The stage set-up and your elevated kit makes you the centerpiece, the focal point of today’s gig, the visual point of convergence, where all energy comes together. Is it on purpose, did the band decide to become miniscule by comparison, minions in a show designed around a massive drumkit and, by extension, you the drummer?…
Earplugs and gags
Suppose every book comes with the warning not to read when light intensity is less than 300 lux, that doing so could damage your eyes. Or museums offering special glasses to protect us against aggressive colours by blocking or filtering those. After all, it can’t be healthy to be subjected to high doses of bright…
Top 10 of concert annoyances!
Back in the old days, when smoking was still allowed everywhere, I never noticed the smell of other people. One of the advantages of a venue filled with smoke is that it literally covers and blocks all other nasal sensations. Having said that, smelly people is hardly my biggest concert annoyance. Here’s my personal Top…
Will the true fan please rise?
It was a weird day already. A bunch of French guys were in the same bus from Zürich to Munich, all in Lederhosen, drinking beer at 10 in the morning, which could only mean one thing; Oktoberfest in Munich. The city would be packed with boys in Lederhosen and girls in Dirndls, all drinking massive…
Love me…please!
The audience was gradually getting nervous as Black Midi extended songs beyond recognition, almost stopped playing altogether, engaged in prolonged stop-start patterns with satanic pleasure and then, all of a sudden, started the next song without even waiting for applause. This was exciting, dangerous, finally a band pushing boundaries of technical possibilities, song structure and…
Black metal guitar player wearing a New Order shirt
Sentimentalism is the defining characteristic of age. As I arrive for a Deafheaven concert I cannot help wandering back to my teenage years. Cultural groups had much sharper boundaries and it was so much easier to see who belonged to which group. Punks wore leather jackets with nihilistic slogans. They had spiky hair in all…
Unexpected birthday party
Normally I never think about the symbolic significance of the day I go to a concert and this time was no different. Who cares that it was the 7th of June 2017. Who cares that I just turned 48 that day. I was just going to see The Courtneys in Zürich, could have been any…
How to play a small audience – the case of @JensLekman
The setting immediately reminded me of the late 80’s; a weird concert location and only a handful of visitors. Club Zukunft, the venue for the Jens Lekman concert, is basically a sleazy 80’s discotheque, with its low ceiling, dimmed light and endless number of disco bowls. Tonight there are no would-be John Travolta’s. Tonight the…
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