Bell X1 present very good songwriting and a crystal clear sound that a venue such as Konzerthaus Wien is capable of.
During the encores, Tori‘s fans no longer cared and were at the stage
02 October 2017
Tori Amos (Bell X1]
Konzerthaus Wien sees a support act from Dublin and fog machines along with a brilliant Tori Amos. Enthousiastic fans contributed to a very nice evening.
03 August 2017
Wacken 2017 - Introduction of a New Apprentice
Location:
Wacken, Deutschland
Yes, Wacken again - quite unbelievable. Bust just as last year, a rather last-minute approach bought me into that thing once again. This time with Lorenz as a truely new apprentice, and it was a blast, again.
Rating: 5/5 - for the mood, for the fun, and for all the music, whether we liked it or notBuddy: Lorenz, a true metalhead, because he was never really into metal (besides Halloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys), but did not hesitate to join
We met there: Richard and Rudi (again in a tent under quite unbelievable conditions)
Merch: the unavoidable Wacken T-Shirt
Again? In the very first week of the new sale, we bought three tickets for 2018 - Stolli, Lorenz and myself. Wacken will continue - and the setlist is already a feast.
17 May 2017
Deep Purple - The Long Goodbye (Monster Truck)
Location:
Wien Stadthalle 1150 Vienna, Austria
So it is another farewell gig. I joined my friend Herb with a bit of mixed feelings, but it turned out to be a fabulous night.
Score: 5/5
Buddy: Herb
Merch: three signed Bass picks
Again? It's their farewell.
PS - another farewell: As it turned out, Chris Cornell died this night. He will never be forgotten. "Say Hello To Heaven" - he wrote it for his friend from Mother Love Bone, became reality for him. A very sad end of the day.
Score: 5/5
Buddy: Herb
Merch: three signed Bass picks
Again? It's their farewell.
PS - another farewell: As it turned out, Chris Cornell died this night. He will never be forgotten. "Say Hello To Heaven" - he wrote it for his friend from Mother Love Bone, became reality for him. A very sad end of the day.
14 January 2017
Brad Mehldau - Three Pieces after Bach
Turns out to be his most interesting and intense performance so far.
Score: 5/5
Buddy: Jakob
Merch: nope
Again? Anytime, anyplace
Jazz and Classical performances are hardest to review. First there is always a lot of history behind this music to embrace Second the level of Classical performances, in particular in Konzerthaus Wien, rather leaves it to the experts than to the occasional listener to express an opinion. Bearing that in mind and not having that much knowledge of musical history, it's typically very hard for me to judge. A subjective moment.
Not in this case - at least to a significantly lesser degree. When Brad Mehldau plays Bach, this is fundamentally different.
As I learnt from the Konzerthaus Wien website, Brad Mehldau is originally trained as a classical musician. His initial approach to Bach seems classical first. I admire his strict and precise Legato, which is so important in Bach (compared to the masters of Bach, he plays more Legato, which I really like). Some seconds later, there is this groove that changes everything. Far away from any metronomesqhe precision, his interpretations imply rhythmical flexibility I have never heard before - in Bach.
Score: 5/5
Buddy: Jakob
Merch: nope
Again? Anytime, anyplace
Jazz and Classical performances are hardest to review. First there is always a lot of history behind this music to embrace Second the level of Classical performances, in particular in Konzerthaus Wien, rather leaves it to the experts than to the occasional listener to express an opinion. Bearing that in mind and not having that much knowledge of musical history, it's typically very hard for me to judge. A subjective moment.
Not in this case - at least to a significantly lesser degree. When Brad Mehldau plays Bach, this is fundamentally different.
As I learnt from the Konzerthaus Wien website, Brad Mehldau is originally trained as a classical musician. His initial approach to Bach seems classical first. I admire his strict and precise Legato, which is so important in Bach (compared to the masters of Bach, he plays more Legato, which I really like). Some seconds later, there is this groove that changes everything. Far away from any metronomesqhe precision, his interpretations imply rhythmical flexibility I have never heard before - in Bach.
Brad Mehldau goes further by introducing his improvisation after every piece - and this is where the sun starts to shine. Yes, the sun because now very impressionistic themes erase the remaining heavy touch that Bach so often can have. Much lighter and far more enjoyable, at the same time fascinating.
His programme on this evening:
His programme on this evening:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Präludium 3 Cis-Dur BWV 848 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)
Brad Mehldau
After Bach 1: Rondo (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Präludium C-Dur BWV 870 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)
Fuge 16 g-moll BWV 885 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)
Brad Mehldau
After Bach 2: Ostinato (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)
***
Johann Sebastian Bach
Präludium 6 d-moll BWV 851 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)
Brad Mehldau
After Bach 3: Toccata (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Allemande (aus Partita Nr. 4 D-Dur BWV 828) (1726-1731)
Brad Mehldau
Improvisation on Bach I
Johann Sebastian Bach
Präludium und Fuge 12 f-moll BWV 857 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)
Brad Mehldau
Improvisation on Bach II
-----------------------------------------
Encore:
Radiohead
Little By Little
George Gershwin
How Long Has This Been Going On (Rosalie) (1927)
Frank Loesser
The Inch Worm
10 November 2016
Opeth
Simply the best band in the world
Buddies: Stolli, David
Buddies: Stolli, David
Rating: 5 out of 5
Merch: none
Again? anytime
02 November 2016
Volbeat (Airbourne)
Location:
Wiener Stadthalle, 1150 Wien, Österreich
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)
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)
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