Lyrics: “Haven’t Been Doing So Well” ~ Frank Turner, 2021
Live Music | I went to a gig yesterday and it was wonderful. I admit in recent years I’ve been a bit of a snob re: German pop / rock music. Possibly because the stuff on mainstream radio feels so generic. Sound and especially lyrics wise. Bland and interchangeable. Nothing that hooked me in any way. But I also admit that I never really made the effort to look into other, less mainstream German artists / bands. It’s the same with English artists though. I sometimes feel bad that my musical taste is quite limited and that I don’t check out new bands or new to me old bands. Or that I don’t listen to the variety of music, I think a lot of my music pals (which I found through Frank Turner) listen to. And then I start feeling like a fraud for being so single minded in my musical preferences and so ignorant of other bands / artists. Ugh! It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. It’s not a contest. But that’s just me. Imposter syndrome and all.
Anyway, I found this German artist Thees Uhlmann through Frank as well, when he was one of the supports at Lost Evenings in September. He blew my mind then and I was so glad that I was able to get a ticket to the additional afternoon show in Cologne yesterday. As expected, it felt amazing to sing those songs, which I’ve grown to love in these past few weeks, with a room full of people. It was lovely to see that Thees felt thrilled to be there on stage doing the thing he loves. And to be appreciated as audience as well. He’s quite similar to Frank in that regard, I thought. Loved it.
Especially when he played my two favourite songs. “Avicii”, about the Swedish DJ, who took his own life a few years ago. Just like in Berlin in September, Thees talked about mental health and asked people who were struggling to reach out to friends and to talk about it and to seek out therapy, because there is no shame in it. And that meant so much to me. Obviously. The other song (“Ein Satellit sendet leise”) has these wonderful lyrics about the monsters under our beds and how they sometimes still are alive and kicking. Which is something I know so well myself. Again… obviously. That was the final song of that gig and my heart was so full after. Live music does make every day better.
This clip is neither of those songs, but a very old song from his former band Tomte. I had to record a bit of that one to send to Bro2.
Street Photography | So yes, yesterday basically was a good day. I had spent the morning in Cologne as well, spoiling myself with a breakfast in a cafe, a trip to the bookstore (didn’t buy anything) and thought I’d just stroll around with my camera. Which I did, though I was quickly overwhelmed by the people at the Christmas markets and opted for side streets back to the venue of the gig. Had coffee and cake and strolled around some more and took some photos, but the mood of those are rather bland. Depressing. Winter in the big city. I don’t know. When I came back home from the gig I felt soooooo tired, because I had been on my feet for so long by then. Maybe not the best idea to get 14.000 steps in before a gig. When will I ever learn?
Books | I’m glad I didn’t buy any new books, because there are still enough on my to-read shelf. I started the latest Jasmin Guillory romance novel “Drunk on Love”, because I did enjoy most of hers, I’ve read so far. But I just couldn’t get into this one. And it was my 2nd attempt. For a moment I considered just skimming the second half of the story to see how it ends (though I think I could guess how), but then decided against it. It would have felt like even more waste of my time. Maybe I should stick to non-fiction for a while.
