The Rolling Stones hype reached its peak at Wednesday night’s concert at Letzigrund Stadion. The four musicians landed in their own jet on Sunday and since then all the Swiss people could talk about was this gig. The horrendous pricing prevented me from buying my tickets in the first place but I was lucky enough to score a pair in front of the stadium.
The Struts
We got in and the support act called The Struts started. They’re a band from Derby, UK and I really loved them. If you want to know more about them keep following Kekoas Korner. Another thing that I noticed was that somehow more people were walking around. People of all ages, families, rock’n’roller but the band shirt contest goes clearly to Guns N’ Roses – which surprised me.
At 8.20pm red fire was lit up and the four lads took the stage with a “Tu Tu” (“Sympathy for the Devil). “It’s only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I like it)” and “Tumbling Dice” followed. I have to say I was impressed to see them since everybody knows their story and they are just living legends. I am blessed to have seen them live. After only 3 songs you could already see that they enjoy what they are doing and they are brilliant at it. Four awesome musicians joined by a fairly big band.
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Mick Jagger announced a surprise for us. We were the first audience to hear “Hate to see you go” off their newest record “Blue & Lonesome“. I loved the country vibe and that Mick Jagger himself played the harmonica. Luckily we got another new one called “Ride ‘Em on Down”. Absolutely loved that part and will buy their newest record.
After “Dancing with Mr. D” we got a Bob Dylan cover “Like a Rollin’ Stone” which was chosen by the audience beforehand via the Rolling Stones app. Yes, the Grandad’s have an app and this isn’t the only reason why they are the coolest Grandad’s in the World. They are rocking the stage like they are in their 20’s. The routine of over 50 years in the music industry is imminent. The four of them – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts – know each other like the back of their hand.
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We’ve moved on from the fairly new ones to a super old one “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” which was released in 1969! Even Mick didn’t remember on which album it was! 🙂 In general they didn’t talk much but if they did it was quite funny! “Paint it black” and “Honky Tonk Women” were next and by then we were half way through the set and the audience looked like they were asleep! These Mid-Seventies are rocking their socks of and the crowd barely moved their heads. I was appalled but clearly most of them were there because you had to be there just for the sake of it.
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Finally Keith Richards sang his two solo songs “Happy” and “Slipping Away”. I have to admit to you guys if I was 70 years old and a cool Granny I’d fancy him! 😀 Richards was smiling and joking and jamming. The show was almost flawless until Ron Wood missed his cue and all they did was laugh about it – that’s how chilled they are! “Midnight Rambler”, “Miss You” and “Street Fighting Man” were next and still no sign of an audience.
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Mick tried more than once to get everyone clapping but only the people close to him followed his lead. Finally with “Start Me Up” and “Brown Sugar” I started to see some moves and clapping. The best atmosphere was during their biggest hit “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” when we all started to sing a long. That was a highlight for me. Unfortunately the momentum was lost by the usual break before the encore. We were honoured with two encore songs “Gimme Shelter” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and it all ended with fireworks after 2 hours and 15 mins.
As you know this summer I’ve seen four outdoor concerts at Letzigrund. Guns N’ Roses, Depeche Mode and only recently Robbie Williams and I gotta say that this was the worst atmosphere of all of them. I am quite disappointed to be honest not with The Rolling Stones – they were great – but by the crowd. I guess sometimes it’s not the biggest or most hyped concerts that are the best. I’d love to know your opinion and if you enjoyed the concert! Please leave a reply below or comment on facebook, twitter or instagram.
Reno Gabriel is an emerging country music artist in Switzerland. If you love Florida Georgia Line you have to check him out! I’ve been following him for a few months now and this weekend he released his debut album called “Heart Wide Open”. I was able to listen to it already and I can tell you that my car drive went by so quickly I didn’t even notice the time! (This is good ;-))
So I was invited to his album release party which included a concert in the Galicia Bar in Olten. Even with his “small” repertoire he played over an hour and the audience loved what they heard. At beginning you could see that he was a bit nervous but that is totally understandable. I would be too! 🙂
After the first two songs “If only in a country song” and “Don’t say goodbye” he welcome us to his show and hope we could party with him tonight. “Mine tonight” is one of his own songs which you can find on his new album. Just a very beautiful country song. Reno Gabriel and his 5 fellow musicians added a few covers to the set which I personally liked too. It showed his passion for country music and I love if artists show the audience own personal favourite songs. So the first of 4 was “We are tonight” by Sam Hunt.
The Drums!
He then introduced us to a special instrument called ganjo. It’s a mix between a banjo and a guitar. Apparently Keith Urban uses it a lot in his songs. Finally my favourite song of the record “New ways” was played and I absolutely loved it. Especially with that ganjo – I was fascinated by it. A cover by Keith Urban followed and we were right into slow part of the show with “Crazy for you” and “Believe”.
We enjoyed another cover “Red Dirt Road” before Reno Gabriel literally baptised his album by spilling beer on the cover. Accordingly the title track “Heart Wide Open” was played and this is just a superb country song. If you love this genre you will just love this song. We were slowly coming to an end but not before we heard “It should be me” and a cover by Florida Georgia Line “Sippin’ on Fire”.
Unfortunately the summer has ended here in Switzerland but “Summer Nights” is the perfect song to reminisce about the past season. With the final song “This Time” Reno Gabriel ended an amazing first album release party. I honestly hope that this is just one of many and I wish him all the best.
If you like what you just read please follow him and support him in his dream. Get your copy of the record on Cede.ch or check out his website for Spotify and iTunes. Comment below and let me know what you think! Instagram Facebook Twitter YouTube renogabriel.com
11 years ago I saw him for the first time in Bern Stade de Suisse aka Wankdorf. It was also one of my first concerts ever and still one of the best. I remember the day and almost every minute of the concert. So I was super excited to see him again and I knew it will be good.
Erasure opened up and it was good dancy music. They were the perfect supporting act and they tried to speak German which was just the cutest! Finally at around 8 the heaven cleared and the sun came out. Luckily for the people down standing it stayed dry. Eminem’s “Loose Yourself” announced the start of the show and if we speak in boxing terms it was Robbie’s entrance music. Then we were asked to stand for the Robbie Williams anthem! Absolutely hilarious!! 🙂 With “Welcome to the Heavy Entertainment Show” he literally welcomed us to the show and as always he said:
ZURICH! I AM ROBBIE FUCKING WILLIAMS AND YOU ARE MINE TONIGHT!
Fireworks and confetti included we were well entertained already after just one song but off we went with “Let Me Entertain You”. Other artists finish like Robbie starts. Incredible. As always the third song was “Monsoon” and of course we put our hands across the water! 🙂 For people who have never been to his concert we were waving our hands from left to right. Robbie added huge fire balls to his repertoire of entertainment which fitted perfectly to “Party like a Russian”!
Let’s swing! A few years ago Mr. Williams showed he still had some swing in him and went on tour with his swing album. Tonight we only got “Minnie The Moocher”. Then we went even further back to his first solo single “Freedom” in 1996. (Yes, I was only 5 years old but I do know the lyrics :-)) He said that he wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t met one of the best musicians that ever lived. So he dedicated the cover to the late great George Michael.
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Robbie became a daddy during the past few years little Teddy and little Charlie who are his life. So he really loves his life right now. He mounted a huge boxing glove and floated above the first rows and sang “Love My Life”. I was jumping up and down since I just bought the “Love My Life” jumper he designed for Marc’O’Polo and yes I obviously worn it to the concert. One of my favourite songs is “Come Undone” which he sang next and as always he asked us:
Switzerland, Am I still your Son?
“Yes, You are still our Son, Robbie!!”
During the last part of the song he remixed in Take That’s “Never Forget” and there you saw the difference between people in the audience. Us Take That/Robbie Fans knew what to do. Pretty easy put two hands up in the air but you obviously have to know when 😉 Another oldie “Millennium” was next and again we put our hands up waving! But hold on Robbie told us to put the hands back down so we’ll have some energy left for the chorus to put’em back up! So funny. He’s like a conductor with a 45’000 people orchestra.
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For one of his most romantic songs “Something Stupid” he brought a woman on stage with “Big Presents” but who didn’t know one of his songs. So I guess he didn’t feel bad when everyone laughed at her. Robbie and her sat down on a bench – super romantic – but then she had to wear a mask and someone was speaking for her. This has to be the funniest moment at a concert! This voice kept saying “I luv u” and “Kiss me, Robbie, kiss me!”
Even if critics thinks he cannot rap he did it anyway and “Rudebox” became one of my fav songs. “A – d- i – d – a -s – Old school ‘cos it’s the best, yes -TK Maxx cost less, yes” Love it 🙂 Last time he got Olly Murs on stage to sing his duet with Kylie Minogue and it was one of the highlights of the show. This time he sang “Kids” with a talented back ground singer. And the highlight of the gig followed this song.
Robbie and his Dad
Robbie and his Dad
Robbie brought out his Dad Peter to sing with him! He always mentioned that he learned his craft from his old man and that he wanted to show us. So together they sang “Sweet Caroline – oh oh oh”. What a beautiful scene. Dad and son on a sofa in the middle of 45k people! I think his Dad enjoyed it as much as his son and we did. When he started “Feel” I knew the concert was nearly finished but I really didn’t want it to end. Everyone sang along to this huge hit. Robbie asked us now:
Can I kick it?
Yes, you can!
So “Rock DJ” was next! And we all got those disco moves out only to see him leave the stage with a bang. Thankfully he returned after a few seconds only to start the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army”. Rob’s no Ryan Tedder so we kept singing the “dodododododo” and not the actual lyrics. For his encore Robbie chose three ballads. After “She’s the One” when the first chords of “Angels” started we knew that this was time to say Goodbye. Everyone’s light went up and was swaying to the rhythm. We didn’t want it to end so the crowd kept singing.
It felt like Robbie didn’t want to leave either so he just sang a medley of his biggest hits without instruments just with us singing along. It did seem that he trained his voice well this time since he sang through 90 minutes. Last time he talked waay more and it was more of a comedy show than a concert which I liked too. It was absolutely hilarious and I nearly had tears of laughter in my eyes. So this time I was surprised that he sang through all the songs.
With Guy Chambers on the keys he finished this wonderful concert with “My Way”. After thunderous fireworks Robbie Williams drove off in a black car into the night and left almost 50’000 people happy. The concert was finished and the soundtrack of Dirty Dancing was blasting from the stadium speakers. Something I’ve never seen before happened. People started to sing and dance one last time and it felt like it was part of the show since the lyrics were perfect for this evening:
Now I’ve had the time of my life
No I never felt like this before
Yes I swear it’s the truth
and I owe it all to you
Thank you Robbie! Were you at the concert? Let me know your opinion in the comments below or on my social media accounts facebook, twitter or instagram.
For years I’ve been watching the VMA’s and it’s been one of my musical highlights but lately the video music awards weren’t the same anymore. A big part of that problem is MTV. They’re programme changed from music videos to reality TV shows which is a pity. So even though it is called music TV it’s not showing any music unless you wait until 1 pm and watch all night – but who has time for that?
Enough moaning let’s have a look at this years line-up. Katy Perry is hosting the show again – what a treat! She is funny and has experience and does always a good job. P!nk is awarded the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award 2017 – her 7th Moonman. Past winners are Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake and Madonna. So let’s see what she has in store!
The guest list looks pretty average if you ask me. It used to be the hottest stars but now there’s a lot of newcomers with only a few top acts. But you never know, it might be the best show ever – doubt it! 🙂 So let’s watch it now:
The pre-show was super boring and filled with long commercial breaks so I was tempted to turn off the TV and go to bed. But luckily I didn’t and saw P!nk, Carey Hart and Willow in matching outfits and it was just the cutest! They seem like a normal family and throughout the evening we got to see lovely family moments. During P!nk’s red carpet interview she said:
I used to get grounded for watching MTV and now I’m on it. It’s full circle.
Finally after a long hour the show started! Katy Perry came back from outer space just to host the VMA’s 2017! Kendrick Lamar opened and did a good job. His rhymes were dope and surprisingly without swearing so the performance wasn’t muted. He had a burning man and a back ground. P!nk wouldn’t have liked that! 🙂 (Click here to read the review of her Berlin concerts)
Hostess Katy Perry
Ed Sheeran was next and his “Shape of you” got everyone dancing. He brought out a US rapper Lil Uzi Vert to remix his song and to co-perform Lil Uzi’s Song of the Summer “XO Tour Llif3”. I really loved this combo! Paris Jackson held a political speech when instead she was there to present Best Pop Video. It went to “Down” by Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane. Fifth Harmony lost their fifth member and they didn’t take it lightly which we saw in their performance later on.
Julia Michaels was nominated for Best Newcomer and performed half of her song “Issues” the rest was cut off for commercials. Maybe that’s why she lost Best Newcomer to Khalid who sang the full song during the Red Carpet show. After the commercial break we got to witness Taylor Swift’s video premiere to “Look what you made me do” and apparently the old Taylor is dead. I really don’t understand why she would give Kanye West so much limelight. She should have been the bigger person and just let it go but we all know that she isn’t that kind of person… see Bad Blood. No I’m not sharing the link here because I do not support this at all.
Shawn Mendes stole Coldplay’s Xylobands and lit up the studio during his performance of “There’s nothing holding me back”. I just love that song and he’s legal now, girls! (His words :-)) Lorde’s performance was quite unexpected. She put a cassette into a recorder and her song “Dynamite” started. She didn’t start to sing but she danced throughout the whole song. It was kind of weird but also funny and I did like what she did with the performance.
Lorde
The Award for Best Dance went to Zedd and Alessia Cara. Pete Wentz (All One Tree Hill Fans have a little crush on him) presented it and yes Fall Out Boy has got new music coming! Katy Perry came on stage with a fake baby and I am not sure if DJ Khalid really crashed the stage with his real baby and fought her about who has the best baby.. WEIRD! Anyways they announced the next performers. It looked like Fifth Harmony were back together but then the fifth person got pulled back and so they were only four to perform the winner song. Bam take that Camila! Gucci Mane had a guest appearance too and the girls finished in pouring rain!
Best Collabo won Zayn Malik and Taylor Swift but both had no time to pick up their award. Goes to show how much a moonman means in this business – Not a lot anymore.. This guy from a band called bleachers picked up the awards. But behold you don’t need to google him. He performed during the pre-show and it was awful. The instruments and the his voice were out of tune!
Jared Leto took the stage to remember Chester Bennington and his friend Chris Cornell. He did an amazing job and it was a memorable moment worthy of those two amazing musicians. After the 100th commercial break we saw Miley Cyrus’ VMA comeback. It was okay and very different to her last show with Robin Thicke and the infamous foam finger. Instead of naked people she had old people and babies dancing in rockabilly 50’s style on stage.
Best Hip Hop went to Kendrick Lamar who quickly accepted the moonman and off we went to a pink birdie who nearly showed her nipple if she had one.. Let me tell you it looked like Barbie! She announced our next performer in VEGAS, BABY! Demi Lovato was “Sorry not so sorry” and had a strong voice and did a brill job with entertaining the people in the pool!
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Finally my highlight of the evening! P!nk flew in a pink Cadillac and rode a lawn mower and performed all of her hits at one point she even mashed up three songs (“Don’t let me get me”, “Just give me a reason” and “Fucking Perfect”) into one! And then she went on to sing her new single “What about Us”
P!nk’s speech was breathtaking and I had to make sure I didn’t start to cry. She said this to everyone but especially to her 6 year old daughter:
She said to me out of the blue, ‘Mama, I’m the ugliest girl I know,’ And I said, ‘Huh?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair.’ And my brain went to, ‘Oh my God, you’re six. Where is this coming from? Can I kick a six-year-old’s ass?’
P!nk then went on and said that she went home and made a powerpoint presentation of androgynous rockstars like Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Janis Joplin, George Michael and they are all artists who live their truth, are probably made fun of every day of their life and carry on and wave their flag and inspire the rest of us. So she said:
I asked her what do you think of me. ‘I think you’re beautiful’. Well, thanks! 🙂 So when people make fun of me, that’s what they use: They say I look like a boy or I’m too masculine or I have too many opinions or that my body is too strong. And I said, ‘Do you see me growing my hair?’ And she said, ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me changing my body?’ ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world?’ ‘No, mama.’ ‘Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?’ ‘Yes, mama.’
“So, baby girl, we don’t change. We take the gravel in the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty. …And you, my darling girl, are beautiful. I love you.”
Isn’t this the best speech you’ve ever heard?! Made my night and my day after. Thank you P!nk for being you <3
Kyle had the hard task to perform right after P!nk and well yeah it was nice… So the 2nd biggest award of the night was Artist of the Year and everybody’s darling Ed Sheeran won. With a super cute but quick thank you he left the stage again. Alessia Cara sang her wonderful song “scars to your beautiful” and while she got undressed and got her make-up taken off she was able to maintain a steady voice. I like her! 🙂
Ke$ha presented Alessia Cara, Khalid and Logic who all tried to raise awareness with a song against suicide attempts- “1-800-273-8255” is a powerful song especially if the three artists were joined by survivors who had a white t-shirt on where it was written You Are Not Alone! Very meaningful moment especially in light of the deaths of Chris and Chester.
Jared Leto
30 Seconds to Mars are back!! I loved their performance of “Walk on Water” for which they used a thermal imaging camera. It looked absolutely incredible! WOW you have to see this. Travis Scott quickly jumped into the picture too.
Back to Vegas DNCE performed together with Legend Rod Stewart his song “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?!” Just a little note on the mustache of Joe Jonas – that’s a no no. Can we appreciate now how a 72 year old totally out rocked a 28 year old! Video of the year was awarded to Kendrick Lamar for his song “Humble”.
Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj closed the show with “Swish Swish” and absolutely slayed it. A basket ball court was put on stage and with that I’d like to appreciate the huge production this show is – even if it isn’t like it used to be. So what did you think of tonight’s VMA’s? Are you happy with the winners and who was your favourite performer? Let me know in the comments below.
Kekoa thinks: HELL YES! You’ve been waiting for a long time to see your favourite artist and you paid good money and then someone talks about his or her day during your fav song. That is not OK!
Lately I’ve noticed a trend that is really worrying. People go to concerts because they need to be seen at it or more likely they need to take pics for Instagram etc. so people know that they were there. I’ve seen people taking selfies during a performance. To me it’s incredibly weird and imagine the artists who’s singing a heartfelt song and someone suddenly stands in front of you and takes a pic like you’re a statue. Those people actually don’t care about the artists or the music itself. They do not listen to the lyrics and they don’t know a lot of songs. So most of the time they are talking – LOUDLY!
Don’t get me wrong I fully understand that you want to share a funny moment with your concert buddy or you want to take a pic of the band but this can be done quietly or discreetly. I always wondered if the artists on stage can hear people chit chatting and lately I talked to a few and I can confirm they do. It is super disrespectful and I feel sorry not only for the artist but also for the people who really came for the music.
When I go to a concert I’m totally caught up in the music and often the slow songs are very emotional. So if people talk it is really disturbing. I’ve wondered for a long time what I should do and I used to let it go and be annoyed about it. But you know what? Why should I or you? We came to listen and this is what we want to do now – if people want to talk they can do it outside. A concert is about music and not talking or taking pics!
So now I asked them nicely to be quiet and I do not care if they look at me funny. Unfortunately there are loads of people who are very inconsiderate and that’s just the way it is. Let me tell you another story: A few years ago P!nk asked everyone to stand up for “Leave me Alone (I’m Lonely) ” – yes I still know – and dance with her so my concert buddy and I did. A few seconds later I got tapped on the shoulder and was rudely be told to sit down. I could not understand this either. The artist asks you to stand up and you stay seated that’s one thing but then you go ahead and ruin someone else’s concert is another.
So next time you are at a concert and someone is telling everyone what they’ve been up to, tell them to please be quiet in a nice voice and hope for the best! Have you had a similar experience and would you shhh a person during a concert? Do you think it’s ok? Comment below or on my social media accounts: twitter, instagram and facebook.
A few weeks ago I had the honour to interview KARAVANN for my blog. Please click here to read the full interview. Luckily I was able to attend yesterday’s concert at the Stadtfest Rapperswil-Jona which was very special to everyone since they grew up around there and locals came to support their very own.
When I arrived there I started to check out the 3 stages and I could not believe it. The organisers assigned the smallest stage to their best act. Throughout the night I had a look/listen to the other acts on stage 1 and 2 and believe me they were nowhere near KARAVANN. I think stage 3 was kind of a secret jewel. The hard rock band and also a newcomer common habits who played before KARAVANN were actually quite good!
But as a band who is only just growing to be famous I guess you have to take what you are given and make the best out of it – AND THEY DID! They had by far the most audience and the people were dancing, clapping and singing! Overall it was a brilliant atmosphere and a superb one hour gig.
sdr
dav
They started off with “Carry your Universe” their biggest single so far and everyone was singing along. I love that they sang it at the beginning and not as an encore. It shows that they want to get the crowd going at the beginning and they are confident that the other songs are just as good. With “Feel free” and “All we need is us” they backed the first song up. What a start!
Their remix of Lilly Ahlbergs Coop single “Love is like” was next before my highlight song “Gimme Love”. And by now they have proven everyone why they don’t belong on the small stage! They covered “Mad World” by REM and I have to give credit to Ryan Sanders’ voice. I liked it just as much as the original! However I like the original of their 2nd cover “Human” by Rag’N’Bone Man better since I have already seen him three times this year and you just cannot compete with the intensity of his voice no matter how good you can sing. Don’t get me wrong it was still very good and loads of singers would have failed to sing this as good as Ryan did.
KARAVANN treated us to a sneak peek of their new music coming later this year which is called “2083”. “Angels in the Sky”, “Funk with you” and “Yes We Can” turned the first few rows into a dance floor. I would have loved to hear even more of their own songs of their latest album “Desert Tunes” but the 5 musicians left the stage only to come back to a frenetic applause to sing two beautiful covers. First up was a slower version of “Habits” by Tove Lo and their final song “Brother” by Matt Corby who is also one of their musical influences.
Unfortunately they had to stop after an hour so the gig finished just a little before 1 o’clock and the venue was still packed at that time of night! Well done KARAVANN and I think you added not just me to your KARAFANNS! 🙂 If you want to see them live you have the chance on 2nd Sept in Uster at the SLM Musik und Sport Festival. Please follow their social media accounts for more upcoming info on their newest music and on their fall gigs.
Homepage: www.karavann.com
Instagram: @karavannmusic
Facebook: @karavannmusic
Twitter: @KaravannMusic
YouTube: KARAVANN
Tickets SLM: slm-festival.ch/ticket
If you missed out to buy their album yesterday click here to download their music from all the common music platforms. Were you at their gig? Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
Every P!nk fan has been waiting for this announcement and finally this spring she graced us with two stand alone concerts in Berlin on the incredibly beautiful Waldbühne. I was lucky enough to get two seats in the best category super close to the stage. All we had to then was wait until August arrived!
This past weekend we finally flew to Berlin – for the first time I might add. I had a completely wrong image of the capital city of Germany. I thought it was grey, dirty and the people were unfriendly but the complete opposite happened. At every corner you bump into something artful or historical, the streets are lined with trees and the people are so nice.
On Friday we left the hotel at 4 – an hour before doors open. It was mayhem when we arrived 30 odd mins later. No signs, no stewards so no-one knew where to queue and the lines were long. Fortunately after an hour in the Q with nothing moving we found a good queue and were in within a few mins. We were able to bring in a 0.5l bottle, cushions and a A4 bags. I was so surprised since the rules here in Switzerland are very strict.
After a quick walk I was faced with steep slippy stairs but in the end we made it to a perfect seat across the stage. Now the only thing we had to do is wait in pouring rain! Thanks to our new ponchos we stayed dry and right before the support act started the rain stopped.
James Gillespie supported P!nk. She discovered him on Spotify and invited him for the two concerts. I really enjoyed his 30mins set and couldn’t wait to hear his duet with P!nk! Please continue to follow this blog to read more about him this week.
“Let’s get this Party started!”
At 9pm on Friday P!nk finally entered the arena through the audience after a 4 year hiatus – which felt waaay longer! I cannot begin to describe how happy I was. I grew up with her and at her first concert in Zurich I was around 10 years old 🙂 No wonder I felt super emotional during “Who Knew” which was a highlight right around half time.
At 9.05 on Saturday she flew in from the top of the Waldbühne down to the stage. This was seriously BADASS and so P!nk! 🙂 The night before my concert buddy pointed towards them and said look at those wires do you think she will fly in? I guess she was right but the rain made it impossible on Friday.
P!nks View from Saturday Night
With “Get the party started” she literally got the party started with everyone already out of their seats dancing and singing! With “U & Ur Hand”, “Just like a Pill” and “Trouble” she covered most of the older hits. One of my favourite songs “Trouble” was followed by “Try” and the newer songs “Just give me a Reason” and “How come you’re not here”. P!nk mixed up her song “Funhouse” with No Doubts “Just a Girl” which I loved and she wasn’t sure if people knew it.
Finally James Gillespie came back on stage to sing “Don’t let me get me”. She said
As you know I don’t like that song but he made me like it again so we will try this!
P!nk & Justin
Acoustic Set
I enjoyed it on Day 1 and 2! After this new slower version P!nk and her guitarist Justin Derrico walked to the B stage and started the acoustic part. I just want to take a minute here to appreciate her incredibly beautiful voice! Even after 4 years off stage that girl can SING! With two of her own songs “Who Knew”, “Fucking Perfect” and two covers of Janis Joplins “Me and Bobby McGee”, Led Zeppelins “Babe, I’m gonna leave you” it was an unbelievably emotional soulful part of the show. While Justin gave an amazing guitar solo P!nk stepped into a airwalk balloon and rolled around the stage on the hands of her fans. This is soooo typically P!nk 🙂
Airwalk Balloon with P!nk inside
While she quickly changed into a new top her keyboard player sang on Friday Night Nenas “99 Luftballons/99 Red balloons” which I thought added a nice touch ‘honouring’ the German audience. During “Sober” her dancers gave a wonderful performance which she used to dance too but now decided not to. The next song was another cover “River” by a girl called Bishop Briggs. It has a super powerful vibe with gospel, country and rock elements.
Just Like Fire
After water comes fire so she sang “Just like Fire” and added fire elements all though she said she didn’t like them. On Day 2 it was clear why. She completely forgot them and was so close to one beam that she joked:
I already felt the end of my hair going up in smoke! Nobody told me that there was fire!
Erm yes! 🙂 I knew it and thought why the hell is she that close? She should be way down by the B stage. “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” had a nice summery feeling added with dancy salsa beats. The huge screen at the back of the stage had huge female voodoo dolls dancing in circles which looked super cute. Have a look at my video below. “Raise your Glass” blew the non-existent roof off.
On Friday Night we witnessed the live debut of “What About Us” as an encore. P!nk’s newest single of her record “Beautiful Trauma” which will be released on Oct, 13th. Due to the rain she had some problems with her in-ears and P!nk being P!nk she stopped the song after the first few lines and barked at her keyboard player Jason Chapman: “That sounds like shit!” But he’s been with her for 15 years and knows what a perfectionist she is. She started again and it sounded beautiful. We could see how nervous she was but to me she didn’t need to be! On Saturday she changed her set and sang it after only two songs with the words:
Hopefully it will be better than yesterday. Should we try it again?
After 90 mins she finished her gigantic shows with “So What” and a huge firework during which she already sneaked out into her car and was whisked off before the last spark burnt out. Me and 22’000 other fans were left with a warm fuzzy feeling after two brilliant shows in two days.
Now all we can hope for is a proper tour next year to promote her album! Were you at the concerts as well? I’d love to know what you thought about her two “comeback” shows! Please comment below.
It is the fourth time (Within a year – I know I’m crazy) that I saw these 5 Irish musicians. I was very much looking forward to this gig since I know how awesome they are. I remember when the gig was announced it was just a little over a month since their last gig in Switzerland and of course I couldn’t wait for the next one 🙂
“Meet the Artists” with Walking on Cars
As I mentioned in my earlier blog post about the Strumbellas gig I was lucky enough to score a ticket to this pre talk show “Meet the Artists”. If you live in Lucerne you really have to check this out. At 6 o’clock they are giving away free tix in front of the KKL. Walking on Cars had also only 15mins but I remember that I was laughing throughout. They revealed that they’ve been working on new music and that they will go to a new house again to write their 2nd album. Sorcha said:
People say that you have 6 years to write your first album and only 6 months for your 2nd!
The host also asked what they usually do on a day off and that made me laugh. I know Irish so I knew what they would say and so Paul said go to the pub. 🙂 and yes in Ireland there are still pubs with sticky floors and pool tables. When it rains all the time what else can you do? There are not only pubs in Ireland but also a dolphin called Fungie close to their hometown Dingle. Finally, they gave away what they were eating every day for 6 months in their cottage where they wrote Everything this Way: Spaghetti Carbonara cooked by Evan.
oznor
oznor
At 10 Walking on Cars hit the stage. Sorcha came on with a long glitter kimono and she looked like a disco ball but in a good way. She looked beautiful yesterday and dressed for the stage not like the lads in their normal clothes 😉 Unfortunately they were struggling with technical problems throughout the gig. First we couldn’t hear Paul’s bass and then Pat’s mic stopped working.
Nevertheless I can tell you that the gig was awesome! Their energy is just incredible. It is felt much more in a smaller venue but even yesterday with a wide gap between the front row and the stage the audience was captured. I expected it to last only an hour as usual but it turned out that they had new songs to present!
Pat alone on stage
With the first song “Ship goes Down” and the intense rhythm they had us going. My favourite song “Love backs Down” was already the 5th song and I enjoyed every minute of MY song 🙂 3 songs later we heard the first new song: “Coldest Water” and let me tell it is beautiful and you can easily sing a long to which I already did. It has the potential to be my 2nd favourite song. Way too fast they left the stage before the encore and what an encore it was!
5 songs, two new ones and one cover. Walking on Cars started with “Scared to be lonely” by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa in a wonderful own version and it fit perfectly into their set. The two new songs “Find my Love” and “One Last Dance” followed which made really excited to listen to their 2nd album released early next year. They still have their “Walking on Cars sound” but added new different twists which makes each song unique in their own way.
Rocking out
I started to get nervous because my last train was due 11.35 and it was 11.20ish. But I couldn’t leave the concert early first of all I would never do that and 2nd of all I was front row.. How would I be able to do that? With a t-shirt, a jumper and my jacket on I felt like I was in a sauna but still enjoyed “Catch me if you Can” and their so far biggest hit “Speeding Cars”. I knew I couldn’t stay to get the set list so I had to catch a pick or a drum stick and when Evan stepped forward to bow I signalled him please throw me one of your drum sticks and he did! 🙂 I am super happy about this! Now Glen’s (The Script) drum stick has finally another Irish companion.
This is were my luck ended that night. I caught the 11.35 but even at this time of night it was delayed so I missed my connection. So I had to walk to my car and thanks to the bloody rain I slipped and now I am wrecked. But oh well it will take a lot more to stop me from going to concerts. I want to hear your opinion! Have you seen a Walking on Cars gig and want to share your memories then let me know in the comments below.
I’ve heard many good things about this Blue Balls festival and this week I finally got to attend not one but two concerts at KKL Luzern. I arrived in a hurry because I thought there were already loads of people since the door opened 30 mins earlier. But I walked in and it was basically empty. FRONT ROW was safe 🙂
Meet the Artists
The lovely girl at the ticket desk told me that there was a guy walking around with tickets to this special show called “Meet the Artists”. The good thing about this is that it is completely free. I was amazed. Here in Switzerland nothing is for free. I had no clue what I was getting myself into but apparently this show is every day and introduces the artists of the night. From 6 o’clock you can get tickets in front of the building! Watch out for the video on Blue Balls facebook page.
So first up was the Canadian Group The Strumbellas. I had a hunch that I would like them but I didn’t know how amazing they were. The 6 group members wore all the same jackets with flowers embroidered. Isabel said that they wanted to look cool and so decided to make them in factory in the US. The interview continued with questions like “Do you guys see each other when you are not on tour? (No, we don’t. We need distance but we miss each other)” or “Have you got a special ritual before you go on stage? (Do you mean like ohhhhhh the strumbellas? No we don’t but maybe we do it tonight.)” 15mins later the interview was over.
I caught only 5 of them on camera.. my panorama function stopped there. Sorry!
At 8.30 the group took the stage and the energetic show lasted for an hour and I think they even had to cut the set short because they had so much fun with the audience. Their music is a mix of country, bluegrass, folk and pop. I personally loved every song of the set but my concert buddies felt mixed about it. What we all agreed on was that they were really funny not just what they said but also how they moved.
Our highlight of the performance was the acoustic song with just one guitar and one violin plus their feet as drums. It was unbelievable good and very impressive. During the middle of the set Simon, the lead singer, enlarged his mic stand and the front row was already scared that we had to sing and then during the song he asked the audience if they were ready – First the balcony, then left, then right and then he looked at me are you ready? I thought oh Geez no! 🙂 🙂 and he had to laugh. Very funny moment for me.
Simon up close
Their last song was of course their biggest hit “Spirits” which you’ve heard a million times on the radio and then it got stuck in your head for the whole day so that you were basically singing the whole day:
I got guns in my head and they won’t go
Spirits in my head and they won’t go
As you’ve probably realised by now I became a huge fan of the strumbellas that night and I would love for them to come back to Switzerland quickly so I can see them again. At the moment they have some shows left in Germany then they head back to Canada and the US. Please visit strumbellas.ca for more info. Were you at the concert of the Strumbellas? Let me know what you thought of it?
It took me two weeks to write this blog post because I didn’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen Mary J. Blige before and I was very much looking forward to her concert. As a bonus Naturally 7 supported her for this gig at this beautiful venue. Have a look at the review of their concert by clicking on: Naturally 7.
It was pouring rain until Naturally 7 came on stage and warmed us up. After a 15mins break we were ready for her. She came on stage in sky high red overknees kind of like the guy in the musical “Kinky Boots”. I thought she would have a huge entourage with her but she had around 8 musicians and backing singers and no dancers at all! So she danced on her own and walked up and down the stage.
Mary J. Blige with her Kinky Boots
The first few songs I quite liked and she held an empowering speech for women that every men should treat his woman like a queen and there should be only one queen in his life. So this made me suspicious and I started googleing her and there it was. Her ex-husband had an affair with her 28 year old protégé and is now entitled to 30K per month. I’d be furious too but honestly anger doesn’t suit her very well.
She changed her kinky boots after an hour and still was screaming her heart out, raging about men and empowering women. It kinda got old very quick. I did not know one song and I think everybody else felt the same way. So they started to leave allthough they paid a lot of money to see her. The ranks started to clear out and even the standing people left about midway through.
Beautiful setting @ Live at Sunset
Finally the last three songs were “No More Drama” – YES PLEASE! – “One” and “Family Affair”. For the last song I went down to dance because I told myself I paid for it I need to enjoy at least this one. Mary J. Blige left without an encore and without properly saying Good-bye. Let me tell you I was left speechless. I could not believe that this was her show. I expected it to be quiet at times but also very dancy but nothing of that sorts happened.
I was massively disappointed and only Naturally 7 saved this evening and my money’s worth. I really don’t like to write a review like this but I have to tell you the truth and I would never see her again after this concert. It was very unprofessional of her and she clearly did not want to be there at all. I get that she is furious and heart-broken but sorry as a professional musician the show must go on as hard as it sounds. If she’d work in a normal job she couldn’t pull this off either. Have you been to Mary J. Blige’s concert? I would love to hear your opinion in the comment section below.
