The return of the music

And hopefully a revival of my ability to blog.

It has been a long two years. And I know the pandemic isn’t completely over, but it does feel like there is light now, and especially in Ireland, the numbers are low and the restrictions have been lifted.

And the music has returned.

After two years at home, we have finally been able to go to gigs again.And we have some festivals to look forward to as well.

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6 April 2022: Ensiferum, The Academy, Dublin

It is probably no secret by now that Ensiferum is one of my all time favourite bands. This was the fifth time I’ve seen them live, and I have seen then in four different countries now, and they never disappoint.

The Academy is a great, intimate venue, that allowed me a great view of the band without being right in the crowd.

And there is just something about this band that makes me incredibly happy.

The setlist was great, Sammi’s energy is unstoppable, and it was the best way to return to live music while living in a new country.

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6 May 2022: Tool, 3 Arena, Dublin

I must be honest and admit that I’ve never really listened much to Tool, but when a friend asked if we wanted to join them for the gig, I couldn’t say no, because it has been so long since we’d seen anyone live, and it is always a good way to get to know a band.

3 Arena is massive, and the event was a seated one, which is interesting for a metal gig, but allowed me to really listen to the band.

Tool is an amazing prog metal experience without the vocals. Some of the music was reminiscent of Opeth, but I prefer deeper vocals, and this was just missing for me. I will probably not listen to much Tool in the future either for this reason.

A shoutout for support band Brass Against, who we’ve seen once before at Wacken, and is simply amazing.

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25 May 2022, My Chemical Romance, The Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin

I never thought I would get the opportunity to see My Chemical Romance live, and when the reunion tour was originally announced, we still lived in the UK and tickets sold out quicker than I could say The Foundations of Ok. And then the pandemic happened, the tour got postponed, we moved and another date was added in Dublin. I got lucky.

First outdoor event for the year, and it was glorious. It was a lovely sunny evening, not yet so hot that you melt and cool enough to hop around if the mood grabbed.

And Gerard and the boys were amazing.

Also special shoutout to support act Gayle, who has an amazing voice and energy, and will now make it into my regular playlist on Spotify.

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Our next music event is Prima Vera in Barcelona on 4 June, where we will get to see some long time favourites, including Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and Bauhaus.

I should start getting better at these again with some practise

The music of 2019

This has been a really good year for us, musically. We have attended a great number of gigs and seen some bands that we never thought would be possible. Here’s a nutshell view of the gigs we’ve been to this year.

Post-Modern Jukebox

In February, we headed off to Oxford for an evening with the magnificent Post Modern Jukebox for an evening of classic remakes of modern songs, and they certainly did not disappoint.

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Laibach

In March, we spent an evening with long-time loves, Slovenian avant-garde group Laibach. I’ve have loved Laibach since my late teens, and spending the evening with them was a really special moment for me. The fist half of the evening, they shared their documentary Liberation Day about going to North Korea with us, and then performed a number of beloved songs from the Sound of Music and more.

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Dead Can Dance

Dead Can Dance is one of the first bands that the husband and I shared a love for, and their music has been a constant in our lives both before we met and since then. In May, we were fortunate enough to experience the magnificence of Dead Can Dance live. Lisa Gerrard’s voice transported us to many worlds, and certainly did not disappoint. Paired with Brendan Perry’s vocals, and a blend of magical sounds, this is probably one of the best gigs we’ve ever been to, and one we will remember for a long time. It was also one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences for us, as the band no longer plays gigs that regularly.

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Muse

In June, we headed off to the Olympic Park Stadium in London for an evening with Muse and friends. Muse is certainly worthy of such a big, magnificent venue and fills up the space with their sound and energy. Another great gig and night to remember.

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Nick Cave

Later in June, I spent an evening with Nick Cave for the very intimate Conversations with Nick Cave. It was an evening with just Nick Cave on stage with his piano and a microphone, answering questions from the audience, providing us with a glimpse into his mind and soul, and sharing the beauty of his music with us.

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Wacken Open Air

Going to Wacken has become a bit of an annual pilgrimage for us, returning to the Holy Metal land to watch as many bands as possible and being with the best community in the world, and this year was no exception. We saw a large number of bands as always, but for me the highlights were seeing The Sisters of Mercy, Brass Against, Facing the Gallows, Bloodywood, Hammerfall, Powerwolf and one of my new favourite bands, The Vintage Caravan.

Killswitch Engage

I joined the husband and some friends at the Killswitch Engage gig in London in October. They’re not typically my cup of tea, but it was a good night out and they certainly put on a good show.

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The Cult

Another favourite from my younger years is The Cult, and we were fortunate enough to catch their Sonic Temple tour in London in October. They were supported by The Last Internationale, which we’d never heard before but was absolutely phenomenal. Another bucket list band seen, and the support band has also made it into my regular playlist now.

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Opeth and The Vintage Caravan

October was a really busy month for us, as we also got to see Opeth, with The Vintage Caravan in support, towards the end of October. Opeth is one of my top 5 favourite bands at the moment, and seeing them live finally was a very special night for me.

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a-ha

a-ha was one of the first bands I ever loved, and the start of my musical love affair with the Nordic countries. Seeing them live at the Royal Albert Hall in November was truly special.

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Amon Amarth

Our last gig of the year was seeing Swedish greats Hypocrisy, Arch Enemy and Amon Amarth, at the end of November in London. Amon Amarth is another one of my current favourite bands, regularly featuring in my playlists, and seeing them live never disappoints. I’ve seen them a few times at Wacken, but this was the first time seeing them in a smaller setting – and it was still a spectacular event.

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Thank you to each of the bands we have seen, and every other band we listen to on a regular basis, for the music and the memories.

2018 in Review – Music

2018 was a good year for me, musically. Not only did I have more opportunity to listen to music than I have in recent years, I also attended a fair number of concerts and expanded my listening scope even more.

As always, I rely on Last.fm to provide me with my listening stats, which has become a lot easier since I use Spotify to listen and there is a native integration between the two services. It means that even the music I listen to on my Xbox while gaming is scrobbled seamlessly, which makes me very happy.

The Charts

While I didn’t get to listen to music nearly as much as I would have liked, I did scrobble more songs than before and listened to a total of 5190 songs, apparently.

Absolutely not surprising me is that Ensiferum is, again, my top artist for the year. This is mostly because I absolutely love them, but also because I got to see them live again this year, which always causes a spike in listening.

I did listen to a fair bit of new music this year…

What’s not reflected are a few bands I discovered towards the end of the year, so didn’t get to listen to them enough to make an impact, but they should show up on the charts for 2019.

The concerts

We were lucky enough to head into London for a few concerts this year. We started the year off with Epica, supported by Myrkur in April, then saw Ensiferum and Ex Deo in May. Over the summer, the husband attended Wacken again, while I went off to Lollapalooza in Paris to see Rag n Bone Man, Jess Glynne, The Killers and the Gorillaz. We had a very busy November/December, and managed to squeeze in Powerwolf, Nightwish, Peter Murphy doing 40 years of Bauhaus, and Dimmu Borgir and friends.

While I always love Ensiferum and Powerwolf and seeing them live in smaller venues was fantastic (as opposed to seeing them at Wacken which has been the experience for the last few years), for me, the standout was seeing Peter Murphy as it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It brought back so many memories of my late teens, early twenties and it was great to get the old body dancing again

I really enjoyed seeing Ex Deo as well, and the introduction to Myrkur was very welcome.

Now that we have figured out this concert thing, we have already bought tickets to a number of events for the next year, including our tickets for WOA 2019 – which brings with it the opportunity to see many favourites, including Opeth (!!!) and The Sisters of Mercy.

On future planning, upcoming events and hidden art

It is hard to believe that a short two years ago, we were rushing around madly trying to sell our home and belongings, arrange our visas and planning for the biggest adventure we could imagine. It feels like we have been in the UK for a lifetime already.

We have been talking about our next steps recently, as our visas only allow us to be in the UK for five years, and we don’t want to leave it for the last minute and get caught with our pants down. And while we have a few options we are mulling over, the one thing we know for certain is that we simply do not want to return to South Africa. We rather enjoy being so close to the things we enjoy, and cannot imagine living in that constant state of fear again.

But really, for us it is about the lifestyle that we’ve always wanted. Going to Wacken now means a quick 1.5 hour flight to Hamburg, rather than the 10-18 hour flights from the Southern Hemisphere, which means we can now attend every year. We can also go to gigs and events all around the UK without having to apply for a visa and saving for a year or two. And while we are here, we are going to do this as much as possible. Which is why we have already lined up tickets for the following:

• Powerwolf and Amaranthe in November
• The Unnoficial Stargate Convention in November
• Nightwish in December
• Peter Murphy in December

And the husband is going to see Dimmu Borgir and Kreator in December as well.

We’re also planning to see Turisas and Korpiklaani in February, and I am going to try and see George Ezra in March. And then there is also the opportunity to see great minds like Professor Brian Cox share the wonders of science with vast audiences.

We took a wander through London again yesterday, and my bestie Mandy introduced us to a wonder that’s been hidden right under our noses, the Graffiti Tunnel located under Waterloo Station. It’s actually called the Leake Street Tunnel and was first turned into a street art gallery by the famous Banksy. It is now a legal space for street artists to show off their skills, and it truly is a magnificent sight. I took some photos, but they really don’t do the space justice.

On new things and travel plans

There has been great excitement in our household this week, for several reasons. Firstly, the husband started working on Monday, in a real job at a real company with a real salary.

This is important for so many reasons. Of course, the money is going to help tremendously. It will remove the pressure from me, as we can now easily afford not only paying for university, but also to save up money to travel and attend festivals and concerts and feed our hobbies. But, almost more importantly, it means the husband will feel like a productive human being again and get out and about. As glamourous as executive house husband sounds, I know it has also been a frustrating year for him at home with not much to do other than clean house and play games. For his own sanity and sense of self-worth, I am grateful this has come along.

Unfortunately, the husband’s bicycle was stolen at the station on Monday while he was at work, which did put a bit of a down spin on the mood in the house, but we quickly ordered him a replacement bicycle (thank you Amazon) and by Friday, he was independently mobile again

I also discovered this week that I have been putting away £50 a month into a savings benefit through work since I joined the team here in the UK, and it had accumulated into quite a nice little bundle. And, instead of being a fiscally responsible human and just leaving it alone, I decided to spend a chunk of it on a new Xbox One X for the house. In reality, what this has meant is that the husband, who plays predominantly in the sitting room, has been upgraded to the Xbox One X, and our original Xbox One that was there has moved up into the bedroom to replace my Xbox 360. The new beast arrived yesterday afternoon, so we are both grateful for the snowy weather outside forcing us indoors to play with new toys.

We have been looking at concerts and festivals this year, and have so far decided on seeing Epica in April, Ensiferum and Ex Deo in May and Powerwolf in November. These I will attend with the husband.

The kid and I are also looking at attending one day of Lollapalooza Paris this year. Neither of us have been to Paris before, and so we have decided to make a bit of a trip of this. As an art student, the kid is very interested in seeing the Louvre, and I really just want to go take a picture of the Eiffel Tower and have a pastry walking along the Seine. We are, of course, very aware of the fact that this is quite a thing, being able to plan a week-end away in Paris. It is certainly not something that was part of our world two years ago, and is one of the main reasons we chose the UK over Australia, New Zealand and the US for our new home country.

We are also planning a visit to South Africa later this year for my mother’s birthday. I am looking forward to seeing my mother again, as well as a few friends we have left behind.

As I mentioned, it is a little snowy outside again, which is simply glorious and beautiful to look at. This is a picture taken from our front door this morning:

Travels: UK and Germany 2013

The husband and I recently returned from our annual holiday. This time, we visited the UK as well as Germany, our favourite country. We saw and did so much, that I think it warrants a couple of posts, so watch out for the following posts coming over the next couple of weeks and months:

• Impressions of London
• Ightam Moat
• A day in Windsor
• Wincanton and the Discworld Emporium
• The Harry Potter Studio Tour experience
• Echoes of the Roman Empire: Bath and Cologne
• Wacken 2013

I will also be posting pictures over on my other blog from time to time.

Wacken Survival Guide

Living in South Africa through the eighties and nineties, we never really got to experience the whole music festival thing, especially not alternative music. And then life happens, and we missed some of the bigger alternative bands coming to SA. So, in 2010, when we discovered that Apocalyptica was playing at the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany in 2011, we looked at our budget and decided to put on our brave shoes, and travel all the way to Europe for the first time in our lives to go camp rock out with 90-odd thousand other Metalheads. With less than a 100 90 days to go to the biggest Metal music festival, I thought I would share some of the things I learnt last time round.

Like I said, this was our first European music festival experience, and this guide would probably be a little ‘doh’ for those of you up North who are born going to festivals. Forgive me, but I promise I will get better at this festival thing.

Tickets

If you don’t have a ticket yet, I am really, really sorry, because it means you will not get to go this year. Tickets go on sale not long after the end of the last festival, and they sell super quickly. Be sure to have your Euros ready late in August and grab your tickets.

Camping

The most popular option is to camp. The cost of your campsite is included in your ticket, and it can be a great deal of fun to camp. We met some very cool people in the camp sites, and there is always something going on.

The festival and camp grounds do get quite muddy, as it frequently rains during the festival, so if you are going to camp, make sure that your tent is watertight, and also big enough to accommodate you and all your things. And a SA flag may also help you identify your camp site at night stumbling back from the festival grounds.

If you are going to camp, invest in a WC (bathroom) pass – you will especially appreciate the shower this grants towards the end of the festival.

Other Options

While camping may be fun, there are also other options for accommodation. Metal Travel offers some hotel packages ranging from hostels to 4 star hotels. We booked one of these rooms for this year’s festival – if it all works out I will write about it.

Things you’ll need

Like I have mentioned, it rains a fair amount during the festival, and the festival and camp grounds can be very muddy. For this reason, I would suggest leaving the heels at home and maybe wearing wellingtons instead. A raincoat will also be handy.

While there are a couple of pay-and-charge points where you can get your phone and other devices charged, life may be a little easier if you take some extra batteries with.

Note: a solar charger may sound like a good idea, but there is just not enough sun for a full charge.

You want to take a camera with to capture not only the bands, but some other precious moments.

If you are planning on camping, you want to take some earplugs with you – especially if you plan on sleeping at night. The camp grounds are constantly busy.

And if you are camping, be sure to pack some collapsible water containers that you can fill on the first day and keep in your camp ground. This will be handy not only for drinking, but also for washing – especially if you haven’t invested in a WC card. Just make sure the containers are PET and not glass.

And remember the sunblock.

Do

Well, obviously you are there for the music, right? See as many bands as you can, and make sure you check out some bands you don’t know yet.

Visit the Wackinger Village, and check out the craft market. And if you’re vegetarian, the Wackinger Village also has some vegetarian-friendly food stalls.

Check out some of the side-line performances.

Drink beer, and share beer, and laugh.

Visit the Wacken village itself. The supermarkets sell a wide variety of items that will help improve your experience, and you can even buy some postcards to send home.

Leave with your memories. Leave only your footprints behind.

And lastly…

Many people assume that Metalheads are all evil and stuff, you know, but they are actually just a bunch of people, just like you and me, who like to drink beer and listen to a bit of heavy music. If you want to enjoy the festival, you will want to avoid negative energies, bad vibes and generally bad attitudes. While there may be some unfriendly elements, for the most part the metal community is a friendly, fun-loving bunch.

Take enough money with, not just for beer and food, but also for music and other merchandise. The food and beer can be pricey, so work on a budget of at least €50 a day to be on the safe side, especially if you also want to try out the cherry and mead beers.

And if you are going this year… see you there