Tag: Rock n Roll

Allgemein, Concerts

Chained to the Rhythm with Walking Papers

kekoaskorner

A few weeks ago Shirley from Loads of Music told me to come along to see Walking Papers at Dynamo. And I trust her judgement on music so last night we headed to the venue where oddly enough not too many people were hanging outside compared to Sons of the East and Max Giesinger.

Fueled by Grace

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Unfortunately for the support act my first impressions were right. Only a few peeps showed up for their set which was a very good warm up – especially since it’s been short notice for them. My fave was called “Escape”. It has a bit of a country vibe to me. The guys did their set in a very professional manner even though only a few people showed up. I felt very sorry for them. Here’s their set list if you wanna check out this cool Swiss band: 1. Overcome, 2. She, 3. Dad’s track, 4. Escape, 5. Home, 6. The End

And then came Walking Papers with Rattling Chains

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Walking Papers came on stage with “This is how it ends” and I was absolutely fascinated with the Saxophonist who was rattling a chain which sounded great. I couldn’t believe how easy it is to create such an amazing sound. Within the first few secs they already had me and the few people who showed up were about to witness a great rock show.
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“How it feels”, “Death on the Lips”, “Hard to look Away” were next and lead singer Jeff used the space and came down to us to rock out. In a small venue you can properly connect with the audience which I personally like very much. And like he said it’s bigger and better than a parking lot in which they played frequently.

Parking Lots are the same from Argentina to Zurich

The set continued with “Somebody Else”, “I’ll Stick Around”, “King Hooker”. It was great to see the 6 musicians doing their thing. You could feel and see that they knew what they were doing. The Sax, the guitar, the drums, the huge bass, the keys and of course the voice were on point!


“Into the truth”, “A place like this”, “The butcher” followed. But my highlight of the show was the Missionary Position cover “Every Man for himself”. A little audience choir sang the chorus back and the few people did a good job. What I love about the crowd yesterday was that they were quiet! Everyone enjoyed the good music and were dancing, head-banging, clapping or just listening which I was so happy to see. This is how I am at every gig haha

Christmas is in 3 months!

Was my first thought when Gregor – the Saxophonist – brought out the bells. If Walking Papers ever need female band member I’m in LOL I could do the bells, chains and rattle part 😀 “Capital T”, “Two Tickets and a Room”, “Already Dead”, “The Whole World’s Watching” were next. Walking Papers didn’t do the Encore thing they just played their songs without a break. After 90 mins we had only three songs left “Your Secret’s Safe with Me”, “Leave me in the dark” and “Red and White”. After a lot of good music, mic swinging and a bit of small talk the band jumped off stage to meet their fans by the merch.
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I headed for the toilet and I couldn’t believe that Jeff – the lead singer – was already there.  Other bands take minutes to hours and Walking Papers literally took only seconds to meet their fans. So if you see that Walking Papers are coming to your town please support them and enjoy a great rock show 🙂
Have you seen the Seattle Rockers live? Share your experience below:

Check out my latest gigs: Sons of the East, Selah Sue, Max Giesinger
Allgemein, Concerts

Foo Fighters: From A**hole to Motherf***er

kekoaskorner

I knew I wanted to see them as soon as they announced the gig last year. However I wasn’t happy with the ticket prices. Although it’s actually quite normal for stadium gig to have super expensive tickets. But I wanted to have a shirt to remember this gig so I waited and waited and luckily I got my chance a day before the gig!
I decided to drive to the gig because I didn’t want to be sitting on the overly full SBB train back to Zurich. It was a great decision for the way back but driving there was absolutely madness. I felt like everyone in Switzerland was “driving” to Bern. I now really feel for those people who do this every time coming to Zurich. I feel very blessed to be living here and being able to see big stars within a normal driving distance. Thanks to this lovely drive I missed out on The Kills and Wolf Alice. But I did hear that especially Wolf Alice killed it! 🙂 If you want to read more about the two supports check out Sarah’s review: Planetsarah.ch.


Continue reading “Foo Fighters: From A**hole to Motherf***er” →

Allgemein, Concerts

Finland's finest Sunrise Avenue rocked Zurich

kekoaskorner

A sold out Hallenstadion. Not many artists manage this but the 5 lads from Finland did. I gotta say I’m very happy for them. Years back I got to see them in a much smaller venue and I still remember it today that it was an amazing gig and one that I fondly think of. So let’s see how last night’s gig went down.
Tim Kamrad
The support Tim Kamrad is a German singer songwriter. The songs are very mainstream and sound like I’ve heard them before. Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes will be happy to see that they inspired this young lad. I missed his personal signature but I am sure that it will work well on the radios. I do clapped a long and it made me want to dance.
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Nearly at 9 on the dot the lights went off and an amazing stage with an incredible light show supported Sunrise Avenue. Normally I would go right into the review but this time I want to make something clear. Sunrise Avenue are a band. It’s not just Samu Haber. Yes, he is the lead singer and more famous then the others but I cannot stand it if radio hosts introduce the next song and say Hollywood Hills by Samu Haber. It is wrong that’s why I want to introduce to you the band members first Raul, Sami, Riku, Osmo and yes Samu too.


 

They started with “Prisoner in Paradise” and a wonderful ballade called “Beautiful”. The atmosphere was amazing right away. Even the people seating were clapping and having a good time! The title track of their 2013 album “Unholy Ground” was next. Samu said that the band always feels a lot of love from the Swiss crowds and obviously everyone needs a “Little bit of Love”. The first chords of the newest single “I help you hate me” were played and everyone started to clap and sing a long again. It is one of the best songs to sing with large crowds and it made for a great moment.
Samu’s voice is so special and so incredible and in “Hurtsville” we could enjoy it in a slow ballade. “Heartbreak Century” the title track of their current record can’t be left out in this 20 songs strong setlist. “Never Let Go” and “Room” were next. Another great rock ballade is “Lifesaver”. The Hallenstadion was lit up with phone lights and everyone waved it in the right rhythm. Just beautiful. Each song had a brilliant rhythm where people could clap along too and that automatically creates a good atmosphere. In “Question Mark” I wasn’t sure if they spoke finish for a sec but it turned out that they just quickly speak English in their cute accent.
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The band thanked his long-time friend Anna who had the great idea to put the flag onto the album cover. The huge flag of the Swiss Sunrise Avenue Crew hung at the back of the venue. A lot of Swiss and Finish flags were in the audience so the next song “Flag” fitted perfectly. I enjoyed another very old song “I don’t dance” before the Hallenstadion was turned into a sea of lights again for “Afterglow”. Last time they played this song in this venue they were at the Energy Star Night and Samu tripped over the moving camera on the floor. Again he mentioned how much he hurt himself but like a pro he finished the set.
This next song was my highlight of the evening! Sunrise Avenue changed up “Forever Yours” to a complete new song. So intense, so dark and so good. Imagine this song is 9 years old! Sunrise Avenue already played two hours and they weren’t looking tired so we got see and listen to even more songs such as “Let Me Go” and “Point of No Return”. Riku and Raul always made sure to include the people on their side even out on the stands. I honestly love to see so much interaction with the audience. Sunrise Avenue seemed to be the same rock band from way back when just on a bigger stage with a huge production.
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The production is amazing. The lights and the 3 screens are part of this great rock show. But what makes them so likable is their charm. Samu addressed the audience quite a few times and joked with us. When he didn’t manage to open his water bottle he just ripped it only to realise that it was already open. Boys will be boys so he squeezed the bottle and water came out. 😀 Obviously Sunrise Avenue couldn’t leave the stage without playing one of their biggest hits “Fairytale Gone Bad”.
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Unfortunately the two hours fly by and the lads had to leave the stage only to come back for 2 more songs. A slow song called “Home” and their uber hit “Hollywood Hills”. Finally everyone was standing and partied and sang along to. It was the perfect ending to a great gig.
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Are you party of the Sunrise Avenue Crew? How did you like the gig? Leave a reply below.

Check out my latest gigs: Franz Ferdinand, Liam Gallagher, The Script
Allgemein, Concerts

Back to the 80's with Franz Ferdinand & Crimer

kekoaskorner

Thanks to Gadget I was able to attend my first Franz Ferdinand concert. They’ve worked together with Just Because to bring the legendary Scottish band to Zurich. What I love about Just Because concerts is that they publish the times late afternoon. This means you can actually plan your evening and know when to be there and how long you need to wait.
Crimer
When it was announced that Crimer was the support of FF I was so looking forward to see him too. I’ve heard so much about him and I gotta say he didn’t disappoint. The three lads on stage put on a great show of a mixture between Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode and maybe David Bowie. I really liked their 30 mins performance and honestly he gave his best. The dance moves were crazy and people warmed up perfectly for the main act.
Crimer
I am completely honest with you guys now. I knew Franz Ferdinand but I don’t think I have ever listened to a song… I thought they’d be rock – rock like Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs or The Killers. But they were so different to what I was expecting. They had this kind of 80’s vibe going. Yes, they were rock but not too hard core. At 9 o’clock the perfect party could start when the band took the stage. I was shocked I didn’t expect them to be this old haha But hey they were famous when I was little so what did I expect?! 😀
Franz Ferdinand
With the title track to their newest record „Always Ascending“ they opened the 90 mins show. I really couldn’t get my head around the fact that I was expecting something completely different. The people loved it and were already dancing and singing. „Walk Away“ and „Lucid Dreams“ were next and I really loved the atmosphere. Plus you could sense that the lead singer Alex Kapranos knew what he was doing. The kind of energy and presence he was presenting cannot be taught. You just have it or you don’t.
Franz Ferdinand
I really liked the song „Lazy Boy“ which was followed by „Glimpse of love“ and „No you girls“. I went to the venue Halle 622 without preparation and to be honest I started to like this. I used to listen to every song and get as much info on the band as possible beforehand but I learned that sometimes you need to surprise yourself. What I love is to check out the songs after the gig. Memories of the concert will flood in and you have an automatic connection to the song.


Franz Ferdinand continued with „The Dark of the Matinee“, „Lois Lane“ and „Do You Want to“. I felt like I knew the latter but I couldn’t singalong to so it must have been a distant memory 🙂 Before the crowd went wild for „Take me Out“ the band played „Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow“. Lots of hands and people jumping around and singing along which made for a great party and an amazing atmosphere. After witnessing two DJ gigs at this venue I was so glad to see a rock band play.
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Their newest single „feel the love go“ (which you can also find on my Spotify playlist: Kekoas Korners Favourites) was another one that sounded familiar. This made for the perfect time to introduce the band members to everyone. Alex Kapranos asked the Zurich audience:

Do you feel the love?

And of course we felt the love. We felt the love for Boyb Hardy, Paul Thomson, Julian Corrie and Dino Bardot! „Love Illumination“ and „Ulysses“ completed their great 80’s rock set. A few mins after 10 Franz Ferdinand left the stage for their long encore. I was really tired but I enjoyed the whole concert so they deserved to come back to a huge applause/roar from the crowd. The people partied even more for „Paper Cages“, „Jacqueline“ and „Huck and Jim“. The cherry on top was „This Fire“. Eeeeveryone knew the song and was dancing like crazy. Almost at the end Franz Ferdinand asked us to kneel down and everyone did it only to jump up for the chorus! The atmosphere is hard to describe but you can have a look at the highlight in my instagram profile. Let me tell you this. If you weren’t there you missed out on a great party!
Have you been to the Franz Ferdinand gig? Let me know your experience in the comments below.

See my latest gigs: Liam Gallagher, The Script Dublin, The Script Zurich
Allgemein, Concerts

Back to the 90s with Liam Gallagher

kekoaskorner

When Liam Gallagher announced his gig in Zurich I knew I really wanted to see this legend. But I was a bit cautious and I didn’t want to buy tickets right away. To be honest with you I was afraid of him not showing or showing up and leaving after 20 mins. So when I won the Gadget concert pass I was super happy and I was looking forward to the gig.
I walked into the venue and I felt like I was transported into the 90’s somewhere in England. Lots of people looked like part of the band and I felt right at home 🙂 At 8 the supporting act The Sherlocks from Sheffield took the stage and they really had a hard time warming up the crowd. It is not easy to perform in front of a rock legend but they did quite a good job however you could sense that everyone was waiting for Liam Gallagher.
Liam Gallagher
At 9 on the dot the lights went off and the long intro started. Liam Gallagher did show up and what a show it turned out to be. He started his set with “Rock’N’Roll Star” and the crowd went crazy. Everyone was singing along and people loved it. I have to admit I think I was too young to actually understand how much influence Oasis had on everyone back then. But I understand it now. Another Oasis song “Morning Glory” followed before “Greedy Soul”. “Wall of Glass” should be used in speech therapy for all the people who have got problems with their “S”. It was absolutely hilarious how he highlighted the S at the end.
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Whatever he said between songs was either not understandable or swearing. But to be honest I liked it and I didn’t expect anything else. Everyone had a brilliant time and were singing their hearts out. “Paper Crown”, “Bold” and “For What It’s Worth” were some of his solo songs and the crowd went a bit quiet since I think most people were there to listen to the Oasis songs. The smart rock star that he is he mixed in another 2 Oasis songs into the set list and people absolutely loved “Some Might Say” and “Slide Away”.
“Come back to me”, “You better Run” and “Universal Gleam” followed. Honestly I didn’t know a lot of the songs but I still had the best time watching this legend perform and looking into the crowd and seeing how much they enjoyed themselves. The time flew by as “Be Here Now” started. Then finally the song literally eeeeveryone knows started. 1 guitar and Liam Gallagher singing

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you

The huge singalong started and during the chorus the crowd took over. It was magical to witness “Wonderwall” live. A truly special moment. Time to leave the stage after an hour.
Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher came back for 2 encore songs. First up “Cigarettes & Alcohol” . A classic. Then the last song “Live forever” was another song that everyone seemed to be able to singalong too. The little time capsule we stepped into was unfortunately over. I have to say that this was the first gig after the Script in Dublin of course that I really enjoyed in 2018. Plus Liam Gallagher proved to be an absolute professional. He played his set even though City was playing. I really hope that he was able to catch the highlights after the show 🙂
Have you ever been to an Oasis or Liam Gallagher show? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a look into my last reviews: The Script, Galantis, Dermot Kennedy
Allgemein, Concerts

Wakey Wakey Zurich! It's Mando Diao!

kekoaskorner

On Tuesday night I got to see Mando Diao at Kaufleuten thanks to Mainland Music. The venue was sold out and it was quite packed. Luckily I found a good spot on the balcony. The Swedish lads have been around for ages but I never managed to see them live so I was super excited to cross them off my bucket list.
Razz
First up were a German band called RAZZ who reminded me of The New Cities. I liked their music but they couldn’t fully catch my attention. Nevertheless it was a good warm up and the sound suited Mando Diao.
Mando Diao
At 8.30 the lights went off and a long intro started. Finally the 5 musicians came on stage and the energy immediately radiated off them. With “San Francisco Bay” and “All the Things” they literally tried to wake us up and Björn the lead singer asked the crowd to come even closer to the stage. So his first words to us were:

Wakey Wakey Zurich!

“Sweet Ride” was next and one of my favourite songs of the night was “Good Times”. I loved the vibe and the good feeling the song transported. It will deffo make my playlist. We were asked to put our hands up and everyone complied. This was the perfect way to get everyone clapping. It looked amazing from the balcony and the Kaufleuten was buzzin’. “All my senses”, “Dancing all the way to hell” and “One two three” followed and by then I knew I should have seen them live sooner. Mando Diao is an absolute force on stage and they are making sure that you will have a good time for around 100 minutes of your day.
Mando Diao
The lights were amazing and different for every song. During “Mr. Moon” and “The Band” I looked around the audience and everyone had a smile on their face and were dancing. During “Break Us” only Björn Dixgard and the first Mando Diao member Daniel Haglund were on stage. Together they played this beautiful ballade – moment to just enjoy. Björn’s voice is quite remarkable. It seems like he drinks Whiskey for breakfast to get this beautiful raspy voice.
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The three others came back and the rock show continued with “Voices on the radio”, “Watch me now” and “Down in the past”. The guys did an amazing job to include everyone. Even the people on the balcony were involved. Mando Diao created a great atmosphere! Suddenly it felt like Kaufleuten turned the heating on. The warmth was rising from the people below or maybe it was just because Björn took of his shirt? 😉
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Before we were all looking for that special girl in the audience we rocked to “You got nothing on me”. And there she was “Gloria” – a huge hit and everyone knew it so we were asked to sing the chorus. So everyone shouted “Gloria” but the rest of the lyrics were quite a mumble which made even the band smile. So here are the lyrics for next time:

So Gloria steps out from the prison
Gloria’s no longer the wasted disco girl
You’ve been dreaming about
Gloria, alone now forever
Gloria, away in the air now
Gloria, she’s no longer your slave, no, no

The Swedes left the stage after they played “Ochrasy” but of course they were brought back thanks to a continuous very loud cheer of the Kaufleuten audience. “Child” was the first encore but obviously they hadn’t played two of their biggest hits yet. So “Shake” was next and literally everybody was shaking their body and singing as loud as they could. During the song Björn went off stage and Jens Siverstedt took the mic. He introduced the bass player Carl-Johan Fogelklou, the drums Patrik Heikipieti – the beast from the north! – and Daniel on the keys.


Björn rejoined the band to sing one last song: “Dance with Somebody”! The energy level rose to the max and I guess this is why Mando Diao plays the smaller clubs. This kind of energy is quite hard to reach in bigger venues. I could see everyone’s hands in the air and we were all singing along. Patrik joined the four musicians in the front and the 5 stood there to orchestrate the Kaufleuten crowd. So the gig ended with a choir of

I’m falling in love with your favorite song
I’m gonna sing it all night long
I’m gonna dance with somebody
Dance with somebody
Dance, dance, dance

I absolutely loved this end to an amazing rock gig. Björn said they were proud to sing in front of us and thanked us for coming out to see them since without us they’d still be a band playing in a garage. These are the kind of artists I want to support with my hard earned money. A Mando Diao Fan is born – I know I’m a bit late to the party but hey better late than never! 😉 Hopefully they’ll be back for some festivals in the summer so I really have to start listening to their newest record “Good Times“.
Did you enjoy yesterday’s gig as much as me? Leave a comment and share your opinion below or on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.