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! Continue reading “Ed Sheeran: 2 nights, 1 man, 1 voice, 1 guitar and 96'000 backing singers and dancers”→
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.
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.
