Opeth

Simply the best band in the world


Buddies: Stolli, David

Rating: 5 out of 5

Merch: none

Again? anytime

Volbeat (Airbourne)

The very first gig of my son became one of my loudest ever.


Score: 4/5
Buddies: my son, Herb (downstairs)
Merch: just popcorn
Again? Hopefully (with my son)





If you wanna do a gig with your children, I am quite sure that you need to be fast. Otherwise 'being on a gig with your child' means that you drop her/him off the place in order to pick her/him up later again (while not being seen, cause that would be uncool for them). The Wacken experience told me that it's about time to head for my son's first gig. He is now (nearly) ten, and @Wacken there were considerably younger kids with their parents.

Step 1 - Choosing the right band: Despite my son's preference of rather electronic acts such as Skrillex, I chose Volbeat. It was a rather spontaneous choice, they are big enough to be in Wiener Stadthalle, so they provide seated places as well. They are melodic enough, and there would not be any advanced things, such as Circle Pits (Volbeat actually asked for a Circle Pit, but got none) or Walls of Death etc. And the date just fit.

Step 2 - Preparing the right equipment: What I learnt from Wacken was that you have to take great care of ear protection for the young headbangers. DIY superstores are best for getting workers' ear protection, and I ended up with a two layer solution, i.e. in-ear and over the ear protection.


Since the gig ended up being very loud, this was the exact right thing to do - we used both protection layers simultaneously. So this will be the standard equipment for further gigs.










Step 3 - Going there, Experience: I admit that I was a bit unsure about how this will turn out. My son hardly knew any of Volbeat's music, and I expected him to be one of the very youngest there, so I was unsure about whether there will be questions about his age. None of these concerns were grounded. While he definitely was one of the youngest, there were also other kids there, and the personnel of Wiener Stadthalle was particularly friendly to us. Probably also because my son already had the full ear protection attached outside of the venue - just to be on the safe side. That was nice.

(more to follow)

Animals As Leaders/Plini

Just after Wacken the opposite - a prog metal gig at (szene) Wien. As it turns out, the support acts were the real thing for us.

Buddy: Tom (great that you could step in   or Stolli)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Merch: signed Plini Trilogy CD

Again? yes, anytime

 

The "Sold Out" sign at the entrance surprises us for the first time. I do not remember to see (szene) Wien so packed like this evening. However, the real surprise is Plini, the first support act. It seemed that we were the only guys in the room that did not know them - and they were incredibly good. I immediately bought the fabulous 'Trilogy' CD during the gig and even got a signature on it - many thanks! Compared to Plini, Animals As Leaders, though being the main act, sounded this little bit too complex and the sound seemed muddy. I do not remember any gig, in which I liked the support act that much better like at this evening. Don't get me wrong, AAL were not bad at all, but Plini just rocked the place tonight. This is why I close this post with a YouTube version of Plini's brilliant 'Selenium Forest'. Cheers!

Wacken 2016 - An Apprentice's Perspective

It all began during the At The Drive In Gig: Stolli got hold of two tickets for Wacken 2016 and asked me to join. Seriously? Through all the years, I have been avoiding festivals, and although Stolli knew this, he asked me. So Hell, yes, let's do it!

My ticket survived ;-)

Buddies: Stolli - we also met Richard and Rudi (real heroes in a tiny tent)
Score: 6 out of 5 (seriously, see Final Words)
Merch: official T-Shirt in green (at these very reasonable prices, you are tempted to buy even much more)
Again? This is it, for sure. Also no Wacken Cruise or Wacken Winter Event.

Special thanks go to Richard for the tickets, in which we could step in (as of writing these words, Wacken 2017 is again nearly sold out with just some 10.000 tickets left).


And of course, very special thanks go to Stolli, who was so persistent and made me going there. 

Muthspiel - Scofield/Mehldau/Guliana

As so often in live Jazz music, this event turns out quite differently than expected.

Buddies: Birgit, Täubchen, Jakob

Score: 4 out of 5

Merch: nope

Again? Mehldau definitely, and Guiliana is the future

We have very high expectations when we arrive at our seats. The stage is built beyond the orchestra pit of the Vienna Opera, thus we are very close to the artists, and the view is perfect. Since I expect not to take any photos during the session, I take one of the empty stage.

Black Sabbath - The End

So I finally make it before they stop - but why do they stop?

Buddies: Ecki, Christian, Marion (Olivia and Stolli in the magic circle)

Score: 5 out of 5

Merch: nope

Again? There will be none.

This is my first farewell tour of a band - yes, the bands of my youth start retiring. Not some band, but Black Sabbath. I am a late fan of them, it actually took some time for me to be able to appreciate their incredible impact on today's metal - and of course their music in the first place.

Moderat

A performance to remember. Harder than some metal act. No discussions about to which extent this is live music, because: This is life music ;-). And not less than the future of live performance.



Buddies: David, Andy, Dieter, we also met Claudia and Dieter
Score: 5/5
Merch: nope
Again? definitely




Open Air Arena is a rather large venue - yet this performance felt dense like in a small indoor place. Impeccable tough sound from the very beginning, which sometimes culminated to infernal levels. You feel the bass inside your spine. You feel the bass waves if you stretch out your hands.

Mogwai III - play "Atomic"

Another soundtrack from Mogwai, this time for the BBC production “Storyville – Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise”. Donaufestival Krems sit during their performance, and they lead us through the movie. Similar to Brad Mehldau's Salvation Hunters performance.

Buddy: Taeubchen
Rating: 4/5
Merch: nope
Again: Mogwai is always a must-see

(more to follow)

At The Drive In (Le Butcherettes)

A gig of bands I did not know, and I liked it a lot.



Buddies: Olivia, Stolli, Simon
Rating: 5/5
Merch: nope
Again? yesssss

Some nice video footage is still waiting for being cut.

Omnium Gatherum, Draconian

Two amazing bands from Sweden on a tiny stage.

Rating: 4/5
Buddy: Tom
Merch: none
Again: Yep






The professionalism of today's bands even at small gigs is amazing. Escape Metalcorner's stage is 'very cozy' (Omnium Gatherum) and nearly fails to provide room for the entire band. But this band performs like standing in Gasometer (of course moving too much would be dangerous for everybody). Same applies to Escape Metalcorner, the sound they manage to provide in this small cellar is more you can expect.

Omnium Gatherum rule the evening. Apparently most visitors are here because of them. I can't help but imagine whether Amon Amarth would be able to perform that well here like they do.



Draconian is a different ballpark. Slow Doom Metal with very intense riffs and impressive vocals. Some riffs could directly come from Tony Iommy's axe. I liked them a lot and chose one of the photos as new Blog header.

I wish both bands much success in the future and hopefully another gig at a larger stage in Vienna.