Wednesday, June 10, 2009

re: mid year

finally writing here again,

sorry for the long delay between updates, i haven't been the best of late,

over the last 3 weeks i've been "doctor's note" ill for 1 , definitely not the best way to start summer and also my turning 28 hah


summer is upon us, better weather, t-shirt wearing season, and an attempt like every year to make those legs look less pasty white, but which always fails for some reason

we had some absolutely great evenings at the kufa over the past month or so, and maybe some of you reading this were in attendance


Vessels in particular, which was the 1st of may, this was special for a variety of reasons, I had the chance of opening the evening with my own band , and was my first concert in a very long time, definitely felt good . Vessels has been one of my highlights so far this year, their CD in any case is absolutely great but is nothing compared to the impact live, with only around 60 people there, mesmerizing stuff, branching between the higher echelons of post rock and ambient rock, pink floyd moments , great vocals and control , i can keep singing praise, but in any case this was definitely a band to see/hear , hopefully will return at some stage


We also saw 2 release parties in the last couple of weeks, the first being Rude Revelation and Riktus, the funny thing with Riktus is that i've seen them record 3 of their releases at the kufa in the last 5 years but never seen them live. was definitely impressed with the detail they add into their songs, a shame most people left after rude revelation played.
Rude revelation presented their new album and their brand of thrash with melodic influences, we had the big screen out for them to use and show the new video (which i think will be properly released soon). it was a very long evening in any case, after which i fell ill ugh

Before i get on to last week's release party, I'll mention a few words on the great gig we had last week , Thomas D, member of Fanta 4, if any of you remember ;) perhaps not the music i typically listen to, but like with benabar there's something these guys bring live that is just classy, the sound is always hi-fi, musicians are top notch and just a great impression from stage, Kufa tends to book the more alternative acts, but every once in a while we'll get bigger names in, and it's great to see it live and the mark it leaves on the audience.

the second release party which was last week, the almighty Mutiny on the Bounty, presenting the album which is almost 1.5 years in the making, between recording/mixing/tweaking, and their efforts can definitely be heard, in my opinion one of the hardest working bands in luxembourg, constantly playing shows and pushing themselves further, to the point that they're not just well known in this country but also being name dropped in our neighbours backyards as well.

The stage was setup like a forest with smoke and cardboard trees, special suits, costumes, and the evening itself was really an event, MOTB truly set the bar a lot higher in terms of release parties in luxembourg, and this i think was something great to see, motivates and pushes to try harder yourself (since i also play in a band), be interesting to see what other bands do after seeing this, considering the 450+ people we had there it was a great success, local support was also great and with the costumes definitely added to the event. as said the bar has been set =0 let's hope we see more evenings like this in the future


my last remark i guess is more of a rhetorical or not.. question regarding luxembourg and the sheer amount of stuff going on;

given our small country and relatively small population we have a huge amount on offer every given week in terms of concerts and going out, to the stage that places are becoming more often than not simply less filled due to the separation of the audience for various events, there are examples of this where places will suffer simply due to the amount going on, the fact also that we're in a financial crisis where 'every euro counts' doesn't help, what is the best way to react to this?

i'm an avid musician and still go to see a lot of concerts but i'm more and more conscious of these things, and seeing that costs get higher while we feel that we have less money available, is a bit scary, i can imagine how most people might feel as well, which is another reason why i'm trying my best to stick to reasonable ticket prices for quality events.

there is something called prestige, and everyone would like a part of it (through offering a certain extra special something) but in a small country it feels that due to the sheer amount on offer, this almighty prestige which might be the local band, the jazz trio playing in the cafe,the accapella from the middle east, the 4 piece punk band, acoustic singer/songwriter... simply gets lost in it all


in any case, hope to see you in upcoming events, come and talk to me, send me suggestions i'm always curious to see what people think