Thursday, 12 November 2009

@*A TRIUMPH FOR MEW"+

Saw Mew last night and I even took some pictures, more so than I usually do. Most of the time I take zero actually. But my recent photography workshop meetings have inspired me to take more pictures and keep playing with the depth of field and which subject to put the focus on. So that was kind of my assignment and the kind of pictures I wanted to take. Well, a couple of them turned out okay. The thing is, I never look at what I've photographed when I'm at a concert. I just click and then click again, without looking at what I captured. I do this to not get disappointed when a picture doesn't work out and prevent me from getting too caught up with trying to get the right picture. First and foremost I'm there to see the band play not to be a photographer. So I want to enjoy the music as well and therefore I try to not take too many pictures. But last night I balanced it out quite well. Some pictures could have been nicer would Jonas Bjerre, lead singer of the band, not have held his microphone in front of his face so much, but I'm already happy to have taken some really clear pictures without any blur. I also used my lomography camera three times I think. But with that one it's even more of a mystery of whether the pictures turned out okay or not, especially considering I've already wasted two film stocks! Now let's go to the actual concert and leave the photographs aside. It was one of the best gigs I've been to this year. Passion Pit take note, this is how you do a concert, 'cause those guys got a lot to learn. What immediately struck me was Mew's professionality. They have a lot of experience which isn't strange for a band who already put out so many albums, recently having released album number five! And that experience can be very well heard. At certain moments I felt a bit Phoenix-esque even though both bands are pretty different. I guess at the core however, they're kind of similar both making rock music with a strong pop sound added to it. Maybe it was also the great light show which reminded me of the Phoenix concert I went to earlier this year. Whatever it was, I was reminded of them, that being a very good thing. But Mew is definitely a band of their own with Jonas' vocals being a great part of that. I don't know how he does it. I can't believe he really sounds like this and his voice was so clear, it sounded perfect. I wonder how his speaking voice sounds. His voice is one of the most unique ones I've heard. It's high, but not in a girly way, not at all. But I love listening to it and live he sounded just as good as when listening to him in mp3 format. They played some songs from their new record while also playing some from their earlier ones. So far I only listened to their latest release as well as their first album A Triumph For Man, the other three I've started listening to only yesterday actually. So last night I didn't know every song, but the energy of the band and that of the audience made that I could fully enjoy those songs as well without having the feeling of not fitting in. Instead of Mew I could have seen another band last night in Paradiso called Miike Snow. But because they're fairly new I chose the more experienced band with a larger fanbase. I did this because I expected the Mew audience to be way more enthusiastic than those people at Miike Snow who might have been a bit reluctant to dance and fully let go considering Miike Snow is still such a new and fairly unknown band. I doubt there's anyone who already proclaims them as their favourite band. With Mew it's a different thing which showed, 'cause I saw some people walking around in the band's merchandise. So I knew a lot of people were going to fully enjoy this and it wasn't a surprise to me that the concert eventually had been sold out. From what I experienced last night I can say I really enjoy the Mew crowd. You could see it was filled with some die hard fans and not only those cool and hip looking people for whom going to a concert also means to be looked at. I like it when you see some people not caring about the clothes they wear 'cause it shows all the more they're here mainly for the music. Because it was sold out the place was packed which made that I could feel the energy of the audience really well. Some people jumped and really went wild others danced and enjoyed the gig but without the crazy arms. At the start however, the concert almost got completely ruined as there was this guy who just took up my spot out of nowhere. I thought he wanted to pass me so I gave him some room but instead he just stayed and basically took my spot. I just could feel the waterfall of tears inside me pouring down. I felt so hurt. How could you do that to me?! I was so into the concert after the first song, so full of surprise with the awesomeness of Mew and then this shitty guy just decides to take over my spot. I was so taken by surprise that I couldn't even say anything about it. I just could not understand why anyone would do that. It was just cruel. But I managed to put it all aside and some minutes later I was completely enjoying the concert again. But whoever this kid was, not cool to just take over my spot like that! But like I said it was one of the best concerts I saw this year. Great atmosphere, great sound, fun light show and visuals. I couldn't have imagined it any better. Mew might not be one of those bands I would totally go crazy for but they're definitely a great band to see live. When they return I would definitely like to see them again which isn't something I can say about some of the bands/artists that I like even more. They're really one of those bands who bring a whole new experience to their music when playing live. I can't wait for this month to be over and December 4th to come. Could Julian Casablancas be even better? Considering his album and how much I love it, I'd say yes. But we'll see. Anyway, I'm so excited for that night, it's gonna be fun.









In some minutes I'll go take a shower and then get back into the metro to retake all those pictures I took with my lomography camera but which didn't work out. Plus, there's a place I've wanted to visit for a long time so I'll be going there today. And tonight my third photography workshop! It's gonna be a fun day. Hope not too much rain :(

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