Wimps

Sonny Rollins and the Wellington Ukelele Orchestra are old concerts, but they’re coming to the Wimps soon.

I’ve been lazy lately. Mix of cold weather, bad food and no exercise mushes your brain.

Before starting this, I feel like I need some disclosure. Mainly, about favourite concerts.

You don’t see me saying a lot of bad stuff here on this blog. Mainly, because I don’t talk about bad concerts that I go to, given that they didn’t get me. You usually will see one paragraph of “things that went wrong”, but that’s usually not the focus. Given that if there is a concert in this blog, is usually a favourite one. BUT.

Before the Foo Fighters concert, I had two category for favourite concerts, and an overall one. First category, best production, is currently held by the U2 360° concert. The second one, best sentimental show (as in like, I could shit my pants crying), goes to the Swell Season, which, incidentally, also holds the title for the “best concert ever”. But, things change. Keep reading.

Tenacious D

Seriously, can Jack Black be more awesome? He ruled the “School of Rock”, kicked as on “High Fidelity” and also got a grab of Kate Winslet on “The Holiday”. And he is also a Rock and Roll star on his spare time, with Kyle Glass by his side. They both make a good statement of making awesome Rock and Roll without taking Rock and Roll too seriously.

It’s actually a weird concert to talk about, because the whole thing is a big theatre play. JB never addressed the crowd on a casual way. Every line was funny and crafted with a hook to their next song. I’m wasn’t a huge fan before that, but since, I’ve been watching a lot of them on YouTube and God, how good it is.

On the end, Tenacious D set the perfect mood for the Foo Fighters. They had heaps of fun on the stage and so did we. And, with all respect, that’s all what being a musician is about, isn’t it?

(I’ll cut this short. I wanna talk about the Foo Fighters. Go check the D. It’s awesome.)

Foo Fighters

HELL YEAH. Seriously.

The Foo Fighters have always been one of the bands on the top of my list to go and see one day. I believe that Dave Grohl is a living legend and I love how honest and truthful the sound they make are. Yes, it is commercial, it is a bit cheesy sometimes but it is freaking good, clean rock.

The concert had a lot of anticipation around it. Would they be playing only the new album? What’s the venue like? How long is it going to go for? This is the last concert of the year. Are they going to be tired? And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, will I be able to hang out with them afterwards? (Answering last question, NO.)

It turned out that most of my worries were unnecessary. The Foo Fighters have, in my humble opinion, one of the best concerts of the present time. It has SO much energy, SO much sound and SO much, that I felt the whole concert on my arm veins, and I was pumped as a anabolized horse after it. They had fun. No, they didn’t seem tired at all. They play with the public. They look people in the eye and don’t ever seem to be keen to finish the concert. It was THE SHIT.

My Hero, Long road to Ruin, Let it Die, Everlong and Monkey Wrench (my personal Top 5 Foo Fighters songs) were played. Odd stuff was there too. Breakout and Times like these. Even Learn to Fly, the pop-est song they ever had. Songs from the new album were carefully inserted in between old favourites and the set list was a beauty for everyone. I sang, screamed, hurt my twisted ankle even more, head banged. I even closed my eyes and wobbled, About a boy style (no guitar though!).

Ok, I might have mentioned the energy. They played for three flipping hours, and it didn’t feel not even close to that. Dave Grohl, that stupid monkey, DOESN’T stop running and screaming, ever. Taylor Hawkins (the drummer, you MUST know) makes drummers like me look like schoolgirls playing the tambourine. The intensity and speed that he has, the entire concert through, are absurd. Pat Smear, oh Pat Smear. How incredible are you? Nat Mendel (bass) and Chris Shiflet (guitar) are more low-profile, but equally active and present on the stage. The whole thing always sounded and felt like the first song of the concert. I was, truly, IMPRESSED.

HOWEVER, the venue. The Western Springs wasn’t the best venue for that concert. In lots of ways. If you were late to buy tickets (like I was) you couldn’t see the concert from the mosh pit, and you were forced to so called “embankment”, which is a hill around where the stage was, and it wasn’t very comfortable at all. Due to the lovely rain (Chur Auckland!), the grass was slippery, and the steepness made it a bit of a mission to balance yourself during the concert. While on the “wrong stuff” paragraph, I have to mention that there were quite a few sound quirks and I could do without the special effects on the screens. All and all, I blame the venue for all the bad things of the concert.

A quick kudos for the lighting. I love lightings when they are not overdone and well used. And, surprise surprise, it was spot on. It’s worth mentioning that most of the time they used warm colours. Remember when I told you that it was all about energy?

And where do the Foos sit on my favourite concert list? WELL, that’s tricky. I always knew that it would be a great contender and that it could take both U2 and the Swell Season out of their positions in one go. But, given the venue problems mentioned earlier, it didn’t. I reckon people on the field had a much different experience than us in the back, and maybe, just maybe, it would have defeated my favourites list. Anyway, it was so good, SO GOOD, that a new category had to be created for it. Best Rock’n'Roll concert ever. There you go. Congrats Foos!

I’m absolutely sure I’ll have another time with them and I’m also sure they are still a strong contender. But, I have to say, it was an awesome day, an awesome time, and this concert made my ever so happy.

Fun fact: Foo Fighters rocked Auckland! (Blog article by Geonet, company that monitors seismic activity in NZ)

I know it was in November. I know, I know. It just was a lot to take. Really.

To start with, it was the biggest concert I have ever been too, in a lot of senses. Biggest stage ever. Probably biggest crowd. Probably must worldwide known band too. Definitely most expensive concert to put together. Quite sure biggest pay check as well.

Well. Hard to say it wasn’t the best concert I have ever been too. It was. I’m dead sure it would have been even bigger if I was a lunatic U2 fan. I like the guys. I like them a lot more now.

The concert was spotless. Honestly. It is one of those “Am I watching the DVD or is this real?” concerts. Perfect sound, perfect lighting, perfect levels, everything. The only thing I would change is that opening band. Sorry Jay-Z, I just can’t like your songs. I’m sure you are a good guy though!

U2 doesn’t really care about introduction or doing the good guys image on the stage. They just showed up while “Major Tom” by David Bowie played on the speakers, walking along the crowd casually, owning the stadium and showing they were there to have a good time. The concert went on for two and a half hours and it didn’t fell like that. The expandable high-def display screen on the top of the stage plays a big part on the concert and keeps you in it the whole time. When you think it has shown and done everything, it goes up and down, spreads from bottom to top and you keep going “Holy sh**, that’s so cool, holy sh** that’s so cool” and so on.

The massive madness that the stage is just serves the porpoise of remind you how big they are and how small and lucky you are that they are there playing for you. The spider shape thing has four legs, each leg has four camera men and 8 billion spot lights  hanging from it . The greenish cover over it changes colour as the concert goes on a way that you don’t really notice, until you try and step back to sulk it all in. The thing is fantastic. There are two moving bridges on it and the instruments turn around as well to play to both sides of the public. 360° tour. Got it? Good.

I just realised I’m sounding like a little kid.

And then there is this Bono guy. He is the king of the world, isn’t he? He just makes every single stage-presence-icon you have look like a five year old on a beauty pageant contest dancing the Macarena. He is the shit. I usually don’t really like when people try to do political active stuff during a concert, but they did it on a very touchy and smart way. And Bono knows how to make stuff as important as they are, and not just a cheap attempt to look good. I really like how cheesy he is while not being over the top. And how he connects with the people around the stage. I know that’s probably and oversight on wonderment, but he still looks like he believes and feels what he is singing about. He doesn’t look like someone that has done it a billion times and everything is now automatic. And other than that, the other guys on U2 are fairly quiet, and he takes the load very easily.

In a way I hate it. My bar is raised. My standards ruined. I want to go again. It was truly amazing.

I think you got the idea.

De Felipe Peixoto Braga Netto.

Yeah, George Benson. George Benson, you know? You probably know him from Give me the night, and that’s a real shame. Benson played with major Jazz’s names, like Davis and Basie, and he is an amazing jazz guitar player himself. He’s won 10 Grammy awards and is respected and admired between all sorts of musicians. And yes, normal people like them too. The guys is amazing, let’s face it. I went to see his “Tribute to Nat King Cole” concert and well, that was deceiving.

I went there to see Benson on the guitar. That’s what I wanted. And he delivered it on a very modest amount. But we had a treat anyway. Nat King Cole’s songs came back to life with Benson. His voice is so good, stage presence impeccable and the guy is an entertainer. He’s got so many stories and experiences stuff to share that we could just listen to him for hours.

Special note for the NZSO. Bloody spectacular orchestra those people are. As expected, Benson’s band is astonishing. Every band of his band have worked with massive names on the industry and it’s hard to pick a favourite.

It’s had to talk about the concert, really. Yeah, it was very good, but I didn’t get to see Benson playing as much guitar as I wanted. And, consequently, the band didn’t jam as much as I wished. It was a good concert and just to watch something of that quality is a very good experience. But I really would’ve liked it better if there was more of Benson nice licks and some hard out jam happening.

I’m still waiting for his next concert though.

O gênio do coração, tal como o possui aquele grande oculto, o deus-tentador e aliciador nato de consciências, cuja voz sabe descer ao submundo de cada alma, que não diz palavra, não lança olhar em que nao haja idéia e aceno de sedução, de cuja mestria faz parte o saber parecer – não aquilo que é, mas aquilo que para os que seguem é uma compulsão mais a mais proximamente o assediarem, a sempre mais íntima e radicalmente o seguirem… O gênio do coração, que a tudo estridente e autocomplacente faz calar e ensina a ouvir, que alisa as almas ásperas e lhes dá novo anseio a saborear- estender-se imóveis como espelho d’água, para que nelas se espelhe o profundo céu… O gênio do coração, que à mão rude arrebatada ensina a hesitar e prender com maior graça, que adivinha o tesouro oculto e esquecido, a gota de bondade e doce espiritualidade sob o espesso e opaco gelo, e é um mágico ímã para todo grão de ouro que por muito jazeu sepulto na prisão de lama e areia… O gênio do coração, de cujo toque cada um torna mais rico, não agraciado e surpreso, não redimido e oprimido por um bem alheio, porém mais rico de si mesmo, mais novo do que nunca, partido, por um vento brando acariciado e sonhado, mais inseguro talvez, mais grácil frágil fraco, porém cheio de esperanças ainda sem nome, cheio de nova vontade e energia, nova relutância e apatia…

Friedrich Nietzche, Citação de Além do Bem e do Mal em Ecce Homo, Cap. “Por que escrevo tão bons livros“

You know, sometimes you just don’t know an artist. You go to a place, you download their songs have a random listen, but you just don’t get to know they work for real. Not unless someone from far away calls your attention to the artist and goes “she is from Wellington, were you are living now, don’t you know?”, and you go “Ok, I’ll do some more research and check it out”. You are a bit lazy because you think “I heard it before, didn’t quite get it, I won’t get into it again”. But you do it anyway. And you think “What the f*** is wrong with me? How did I let this pass the first time?”, and you try to make up for it because, in the end, you deserve it and so do the artist.

Well, that’s the kind of the beginning a love story with Brooke. The details don’t need to be told but it’s enough to know that after a good night driving along a place that I have a lot of stories to tell about and listening to Shadowfeet and her other songs, she took my heart.

By the way, Brooke, if you are reading this, thanks for letting us her your voice singing. Like, really, thanks.

Not surprisingly, when I found out she was coming to Wellington for a concert showing works from her new album I ran and got my seats. And I have to say that I was really anxious for her concert. I really, really wanted to see if that girl from the video clips and the odd poster on the library was as fun and warm as she appeared to be. And I also have to say that I was a bit concerned about the venue. The Opera House is an amazing place, don’t get me wrong. I watched Inside Out and Regina Spektor and everything was fine. But I really didn’t know if the house could take a rock-ish, pop-ish concert just as well as the more quiet and behaved ones.

I got there on the day sitting anxious and awaiting for the best. And there she came. All that excitement and anticipation. And, then, my fears came to life: the Opera House sound disaster happened.

No, it wasn’t that awful. But it wasn’t good either. The sound just didn’t work. We couldn’t hear the drums, the bass was muddy all the concert long, the guitars and keyboards unclear and all of that made Brooke’s voice just mix up on a bad wave of a sound mess. And I didn’t have no problems from where I was sitting, but apparently a good part of the crowd had trouble with the lighting reflecting on the sound blocking plates put around the drum kit. But OH, WELL.

She is quite fantastic, let’s be honest. She was home, completely comfortable and happy, jumping around, talking to the musicians, telling jokes and plans. Things that anywhere in the world would make the concert awkward but here, with her family, friends and early fans, it was just natural and fun. The tidiness and great arrangements from the CDs weren’t there as I already mention, but watching the way she treats every song and how much she cares for them is really, really cool. She is gorgeous, loose and fun, just how I pictured her in my dreams. And she has her voice which is very, very amazing. Period.

A lot of the experience of the concert was lost for me for technical issues. The band didn’t seem to realise the sound was that bad because they really seemed like they were having a good time. I’m quite sure that if the concert was hold somewhere else or if they had invested some more care on getting it right a the Opera House everything would have been amazing. This fact is far from ruining the whole thing for me though. I would go again. I want to be friends with her and I still want to play the drums for her one day.