Nightwish @ Evenew, Stockholm

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Diana

If there is something I got bad at after the pandemic, that is updating this blog. Looking back at the last year, there are quite a few concerts or other events that would have been subject of my posts, but I somehow don’t seem to get my head around writing about them, for various reasons. One concert I didn’t post about is Nightwish, live in Bucharest, 1st of August 2022. I promised myself I will correct that and try to keep up with my writing. So here I am reviewing the Nightwish gig that I had the privilege to see in Stockholm. With almost the same setlist as the Bucharest concert, this one was one of the last live shows before the band goes on an indefinite touring break.

The arena where the concert was organised is built close to Stockholm University. Walking there was like a trip down memory lane, as I had to cross the whole campus to reach it. I listened to the opening acts, Art Nation and Elaine, from outside, on a cloudy, (Swedish) warm and quite humid Summer evening. Excited to see the band live for the 5th time, I found a spot from which I could keep an eye on the stage without having to squeeze in to go in deep into the crowd. What struck me at first was that compared to Bucharest, the audience was maybe 3 times smaller. But that didn’t matter, because once the music started, the crowd was just as engulfed in the melodic, fiery atmosphere.

The concert started, just like in Bucharest, with Noise, which is an incredible depiction of the digitalised world we live in (Which gives me the chance to say: I wish people stopped turning half of the concerts they attend in a live stream on social media. Ok, take photos, take a short clip for the stories, call a friend who likes a particular song but stop making me watch the concert through your Instagram live feed!!! Live the moment, nobody will remember you doing a live stream, but you might not fully enjoy the show because you’re too focused keeping your phone above your head all the time). Floor Jansen lives in Sweden, so during her many chats with the public, all in Swedish, she let us know that to her it feels like she was playing at home. Her vocal performance was just as professional and as vibrant as ever. Her energetic stage performance was seriously toned down, for a very good reason: she was pregnant. I missed seeing her dance to I Want My Tears Back, her energy and good mood are contagious.

The band took the audience on a ride through several of their albums and though the crowd went crazy when they played Nemo, most of us were impatiently waiting for Ghost Love Score. They are no longer using it as a closing track for their live sets, however, the magic of the live tune makes it just as captivating. The Greatest Show on Earth is the 17 minutes song that closes their setlist. The amazing story of this song, the energy, the message, the visuals make the band go out with a bang. Same as last Summer, I was absolutely captivated by the graphics displayed in the background during the song’s performance. They are striking. Combine them with the song, its lyrics and message and it is impossible not to be touched and shaken by it. They create that type of moment that hopefully gets people thinking. It also creates a very emotional moment when pictures of persons who are no longer with us are flashing on the screen, culminating with the image of Alexi Laiho, Finnish artist who passed away in 2020. I find it impossible not to feel moved by it, the same way as I find it impossible not to show that I am being touched by what the 17 minutes bring to the Nightwish audience. But unfortunately, it also means the end of the gig, and Nightwish concerts are those types of shows that you always end up wishing for one more song, or maybe more than one, that’s how good and woven together their concerts are.

I don’t know what indefinite touring break means, I hope the band takes enough time off from touring as they want and need, but I also hope to see them live one day again.

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Depeche Mode @ Friends Arena, Stockholm

Posted on May 27, 2023 by Diana

I’ve seen Depeche Mode live for the first time in 2013. I went to that concert only because I was offered a ticket. I left there with a profound respect for the band, their music, and with an ear more than willing to listen to their tracks than I had been 3 hours before. When hearing that they are touring and coming to Stockholm I knew what I had to do: buy a ticket! Not my type of music, yet I got acquainted to it when I was around 7. They were a constant presence on TV when I was in high school and it took seeing them live to understand the impact they have on music listeners. Or how amazing they are as a live band. Their new album, released as a duo, is good. If you don’t believe me, go see them live.

I waited for their show with impatience and curiosity, same as everybody else. The crowd was very diverse in terms of age, painting a clear picture of how many generations their music has touched. They opened the show with My Cosmos Is Mine, the opening track from their new album, and continued directly to the second track, Wagging Tongue. The crowd listened carefully, the faithful fans sang along, I just listened. The third song was a classic: Walking in My Shoes, this is when most of us lost it. Their live sound is quite different than their recorded tracks, heavier, more rockish than electronic. Dave Gahan’s voice is distinct, clear and strong. His charisma and ability to capture the audience’s attention are those of a true rock star. He shares the spotlight on stage, and the vocals to the songs, with his bandmate, Martin Gore. The two used to be completed by Andy Fletcher, who passed away in 2022, whom they paid tribute to during the show.

One song after the other, they took us on a walk through their whole career. The energy of the music is contagious, it’s impossible to stand still. Just when things were beginning to flare up, they would calm us down with one of their new songs, just to get our excitement up again by playing one of their greatest hits, like Precious, Stripped or the mesmerising live version of Enjoy the Silence, which is one of the best tracks that I’ve ever seen an artist play live during a concert, definitely because of its popularity, its catchy rhythm and its ability to draw the audience in, turning the concert venue into a living organism that breaths and sings in sync.

They ended the show with 4 power tracks, taking us years back to their glory days when the World was split in two: Depeche Mode fans and everyone else. Having Personal Jesus as last track left us all cold turkey, trying to ride the adrenaline wave through getting out of a huge arena and making it home together with thousands of other people.

I don’t want to talk about what I didn’t enjoy that evening, and at the whole event experience as a whole. What I can say is that this aspect has absolutely nothing to do with the band, their music or performance. While my energy levels were really low before the concert, the day after I couldn’t sop smiling. Having so much energy and positivity and simple beauty to recharge on was wonderful. Ever since then I keep telling whoever I get to talk about Depeche Mode with to go see them live. It may not be on the list of favourites, nor even a presence in the playlists, but Depeche Mode are an act of good music that is worth seeing at least once, to live first hand and on the spot the greatness that this English band transposes.

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The Mono Jacks @ Sala Palatului

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Diana

What better reason to reschedule a flight than a concert with one of my favourite bands? And a mini meet & greet and jamming session in one of Bucharest prettiest bookstores, of course.

My latest trip home was supposed to be a rather short one, but how was I supposed to know when I booked my flights that The Mono Jacks plan on launching their latest album with several concerts in a row and events, and so close to the dates when I’d actually be in Romania? I mean… I couldn’t miss that, could I? So here I was with a rescheduled flight, in Cărturești Carusel waiting for a meet and greet with the band members, not that I went to talk to them, but I really, really hopped that they’d play a few songs, and they did. This event was a promo for the album launch that was going to take place 6 days later at Sala Palatului, event venue in downtown Bucharest. The bookstore event was practically 30 minutes of seeing the guys goof around, talking to fans and playing a few of their songs under the formula The Mini Jacks.

6 days later though, Friday May 12th, I was ready to see them live in one of the most prestigious event halls Bucharest has. The concert started a bit after 7 pm, when the lights were dimmed and the intro of a first song could be heard in the speakers. From the first chords it was quite hard to guess what they were planning to start the show with, but that uncertainty faded the moment we all heard the guitar chords of “Gândurile”, which is one of their fastest paced songs, with an extremely catchy guitar and quite dark lyrics. They’ve had the concert intro of ultimate rock stars, which they are, if I am being honest. Though not a song from their latest album, the track made sure we were all drawn into the event in a heartbeat and ready to listen to one song after the other.

The new album was released a few weeks before the event, and the band had already toured Romania and promoted their record by playing in front of their fans all over the country. The vibe of their music is quite melancholic, dark, occasionally very dark, sometimes lovely and optimistic. They have a sound of their own, they play around with lots of catchy guitar riffs and powerful vocals, either soothing or fiery. The band, usually a quartet – Andrei (guitar), Cristian (bass), John (drums), and Doru (vocals) – had a guest artist with them for the evening, Vlad Cotruș, guitarist in another Romanian band, Urma. The five of them kept us on our toes for two whole hours. Besides the fact that they seemed to really enjoy what they were doing on stage, they interacted with the audience, they are all extremely talented and played flawlessly. Doru, the lead singer, is quite a frontman, with charisma, a voice that’s been singing to listeners for over 20 years, daddy dance moves, and a contagious passion for the music. With inside jokes, anecdotes, lots of smiles and fun, the guys walked us through some of their already grounded hits, as well as new songs. It was really impossible to take my eyes off them and to stop smiling. For one of their songs, 1000 de da, they had the Children’s Radio Choir with them on stage. It was amazing to hear how the crystalline voices of children blend with the rock tune.

Though they played for two hours, they still left so many of their awesome tracks on the outside of this setlist. There were even a few of my favourites that didn’t make it, even some of their classics, but many others were included. It was one of those concerts where I knew all of the songs they played. And even though I would have listened to them for a while longer, after two hours it was quite obvious that it was time for us to head home. They closed the show with the evening’s only English track, Push the Pedal. Video of it below.

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Happy 2023!

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Diana

“Another year gone”, to quote Albus Dumbledore. This is from one of his speeches in Harry Potter, just that it’s one that he held at the end of an academic year. He gave the Hogwarts students one Summer to empty their heads. In the case of a new calendar year there’s not much emptying that can happen in a night, and most things that are left behind for the few hours when people celebrate the New Year come back knocking on the door a few days, sometimes even hours, after the last of the fireworks light the sky.

2022 has been… slightly better because the pandemic seems behind us, awfully worse because we find ourselves in a time when war is fought, again. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, of events, a year that passed by in the blink of an eye, occasionally leaving behind the impression that there is no time to finish what one started. This page was a little bit noisier this year, even if posts came with delays caused by lack of energy to sit down in front of my computer and write things down.

I am happy because I got my concerts and my tennis events back. I got to see The Mono Jacks live twice, they even made it to the top of my Spotify Wrapped. I attended my first Marillion weekend, I saw favourite artists again and enjoyed concerts of bands I’ve never seen live before, but had in my playlist. I crossed off my bucket list living in Brașov right across the street from the Black Church. Paris was welcoming, the tennis event I attended there was amazing, and Copenhagen was a sunny intermission of a packed Autumn. Last but not least, time with family, friends, cats and dogs is never wasted. And a lot of the year was about work, which I still enjoy, surprisingly. Part of the rollercoaster year is due to it.

2022, you were intense, I will not deny it, but you were good. Now let’s see what’s in store for 2023, with no resolutions, as per habit. I wish us all peace, love, health and happiness. Happy New Year!

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Marillion @ Liederhalle, Stuttgart

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Diana

After a few very nice days in Paris it was time to board a TGV to Stuttgart and be amazed by how fast and comfy this train ride is. The second part of my trip would be a quick stop in Germany for a bit of sightseeing and, of course, a concert. The band: Marillion. I am seriously beginning to think that liking them is contagious. After seeing them three evenings in a row in Stockholm in May, I pretty much put their new album on repeat and listened to it over and over again so many times that I just wanted to see them perform it live again. Last May I had listened to their whole album only once before seeing them play it live, they are that type of band: I don’t need to know all of their songs by heart, I know I’ll enjoy their gigs. Their latest album is called An Hour Before It’s Dark, and it deals with some very current and imperative issues. Worth a listen, both for the lyrics and for the music.

The location of the concert was a nice auditorium in an area that was a bit deserted: Liederhalle. The only people around were a few students and the audience and that was about it. The access to the venue was easy and well managed, can’t say the same about the security, it just felt like there was none at all. The location looked very good and as audience I think we were very well taken care of, except the fact that you had to pay with cash for drinks and merchandise, which feels very unusual these days. The event started with the opening act: June Road. A very lively duo with a Marillion love story background, playing indie folk and engaging with the audience with their warmth and talent. Their setlist was short and fun to listen to.

After they were done, and after a short break and a reminder to put our phones aside, Marillion appeared on stage, this time, with an extra guest: Luis Jardim who was there to take care of percussion – everything from shakers, bongos to even a cow bell. They quickly went into playing the entirety of their new album. H (Steve Hogarth), the singer, has his own special way of interacting with the audience, from cracking jokes to poking fun, to being sometimes a bit too sarcastic. One by one, the songs, which are usually made of 3 to 5 interlinked parts, were enchanting the audience. A few of them got standing ovations but nothing stirred more appreciation from the public than the marvellous handling of the guitar by Steve Rothery. From the first chord it was quite obvious that people were enjoying the music. But if I though Swedish audiences were passive, well, the German one was even more bland. But at the end of the day, I think all of us were there for the music, which is something we got plenty of, and showed gratitude for numerous times, some louder than others.

About halfway through the album, and through the setlist, obviously, it is time to listen to Murder Machines which is one of the few self-standing songs on the disc, and which has a very dark undertone to it, and a guitar riff to clap for frantically, especially when the guitarist moves forward on stage to step into the spotlight as to somehow draw our attention to the magic of the music. The song was followed by the Crow and the Nightingale, which H introduced as a tune written for Leonard Cohen, another self-standing song. This one was followed by the 5 parts of Sierra Leone which was an absolutely flawless, breathtaking performance. We all heard it, we felt it, even the whole band seemed to acknowledge it. And while still being under the spell of the previous track, the banked started playing the final song of the album: Care, after which we all knew that it was time for the older songs, all of us hoping that they will play some that we like. They started with Quartz and that was the first and only song of the evening that I didn’t know and didn’t care about, but the audience really seemed to enjoy it. Then they took a tour of some of their older albums with me being extra happy for Afraid of Sunlight and The Great Escape. For the encore they close to go with something that is oh so fitting for the current times: The New Kings, a 5-parts song from their 2016 album FEAR, which sends chills down my spine when I listen to it, like the whole album from which it is taken. Nevertheless, good song, especially for those who have the ears to listen. The last song of the evening was Sugar Mice, a piece from the Fish-era, where Fish is the band’s former lead singer. The old-school fans were ecstatic, and this was the only song when we actually stood, as until then we had been a very well-behaved audience. All in all, I believe this was one of the best gigs that I ever attended, and I say now as I said then: I don’t think I ever heard a band sound so good live before. I left the venue feeling happy and wishing the concert had been longer, even though Marillion spent around two hours on stage. But it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for a morning train ride to Frankfurt and from there onwards to Copenhagen for the third and final part of my holiday.

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