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Lyrics: “Who’s Got a Match?” – Biffy Clyro, 2007

I was felled by a nasty case of the flu last week. “Influenza A” to be precise according to the test I took. I haven’t been that ill since my first round with COVID in October 2022. I’ll spare you the details, but I was off sick from work for over a week and am still not 100% well. But I’m getting there. The 10+ hours I slept the night from Friday to Saturday helped, especially as I hardly slept a wink for most of the nights last week.

I had to miss the Pet Needs gig in Cologne last Friday, so I was glad that I felt well enough to go and see Biffy ‘Fuckin’ Clyro in Düsseldorf yesterday. Not up front at the barrier or in the pit (never really the pit to be honest), but from a seat somewhere on the side in the back. I would not have survived standing and dancing in a crowd. Rushing down the stairs to use the restroom and collect the deposit for the beverage cup between the support act and Biffy had me winded enough and I was glad I could sit down again for a while.

The gig was amazing; a varied setlist with the greatest hits but also about half of the latest release “Futique”. I had a fever of 39 °C for 48 hours last week, so the fire lyrics felt apt this time as a title. Strong contenders though have been

From the new song “A Thousand and One”

I always hoped that I could change
Try and write a different story
But I made all the same mistakes

Because change and keeping up with routines and stuff is something I’m struggling with a lot the moment.

And then of course there always is – and was live last night – the wonderful “Machines”

Crazy as it sounds you won’t
Feel as low as you feel right now
At least that’s what I’ve been told by everyone

[….]

‘Cause I’ve started falling apart
I’m not savouring life
I’ve forgotten how good it could be
To feel alive

Take the pieces and build them skywards

I’ve got a bracelet with these last few words as a reminder.

Anyway, here are a few of my photos. Not quite the quality I would have liked, but that’s life. I took the compact camera with the fast lense for it’s low light quality, but the trade-off is, that the lense only has a limited zoom feature. I have another compact with a better zoom lense but the trade-off there is, that it doesn’t take RAW images and isn’t as light sensitive as the first one. I’m still finding my way around. Live and learn and all that.

Lyrics: “Polaroid Picture” -Frank Turner, 2013

Even if I’d wanted to do a written recap of my year, I wouldn’t know where to start or what to say. 2025 was… okay-ish?

A little while I ago I finally started looking into photo editing a bit more. I’ve got this expensive camera kit and only ever did the mere basic of editing, and not even very well I think. Anyway, I watched some tutorials and instead of berating myself for doing such a crappy job before, I just decided to do better in the future. That reaction is progress on the mental health front at least.

Anyway, I thought I share some photos from last year. It’s a curated and also a bit random highlight reel of course, because the rest of my life is so boringly mundane.

January
Birthdays are always a good reason to get together and play games and such…

February
My first trip across the channel for some fangirling and being a tourist:

March
More gigs the next month…

April
In April I turned 50 and had a lovely “3 days of celebrating” with friends and family. I didn’t take all that many photos from that. Sightseeing was part of the celebration. Afterwards I spent some days in Antwerp.

May
One of my birthday presents was an organized street-art centred scavenger hunt in Cologne, which was fun.

June
In June I took tons of photos at a art gallery in Düsseldorf, but also had a go at my own urban art photo project about stickers. I also saw Robbie Williams (and the Lottery Winners) on the arena tour. Which was lots of fun.

July
A lot of my highlights are gig – related, it seems. I’m fine with that. I went to Paris to finally see Brandi Carlile live and also to be a tourist. When I got home I managed to damage my SD card before I could transfer most of my photos, which sucked. That’s life, I guess.

August
It started with a lovely weekend away with good friends: lots of yummy food, walks, games, talks, massages… bliss. Later that month I took my camera to Düsseldorf once more.

September
A vacation in Scotland. The trip had it’s ups and downs, my mind was all over the place, which was a bit annoying sometimes. But a wonderful trip all in all. I played “air” bagpipes on stage in front of 3.000 people! Nuts!

October
Yet another gig and I made the most of the lovely weather by the end of the month to tackle another section of the Westphalian section the Way of St James.

November
There hasn’t been much interesting happening.

December
There were more gigs (of course) in December, but those photos are up here already. Before the holidays I spent a few days by the sea in the Netherlands. Much needed break to recharge.

A sunset is a lovely and fitting imagery for the end of year and the beginning of a new one, right?

Lyrics: “Lost Again” – Pet Needs, 2022

Just a fly by post to share some photos from last night’s gig: Pet Needs supporting Levellers at Zeche Bochum. About two weeks ago I was at the Lottery Winners gig, but those photos didn’t turn out well. I had taken a new / different camera, because I thought it might be a better option. It wasn’t. Oh well.

Anyway, Pet Needs were fun as always. I’m looking forward to their gig in Cologne in January.

Still no idea what to do with this space here. Maybe I’ll get an idea over christmas. Maybe not.