. Auf jeden Fall teilt der gebürtige Frankfurter seinen Erzählungen nach wahrscheinlich mit der halben Welt eine „unglaublich tiefe, langjährige Freundschaft“. Nach Lisa Gerrard, der Sängerin zu der Musik von Gladiator, stand auch auf einmal Trevor Horn auf der Bühne, um „Video Killer the Radiostar“ von The Buggles zum Besten zu geben. Hans Zimmer war wohl anscheinend mal Teil dieser Band und ist laut Wikipedia auch auf dem dazugehörigen Musikvideo zu sehen. 

Als die Dame am E-Chello groß angekündigt wurde um einen Teil aus Fluch der Karibik zu spielen, haben wir währen ihrer Performance auf den Bildschirmen vor allem ihren nackten Bauch gesehen und wie sie immer wieder ganz emotional ihren Kopf in den Nacken warf. Das ganze wirkte fast mehr wie ein Schauspiel, als ein klassisches Konzert. Das Publikum war jedoch äußerst dankbar, nicht nur einmal gab es unten im Parkett Standing Ovations und von überall Zwischenrufe wie „Yeah“ und „Wohooo“. Der Ton wurde gefühlt über die Vorstellung hinweg immer lauter und zum Ende hin, bei der Musik zu Interstellar, schepperte das Blechdach über unseren Köpfen. Es mag sein, dass meine Einschätzung falsch ist, aber ich verspürte bei dem Auftritt von Hans Zimmer sehr viel Glam, sehr viel Tamtam aber sehr wenig Authentizität. Ich könnte ihm seine große Liebe zur Musik auch besser abkaufen, wenn er keine 70 Euro Tickets für so eine miserable Klangqualität verkaufen würde. Nach diesem Konzert nehme ich mir vor, diese Art der Musik ohne die Prominenz von Hans Zimmer noch einmal gespielt von einem Sinphonieorchester in den passenden Räumen zu hören. 

Sehr nett war, dass nach dem Konzert „Always Look on the bright side of life“ aus den Lautsprechern ertönte. Dies brachte die Menge, die wie immer etwas mürrisch auf die Ausgänge zuschwemmte, dazu mitzusingen, mitzupfeifen und das ganze sehr viel gelassener zu betrachten. Solch gute-Laune-Musik sollte immer am Ende von großen Veranstaltungen gespielt werden. So hatte der nicht auf ganzer Linie überzeugende Abend noch einen sehr harmonischen Abschluss.