Frogman's Photoblog

Bratislava Blues Raiders

Music can look good too, you know? :-) So this is my band of friends performing for us on one fine Christmas concert. Enjoy!

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Story of the Rock’n'Roll Train

“The tickets to the show sold out in 11 minutes,” ZZ told me sadly on the phone. “If we really want to see them, we need to travel somewhere else…”

And so the idea was born. When a legend such as AC/DC go on a tour, there’s a good chance that it’s their last one – and one you really don’t want to miss. So the decision was made – it doesn’t matter where in Europe we get the tickets, we go there…

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We wanted the best…

…and we got the best! The hottest band in the world, KISS!!

It was with mixed feelings that I’ve decided to pay twelve hundred crowns for a show of a band I hadn’t been quite that huge a fan of… at least until now. But hey, I said to myself, they indeed are a legend, an aging one, actually, and they might not come here again. You better go and see them now that you’ve got the chance. Well, that may just have been my best decision recently. :-D

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Merry gothic Christmas of Steel!

Long time no post! Well, worry not, there has been a lot of Világos going on and I will be writing about it quite soon. But for tonight, I will only share my gothic uber-favourite christmas song – hopefully you had a great one! :-)

Also worth noticing is the Christmas Song of Steel by Nanowar, thanks, VÚ!
And partial lyrics of GC for your convenience. :-)

[...]
Santa’s going to wear a black dress
Just for me and you
Santa’s going to grunt in Latin
And slay a dragon or two

Rudolph, he will change his name
Cuz Rudolph just sounds really lame
Now we’ll call him Ragnagord
The evil reindeer overlord

His nose it shall be red no more
It will be blackened to the core
His eyes will glow an evil glow
To guide the chariot through the snow
[...]

Good jazz and picture-taking…

…at the same time? What more could a guy wish for? (I will leave the few inappropriate suggestions to myself. :-P)

Few places in the world have better jazz clubs, than Chicago. Around a week ago, we’ve decided to give one of them a try. It wasn’t the first one and definitely not the last one, but it was the most enjoyable so far. The musicians were very skilled and played nice jazz with a distinct Hispanic flavour.
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Schrödinger’s Nightwish Világos

For several months I have been looking forward to this concert. Nightwish is the number one band, currently reigning on the top of my playlist. The new album took the most-listened-to crown from Therion. After attending this concert, I have seen four of my top five bands live. Needless to say, I was quite excited.

The starter band, Paradise Lost, was very good. I wouldn’t hesitate to compare them, quality-wise, to Leaves’ Eyes and their foreplaying for Kamelot. It was decent metal with well written songs and a lot of power. Thumbs up, they just made the rather slim list of starter bands I wouldn’t hesitate to pay for, should they tour on their own.

Then the real treat of the evening came on the nice stage – I love the pendulum theme, it reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe’s Pit and the Pendulum. The intro was okay, but nothing special. The first surprise was Tuomas wearing a thick make-up and eyeliner. He looked like an emo kid, it was sort of pathetic. Jukka was, as usual, wearing a bandana headscarf. Marco looked cool, wearing The Beard. I expected him to be larger, maybe like the Leaves’ Eyes growler. But he’s just an ordinary guy, maybe a bit smaller than most. And Emppu looks exactly as you imagine him. :-)

Then Anette came on stage. I was disappointed. Unlike the aerie, impressive appearance of Sharon den Adel, she looked like the ugly stepsister. She was wearing a black corset that ended just above her breasts, exposing her skinny upper chest and shoulders. She has a rather nice G-clef (husľový kľúč) tattoo on her left shoulder. Unfortunately, she is very thin, and the corset didn’t look good on her, which is saying a lot, because corsets generally look good on anyone. Anyway, Anette is pushing forty, and it could be seen. I have no problem with an older singer, but she was trying to look like a schoolgirl, and didn’t quite manage to get it right. The skirt and little-girl hairstyle didn’t help much, either.

I could have forgiven her for the appearance easily. That’s not why I came to the show, after all. But she couldn’t sing well. It was especially painful in the older songs. It happens that singers can’t handle the complicated parts sometimes, and come out a bit flat. Anette, however, couldn’t handle the more demanding parts of Tarja’s songs at all. It was rather sad. The only older song she was doing quite okay in, was Nemo. Other songs… well, whenever I thought she was doing okay in some, she screwed up badly a few measures later. That includes Amaranth, which sounded nothing like I hoped it would sound. :-( The two songs that sounded more or less okay were Sahara, and Seven days to the wolves.

Just a quick note, I wasn’t biased against her. I like the new album and had very good will to accept her and appreciate her as a singer. I understand, that she is in a very tough position to appeal to the fans who loved Tarja, and that singing songs that weren’t written for her can get very difficult. But this wasn’t just below average. It was excruciatingly awful at times.

Worse yet, I couldn’t quite appreciate her voice. It sounded different to me, than on Dark Passion Play. And it wasn’t pleasant, not even when she was talking, which she did with a thick accent. The overall impression she gave, and that’s considering way more than just appearance, was that of a rat. Honestly, if I worked for casting and needed a were-rat, she would be the first one I would talk to. You’ll understand what I mean when (and if) you see her live. The event lost an unprecedented amount of goshu points because of her.

As if wanting to suppress her somehow, the sound was set to emphasise the guitars and drums, you couldn’t even hear her in some parts. While I have to be mean and say that this wasn’t a bad thing altogether, Nightwish music isn’t about making so much noise that you can’t hear the singer.

Our position was great, we ended up in the third row from the stage right in the center. I have no idea how that happened, because when we arrived, we were like ten rows from the stage at least, but eventually, we somehow got forward without much effort on our part. This doesn’t usually happen. :-)

The audience was better than on WT, but still… let me design an IQ test. We start at 150. Imagine following situation: Tuomas is playing a silent solo, Marcus and Emppu have their fingers across their lips, and motion for the crowd to be silent. For every second you keep yelling, you get -10 points. Hm, most people would end up somewhere below 60. Anyway, I had to laugh when, after the encore, a pretty large part of the crowd behind me started shouting “Ještě jeden! Ještě jeden!” :-D

Although several times I just had to smack my forehead after something (read: Anette) went wrong, there were some really bright moments in the show. Namely the Islander, with Marco and Emppu playing acoustics. Also, Jukka was doing awesomely at the drums. I never noticed how good he was in the studio albums, and it rarely happens that I notice drummers at all. But at times, it just struck me how well he played.

Emppu and Tuomas played their parts well, too, although at times you couldn’t really hear the keyboards because of the settings mentioned before. Marco was amazing, and although maybe Anette didn’t think so, he was the real frontman of the band. Not even his tries could save the show and interacting with the fans, though, because it was still lousy. Some instrumental parts were nice, even though I really missed the strings and brass. A lot of Poet and the Pendulum was just playback, and the difference between playback and live playing and especially singing was very unflattering.

Overall, I give Nightwish 55 goshu points. I can’t say if it is a világos. If you are a very forgiving person, mad about the band, and want to see them live at all costs, just do so, and it may be világos for you. The word forgiving being the keyword. I have seen some people around me who obviously enjoyed it. That made me think that it is very individual, and you won’t know if it is a világos, until you get in and see for yourself – hence the Schrödinger. Unfortunately, I am a more demanding person, and declare Nightwish a second band, after Kamelot, that screwed up at their live performance.

In a final attempt to redeem the band, it wasn’t really all bad. If I look at it the way that I spent fifteen bucks and just went out, it was a nice way to enjoy the evening. However, if I think of this as a concert of my number one band, it is really disappointing. There indeed was a huge gap between live performances of Nightwish and Within Temptation, and as much as it pains me to give my favourite band a negative review, I don’t feel like having much of a choice. Bottom line: Anette Olzon doesn’t have what it takes, and I don’t think the band will be doing well live, unless she is replaced. Feel sorry about that? Well, yeah. So do I.

PS: No pictures today. So what? :-P

Celtic Fest Chicago

In a struggle to get things done before cold fall comes, last weekend was really stuffed with things to do. Traditional German Oktoberfest, some sort of Asian celebration, fabulous Within Temptation concert I wrote about earlier, and of course the Celtic Festival, held at the Grant Park below the fancy Chicago sky line. With free entrance, of course. :-)

A quick note about pronunciation: when I pronounced Celtic as [sel-tik], people would look at me as if I came from another planet. In Chicago, it’s pronounced [kel-tik], although the dictionary recognises both ways. Also, Chicago is pronounced [shi-kah-goh], not [chi-kay-go].

The most remarkable advantage when comparing such festivals over here and back at home is, that some really awesome artists show up here, who would never even contemplate going to some fest in central Europe, minor by comparison. Although I sort of missed our beloved sedlácká gotika. :-)

Chicago Celtic Festival was not all about music. Although I didn’t really care, I am sure that some people would find the Art Fair, sheepherding demonstration, men-in-kilts leg contest, or Gaelic football game rather appealing. For me, it was “just” a music festival. There were so many great musicians, and I don’t even know some of their names, so I’ll focus on the really worthwhile stuff. Like Guinness. :-D Oh yes, that’s one of the finest beers in the world, and I found it very satisfying to take care of further undisclosed amount of this heavenly beverage over the weekend. I was worried after my last experience with this beer at the inn U hodného psa, which was negative, (hello, ZZ,) that I didn’t like Guinness anymore, that either me or it had changed. But fortunately, that is not true. Guinness is as great and as enjoyable as ever. Definitely a highlight of the festival, muhaha. ]:->
I have missed a lot of good music on Saturday, namely famous Dolores O’Riordan, former lead singer of the Cranberries, plus the Irish music group Lunasa and Welsh musician Jon Langford. Reportedly, they were all fantastic. Sunday, however, was not a wee bit less interesting.
Damien Dempsey, an Irish rocker, was not exactly my cup of Celtic, but the Canadian family band Searson was quite a different story. They are three pretty ladies playing fiddles, bass guitar, and grand piano, and two guys at drums and acoustic guitar, playing fast-paced, energetic Celtic music. Very, very neat. At times they would also use a ten string lute, or step dance.

Colleen, their violin player, (on the picture above,) was playing her fiddles like a little goddess. Overall, I was very pleased with their performance. If you wish, you can listen to them for a bit on their myspace profile. However, the song choice over there is poor, and they seem to have matured a lot since then. My impression on Sunday was much better than what I hear over there.
The biggest discovery, though, was the evening’s last band, Salsa Celtica. As the name suggests, those folks play traditional Latin-American rhythms with classic instruments like bongo, brass, and keyboards, (they had four people at percussions only!) imbued with rather nice Celtic melodies using fiddles, various whistles, and bagpipes. Unfortunately for my taste, they are significantly more Salsa, than they are Celtica, but it was really something fresh and interesting. I strongly recommend everyone to visit their myspace and listen to all the songs over there. Except maybe Grey Gallito, that one is a little weird. Unlike the Searsons, however, their myspace tracks sound fairly well and give you a good idea of what the band is up to. It is truly innovative.
As for the conclusion, I award Chicago Celtic Festival 2007 a neat sum of 70 goshu points, and do not hesitate to label it a világos. :-) Also, I got a rather nice green t-shirt from this one. Whee!

Within Temptation Világos

Although Within Temptation are often considered mainstream and pop-metal by metalheads, I have wanted to see this band for years, so when I saw their tickets on sale for $13 in House of Blues venue, 15 minutes walking distance from where I live, there was no hesitation. I got second thoughts when I was reading the Celtic Festival programme, and realised that I would miss Dolores O’Riordan, (ex-Cranberries lead singer,) because of this… but didn’t change my mind.

People at ticketmaster.com deserve to spend several eons in a torture chamber, because the tickets cost me $26.52 in the end, which is more then double of the advertised price. Of course, one has to pay various taxes, facility charges, convenience charges, online order charges, picking-your-nose fees, as well as other undisclosed general charges. Still, it was an okay price for such a show, and they promised me $25 cashback on Nightwish tickets, so they are forgiven for now.

Wow. Robert and Jeroen really look like twins. And so do Ruud and Martijn.

Before I start with the “review” itself, let me fill you in on the rating system. For the good stuff, I will be giving away goshu points. If an event gets many goshu points, it basically means that it was a világos. (Pronounced velaagosh, hence goshu. :-P Syn.: ownage.) If I present something as a világos, that means it was a fantastic and extremely worthwhile event, and those who could have come, and did not, are therefore dubbed various degrees of noobs, and possibly even criminals.

An event needs at least 60 goshu points to be a minor világos, at 100 points it is a supreme világos. Very rarely it even gets above that. An example would be Therion Goes Classic in Miskolc, which with its 1.3x metal-orchestra multiplier and 1.1x front row multiplier, recieved 125 goshu points, and thus became an utter MegaVilágos, which makes it extremely difficult to surpass. Confusing, I know, but some people get it already as an inner joke, and it will grow on the rest of you, I’m sure. ;-)

They let us wait for almost three hours since the scheduled start, filled with quite pathetic gay^Wboy wannaberock bands. They were in fact so lousy, that the friend who was there with me blacked out, so that she wouldn’t have to listen to them. (It was a bit scary, I had to steer her out of the crowd, but she was alright for the rest of the night, even jumped with me a little.) Good old Astral Doors, seriously.

Most important complaint comes first: the audience sucked. I’ve never seen such pathetic crowd on a concert in Europe before. Not only was there no mosh-pit, but it was clearly above those people to decide when to clap, wave, jump, punch the air, or scream. Consequently, most of them did nothing, and the rest did any of the above in random fashion, but never all the same. I particularly disliked the emo kids. (Oh my, they really do exist!) Those boys wear thick makeup and dark lipstick, nail polish, have hoodies on their heads, and talk like sissies. Hateable at the first glance. Oh, and the biggest idiots were guess who? Polish!!

Sharon den Adel is a remarkably enchanting woman with fabulous voice. When she came to the stage and started singing, I froze. It was simply fascinating. She was wearing a dark dress with a corset, with cleverly sewn sleeves that would bare her entire arms when she wanted. Not only could Sharon sing incredibly well, she also made a hell of a show. I especially liked her mimics, and the kind of dance she did with her hands. She must be double-jointed, because some of her moves were just otherworldly. And mmm, so sweet, that alone was worth several goshu points. :o)

Although a few times she didn’t manage to reach into the uppermost octaves and her voice came out a little flat and out of tune, the overall performance was brilliant. As were her bandmates, who played tirelessly and sounded flawless. The impression was much heavier, than their studio albums. Unlike Kamelot, who did the same and screwed up big time, these guys managed to pack a lot of punch into their songs without sacrificing the melody, or quality. I have a nagging feeling to write a couple more superlatives, because they definitely deserve it, so let’s pretend that I did. ;-)
As for the tracklist, it was okay. It was really fat, I think they played 18, or 19 songs. As this was The Heart of Everything tour, most of them were, naturally, from the latest album. It is quite cool, although a wee bit more rock on expense of metal. From my favourite Mother Earth, only three songs were played. The encore was three, as usual, and the final dot was one of their most awesome pieces, Ice Queen. At that moment, any reservations I could have had regarding the choice of tracks just disappeared in a puff of smoke. :-)

Overall, I subjectively award Within Temptation 83 goshu points, which makes for a major világos, approximately on par with Blind Guardian show in Trenčín, fall 2006. :-) Thanks for the amazing experience and I’ll definitely see you later when I have the chance. To my European homies I definitely recommend to attend the show in Vienna, on 3rd of October. Get your tickets ASAP. It may not be the cheapest concert in your life, but it will be well worth it.

Finally, a taste of what it was. It’s világos multiplier is like 0.05x, and the sound is crappy, but at least to have an idea. By the way, the show over here was even better. And heavier. And Sharon was doing much more cool stuff. Yah, whatever.

Dark Passion Play

Although it’s not yet released, I couldn’t resist getting the new Nightwish album and listening to it for a bit before their concert here on 27th of October. After Tarja left, many people were worried that Nightwish was done for. It was a loss for the band, no doubt, but a loss that was possible to recover from.

Anette Olzon, a rather charming lady, may not possess as unique vocal qualities as Tarja did, but judging from this album, she is doing alright. Although her voice lacks the power, which I sometimes a little bothering, it’s something you can get used to. As soon as I’ve accepted the change, I began to appreciate her as a singer. After listening to several songs, her style sort of grew on me. :-) And, of course, it’s the quality of Tuomas and his composing skills that let this band stay on prominent positions of my favourite list.

The album begins with a long (14 minutes!) and slow piece, The Poet and the Pendulum. I found it very likable even on the first go. It’s got a very nice dark flavour, and it’s good to see that there is no rush. They let the piece unfold as if it was a story. Thumbs up.

Next song is called Bye Bye Beautiful, and it’s a fast piece not unlike I Wish I Had an Angel. It’s got a nice theme, some male vocals, and certain parts of its melody are rather interesting.
Third one, Amaranth, is a typical radio hit. A fast-paced, short song that develops rather quickly, and has a very powerful chorus. (Silný refrén jak hovado. ;-)) It uses multiple layers of Anette’s voice to make it sound stronger and achieve impressive harmony. It’s already breaking the charts around Europe, and it’s doing good. Although it’s a likable song, I only wish it could be a little longer and unravel beyond the single theme. You can watch the official video right here:
Cadence of Her Last Breath. Quite nice. A little heavier, also short and fast-paced, yet rather simple and straightforward for Nightwish standards. I liked to hear Anette’s and Marco’s vocals together. The sound of frantic female breathing in the background of some passages is a welcome element.

Master Passion Greed is definitely Marco’s song. The heaviest piece of entire album, with powerful drums, shouting vocals, and a few unexpected riffs. I can’t wait to see this one live.

I won’t go into details on all 13 tracks. It’s too many, and I didn’t listen to some of them enough to form an opinion. I’ll mention For the Heart I Once Had, which sounds similar to Nemo, and some of the verses are light and playful. Islander is definitely the new Bard’s song. Very nice.

Next to the last track is Seven Days to the Wolves. Slower, quite powerful, with engaging lyrics, and mmm, so good. Some very skilled composing is at play there. This might be my new favourite. :-) The album is concluded by another balad, Meadows of Heaven, which makes a nice dot after it all.

Overall, I am very happy with this album. Although it may not be the best one in their rich discography, it proves that Nightwish is definitely back and kicking. See you guys in 48 days! :-D

Chicago Jazz Festival

What better welcome could the city of Chicago give me, than a huge, open air jazz festival with free entrance, starring top musicians of the genre? I mean, a presidential welcoming committee and plenty of purrrty strippers in those little devil costumes, as well as unlimited supply of Guinness would surely be nice, but a guy just can’t have everything, right? :-P

The main stage was quite large, with nice set of speakers, and plenty of lights and flowers, set up under the impressive skyline of the city. Although the festival took three days, the schedule was really tight, and none of the performers got to play for longer than an hour, which was, in some cases, immense pity. The opening concert by Herbie Hancock must have also been fabulous, but it wasn’t free, and I didn’t feel like spending that much money.
Most of the musicians I haven’t heard before, but they were all very good. Admittedly, some of the pieces were a little too… artistic for my taste, but other than that, I was satisfied. For those of you who ask whether it was a more supreme világos than Therion Goes Classical in Miskolc, the answer is no. But it was awesome nonetheless, you can’t justly compare these events, they were completely different.

Most of the people present were of more ancient making, and the place was crowded, but I didn’t mind. Being the lucky bastard as I am, I always had a fine place in the first row from the stage, which wasn’t reserved for the sponsors, so the stage was close enough to reach. I found it difficult to understand why there were people translating sing lyrics to the sign language at the stage. No offense meant, but deaf people just can’t enjoy a jazz concert. No more than blind people can enjoy a skydeck view, or people on a wheelchair hike through the mountains. Maybe cruel, but what’s the point pretending otherwise?
Most performances were using a grand piano, an acoustic bass, drums, and various brass instruments. I always used to shun brass in favour of string instruments, but now I feel they are underrated. Even the most common trumpet is an amazing instrument when blown into by someone like Jeremy Pelt.
I will only mention my personal highlights of the festival. For Saturday, that would definitely be the performance of Ernestine Henderson and Frank Wess. Oh my, the lady can sing. Also, her songs are very colourful, with lyrics worth trying to understand, and very sophisticated melody. At her side, Frank Wess, a venerable jazz legend, and the best saxophonist I’ve ever heard. Those two were having such a great time on the stage, I felt my mood improve just by looking at their faces. :-)
The highlight of Sunday night were most definitely the Mingus Big Band. A bunch of very talented musicians playing ingenious compositions by Charles Mingus. Their conductor was making a hell of a show, as he turned up dressed in traditional African robes, and his performance was vaguely similar to the rituals of storm summoning. :-) You should definitely go and see those guys if you get the chance.
Also, it was the first time that I’ve heard the sousaphone live. It’s a kind of tuba, a really huge brass instrument, which substitutes for string bass quite nicely. It has a deep, deep, sound that is rather pleasant, which was a bit of a surprise for me.
Another thing worth noting is, that some bands have been very strongly agitating against the Bush administration, which was always answered by the mass of people cheering. I think that republicans have had it in Illinois. A shining example of this is the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra, who are also definitely worth listening to.
At last, I would like to express disappointment at all the people I’ve asked to come along. In the end, only one guy went to enjoy the show with me. Most of them were just ignorant of this event, which I cannot quite understand. :-( It was even held right in their backyard! Well, a proverbial saying concerning pearls and animals of the suidae family comes to mind. Also, I wouldn’t hesitate to refer to them as criminals and meganoobs. ;-)
Oh well, I have to say that am most grateful for this event, and I had a fantastic experience enjoying some very fine live music after quite some time.