Allgemein, Concerts

Ed Sheeran: 2 nights, 1 man, 1 voice, 1 guitar and 96'000 backing singers and dancers

In 2011 I got to see a young man without any tattoos playing the Kaufleuten Festsaal for the DRS3 showcase. I knew every song of his newest record “+” and stood in the front row and he won over the whole crowd. Fast forward 7 years that young man is full of tattoos and goes by the name of Ed Sheeran and turned out to be the biggest popstar of our time selling out stadiums around the world just like he had the last two nights in Zurich with the Letzigrund Stadium.

Jamie Lawson was unexpected

Jamie Lawson is signed up to Ed Sheeran’s record label so he got to be the first opening act of the night. Starting out is hard especially in front of people who didn’t come to see you! So I have so much respect for Jamie Lawson. With “Fall Into Me”, “Letter Never Sent”, “The Only Conclusion”, “Can’t See Straight” and “A little Mercy” he started his 30mins set. He’s such a lovely and funny guy and I really love his mellow songs especially “Wasn’t expecting that”. I bet a few people recognized this song when he started playing it. He did a fine job warming up the crowd and during his last song “Ahead of Myself” the crowd helped him out by singing “Badam Badam Badadada”. Love it!
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Continue reading “Ed Sheeran: 2 nights, 1 man, 1 voice, 1 guitar and 96'000 backing singers and dancers”

Allgemein, Concerts

From Kingston to Zurich with Jimmy Cliff

It’s summer in the city! πŸ™‚ Not just because the temperatures are rising but also because the Jamaican Legend Jimmy Cliff is in town. He brought 8 musicians with him who started the show at the sold out Volkshaus.


The leader of the band sang the first song of the night and the only lady of the band followed this up with a brilliant version of Dawn Penn’s “You Don’t Love Me”. And finally the legendary Jimmy Cliff walked towards his bongo with a typical Jamaican calmness. Of course “Bongo Man” was his first song and it gave me goosebumps. You have to check out the highlights on my Instagram account. He covered “Rivers of Babylon” which got stuck in my head all night. I loved the vibe of “Love song” and “Treat the youths right”. Lots of people started to whip and even some stood up at the back. It was quite fun to watch how Swiss people dance to Reggae music.
Continue reading “From Kingston to Zurich with Jimmy Cliff”

Allgemein, Concerts

Seven: 4 colours, 2 hours, 8 musicians

Many of my international readers probably won’t know Seven. He’s a Swiss musician and he’s been around for quite some time. I’ve seen him last summer at the Gurtenfestival and Seven and his band shared a very special moment with us. He asked us to close our eyes and listen to “Help”.
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With “Help” Seven and his 7 musicians started their set at the sold out Kaufleuten last night. A very brave move to start with a slow song. Unfortunately in this venue most of the people are not there to actually listen to the lyrics. They are there because it’s the place to be so they are chatting throughout the gig. So disrespectful! Now let me introduce you to Seven’s show concept. His newest album is called 4 colours and it supports the various songs on the album and gives a bit of structure to it.
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First he started with blue and after “Help” we got hear “Thank you Pain” and “Lisa”. The colour changed to yellow and the tempo of the songs got faster. A little summer thunderstorm started to break out in Kaufleuten and they performed “I can’t wait for the rain”. Another warm song “City of Gold” got us dancing and singing. Then Seven spoke about his incredible year he had last year after he was invited to join the programme “Sing meinen Song” (Sing my song). It’s a German programme where around 7 musicians participate. They meet up and sing each others songs and the outcome are beautiful new songs of classics.


So Seven sings Xavier Naidoo‘s version of his song “Go Slow” which like he said is sing sing my song song. Absolutely hilarious! Seven is an entertainer and shared private stories as well as jokes which I really really loved. And of course this concept goes both ways so he sang one of Xavier’s song and my favourite “Das hat die Welt noch nicht gesehen”. So different but so cool! πŸ™‚ It was time to change the colours again…
Time for Red. During “Trick” I stood up again and danced away. Luckily I had enough space and I really enjoyed this moment. This next song “Black Pearl” he sang for his wife. They are sharing two kids and Seven said how humbling it is to come back to a normal life after a gig like this. His son won’t ask him how the gig was but he will ask

Papi, Lego?

Again the whole Kaufleuten was laughing. Finally he sang his first single and my favourite. But of course Seven being Seven he didn’t perform it the way it was. Him and his super talented band mates turned it into a complete new song. A song that I even like more than the old version! Again you have to be really brave to do that or maybe as talented as they are to pull that off.
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Another interlude and a colour change followed. Time for Purple. Time to dance. Time for funk. “Africa”, “1978”, “Brave” and “Partytown” turned Kaufleuten into a disco party. More and more people stood up and the people downstairs were already dancing. A quick walk through the crowd and high five’s to everyone on the way to the stage was also part of the set. Seven knows how to feel everyone welcome and to entertain big or small crowds. He is a an incredible musician and so talented. I am repeating myself but it’s true. He deserves all the praise he gets and I wish that he and his band can continue to do what they love. The passion, the love for music is palpable and this transfers onto the audience. Concerts like these are the best!
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After a quick party set Seven did something I have never seen at Kaufleuten. He was able to shut up the chit chatters with “What if”. A beautiful moment. With “High” the band finished a brilliant two hour set. It was time to go home and play lego. πŸ™‚
Have you seen Seven live? Please share your experience with us and leave a reply below.

Latest gigs: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Sunrise Avenue, Franz Ferdinand