Tag: Canadian musicians

Allgemein, Concerts

Billy Talent celebrate their 25th anniversary at the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen

kekoaskorner

I missed out on the Billy Talent gig a few weeks ago at Dynamo so I was super happy when I got the accreditation from the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen. Some stats at for you at the beginning. I was 2 when Billy Talent decided to make music together and when Red Flag came out I was 14. So they were the sound of my teen years. Seeing them now took me back and I felt like a teenie again haha

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Black Foxxes

Black Foxxes are three lads from Exeter, England. They did a great job warming up the crowds who were already there saving the best spots for Billy Talent. The guys were able to do slow quiet songs but also loud ones – which I really loved. I’d see them again since they seem quite talented and of course funny – they are English after all πŸ™‚
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Turbostaat

I didn’t know the band. But apparently they liked their last gig at the Winterthurer Musikfestwochen 5 years ago that much that they took a break from their break and performed here. What an honour! πŸ™‚ I have to say the music didn’t really resonate with me – it was German Punk Rock. I don’t know why but it didn’t click so we – Shirley from Loads of Music – and I decided to find a bench somewhere and sit down. Get a little break before Billy Talent πŸ™‚
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Billy Talent

Billy Talent came on even 5mins before they were supposed to. They were just ready to go on stage. I love that! πŸ˜€ With “Devil in A Midnight Mass” they started off with a bang! I think everyone was ready to rock out. The first beer flew through the air as well and I heard the mosh pits were already wild. And then Ben said something I didn’t expect at all and Billy Talent made their way into heart even more. He thanked us for coming out and he was glad everyone was enjoying themselves but he warned the lads in the mosh pits. Please be careful there are women and children close by so make sure to watch out a bit. Lovely and unexpected! πŸ™‚

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Taken by Loads of Music on my camera haha

That said the party went on with “This Suffering”, “Big Red Gun”, “Turn Your Back”. Every time I thought I knew the song again because to be honest with you I do have all the records on my iPod but I don’t know every song by heart. So I was always listening to the first chords of the guitar played by Ian and waited if I knew it. It was quite funny. I always said ohh I knew the song but then I didn’t really. But I think I’ve listened to it but it didn’t properly register haha

Shirley finally caught up with me after her work of taking AMAZING pics was done – yes check out her blog! So I decided to hop on to the barrier and enjoy the gig from a bit higher up since I barely saw anything standing. So I saw how they performed “Ghost Ship of Cannibal Rats”, “The Ex”, “Saint Veronika” and “Diamond on a Landmine”. Ben was fascinated by the people who were hanging out the windows on the sides because let’s face it what else could the people who live there do except listening to the gig. It was such a special venue in the middle of the city where people actually lived. At one point I was seriously afraid that those guys would fall out the window haha
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On it went with “The Crutch” and “The Navy Song”. Ben now said that their drummer Aaron was diagnosed with MS and is not able to play a full show anymore but he’s here right now and will take over the drums from Jordan for the next few songs. I had goosebumps. The original Billy Talent, Ben, Aaron, Ian and Jonathan started playing “Rusted from Rain” and the crowd gave out a loud cheer. What A Tune!! “Pins and Needles” and “Surrender” completed Aaron’s songs. I was in my element! πŸ˜€ But obviously I also had to take good pics for my blog so I was super focused at the same time.

“February Winds”, “Surprise Surprise” – which everyone belted out – “Afraid of Heights and “Try Honesty” followed. After the JT gig I had to quickly change the genre and listen to a lot of Billy Talent πŸ˜€ So one day after that amazing gig I went to bed with “Devil On My Shoulder” stuck in my head! I love that song and now that I was actually hearing it live it was even better! Obviously it stayed in my head again πŸ˜€ After an hour the four Canadian guys left the stage only to come back for the biiiig finale.
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After “Viking Death March” Ben started a little speech:

Remember this feeling when you leave here! We’re all together as strangers from different walks of life, from different back grounds, different religions – none of it fucking matters!

As soon as the first chords of “Red Flag” rang around the Steinberggasse the red flares started to fire up. What I saw on a video afterwards is that around those two red flares a huge mosh pit was formed! It’s crazy, it’s mayhem, it’s punk! The whole street sang the song and it was amazing listening to this huge singalong. The clapping and the singing continued even more with the final song of the night: “Fallen Leaves”. Cracking finish to a brilliant show by those 5 talented Canadians! I hope to rock out to them again. Here’s to another 25 πŸ™‚
Have you been to a Billy Talent show? Share your stories below πŸ™‚

Check out my latest gigs: Tyler Hilton & Kate Voegele, Ed Sheeran, Justin Timberlake

 

Allgemein, Concerts

Justin Nozuka brought the summer back

kekoaskorner

I discovered Justin Nozuka 10 years ago and I’ve been a fan of his soft voice and singer songwriter style ever since. Yesterday evening he kicked off his European tour with an intimitate show at Eldorado in Zurich and let me tell you it was one of the hottest gigs I’ve ever been to. It was already very warm when he started but after a little over an hour of dancing and jamming the bar temperature felt like 60 degrees.
Justin Nozuka took the stage at 8.30 accompanied by 3 musicians and started with “Down” and “Be Back Soon” which I really loved because they were up-tempo, had a summer feeling to them and I was already dancing. “Be Back Soon” was my favourite song of the night because it was so surprising and it had a nice country vibe. I adore this track especially played live.

He then announced new music and that the next one is the first single. “All I need” continued to be in the country music genre. By then it was clear that this would turn out to be an amazing concerts which will bring back the summer – even if it’s just for the duration of the concert. The tempo slowed down for the next three songs “No Place in Mind”, “Unwoken Dream”, “Swan in the water” and we got to hear those amazing ballades. The drums were played very innovatively and you could see that the four musicians harmonised perfectly on stage.
The set continued with “Gray” – a very rocky song – and you could literally see the passion for music on stage. I loved “Golden train” too because it has such a catch melody. One of the crowd’s favourite was next “After tonight” got everyone singing and dancing even more. “Woman put your weapon down” is a very intense song and is the complete opposite to the next two songs “Carried you” and “right by you” which were an easy breeze compared to the other song πŸ™‚


With only one encore “Heartless” Justin Nozuka finished a beautifully performed set. During the last song the whole bar was singing together with Justin and his guitar. It was wonderful. After last week’s massive Rolling Stones gig at Letzigrund I enjoyed this intimate set in a small bar a lot. I only have one small thing which I was disappointed in he didn’t play my two favourite songs “Criminal” and “Mr. Therapy Man” but I get it they are 10 years old and you cannot always catch everyones favourite πŸ™‚
As mentioned above Justin Nozuka and his band are on European tour right now. Make sure to check him out if he comes to a town near you. Click here for dates. Say hello too he is a really nice guy.

Justin Nozuka and me
Justin Nozuka and me
Allgemein, Concerts

The Strumbellas @Blue Balls Festival 25.07.17

kekoaskorner

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 πŸ™‚

cof
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.

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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! πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ and he had to laugh. Very funny moment for me.

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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?