Back To Shore

Lyrics: “Polaroid Picture” – Frank Turner, 2013

Back at work | Whenever possible I try to ease back into work life with a short 3-days-week and I was glad that I did this this time as well. I spare you the details. Next week will be pretty busy as well.

April-y September | I left the sea last Friday with lots of sun (and quite a bit of wind as well).

The weekend here was still nice, but then the the cold and rain set in. With bouts of sunny moments in between and then back to rain. All day every day this week.

Health | I’m back at 5:2 interval fasting and it still works like magic in regards to weight-loss. I also try to be more mindful about my food on the regular days, which of course helps. I’ve lost about 4 kg (8 lb) in 4 weeks, which is pretty cool. And it isn’t too hard to do, when you can keep busy during the day and thus keep your mind off “things” (like food). I once again did my fasting days while working from / being at home and usually I’m not that active on those days. So I went for an extra walk in the morning on those days to up my calories allowance. I took some photos while out.

Last day of my time off | Yes, this post is not chronological, but who cares ? In slight contrast to the “be more mindful about food” statement, I took a trip to the candy shop outlet about 20 minutes away on my last free day today. In the end I didn’t buy much different stuff than I usually buy at the regular supermarket, but that’s ok.

When I came back to my car I saw a small fleck on my drivers side view mirror. I expected it to be a piece of leave or something, so I flicked at it. It jumped away! Onto my hood and then to the windscreen….

Podcast Insights | Should the prompt be titled “insight from podcasts”? Whatever. Just real quick with a possible follow up next week.

#01 “Anger is a secondary emotion” – Heard in combination with some explanation on the 10% Happier Podcast and it resonated with me. We usually get angry and lash out because we’re scared. Or ashamed. Or embarrassed. Or something else. That other feeling might be valid and justified, but it feeds into the anger and sometimes it seems reasonable to work on that underlying emotions than on the anger. If that makes sense. I need to ponder on that.

#02 I wish I had appreciated George Michael more during his lifetime. – I knew his hits and even if not followed his career, was well aware of it, of course as I am a child of the 80s, a teen/young adult of the 90s. I didn’t know all that much about him as such though. I’m almost finished with a two-part episode on him from the “You’re Wrong About” podcast (Part 1 / Part 2) and now really wish I had followed his career and life more closely. He seemed to have been a very kind and lovely human being. A troubled soul as well of course, but who of us isn’t? I hope he rests in peace.

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Off to bed soon-ish, yes around 8 on a Friday. Because the three days at work were busy and felt sort of stressful and I also have tons planned for tomorrow. Early start then as well.

Back home and still being pretty lazy. I’ve still got days off, so I’m allowed.

While I was driving home yesterday and while I was doing my shopping this morning I had some more thoughts I considered sharing in a more coherent blog post. But then this afternoon I sat down to watch episode 2 of “Red Eye” with Richard Armitage on Netflix, because I’ll be spending a day at MagicCon Convention in October, where he’ll be a guest for a day. I’m usually not all that into thrillers, but in this case I watched episode 2 und 3 and now 4 and knew that I should at least write a little bit if I want to post anything at all. I love all the neat fancy camera shots of Westminster at night by the way.

Podcasts | I’m still looking for a few more interesting ones to occasionally listen to. Preferably hosted by a woman (or at least a female co-host), because I’m so fed up with all the middle-aged white guys trying to explain to world to me. Call me a woke feminist, but these guys are so boring and I’m just not interested. But it’s frustrating to see how those kind of podcasts are so successful in Germany and elsewhere as well, I guess. And it’s always those kind of male-hosted shows who utter misogonyistic shit or make derogative remarks about minorities. And the really frustrating thing is, that after a bit of a shitstorm the whole media frenzy about the shitstorm and/or the derogative remarks will give them more exposure and more attention and those shitty shows will be more successful than ever. Yes, I’m fed up.

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People | I drove back home a different route from my vacation spot than on the way there. The motorway I used in Germany seems to have only one proper service station on the whole long treck down from the coast to the middle of the country. I stopped for a snack, restroom break and fill up my coffee. I should have used the restroom at the start, when there had only been one coach (a teenager sports team?) parked outside. Once I had my fast food snack the place all of a sudden was rammed. So many people, again at least two groups of youngster. More female than male for some reason, which of course meant the queue for the restrooms was endless. I was in no hurry, just annoyed, that they all – I counted 4 coaches outside after – had to stop in those 45 minutes! Other people’s nerves were just as frayed though, judging from the bitching between a senior couple at the coffee counter.

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Thoughts on Food | Well, on beverages as the first thought. I didn’t manage to snap a photo, because once I had thought to, the self-order screens at the service stations Burger King were crowded by youngsters. But isn’t it insidious that the beverage size on top and possbily even the pre-selected on is large (0,5 l) and you have to scroll down and pick something else if you want to just get a small (0,25 l)? Yes it is!

The 2nd thought came to me, when I saw this display for “new, fancy, chocolate” in my supermarket.

I’m a chocoholic, so of course I had a look. Checked the price tag and put it away again. It was about twice as much as pricey chocolate (Lindt, Cadbury) and three times as much as no-brands one. WTF? I googled it and it’s such a internet hype, it’s laughable. A YouTube star came up with it and he created quite the hype around it (More on Wikipedia). Let’s see how long those will be sold here at those outrages prices.

The following post was published on the predecessor of this blog on 12th September 2013 and was my long recap of my first ever Frank Turner gig, which took place a few days prior on Friday, 6th September 2013. To the day 11 (ELEVEN !!) years ago today. I did a proper appreciative, fangirl-y post on my 10th anniversary, last year.

The show on 6th September 2013 at the Aladin in Bremen was show #1447. Considering that show #3000 is already scheduled (and sold out!), means, that when February 2025 (show #3000) comes around, I will have been along for over half of the ride!! Not in gigs as such (obviously), but year wise. Blows my mind!

But credit where credit is due: I had already been pretty hooked on Frank’s music over the summer of 2013, but this first live experience was something to behold. Mind-blowing, Life-changing. Life-affirming. And a bit addictive. Obviously.

In about 6 weeks I will attend my show #70 and I can’t wait…

My First Frank Turner Concert…
(first published in September 2013)

I started this post on Saturday, but I never got around to finish it until now, because I was so busy on the weekend and I spent most of my work week so far in IT training which sucked all the energy out of me. It’s a regular day at the office tomorrow and then a hopefully less eventful weekend. Hockey season is going to start tomorrow night, so that will be an “event”, of course but I’ll plan to be pretty lazy at home for most of the weekend after that.

So, the Frank Turner gig I went to on Friday? One of the best concerts I’ve been to in a loooooooooong time. A really, really long time. And yes, that’s probably due to the fact, that I really love Frank’s music and have been listening to his music almost constantly for weeks now. But also because Frank and the Sleeping Souls definitely know how to rock a venue. Any venue. I’m typing this while watching (with the headphones on, so I could turn up the volume) the Wembley Live DVD which I bought at the gig and it’s amazing to see it on my TV and not just via youtube clips on my computer or phone.

Last Friday was an insanely hot day for early September around here (30 °C and more) and I already felt like I was melting in the waiting line outside. When the doors opened I went to the bar first to get some water (not enough probably) and checked out the merchandise where I bought the DVD and the sticker set, because I really wanted a FTHC sticker for my car. I’m not getting tattooed, so a bumper sticker has to do it *g*

I managed to get a decent spot close enough to the stage for my taste and more important it was at the wall, so I could lean against it while we had to wait for the supporting acts to come on stage. Waiting and sweating and melting. It was so hot inside already and I wasn’t even moving but just standing there leaning against the wall. By the end of the show I was soaked in sweat like I had never been before, not after a long bike ride or any other kind of exhausting workout. Seriously. But it was all so worth it.

John Allen was the first supporting act and I really liked him. Just a guy with his guitar. Simple but quite impressive and a really nice guy. I bought his CD afterwards, because singer/songerwriters like him need all the support they can get in the castingshow-times like these. I follow him on twitter and instagram now and found proof that the story how he came to support Frank on this tour is quite true. He went to the Frank Turner gig in Hamburg in the spring and while his friends and him were waiting in the line outside he sang some songs to entertain them. Turns out Frank Turner noticed it and liked it and asked him if he wanted to support him on the next tour. Incredible and awesome, isn’t it?

The second supporting act, Lucero from Nashville, didn’t do anything for me, so… I’ll jump to the main act right away. Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls came on stage around 21:45 and rocked the venue for the next 90 minutes. It was just soooooo  awesome. He started with “Four Little Words” and followed with “Try This At Home”, “If Ever I Stray” and “Reasons Not To Be An Idiot”. Or maybe it was in different order, but these songs were right at the start and the dancing and singing and shouting I did (and everyone around me) was just incredible.
I’m not sure about which song he played in which order after that and I’m not sure the setlists I found online are really reliable. But his set included a lot of my favourite songs (“The Road”, “Losing Days”) and also a lot of songs I like listening to as well (“Dan’s Song”, “Plain Sailing Weather”). He also did “Broken Piano”, which probably is my least favourite song from the new album, so that was song during which I could catch my breath 😉

He also did “Glory Hallelujah”, which I expected him to, but wasn’t sure how I’d react to, because it’s a song I’m feeling really ambivalent about. On the one hand, I think it’s a masterpiece of songwriting, music and lyrics wise: it’s catchy and Frank gets his point across. And I can actually enjoy listening to it, because I can appreciate the song’s musical qualities. On the other hand it’s the only song I don’t sing along to, or at least only to very few lines and never to the chorus. Why? Well, Frank Turner is an atheist and this song is his gospel-like anthem about it. The point (and the chorus) being “There is no God”.
I don’t consider myself a overly religious person, but I’m a member of the Catholic Church and well, I DO believe there is a God. And I’m usually not bothered by someone stating there isn’t, because to each their own and all, unless the point of believing or not believing is forced on someone. Anyway, not singing along to the song when it’s on my iPod is my compromise.
It’s quite another thing though to be in the crowd at a Frank Turner gig and hear almost everyone around you singing with all their hearts “There is no God”. It honestly was disconcerting and I felt really out of place. Which surprised me a lot, because as stated above, I don’t consider myself a very religious person. But I guess it’s ingrained deeper than I think. No idea how I will handle it at the Cologne show next week.

“I Still Believe”, the song that started my immense love for Frank Turner was one of the many highlights for me. I was sooooo looking forward to sing this song with the crowd and I wasn’t disappointed. Another great song was the German version of “Eulogy” and of course “Photosynthesis” at the end, even though I was so exhausted and sitting/kneeling down for a while to then jump up was not easy. At all. I was so glad I had the wall at my back to support me *g*
He also did “The Ballad of Me And My Friends”, as the first encore and it was done beautifully, just accompanied by Matt on the piano and a bit slower than the original song. Frank dedicated it to a friend in the music business in the US, who passed away a few days before and it was a wonderful tribute.

So, the music was amazing, but so was the man himself. His energy on stage is impressive and I don’t know how he does it for like 200 nights a year. He’s a beast and I mean that in the best and nicest way possible. He has injured his back some time ago and his doctors actually advised him to cancel all shows for the rest of the year, but in the end there was the compromise of doing the shows with a lot of physiotherapy before and after every gig and with Frank not being allowed to play his guitar. I’ve seen enough concert footage online to know that Frank without his guitar is almost unfathomable, because he is a singer/songwriter who started out with just him and his guitar travelling around England. So, Frank without guitar? Really weird. But he still rocked it and put his energy into dancing and jumping and all that, to an extent that I was worried about his back again. A lot actually.
Anyway, to me it was obvious that he often didn’t quite know what to do with his hands, when he couldn’t grab his guitar. He sometimes looked adorably dorky. I also mean that in the nicest way ever. And he himself made fun about it as well. Somewhere in the middle he talked about James Hetfield, lead singer/guitarist in Metallica who broke his arm before a tour and couldn’t play guitar with his arm in a cast and obviously also didn’t know what to do with his hands all the time. Frank said something like “I saw him on stage and thought he looked like an idiot. But now I’m probably looking just as stupid.” 😉

The end of the Wembley Arena show (still got the DVD on) reminded me of another nice thing about Frank Turner on stage. Just like at the Wembley gig (and probably at every show he plays) at the show in Bremen he introduced and thanked his band and crew during the last song and ended it with (quoting fom the DVD) “And last, but never least, the most important members of the band, without whom no show would be worth a damn. On backing vocals the people of [insert concert city]”
It’s just nice to be appreciated as vital part of the whole night and not just as the folks who paid for the gig, if you know what I mean. I’ve seen enough big names who thanked the audience a lot less empathetically, if they thanked them at all.

Soooo, yeah, one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to and I can’t wait for my encore in Cologne next Friday.