~#THIS LAMB SELLS F*CKING CONDOS_+

What an excellent night, I'm so glad I went. Owen Pallett aka Fanal Fantasy was magical. I was completely drawn into his performance. At first he said he was a bit sick and because during the first two songs it was hard hearing his vocals because the music was so loud I was afraid he would not sound 100% and would hold back a little. But soon it became clear that when Mr. Pallett feels slightly ill this doesn't necessarily mean this has an immediate negative effect on his voice. He sounded just as perfect as on the record or in my case on the mp3s ;) He referred to the light show several times cause it made him confused of where he was especially because he did not feel to well. But it must be said that the lighting was really good and in my opinion added a lot to the performance. I had never been in this venue before and was very surprised of how small it was. It made for a very intimate setting. Marissa Nadler and Nick Talbot of Gravenhurst were really good as well, but I'm not sure why they were supporting Pallett. Their music is much more moody and sad sounding than his. For some reason when I see Owen I always have to think about Patrick Wolf. Not sure why. Perhaps because they performed together and seem to be good friends. I took a polaroid picture of Owen, a really bad one :D It makes it appear I was standing really far away from him when that wasn't at all the case. But it was definitely too far away to take a clear polaroid picture of him. So next time I'm at a concert taking a polaroid picture I'll make sure I'm more at the front. I'll scan it tomorrow if I don't forget to. That was a really cool thing, by the way, 'cause this really was a not too much physical movement type of gig. No moshpit or wild dancing. I even kept my bag with me. So I could have quietly taken a lot of pictures although I did not take any other pictures than that polaroid. I just didn't want to disturb myself. I was enjoying it way too much. When you are able to see Final Fantasy go. He's just very relaxed and really is able to connect with the audience. He made several mistakes and when that happened he just laughed them off. He was being very casual about it and he should. It was one of the best gigs I've seen this year high up there with those gigs from Beirut, Franz Ferdinand and Metric which says a lot. I didn't expect I would like it THIS much. I definitely love him more right now. I was completely under his spell.

&%A SMALL DISASTER)=

A small disaster has taken place. Yesterday I found out there's a hole in my left black boot! :( So I brought it to the shoe repair guy thinking he would just fix it for me, the hole doesn't seem that difficult to fix, but it's ripped at what happens to be a pretty difficult place. So fixing it would cost me like 45 euros and I paid something like 60 for the shoes. Only option thus seems to buy new ones. It's really annoying I didn't have the shoes for that long, I feel bad about having to let them go so soon, but it seems I have no other choice. Normally I couldn't care less about shoes, but ever since I bought these boots I've started to care. I'll probably go back into town later today to buy new ones, can't go to the Phoenix concert tomorrow without wearing a pair of black boots! And walking in Chuck Taylor's really isn't the same.

It has been out for a while now, but I still love it, Metric's video for their latest single Sick Muse:

METRIC - Sick Muse - OFFICIAL VIDEO from Metric Music on Vimeo.

&$WE ARE ALL ANIMALS{)

According to some shouts on the Last.fm page of the concert of last night, not everyone liked it. For me, when I go out to a concert I just want to have fun, hear the songs I know played live and just go out of control. Dance to those tracks like I always do at home but now with the full band playing live in front of me. So I'm not one who's going to complain about the sound not being too good. I just take things for how they are. And honestly, I thought it still sounded very good. Don't know why they complain. But then again I'm a sucker for the drummer, I always follow his beat and those drums are always heard clearly, if not, there's a real problem. I was standing completely at the front. I was early, they weren't even open yet when I got there. What I didn't like is that on the ticket it says that doors open at 19.30 and the show will start at 20.30. Normally when that is written it means that the start of the show is the main act starting to perform. But apparently in Melkweg that's not the case, 'cause I Heart Hiroshima began at 20.30, who were supporting The Rakes. So I already was waiting for more than an hour before they came on. They played a pretty long set though. I enjoyed them a lot, but as always with supporting acts you feel you can't go completely wild yet. You always feel the crowd is a little hesitant and holds back, 'cause when the main act starts it's like boom, complete chaos, people jumping everywhere, but not with the supporting act, nomatter how good they are and I Heart Hiroshima were definitely good. That's what happened this time as well, but when The Rakes came on there was one explosion of energy. I loved it. The guy next to my left was completely into it as well just like me and all of a sudden this other girl and guy appeared with smiles on their faces dancing with a passion who apparently thought like, yay, the party has really started here, lets join these people. To my surprise, as always, don't know why I'm still surprised :) some of the girls behind me were standing pretty still as were the girls to my right, though I didn't pay any further attention to them, I was enjoying myself way too much. But I was forced to turn around and look behind me because I almost jumped on one girl's feet twice so that's how I found out they weren't moving too much or at least not as much as I do. But I was real happy 'cause I had still a lot of space to dance around. And I noticed that the singer of the band Alan Donohoe (until some seconds ago I had no idea what his name was, thanks Wikipedia!) and I have a pretty similar dancing style. His feet move like mine. So as usual I had tons of fun. Definitely worth the wait. And like the two previous concerts, Metric and Franz Ferdinand, at the end I was completely soaked. So I'm not wearing the same shirt again I wore last night. Jeans are still okay though, even though those ended up a bit sticky as well :D But I just like them too much, I want to wear them at least one more day. Highlight for me apparently was the song We Are All Animals, 'cause that's the one that was burned in my head when I was walking back to the train station afterwards. Did a late night photography session but at first I didn't know why my camera didn't want to go into focus. Couldn't figure it out. In the end it got back into focus, though, but then I was already close to the station to get on the train. Those out of focus ones do look pretty interesting though, because of them not being in focus. But next time I will take proper ones. Today I'm planning to watch Coraline at the Pathé. Starts at 14.30 and I will go and see if my MA supervisor is in his office 'cause I still haven't heard anything from him. I really don't know what to do... :(

So first the out of focus ones then those that are in focus. Bad photographer... ;)







Some pictures of last night. Not taken by me.

The Rakes:



I Heart Hiroshima:

^%PICTURES OF METRIC + SOMEONE WANT TO GIVE ME MONEY SO I COULD GO SEE FRANZ FERDINAND?????_+

Pictures from Metric from Wednesday night (I didn't take them, someone else did). I still can't get enough. If they would play again tonight, I would so go! By the way, I could have seen Franz Ferdinand tomorrow night, I noticed there still are tickets available, even though on the Ticketmaster site it says it's sold out. But it's something like 32,50 euros and even though it might be worth the money, I'm sure it is, it's A LOT. And I don't want to see them that badly, I mean, I like them, but I've never had a fanatic period, never been truly obsessed, which kind of has to do with the fact that I have never really gotten the time to really listen to them often. I do know some people who would probably go nomatter the price. But still, if anyone wants to invest in me, feel free. Three people, 10 euros each. It could get me there...

@(UNBELIEVABLE}|

I feel their songs have been stuck in my head all night through. It was so unbelievably good. So much energy. I just listenend to their song empty which really make you realize how good it is to see Metric live, 'cause they transformed the song into such a rock anthem. Everything was way louder than the original recording. Below you find a video of Dead Disco someone posted on YouTube just to give you a bit of an impression of last night. I'm seriously an instant fan. Perfect timing to see them live, 'cause this was at a moment I really got into their music for the very first time. Most of the time when I discover a band and I really get into them I'm already a bit late and they aren't performing anymore anytime soon. So when I finally get to see them as has been the case with Beirut, I've already had several period of obsession. And most of the time I still can get totally obsessed as much as the first time, but how great is it to be experiencing your first time of obsession and then seeing that band immediately live. I wish they would play again tonight. With some bands you feel you need to take some time before seeing them again else the gig you just saw loses momentum. But with Metric I could go tonight again and enjoy it as much as I did last night. What a gig.

Dead Disco



I've taken down some videos because they were not from Melkweg but from a gig in Cologne :((

Empty 'Shake your head it's empty!!!'



Handshakes 'Buy this car to drive to work, drive to work to pay for this car!!!'

%=A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!(}

Metric was WILD!! I went all Wolf Parade kind of crazy. I was full of sweat and my hair was a mess! Kind of unexpected. I guess I noticed before going that their songs were very good for banging your head and jumping, 'cause their songs have a good build up leading to a nice rock out climax. But I didn't expect this at all. So next time if they're here again I'll be at the gig at 8 pm when the doors open so I can stand at the front instead of behind two lame girls who just stand unmoving looking up at the stage as if they're waiting for the F^CKING bus to arrive. I'm sorry but I can not stand those people. There are things you can sit on and they're called seats and you find them upstairs at the balcony! Go there and join those who really come to WATCH the show, to look, and see it happen while sitting in silence. Leave the space downstairs for those like me who just want to go wild and dance to the music coming from the speakers. Emily Haines, wow, she's a goddess. Sometimes she kind of looks like Madonna. She has great on stage persona and those people who were standing next to me later on in the line to get their jackets need to just go and shit themselves or something telling each other how they're not really into people who go wild on the stage, thus having lots of energy and showing the crowd that they can have a good time and enjoy playing for all the people who came to see them. Next time read the memo, this is not a gig for you. Please STAY AWAY. But again, I was surprised. This was insane. It was so good. Their music is perfect. This gig comes second to Wolf Parade based on how crazy I go at a concert. Of course not everyone was as stiff as those two girls in front of me. I was surrounded by some other people who knew how to go wild on the music as well. So that was real nice and made me not feel bad for one single moment for not standing at the front row. 'Cause there you'll always find the diehards. Those people who go crazy like me. But oh they were good. The sound was perfect. Emily's voice sounds just as clear as on the CDs (read: downloaded mp3s). The rest of the band, Emily's three guys were great as well. One of the guys on guitar even sang a bit and has a really good voice. Songs like Stadium Love which is a nice track, but not one that seems to really standout was turned into one of the highlights. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I mean, Beirut yesterday was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G as well and I had waited to see them for quite a long time. But sometimes I just want to rock out and go to a gig were you can jump at almost every song and just dance to the beat and lose yourself in the crowd. So it was a nice balance. Metric, wow, such a revelation. When they play again I'll be the first to buy tickets. It's something I would not want to miss. Such a great night. I could do this every day :))

*#METRIC IN TWO HOURS+@

Emily Haines went to Buenos Aires for Metric's latest album Fantasies which I have come to love immensely. I'll be seeing her tonight together with the rest of the band. Long time since I've been to a gig where the singer of the main act was female :)


Acoustic version for Gimme Sympathy. I really like Emily's voice and the way she pronounces certain words.

Metric - 'Gimme Sympathy' from SUPERSWEET Magazine on Vimeo.

_+SEE YOU GUYS SOON!@

Metric

+ Deerhunter

+ Women!! (Yes, finally Women live, after two times not going!)
I'm gonna see all three of them. Women will be support act of Deerhunter in Paradiso, which made me decide to go. Metric's latest album is so nice that I have to see these guys and girl live! They'll be playing in Melkweg the day after I'll be watching Beirut! I don't want to regret not going, you know. So I'll go. Have to.
+ Bought a new pair of black boots. Again. Though it's hard to find a check shirt. They only have stripes stripes and even more stripes! :(